Cops' Kids

C30

"Boys!" Elmer hollers. Every single one of them can hear the wrath in his voice. "Get down here!" All five older boys look at each other in alarm. It hasn't even been a week since the interviews, Elmer couldn't have heard about them that fast, and why would he be upset? They all know to cover for him.

"Fuck!" Benjamin hisses, putting his head in his hands. "I ratted."

"What?" Warren deadpans in shock.

"The doctor gave them evidence! I just told them what happened from the medical reports!" Benjamin defends himself.

"I had a fucking plan, Benjamin!" Tyson slams his hand against the bunk bed he shares with Warren. Colin and Ross jump in shock. "You just have to fuck it up! Every time!"

"Shit Tyson, I'm sorry!" Benjamin retorts. His face is pale. "I just want to get the fuck away from him!"

"Yeah, well now you will," Warren laughs bitterly. He ushers Colin and Ross out of the bedroom and into the hallway. "He'll probably kill you."

"At least take it like a man this time," Tyson sneers. He follows his brothers down stairs. Benjamin doesn't even make it to the bottom step before Elmer drags him to the floor, straddles the teenager and lights into him.

"You're my firstborn fucking son!" Elmer yells, punch after punch is thrown. "But you're the fucking coward of the bunch!" Benjamin tries to defend himself as Warren looks at Tyson.

"You got any plan, nows the time, little brother." Warren says, then he jumps on Elmer. They fall to the floor in grunts. Benjamin scrambles up only to jump on them. Elmer is frozen for a second, shocked that the boys have found the backbone to take him on. Tyson pulls out his cellphone and calls Erik. They're leaving tonight so he has to work on getting the King girls out ASAP and the sooner he knows, the sooner they get out. Erik doesn't answer so he leaves a voicemail.

"Mom!" Tyson hollers, leaving Warren and Benjamin to distract Elmer. His heart is pounding in his chest. It's actually happening, they're actually getting away. He skids to a stop in the kitchen, grabbing the notepad from the fridge and a pen from the junk drawer. "You don't have time to take anything. Get Jir and Colin and get outta here!" He writes down one of his safe houses addresses and rips the page off the notebook. "Go here, mama." He orders, kissing her cheek and running out of the room. Ross, Colin, Jeremiah and Isaiah are standing frozen to the spot, watching Elmer, Warren and Benjamin fight it out. It's violent, blood is already drawn. It's loud, fists hitting flesh, grunts of pain. "Go with mom!" Tyson pushes his brothers to the kitchen. "Go with mom!" Isaiah and Jeremiah are crying but they flee to their mother.

Elmer overpowers Warren, throws him to the floor and uses the force to stand up. Benjamin runs and tackles into him like a linebacker. The force shoves Elmer forward and he topples over, his head hitting the corner of the old oak table. Benjamin wipes blood from his lip and stares in horror. Warren breathes heavily as he scrambles up.

"Follow mom!" Tyson shoves his brothers to the front door. Benjamin can't move. His father is laying on the floor, dead for all he knows.

"But my dad!" Benjamin hesitates. They all see the blood spilling from the head wound. That's never a good sign.

"Fuck him," Warren drags Benjamin away. He looks back at Tyson.

"Let's go!" Tyson is already running downstairs. He has a stash of cash here he wants to grab before they go. Who knows how far they'll make it, or if they can make it to the safe house. Cops are still sitting on the block and Elmer, even if he is under investigation, is still the chief of police. Every blue will be out looking for them. Tyson throws the lid off the hot water heater and digs into the water, pulling out a large ziplock bag full of hundred dollar bills. He stuffs it in his shirt as he runs upstairs, skidding to a stop when he sees Colin putting pressure on Elmer's head wound.

"What the fuck! Colin, let's go!" He reaches down and grabs onto his brothers arm.

"I can't let him die!" Colin retorts, pulling out of his grip. Tyson blames those purple beads hanging around his brothers neck. They make him into too nice of a person. Tyson curses when Benjamin runs back in, tears streaming down his face. All the boys are shaky, it's the adrenaline in their veins.

"Serena's gone with Jir. Warren's waiting to drive us." He informs them. Elmer groans and they all freeze. He is waking up. Before they can blink he has Colin in a chokehold. The boy yelps in fear, hands on Elmer's forearms but his stepfather is still cutting off airflow.

"Let him go!" Tyson drops to his knees, trying to find a spot to hit Elmer once that will make him let Colin go. Colin's face is turning red, his fingers white and drawing blood from Elmer's forearm. Benjamin backs away, scratching at his neck. Tyson curses at him under his breath. Now is not the time to have a panic attack, not when Elmer is killing Colin in front of them! Tyson finds an opening near Elmer's ribs and starts hitting the same spot repeatedly. He doesn't hit fast. He hits slow, making sure he gets as much force in the punch as he can. Colin's face is now purple and his eyes are bulging. His lips are moving in his favourite prayer: Hail Mary, full of grace... pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Tyson curses and runs to the kitchen, digging in the drawer for a knife. He pulls out the biggest one he can find and runs back to the dining room. Tears stream down his face because he is too late, Elmer is releasing Colin and Colin isn't moving. He isn't breathing. Tyson screams and attacks his stepfather, thrusting the blade into his chest. One strike isn't enough. He keeps going, throwing his hand back and snapping it forward. He doesn't stop when Elmer drops to his knees, blood seeping out of the wounds in his chest and bubbling up from his mouth. When Elmer falls face first onto the floor is when Tyson stops. His chest heaves as he drops the knife and turns to Benjamin. "Let's go!"

"No!" Benjamin kicks against Tyson. Then he picks up the knife and stabs it into his father's chest. "Go! It's my fault he did this! Just go!"