L Akers - Fight Like a Man

It couldn’t be argued that welfare hand-outs were down, illegal immigration was down. Jobs were up. The country was a trillion dollars richer. In black and white, he was doing well as a president in general. If only he’d stop setting fires so that the rest of America could see. But the way things were going, they couldn’t see past the fire, much of it flamed by the media. And Trump might really have pushed someone too far this time…

“So, Jake, what do you really think happened? What’s going on? Who did this? Russia? Maybe for Korea? Or China… they’ve always been a big helpful brother to Korea.”

Jake shrugged. “Still don’t know, man.”

Grayson eyeballed Jake.

He knew full well Jake didn’t like to talk politics. When it came to choosing sides, Jake was Switzerland. He’d need to be careful where the conversation went. “So, you don’t think this has anything to do with Trump pissing in Kim’s cheerios?”

Jake shrugged again.

Okay, Korea is off limits. Unless maybe I soften him up with a joke first. “So, if this all ends up being some pissing contest between us and Korea—and other adversaries took their side, things could get really bad.” He gave Jake a very serious look.

Jake nodded.

“No, seriously, man. Just imagine Trump and Kim together . Do you know what you get when you cross a penis and a potato?”

Jake smirked. Finally showing some life. “What?”

“A dicktator!” Grayson laughed loudly at his own joke and Jake spared him a chuckle, but then laughed louder at Grayson’s unusual silliness and his willingness to poke fun at Trump, seeing as Grayson had coaxed the whole family into voting for the man—in solidarity against what happened at Benghazi with the other candidate. They’d cast their votes against her in support of the military, and law enforcement, too, which she’d had no respect for during her campaign.

Trump, on the other hand, supported the military and the boys in blue.

“Wait!” Grayson said. “You know what led to this? Everyone in America is suddenly offended about everything. When the parties became too divisive, we started making mistakes. We shouldn’t even call this a nation anymore. You know what you call a country where everyone is pissed off?”

Jake raised his eyebrow and tilted his head.

“A Urination,” Grayson blurted out loudly. He slapped his knee and guffawed loudly, amusing Jake and getting another smile from him.

Puck ran by, chasing fireflies as Ozzie pranced around him, both of them blissfully happy. They took off together around the back of the house, disappearing from sight, but not before Grayson noticed the limp seemed to be worse the longer Puck ran around. Earlier the kid had told them Jenny had kicked him. That made Grayson feel a little bit better about the girl. If she could kick that hard…

As though he could read Grayson’s thoughts, Jake nodded his head toward the direction Puck had gone. “That kid is something else.”

Grayson nodded and smiled. The boy was growing on him.

“How old is he?” Jake asked.

“He said eighteen or nineteen, I forget which. Hard to remember he’s that old when he acts like an overgrown child.”

Jake cleared his throat. “So, you think he’s safe to be around the women, and Graysie?”

Grayson gave it a moment’s thought before answering, “I’d say so. He seems pretty harmless. But he’s not going to stay here. He’s got a home, and he’s got Jenny there to keep him company.”

“That’s the reason I asked you. I didn’t want to mention this earlier in front of anyone, but he’s got a young woman over there that’s not his sister, or family, and she’s around his age, and he mentioned to me he liked to touch her hair, so it sounds like he’s sweet on her. You’d think she’d be meeting his er… needs .”

Grayson rubbed his jaw. His sore tooth was starting up again. In the excitement of Jake arriving, he’d forgotten it. Or maybe the pain had dulled, but it was roaring now. “I’m not sure he has those kinds of needs. He’s really like a kid—in a man’s body. He might not be playing with a full deck, but he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. And he’s still an innocent. I think kissing is about as far as he’d go. He probably has no idea there is anything further than that.”

“I don’t know about that,” Jake answered. “When we came up the road today, I saw him first, before he saw me. He was sitting against a tree at the edge of your property.” Jake stopped, covering his embarrassment with a half-smile. “He had his britches down.”

Grayson shrugged. “Maybe he was taking a shit?”

Jake shook his head. “No, man. He was beating that thing like it owed him money.”

Grayson wrinkled his nose and cringed. “Oh no . I could’ve lived without that scene in my head. Seriously? In my yard?”

He and Jake both laughed out loud, but really, it worried Grayson. Maybe that girl—Jenny—wasn’t so safe there after all. Puck might be child-like in his head, but physically, he was a big man. Having urges and not understanding them could be dangerous. It might be best if Jenny came over and stayed with them, especially now they had other women here, until Puck’s mama came home.

Still, he hadn’t made an attempt to meet her yet, and Puck hadn’t offered to introduce him. He’d need to move that up as a priority; maybe in the morning.

Jake cocked his head. “Did you hear that?”

“I heard something. Maybe an owl?” Grayson answered.

“Ozzie,” Puck yelled from behind the house. “Ozzie!”

Jake and Grayson stood up and ran off the porch, and around the house, just in time to see Ozzie take off like a bat out of hell through the field behind the house, with Puck following behind.

“Grab your gun, Grayson! I’ll follow them,” Jake yelled as he took off in pursuit.

GRAYSIE RAN like the hounds of hell were after her. The branches slapped at her without mercy. Briars and brambles left her cut and bleeding. Water streamed from the corner of her eyes and splattered back to wet her face. She sprinted, adrenaline feeding energy to her tired limbs. She darted faster and faster through the trees, barely feeling her feet on the ground.

There!

She could see a break in the tree line and caught a glimpse of a pasture as she dashed closer and closer, finally seeing the outline of a farmhouse beyond it—dark and squatting—the windows black except for the moonlight reflecting off them, giving the house a threatening, sinister appearance, as if it lay in wait for Graysie to reach it.

But that farmhouse was far less threatening than the woods.

Moonlight peeped in as she raced on, and the bigger trees mimicked the shadow of a man, jumping out to frighten her over and over again; she didn’t know if he was chasing her or if it was her imagination fueled by terror.

Panting with effort, she pushed on almost to the edge where the woods would finally release her into the field. She stopped for a moment, sucking in air and feeling a little bit of relief.

But it was short-lived.

Before she could step out into the field, the forest exploded all around her.

She stumbled in the dark. Her feet tangled beneath her and she crashed down toward the forest floor. She squeezed her eyes tight as she fell, realizing he’d won the game. He was right behind me the whole time. Now the son of a bitch has me. She twisted her body before she hit the ground, trying to land on her back.

She’d still fight.

She’d fight like a man, just like her daddy had taught her.