6.
A man in black and a man in gray sat in the kitchen of a house with two dead bodies. And more dead bodies were to follow.
“She fell for you, kid,” said Monte.
“She did.”
“You did as well,” added Monte.
“I know,” agreed Dwayne.
“It hurts, doesn't it, kid?”
Dwayne doesn't say anything.
“Well, are you gonna say something, or are you gonna sit there with that sad, pathetic look on your face?” said Monte. “To tell you the truth, it doesn't look good on you.”
“To tell you the truth, it does hurt,” said Dwayne.
He looks at Monte.
“But the pain of losing her is nothing to the realization that you would turn on me,” he said. “I never imagined that the man who should’ve been my father would send me to the gallows.”
“But I'm not your father,” said Monte. “I never was, and I never wanted to be. The truth of the matter is that I saw potential in you as an asset to me down the road. In many ways, you proved to be very valuable to both Harvey and me. The truth is that I didn't kill your mother because she was a danger to you, which she was, for the record. There's no denying that.”
“Then why did you kill her?”
“Good question, kid,” said Monte. “Well, your mother wanted to get clean and take you back. Now, did I think she would've been capable of sobering up? No, but there was always a chance of me being wrong. She would be an obstacle to you getting into the business. And it was the business that sent your old man to the gallows.”
“What are you talking about?” said a confused Dwayne. “My old man walked out on me when I was little. My mom said so.”
“Yeah, she did tell you that,” said Monte. “She told you that because you were too young to know that your old man didn't walk out on you, but he is gone.”
“What do you mean?”
“I grew up with your old man,” said Monte, “and we went into the business together. He was ambitious like you, but unlike you, he was a screw-up. And you know what the business does to screw-ups. There's no place for them. And it fell on me to let him go.”
“You're lying.”
“Am I, kid?” said Monte. “Look at my face and tell me. Am I lying?”
Dwayne looks into his face and sees that he isn't lying.
Everything he had believed about his father and his surrogate father was all a lie.
“You know I'm not lying to you,” said Monte. “You've known me long enough to tell when I'm lying to you, and this ain't it. Now, your mom knew the truth behind your old man’s death. She even knew that I had a hand in it, and she didn't take it well. That was when she became a junkie, which didn’t help you. But I kept my eye on you both. And while your mom was a dead woman walking, I saw what it did to you, and I took notice. There was the truth when Nietzsche said that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It was making you strong. I saw that. It was no coincidence that you found me in that watch shop the day you tried to hold it up. I followed you there, and had I not, you would have been killed since that store was one of the fronts for the business. It was because of me that you were kept alive and because of me that you were able to get into the business the way you did. Your mom had enough sense left in her to see what I was doing toward the end. She threatened to tell you that I had a hand in letting your old man go. That was when she had to go. Otherwise, I would have lost you for good. And knowing you, it would have been a matter of time before you'd move to kill me when you got a little older. So, you see, kid, you are who you are because of me. I made you, and now I'm going to kill you. So, in a way, we have come full circle.”
“Like that?”
“Yeah, kid,” said Monte. “Like that. But that doesn’t mean I’ll like it more than you will.”
“That’s unless I kill you first,” said Dwayne. “I am armed, as much as you are.”
“That's true.”
“And you taught me everything I know about killing.”
“That's true as well,” said Monte. “But I've been in this game longer than you.”
“But that's not what it's gonna come down to.”
“You're right,” said Monte. “You see, what we have here is a Star Wars moment. You know what I mean?”
“That cantina sequence between Han Solo and that green guy comes to mind.”
“Yeah, what was that green guy’s name?” Monte tried to remember. “Come on, your knowledge of bullshit is better than mine.”
“Greedo.”
“Yeah, that's right, Greedo, but I'm confused.”
“Why's that?”
“You see, when I saw it back in 77 as a kid, it was Han Solo that shot first. But when Lucas changed it later on in the '90s, Greedo shot first.”
“The question is, which of us is gonna shoot first?”
“Exactly,” said Monte. “Now, as much as I've enjoyed this kid, we gotta wrap it up pretty soon. The cleaning crew will be here any minute now to give three bodies a send-off.”
“Wouldn't want to keep them waiting now, do we? So let's settle this.”
“Yeah, let’s do that,” said Monte.
They go for their guns and both men manage to get their guns pointed and aimed at each other’s chests. Neither of them shoots, though, when they see that they have each other in a kill shot at close range.
They both laugh.
“Looks like we’re both facing down the reaper,” said Dwayne. “We could end up going together,”
“Well, we all gotta go sometime,” said Monte. “Why not now?”
They both laugh some more.
Two shots are fired.
One from each gunman.
One man limped out of the kitchen into the living room with a fatal wound.
He dropped his gun before leaving the kitchen.
It was Monte.
He fell to his knees.
His wound was mortal.
As the rain continued to pour down outside, the doorbell rang.
“Charlie, come in… I need a doctor… right now…”
The front door opens, and a lone man in white enters the house, drenched from the rain. He is tall and handsome. Upon entering, he leaves the door open and stops halfway to Monte, looking down at Monte and shaking his head.
“You don't look so good, Monte,” he said. “I'd say you're slipping.”
It was Flynn.
“What are you doing here, Flynn?” struggles Monte. “Where's Charlie and the cleanup crew…? I need a doctor…”
“I can see Little Abner over there,” said Flynn. “Where's Dwayne and Daisy Mae?”
“They're in the kitchen dead,” said Monte. “I need a doctor…”
Flynn shakes his head.
He smiles.
It was the smile of the devil.
“From where I'm standing, I don't think a doctor is gonna help you one damn bit,” said Flynn. “Besides, we got some business to settle before we get to brass tacks.”
“What business?” coughed Monte. “What are you talking about?”
“Your retirement.”
“Why are you here? Where's Charlie? I thought you were with your dad.”
“You missed his retirement,” said Flynn, “but don't worry, you'll be joining him any minute now by the looks of you.”
That is when it dawns on Monte.
“What did you do?”
Flynn laughs.
“What did you do?”
“It's simple,” said Flynn. “We are in charge of the business now.”
“And who's we?”
“My woman and I.”
“Your woman?”
“My woman.”
Flynn turns around to look at the front door.
“Come on in, baby,” called Flynn.
A good-looking woman in a soaked red satin dress and high heels, reeking of high-maintenance, stepped inside.
It was Lacey.
“Lacey?” said a surprised Monte. “What did you do, boy?”
“It's easy to understand,” said Flynn. “My woman and I had a plan of our own all along. I instructed Lacey to start the affair with Little Abner the moment I learned of his wife’s affair with Dwayne. I made it easy for Dwayne to find out about Lacey. Dwayne and Daisy Mae would make a move to rub off Little Abner and put Lacey in the doghouse with him. Dwayne would take care of Little Abner, while you would take care of both Dwayne and Daisy Mae. Meanwhile, while you are thinking I am taking care of Lacey, the reality is that she and I were taking care of my dad. Once we took care of my dad, Lacey and I would come here to take care of you. We then wait for Charlie and his crew to get here to give you all the last send-off. I gain control of the business with my woman at my side. The end.”
Monte shakes his head and chuckles.
“Good luck, ‘cause you're gonna need it.”
Monte then collapses on the living room floor, dead.
Flynn looks down at Monte’s corpse with glee and turns to take Lacey in his arms.
“We did it, baby,” he said. “And you played your part well.”
She moves to kiss him. But instead of a kiss, she receives a shot in the gut. Near death, she gasps her last few breaths to say one word.
“Why…?”
“You still banged another guy, and I don't wanna think about that, you know?” said Flynn. “Besides, there will always be another.”
She mutters one final word before succumbing to death.
“Bastard.”
Flynn laughs as he looks down at her.
“And it would've been sooner or later that you would've killed me to take the business for yourself,” he added. “That I can't abide by one damn bit.”
Flynn laughs some more as he turns around to face the front door. He is both cocky and overconfident.
“That was easy,” he said. “Like that Walter Hill movie.”
He freezes at the sound of a gun cocking behind him that follows with a voice.
It was Dwayne. He was near death, but with enough life left in him for one last kill.
“You got that right,” said Dwayne. “I saw that movie too, Flynn. I'd say that'd make me Bruce Willis at this angle…”
“And me, Christopher Walken?” said a disappointed Flynn. “Damn, I should've checked the kitchen to see if you were dead. Say, Dwayne, before we go any further with what comes next, we can work something out..”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, I mean, you wouldn't shoot a man in the back now, would you?”
“I’ve done worse…”
Dwayne shoots Flynn in the back with the remaining four shots, and watches Flynn fall on his face, dead beside Lacey. Dwayne drops his gun and falls to the ground, where he begins to die but not before getting the last laugh.
“Han shot first…,” he says before succumbing to death.
He was the last.
The house had succumbed to a deathly silence.
Six dead bodies.
And the house stank of death.