“Pull the trigger and kill me,” Tylee says.
“You’re a goddamn mother of THREE,” Isaac Sinclair yells at her. “So pipe the fuck down!”
“Assurances, Ghost,” Magnum growls seriously, using Isaac Sinclair’s club name to evoke the loyalty, vows of brotherhood and long-term experiences as family to get Isaac on his side. “Damara, you keep your ass right there unless you want blood on your hands.”
The worst part about the shit going down right now is that Magnum isnotout of control. He has a handle on every bit of this situation and he’s fine with letting this woman die.
“Magnum, I swear I didn’t put her up to this.”
“How long have you known?”
“Long enough that I worked out getting most of the money.”
I watch Magnum’s posture shift and try to fight the complex feelings running through me right now. Is Magnum seriously about to let her bleed out over money? His own family member’s spouse? Part of me knows it’s not just about the money. It’s about sending a message that this won’t remain unpunished. And he won’t stop protecting me.
Deacon, meanwhile, has been dressing his wound with whiskey and only alerted the rest of us to his presence when he drops the bullet he pried out of his own forearm onto the ground.
“If I’m not at a hospital in thirty minutes, I’m going to bleed out,” Deacon says, with an angry growl as he slams a bottle of whiskey on the casino bar. “Sort this shit out.”
“I have $500 grand cash I could give you,” Isaac says. “I’ll sort the rest. I promise.”
“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Tylee says, groaning in pain from the awkward jerking of her body. “We’re supposed to buy a new Jayco RV.”
Tylee seethes with real anger and her face changes color to a bright, contrasting pink against her fiery hair. Her husband glares at her.
“Tylee,enough.I’m giving him the money and we’re putting an end to this. Magnum, do we have a deal?”
“We have a deal when you promise me you’ll find a way to keep Tylee in line. She hurt somebody with what she did. Damara and I had the luck of being compatible with each other but… what if we hadn’t? What would have happened then?”
“I don’t need to be kept in line,” Tylee groans. “I need that money. Isaac, don’t listen to him. Don’t do it. My brother Wyatt will make himpay for this!”
Her shrieking gets hysterical. I’m about to defy Magnum and call 911 just to get everyone in this room medical treatment. I might even make a few suggestions about them needing psychiatric help moving forward…
“You have nothing to worry about,” Isaac says, his body stiffening with resolve. “Tylee and I are over after this stunt. I’ll be getting a divorce. If Wyatt has a problem with it, that’s the way it is.”
“What theFUCK!?” Tylee screeches.
“Do we have a deal?” Isaac Sinclair asks.
Deacon Hollingsworth groans in the most agonizing voice, “You two had better have a fucking deal. I need to get hooked up to an IV bag.”
He stitched up his arm, but the liquor won’t keep the pain at bay for long. I can’t deny that I’m impressed at his sutures, but the entire scene is gory and disgusting, with blood spattered everywhere and the bullet sitting in a lowball glass of clear liquor, blood floating from the metal in gory tendrils.
“We have a deal,” Magnum says. They shake on it. He turns towards me and I leave the room to go call an ambulance. I don’t know how we’re going to explain all the gunfire to the authorities, but judging by the numbers I heard flying around, one of these assholes had better come up with a bribe. The dispatcher stays on the line with me until I hear sirens and see proof that there’s an ambulance outside.
When I hang up, there’s no “getting my story straight” because Magnum drags me outside and gives me a look that tells me I had better go along with what he says. I’m not arguing with him right now. He almost killed two people tonight and if I hadn’t intervened, I’m convinced he would have killed more.
I thought knowingwhythis happened to me would change how I felt about what happened, but it doesn’t at all. I just feel numb and perturbed by the state of the world that this white lady was willing to risk her entire life for what? Did she say she wanted some type of camper van? It’s just crazy to me what some people are willing to do.
I wonder if her husband was serious about divorcing her. He seemed serious. While Magnum talks to the cops and I stand there with my arms crossed, I can’t help but watch Isaac Sinclair arguing with the redheaded woman, who wails and sobs at him with everything he says while the EMT’s strap her to a gurney for the ambulance ride. I shouldn’t be listening in on their conversation, but I pull out all the stops and push the limits of my Gen X/Old millennial hearing.
Magnum was ready to shoot that woman dead where she stood and what scared me the most about it was how unflinching he seemed to be about the whole thing. I’ve known he was crazy for a while but… could he be so cold? All the situations I got myself into where I had to kill, I had a lot less control.
Isaac’s face contorts with rage, an unmistakable human expression of every last ounce of his frustration with his wife, “I don’t care! If your brother wants to create war over the shit you pulled, then he can go ahead. Tear this fucking family apart for a piece of trash.”
I might have met her before. Tylee Shaw Sinclair? Tamiya spends more of her time with the Blackwood folks, so I wasn’t as familiar.
Tylee pushes back on her husband’s rage, still indignant that my pregnancy had to happen for the sake of their family drama, “How dare you, Isaac. I am the mother of your children!”
