Schlikt!

The bed sheets rubbed together

in the quiet darkness.

The only light that lived

was the one in the hallway.

“Dad, stop!

you don’t want to do this.”

“I’m nobody’s goddamned

father.

Your mother

sinned.”

Derek’s head turned

and his eyebrows pinched together.

His hands fisted like he wanted to fight

what he couldn’t get to.

The muzzle of the gun

was pointed at Derek

who stood as his mother’s protector.

She sat at the table.

On the outside she was the

picture of tranquility.

His father’s finger twitched at the

trigger.

He stumbled forward

and Derek didn’t have to guess why.

The light flickered

on

and then

off

then on again.

Sarah quietly passed by.

Derek’s muscled twitched

ready to throw a punch.

“Boy! get out of my way!

That bitch

used me to get you.”

“Derek?”

“Sarah, it’s okay.

Just go back to bed.”

Derek barely took a breath

when he heard small feet

shuffling away.

“Fine.”

Then there were bear-like-hands

on his biceps

and Derek was pushed

into the wall.

BOOM!

The bullet meant for Derek’s

mother escaped the muzzle

and the delicate china cabinet

crashed with his mothers weight.

Then there was

a river of blood

and a fire inside Derek

that’s been building for years

“No.”

Derek sat up haltingly

after the recurring

nightmare.

Could he ever get any

sleep?

Uninterrupted.

Please?

But Derek

believed there was

no one to pray to,

no one to listen after that

fateful night.