Good Man. // Drabble 07/19/20
“Look into yourself and you’ll realize that you are a good man who will have to do bad things.”
- Pierce Brown, Red Rising
This wasn’t exactly the life that Kellan had envisioned for himself. Not all of it was bad, granted, a lot of things in his life were really quite good. He had good, reliable friends, a beautiful little girl that was the absolute light and love of his life, and the woman he had lost had miraculously returned after year without a word. He had a roof over his head, food to put on the table, and a steady and reliable income. Granted his income didn’t exactly stem from legal means, but it still paid the bills and made sure he could provide a life for his daughter that he felt was what she deserved. Unfortunately, it meant that sometimes he had to do some really bad things. Things that he wouldn’t dare tell the people who loved him about for fear of what they might think of him. He had blood on his hands, in every sense of the word, so much that he felt he was permanently stained. He was more grateful then ever in moments like this that no one was capable of reading his mind, because one thing he hated more than anything was having to lie to someone he cared about.
“Kendell, I know it’s short notice, but is there any chance you could watch Ry for a little while? I have some unexpected business I have to take care of..” Kendell had been one of his closest friends for years now, spanning all the way back to when they were teenagers. They had both had children pretty close together and had helped each other with the raising of their little girls who had grown to be as close as sisters. The best part about Kendell? She never asked any questions. He knew she didn’t agree with what he did for a living, she didn’t like that he ran with a group of criminals and she never wanted to know the details because what he did truthfully scared her. It was the one thing about him that he kept to himself, when everything else was an open book. And in times like these, he knew he could count on her for a safe place for his daughter to go while he did what needed done. “Thank you,” he said into the phone, “I’ll grab a few of her things and be there shortly.” Hanging up the phone he sighed, rubbing his face with his hands before regaining his composure and moving to pack a few things.
“I’m sorry sweetheart,” he was saying to Ryan, who was groggy and sleepy in the passenger seat. He absolutely hated having to drag her out of bed like this so late at night, but he was always too nervous to leave her at home alone and this wasn’t something that could wait. He had to take care of it tonight. Arriving at Kendell’s house he took her inside and got her comfortable, he was relieved when she fell right back to sleep and he turned to his friend, pulling her into a hug, “I can’t thank you enough, I shouldn’t be more than a few hours.” He felt that guilt in the pit of his stomach, knowing that she would never let him leave if she knew what he was about to do, but it had to be done.
He left the house and was back in his car, making quick work of his drive to an abandoned warehouse. Inside the warehouse were several of his moonies, all quietly talking amongst themselves and they looked up as he approached. They parted at his arrival, showing that in the center there was a male tied to a chair, his mouth covered and Kellan stopped once he was in front of him. He crouched down, shaking his head with a sigh as he rubbed a tattooed hand at his jawline. “I’m really disappointed in you. We might be criminals, but we have some human decency, at least. Has that not always been the rule around here?” He ripped the tape off his mouth without bothering to be gentle and perked a questioning brow, “Well, what do you have to say for yourself?”
“Kellan please, don’t do this I didn’t —“ the male sputtered in a panic and he cut him off, putting up a hand and speaking over him, “Just kidding, I don’t give a fuck. We don’t give fuck ups like this a free pass. You know, I hate this. But you’ve left me no choice.” Pulling the gun from the back of his pants he turned off the safety and fired, the bullet landing it’s target right between his eyes. They flew wide and then he slumped forward, blood starting to flow freely from the wound. Kellan shook his head, internally he was struggling to remember that he actually was a good person. A caring and protective father, a friend, someone who helped people in need. He was decent. But here, with a dead body in front of him he felt he was losing sight of that.
Turning from the sight he spoke to the group, “You can all go home. I’ll take care of this.” At least he was man enough to clean up his own messes, not make others do the dirty work for him. He waited until hey were all gone and took his phone from his pocket. Dialing a number he put it to his ear, pinning it between his cheek and shoulder as he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He cupped the flame from his lighter with his free hand and inhaled until the tip flamed with embers. He inhaled a deep drag and took the phone with his hand again, speaking into it as the other line picked up. “Hey, it’s Kellan, I need housekeeping.”