“It is good to see you, Randall. I was wondering when you were going to stop being mad at me.”
Randall sighed. “I didn't say I was done being mad at you, but some things have come up and I wanted to talk to you about them. It's important.”
Ben could see that his brother was being serious, and he straightened up a smile that was always on his lips. “Tell me what's going on, bro?”
It was one of those moments where Randall could barely get the words out. He had to admit that he had put himself in such a situation again. He didn't want him to know the truth, but he had to say it. All of it was quite complicated and before too long, Randall was convinced that maybe he didn't have to say anything at all.
“I'm going to square things up with Ethan. He came to the house last night while Page was sleeping. He would have come into the house if I wouldn't have been awake. Tonight, we are going to figure it out, and I just want to make sure that if it doesn't go the way that it should, you will take care of Page and the kids. She would have her hands full, there are seven of them. She is likely pregnant again. I just want to know that they will be okay if I am not. I can’t leave them with nothing.”
His brother looked at him seriously. “We could just get rid of him. It wouldn't be that hard.”
Randall was rather surprised with the offer. It wasn't like Ben to go so far out of the “right” way of doing things. He was surprised that he would do such a thing. He had a reason and likely he would do exactly what he said. It was just quite unusual for Randall to see him like that.
“I don't want to get rid of him. I need to do this myself. I will likely have to kill Ethan, but not because I want to. It is because he is going to make me. You were right before. I amnot a murderer, but I am a man that has a family that I have to protect.”
Ben was about to say something about how Randall had already lost to him before. Randall could see it on the tip of his tongue, and he was grateful that he didn't say it out loud. Randall already knew that it was true, he had been there after all, but that didn't mean that he could shy away from it either. Whatever was going to happen, it was just going to happen. Randall convinced himself that he would deal with it. Again though, he didn’t think he would lose. Obviously he was supposed to be with Page and his family, so Randall had to believe that everything would work out the way it was supposed to.
“Do you really think that this is the best way to figure it out with Ethan?”
Randall agreed, he had thought about it quite a bit and he didn’t see another way.
“It’s the only way. He came to my house; he disrespected me repeatedly. There's nothing else that I can do but fight him. It's not something I want to do, it's something that has to happen. It's just that simple.”
Ben mentioned how it didn't seem right and while Randall wasn't going to argue that thought, he didn't find it very useful. Whether he wanted it to happen or not didn't matter. He was far more interested in what was fact. As far as he was concerned, it was the only way forward. Yes, his life and his family's lives were in the balance, but Randall was taking care of things. He knew that he had to.
“I don't want you to do this, bro. I have a bad feeling.”
“I don't want you getting in my head about it. This is what needs to happen.”
Ben said that he would respect Randall's decision, but he didn't have to like it. Randall, of course, wanted to walk away from the whole thing, but he knew better. The only real option he had was to focus on what came next. Ethan was forcing his hand.
“You know that I will be there for you, no matter what happens. I would never let anything bad happen to your kids or mate.”
Randall felt like a giant weight was lifted off of his shoulders and he hoped that it would keep it all in perspective. “Thank you, brother, you don't know how happy I am to hear that.”
The two talked for a little while, but it was Randall who had to make sure to cut it short. He told his brother as nicely as possible that he was not interested in him being there. Honestly, Randall was worried that his brother would try to smooth things over again and make it all better. If he did lose, he didn't want anything to fall back on. It was easier to feel like there was no net, when there was no net. Not just that, Randall didn't want to put his brother through the hardship of seeing it happen if he didn't have to.
“You really want me to sit it out?” Ben wanted to know, looking rather skeptical of the whole thing suddenly.
Randall agreed that it was what he wanted, and Ben was not happy about it. “This is just something that I have to do for myself. I know that it isn't something that you want. I don't want it either, but it's what has to be done and I need to do it alone.”
Ben agreed that he would stay away. He wanted Randall to know that he would be there if he changed his mind, but Randall knew that he wouldn't. He knew and respected that he may be saying goodbye to his brother, but Randall hoped that itdidn't end that way. Instead, he had faith that something good would happen. It might not be what he wanted, but Randall was not afraid. He wasn't afraid the first time, even though that was probably from his own ignorance. Whatever happened next, Randall was going to face Ethan alone, like he should have done in the first place.
Chapter 28
Page
Page tried to call Randall, but he didn’t answer. That wouldn’t immediately cause alarm to Page, but something in her gut told her that the world was off. It wasn’t just that Randall wasn’t there and he should have been. It was the message that was on her phone, in her voice mail that was blinking at her and giving her a strange feeling. She tried her best to focus on what needed to be focused on, but there was part of her that clung to the hope she was wrong. Page wasn’t wrong often when it came to her intuition.
She spent her time that day taking care of their babies and worrying about Randall. She was unable to get ahold of him for quite some time. He apparently couldn’t answer the many phone calls and texts that she sent his way. Page was beside herself with worry by the time the door opened and Randall walked through it.
Her immediate reaction and the words that came out of her mouth pretty quickly was that she wanted to know where he had been. Randall had been gone for hours and he hadn’t told her anything about where he was going. In fact, he had left her wondering what was going to happen next.
Then, he turned to her full frontal and she gasped. Randall looked like someone had used his face as a punching bag and there was blood all over him, though it looked like some of it was his and some of it wasn't. Page stopped dead in her tracks and asked him what happened.
“I ran into someone that wasn’t so happy to see me,” Randall said nonchalantly. Randall smiled and Page didn't think it was funny at all. She wanted to know what the hell that was supposed to mean and he just shrugged. “It just happened, Page. Don't worry about it. I made it through.”
“Made it through? What does that mean? Who did you get into it with? Who did this to you?”
