“If any of this is true? You look like anybody that’s ever fucking meant anything to me, Pop. Rotten, lost, anddead.” I slipped both hands into my pockets, finding Seven’s penny and rubbing it between my thumb and forefinger while we stared into each other.
“So…the cleanin’ lady. That’s where ‘ye found peace.”
“Is that why you tried to help the same people take her from me? Tried to run me through with Bridget for good measure?”
He smiled softly, and damn if it didn’t look sad…and a bit genuine. I kept my reserve. “Did it work?”
“I dunno what the fuck that means, Pop. Don’t waste your last breaths on riddles. Tell me fuckin’why.”
He dropped his eyes to the floor, lowering his head while he turned and walked to the large window overseeing the estate. “I knew a long time ago that takin’ over this seat would be somethin’ you couldn’t handle. Not because ‘ye didn’t have the nerve, Malek…but because ‘ye didn’twantit.” He pocketed his own hands and stared down at the fancy hedges. “Our house was fallin’. When a kingdom falls…people notice. And not just enemies. The allies start worryin’ about what piece of the pie they’ll be left with. So, I played the board. Found the pawn that I knew would fall easy…and I used the knight that was gonna fall hardest.”
The knight…that’s tattooed on my hand.
“‘Yer mother was such a braugh lass. So spirited and perfect. I loved her the second I saw her. You wouldn’t have made a good leader for this life, not because you were incapable.” He turned and faced me. “‘Yer more likeherthan me. And ‘yer sister is the opposite. I knew you’d act out. I knew you’d protect her. I knew if I threatened to send you to Belfast, you’d kick your heels like a mule. I knew sendin’ Bridget into the lion’s den would poke the snake…and if I found what turned ‘yer head these past weeks…it’d light the fuse that would set you off. You’re not a king, Malek. You’re anexecutioner. And you do it well. Knockin’ the first domino always ends with the collapse of the entire game. They didn’t know it then…and they doubted us. But we were always winnin’, son.”
My body went stiff. I felt that familiar high starting to settle in. I tightened my fists in my pockets. “You set us up. You set usallup. Youusedme? You used what happened with Shavonn, the war with the houses, and anything I had left to make me happy, to drive me to bring it all down?!” I started trembling, and fuck, I probably look like a pathetic asshole right now. “This was the plan?! To crush it all? Including ourownhouse?”
“Wasn’t ityours?”
…It was…but I at least have a reason…
“Why, Pop?” I took a step towards him, every part of me screaming with restraint. I wanna kill him. I want to beat him until there’s nothing left to recognize.“Answer me, you fucking coward.”
“They found it six months ago.”
“Foundwhat.”
“They think it may have started in the liver. Could have been the lungs, but it’s spread too far to nail it down. I’ve already lived three months past what they gave me.”
You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.
“Liar. You’re lying.”
“It was gonna come to this either way, Malek. I’d either put a gun in my mouth, or I’d make sure this house crumbled…and the two of you got out from under it by the time it did. It might be what I deserve, but I’m not goin’ out that way. It’ll be blood…or it’ll be nothin’.” He closed the space between us and gripped my shoulders. “Get outta here. Take Bridget with you. I heard enough to know you rigged the place. Go. Blow it. And get the fuck outta this town. Go make the life I shoulda given you both. The one ‘yer Ma woulda wanted. The one you all deserved.”
“…Dad…”
He pulled a gun from his pocket and put it to his temple.
“Get outta here, Malek.”
My heart was pumping faster than I could catch my breath. I never saw Shavonn swinging from a rope, but the thought has plagued me for nearly a decade. To be so done with life and so determined to die before being forced into a life she didn’twant, that she took the matters into her own hands. Nobody should ever feel that low. He can’t go out this way. I can’t walk through the freedom of the rest of my life knowing hetook the easy way out. There’s no saving him, but I can give him more dignity than this.
“I’ll do it. Kings don’t fall this way, Pop.” His finger tightened on the trigger, and I pulled my switchblade from my left pocket. “Lemme do this for you. Or you never actually win the game.” His lip wobbled and he slowly let go of the trigger, lowering the gun until it dropped from his hand. I fixed the tip of my blade to his heart and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. My eyes stung and a single tear fell from his own while he clapped me on the back and pressed his head to mine.
“I never told you this. Not once. But I love you both.Live, Malek.”
He forcefully pulled me into a crushing embrace, my blade plunging into him, and his face blurred through my fucking tears as he grunted in pain. I held onto him, feeling his weight go heavier and slowly lowered him to the floor. By the time I laid him flat…his eyes stared forward. I knelt there for what seemed like forever, until I felt like my legs could support me again. And when I finally turned away, my breath caught in my throat.
A chessboard.
A very expensive one.
On a marble table near the door.
My heart felt heavy, but I inched towards it, looking over all the pieces. The pawns…like Declan. Some of the strongest pieces on the board. The knight. Like me…likeFinley…that are highly overrated and easier played. The queen. The piece that overshadows all others, but often misunderstood…
And the king…
