My Name is Joseph

Revenge and Cruelty Part 2

Ryder felt jittery. Today was the day. William had already told their father about the trip he would be taking and their father's signature had been forged on the army documents. All that needed done now was getting rid of Joseph. At the beginning, he had felt unsure about this, but now all he felt was nerves. He knew Joseph needed to go. Now it was his job to lure Joseph in.

He took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen, "Hey, Joseph!"

Joseph glanced up from his homework, his bright blue eyes focused on the information that he was learning, and his shock of blonde hair ruffled from his running his hand through it, "Hey, Ryder, what's up?" He looked back down at his homework.

"How was school today?"

Joseph glanced up quizzically, "Fine, why?"

Ryder cringed slightly inside, "Did anyone notice your new car?"

Joseph's eyes brightened slightly, "Yeah, my friends were really excited about it. We are going to drive it to youth group tomorrow." He turned his eyes back to his homework again.

"Joseph..." Ryder paused, and Joseph looked up again, his curiosity seriously aroused.

"Yes? ..." Joseph waited.

Ryder took a deep breath, "I got you a surprise for your birthday, why don't you come and see it? Sorry that I couldn't give it to you earlier. It just now came."

Joseph put his pencil down and started to get up, "Aw, Ryder! That's so nice! Thanks! You didn't need to do that. And sure, I'll come and look at it." Joseph glanced at the time on his phone, "But I can't stay long. I've got a test tomorrow."

"No problem at all, little brother," Ryder chuckled.

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I followed Ryder out of the kitchen and towards a garage near the back of the mansion. I was excited. Although Ryder was nice to me, this was the first time he had ever gotten me a gift. I hoped that maybe this meant I finally really meant something to him. I followed him until he opened the door to the garage. He waved with his hand for me to go in. The light was off.

I stepped in, and Ryder stepped in after me and shut the door, and strangely, I heard the lock click into place. Strange. I waited for a few seconds. "Uh, Ryder," I chuckled nervously in response to a strange apprehensive feeling, "If I'm supposed to see the gift, you should turn the light on."

Ryder scoffed, "Oh, I will, Joey." I shivered at the anger in his voice. No one but Benjamin ever called me that. Ryder suddenly switched the light on, and what I saw was nothing at all what I had expected. My other six brothers, eyes filled with hate, were there in front of me.

I looked back at Ryder, "Ryder, what's going o—" my words were stopped and I grunted as I felt the strong impact of a punch to my back and landed on the floor. I took a deep breath to clear my head. That must have been an accident. I started to get up, but was flung back onto the floor by a kick to my midsection. I closed my eyes and groaned. "What's going on?" No one answered. I opened my eyes and saw seven angry faces gazing down at me. "Ryder? What's going on?" I asked, not liking the way my brothers were looking at me as I sat up. He didn't answer. No one did. They just gazed at me, filled with pent up anger. I slowly stood up. "Ryder?" I asked as I turned to face him.

Josh stopped me by stepping right into my line of vision, "What's going on?" he mocked, "What's going on is you are finally getting what you deserve." With that, he raised his hand and slapped me so hard across the face that I twisted around almost 180 degrees. I turned back slowly, my cheek burning, but my anger beginning to burn more.