Cause a Riot

Chapter 24

Cuzo narrowed his eyes. It...?

"We were passing an alleyway when I sensed movement from behind Dian. I took out my gun instinctively and pointed it at a man not so far away in the shadows of an alley. He held a gun, aimed at Dian's back. I didn't hesitate to press the trigger."

'Several bullets shot out of the gun in quick succession, one after the other, until the body of the boy collapsed and laid still. Dian whirled around alarmed at who his friend had shot at. His mouth hung open and he stared wide-eyed at the blood pooling out from underneath the boy.

"W-Wayne!"

"What?"

Dian whirled on him. "You killed him!"

"So?" Rustage scowled. "He was about to kill you!" Dian frowned, not having realized that.

"He... was?"

"Of course, stupid. Why would I shoot him out of nowhere? Ugh, get inside. I'll get some cops to clean it up." As Rustage opened the door to the car, his eyes suddenly locked with Mira Cunning's, standing a few feet away, wide-eyed. Rustage's pupils shrank. Had she seen it?

"Mira!" Dian ran over, a little shaken but relieved. "Oh thank goodness. Where were you? I kept calling but you wouldn't pick up. What happened?"

Mira stared at Rustage for an uncomfortable few seconds before turning toward Dian. "I'm sorry," she said. "My phone died and I had to pick Janna up from Shannon's house. I couldn't leave Cuzo, Malroy, or Ersa inside the house alone so I got them ready to go pick up Janna and didn't have time to charge my phone 'cause I was running late. I'm sorry, honey."

Dian smiled. "No, it's okay. I called Wayne to pick me up. We stopped by the restaurant for a short moment to catch up and lost track of time. I apologize."

"We were both in the wrong here. Come now, you're cold and wet." She glanced over her shoulder at Rustage with a smile. "Thanks for picking him up but I'll take him from here, all right?"

Rustage felt sweat drop down his chin but he nodded. "Yeah... take care." His eyes fell on her car, across the street with a clear view of the alleyway. Inside, all four children sat, eyes glued to the window. Janna was staring right at the blood pooling into the light of the lamppost, her eyes squinted slightly. Rustage took a couple of deep breaths and entered his car. He gripped the steering wheel tight and called his colleagues from work as the Cunning family drove off. Dian waved to him. So did Janna. Rustage saw but never processed it; and the car drove out of sight.'

Cuzo's eyes danced as the story was unveiled. He had thought Chief had been lying the whole time but now he knew he was telling the truth. Flashes from the night came back to him. He remembered seeing the Chief pull the trigger. He remembered the man falling. He remembered Janna gasping and flying to her window and wondering what was going on. It was raining slightly. It was dark. There was no way he could tell whether he really saw what Chief had done but it was coming back to him. He saw this scene. The Chief was telling the truth.

"Your mother... she... she used to be a cop," the Chief continued. "If she saw what I did, she'd know that my killing was wrong. I could have easily disarmed the boy without having to kill him. I could have shot him in the arm – anywhere besides his vitals. I mis-shot because I got frantic that the gun was pointed at your father's back. I acted hastily and shot unnecessarily. I could have stopped after the first shot, but I didn't. I kept on shooting.

"I became paranoid after that. I lied to the cops about the situation to make it appear worse than it had been and got away with a warning. It wasn't enough to fire me nor take my position as Chief runners-up away. Yet, I had gotten a severe scolding from my Chief to be more careful – the boy I shot was no older than 25. I had gotten away but the growing fear that your mother would report me bugged me. I didn't know if she had seen the situation clearly or not and I didn't know how long she had been standing there. I remembered her wide eyes – a reaction she would only wear if she saw me shooting the man. She acted like she hadn't seen it after but, what if she was hiding it? What if she was going to report me behind my back? I wouldn't just lose my hardly deserving position as the new Chief, it would cost me my whole career because I lied. I called your father the very next day, early in the morning."