Free Twisted Pieces by London Casey, Karolyn James Page A

Let
me do this alone, ” Jace
said to Blaine. “ I need to
talk to the kid. It's better if you just wait. For legal reasons. ”
    “ Just
don ’ t kill him …”
    “ Again,
Blaine, don ’ t fucking tell
me what to do. ”
    Jace climbed off his motorcycle. He
took his helmet off and then he slowly walked over to the kid and stood there,
looking down at him. Jacob ’ s
nose and lip were bloody. His shirt stretched from being pulled at. His perfect
hair was messy too.
    “ Where ’ s your father? ” Jace asked.
    “ I
don ’ t know. Working. He
always works. ”
    “ Your
name is Jacob, right? ”
    “ Yeah. ”
    “ Your
father is a judge, right? ”
    “ Yeah.
Why do you think that just happened? ”
    “ That
was because your father ’ s a
judge? ”
    Jacob nodded. He sat up and wiped
blood off his lip. “ That
bigger guy is Dan. He was arrested for underage DUI last summer. My dad was the
judge on his case. He had bad history with Dan's dad, so my dad took it out on
Dan. ”
    “ And
now Dan takes it out on you. ”
    “ Yeah. ”
    Jace laughed. Funny how justice
worked for some.
    Jace put a hand out and Jacob took
it. He pulled the kid to his feet. “ Do
you know who I am? ”
    “ No.
Why? ”
    “ Are
you afraid of me? ”
    “ Yeah.
I ’ m afraid of everything. ”
    “ Why? ”
    “ Because
I don ’ t have a gavel and
power. My father does. Nobody can touch him. And I get to suffer for it. ”
    “ I
came here to kill you, ” Jace said.
    Jacob's eyes widened and he tensed
up. He tried to step back, but Jace was right there with him.
    “ What
did I do to you? ” Jacob
asked.
    “ Nothing.
That ’ s just part of the
problem here. ”
    “ My
father … ? ”
    “ Yeah. ”
    “ Fuck. ”
    Jace laughed. “ That ’ s a powerful word for a young kid. ”
    “ I
don ’ t give a fuck, ” Jacob said. “ How ’ s that? ”
    Jace gritted his teeth. “ You going to keep getting your
ass kicked? Or are you going to eventually man up and fight back? ”
    “ There
were five of them. ”
    “ I
don ’ t care if there were
ten. You fight the fuck back, kid. Goddammit. You ran from that school like a
baby. And you ran right into their trap. ”
    “ You
were following me? ”
    Jace reached out and put his hand
to Jacob ’ s shoulder. His
original plan was to twist his neck, but nothing was going according to plan
lately.
    “ I
know everything, kid. Don ’ t
fucking say stupid things. Tell me, do you want to be a bitch your entire life? ”
    “ No. ”
    “ Then
fight back. That kid … Dan?
He ’ s a pussy. You hit him
once in the nose, he ’ d go
down crying. Then watch the rest of his buddies help him. ”
    “ And
if I hit him and it does nothing? ”
    “ Then
you get your ass kicked. But you fight while it happens. You make damn sure to
leave your mark on them. Do you know why? ”
    “ Why? ”
    “ Because
the next time they want to fuck with you, they ’ ll
stop and think about it. They ’ ll
move on. I promise you. ”
    “ And
what if they kill me? ”
    Jace smiled. “ Then you died fighting. And
nothing matters more than that. It's always better to die with pride than to
live like a pussy."
    “ Like
my father? ” Jacob asked and
grinned.
    “ You
don ’ t like him? ”
    “ I
hate him. I wish he was dead. ”
    Jace nodded. “ Good answer, kid. That may have
just saved your life. ”
    Jace pushed away from Jacob and
backed up.
    “ Wait
a second, ” Jacob said. “ Who are you? Why did you just
let me go? ”
    “ I
don ’ t know, ” Jace said. “ I don ’ t know who I am right now or why I let you go. But
I ’ m going to come back and
check on you, kid. You better start fighting. Right now. ”
    “ Are
you going to kill my father? ”
    “ I ’ ve thought about it. ”
    “ If
you do it, make sure you tell him I ’ m
happy he ’ s dead. I ’ ve never hated someone as much
as I hate him. ”
    “ Sounds
like a tough life, kid, ” Jace said.
    “ Yeah,
maybe. Guess it could