Battle-Hardened, War Weary Ch. 03

"Kali—

"He had begun to attack me," she had spoken, after the moment of quietness. Her voice was trembling. "He grabbed me by my neck and then he punched me in my face. I... I didn't defend myself—

She had broken down and started to cry. Witnessing her crying did nothing but add fuel to the already raging inferno that was his anger. Mustering all of the tenderness that he had, he walked over to his goddaughter and placed his hands on her shoulders and held a grip there. It was his way of comforting her.

"It's not that you didn't defend yourself because you didn't want to, Kali. You just couldn't" he informed her. Her eyes drifted back to his face.

"He attacked me and slammed me into the wall..." Then she pointed to the wall that he was just leaning on. "... Over there and I fell to the floor. He stood over me and began to punch me in the face again. It was during this time when the bathroom door was kicked open. It was Patrick—

"Patrick, who is Patrick? Is that the kid's name, the person who is standing outside?"

She nodded her head as tears fell from her face. "Yes. He defended me by fighting Carlo off of me. After Carlo left the basement, he stayed with me. He was the one who gave me the towel and he sat here and talked to me. Then Ryan had shown up and started acting like an ass. He wanted the kid to leave, but Patrick stayed. He stood up for me. Then you had shown up."

Jack squatted and sat on his haunches, in front of her. He stared into her eyes. "Do you want to press charges on Carlo?"

She shook her head. "No, I just want him to leave me alone" she reported. Then she muttered under her breath, "I actually want the both of them to leave me alone."

'I wonder what she means by that,' Jack wondered. "The only way that you can be certain that Carlo doesn't bother you is by pressing charges against him and filing a restraining order against him."

"The last thing I want to do is to let that monster know where I live," she said before dabbing at her cut. "Even though I've never believe the rumors about him, I don't want to tempt fate."

"What rumors?" he asked.

"When we were kids, he used to tell us that his dad was connected. You know... Like mafia-connected" she informed Jack, who in turn, laughed. Kali threw Jack a look that read 'Why are you laughing and what is so funny?'

Jack caught the look and gone on to explain. "Trust me, darling, when I say this: If this asshole was involved with the mob in any way, he would not be hanging out with Ryan Whittler and Danny" Jack chuckled. "Even if his father was known for not paying traffic tickets and running red lights, he would've not been friends with Ryan Whittler and Danny. The Whittler Family and my brother are so gung-ho about preserving their positive reputations that they will go to the extremes to maintain it, especially my brother." Jack continued to laugh.

"Is that the reason why you and your brother aren't close? Is it because of me, as well as, you being with Harriet?" Kali asked her unofficial godfather. Jack's laughter died down. He gave her a small smile and then glanced away. Kali knew that she had struck a nerve. She glanced down at her lap. "I'm sorry, Uncle Jack."

"Don't be, sweetheart" he told her. "Is this yours?" he asked her while producing a red dress in his hand. He found the dress lying beside the toilet.

"Yes, it's mine" she told him. She was handed the dress. She watched him rise to his feet.

"Okay, get dress and I will take you to the hospital to get stitched up" he announced.

Alarmed of having to be interrogated by more police officers, she glared at him. "Uncle Jack, I can't go to the hospital! They are going to ask about my lip! They are going to bring the police in!"

"I'll have an excuse about your lip, don't worry" he assured her. He traveled over to the door. He opened the door and as he crossed the threshold, he told her to get dress. He closed the door behind him.

Now, Jack was standing in the wine cellar portion of the basement. He felt as if he had just walked in on a Mexican Stand-Off. Ryan was sitting on a barrel that was in front of one wall while Patrick the Waiter was standing across the room, in front of another wall. Both men were glaring at each other. The tension was so thick inside of the room that it caused goose pimples to rise up on Jack's forearms.

Jack traveled over to Patrick. It was only then when the kid's cornflower blue eyes focused on someone else. The stance that he had taken had lost a considerable amount of tension. Jack clasped a hand on the waiter's shoulder, in a show of solidarity. "All right Patrick, you can go back to work, son" Jack told the younger man, in a low voice. Patrick's eyes widen a bit.

'I think the kid thought that he might have been arrested,' Jack concluded.

"I'm not going to leave her down here with that asshole over there" Patrick said to him with a small but intense voice.

"I'm not going to leave her alone with him either. But you have to go; after all, you're still on the clock, son."

"Fuck this job" Patrick proclaimed.

Jack smiled. He hasn't met too many men in his life that had honorable intentions. This kid has managed to make the list in under a span of fifteen minutes. 'He will make a woman happy someday.'

"I don't want to leave her alone!"

"Don't worry, Patrick, she won't be alone," assured Jack. The two men stood in front of each other and glared. The two men had their own standoff for a moment. Ryan was totally ignored. Eventually, Patrick had relented.

"Promise me that he won't be alone with her. From what she told me, he has been abusing her for months" Patrick informed him.

Jack's eyes narrowed while his head tilted slightly. 'Ryan is the asshole that has been putting his hands on her?' His anger was reaching astronomical levels. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, with his voice becoming dangerously tense. The façade that he was wearing was now cracking.

The sudden shift in Jack's attitude did not go unnoticed by Patrick. The young man was now nervous. He blinked his eyes a few times and he shifted his weight around. He stared at the police detective for a few more seconds before answering. "She told me that he..." His eyes shifted a sign of his nervousness. "She told me that he forces her to have sex with him. She said that he blackmails her into having sex with him. She didn't tell me what he has hanging over her head, but she told me that he's been forcing her though."

Jack stared at the waiter for a full minute. He didn't say anything to him. He just observed the other man. There was an intensity held in his eyes that scared Patrick. Then suddenly, it was gone. Jack blinked his eyes and the menace was gone. "Well thank you for your information, Patrick. I appreciate it." He reached out for a handshake.

Reluctantly, Patrick had shaken the older man's hand. "You're welcome, Sir" he said to the officer, with a small smile. He let out a sigh of relief, once the older man had released his hand. "Um, Sir, can you please tell Kali that if she wants help that I will be more than happy to help her?" Patrick really meant that promise.

Jack Logan nodded his head. "I promise to tell her, son. Now, go on back to work. I don't want you to get in trouble with your boss." He watched the kid nod his head. Then, he witnessed the kid glare at the object that was lounging on a barrel, across the room.

'You better pray asshole that you and I will never see each other again,' Patrick thought as he glowered at Ryan.

The asshole still sat on the barrel. He held a smug expression on his face that made Patrick want to knock it off. Then Patrick had taken a glance at Jack Logan, the police officer. He knew two things about the officer that was not mentioned. The first one was the fact that the officer knew Kali on a personal level. He figured this out as soon as he heard the officer call her 'Kali Doreen'. The second thing was the fact that Jack Logan was barely containing his anger and he knew that this Ryan cat was going to be the one who will suffer from it.

Patrick had taken a few reluctant steps away from the detective. He gave the officer, Ryan and the closed bathroom door one final glance, before he made an exit out of the wine cellar. As he climbed up the stairs, he thought, 'I hope that motherfucker suffers tonight.'

Ryan Whittler was confident. He knew that everything will work itself out. The waiter was going to take the fall for the assault that happened to Kali. He didn't care or feel guilty about framing a guy for the crime.

'It serves him right,' he thought. 'It'll teach him the lesson of not minding his business.'

Even though Carlo was not going to be charged with the crime, it didn't mean that Carlo wasn't going to be in the clear. He knew that Carlo had to suffer the consequences for attacking Kali. He just needed to figure out what he wanted to do to his friend.

He watched Jack shake hands with the waiter. 'What the fuck?' The younger and shorter man exchanged glares with him. Then the kid walked away from Jack and proceeded to leave the basement. 'What the fuck had just happened? Why the fuck did that asshole just leave? What the fuck? What had just happened? Why did Jack didn't arrest him?' He glared at the bathroom's door. 'Kali, what the fuck did you tell Jack? What the fuck did you do, you bitch?' Ryan hopped off of the wooden barrel and strutted over to where Jack was standing.

"Why did you let that piece of shit go?"

Jack heard the inquiry spoken from behind him. First, he glanced over his left shoulder and watched Ryan walked his svelte frame over. Then, Jack turned his whole body around, so now he was facing him.

"He has put his hands—

Ryan didn't receive the chance to finish his statement, because he was violently flung against a wall. His six foot-four inched frame crashed against the solid surface with a thud. There was pain in his neck, back and legs upon impact. A thick, bright white light flashed before his pale green eyes. There was a thud and a sharp pain in the back of his skull, as the back of his head was slammed against the wall. Another white, bright light shone in front of his eyes while his head as it was forced against the wall.

"AARRRGGGHHH" Ryan screamed as the pain radiated in his skull. His loud cry was cut short when he felt a thick and solid object pressed against his throat. The object pressed deeper into his throat while slightly crushing his windpipe. "UUUUURRRRRGGGGHHH!" he gagged as the oxygen was leaving his body.

Ryan's eyes had opened. He saw the face of Detective Jack Logan. He appeared to be enraged. His face was the color of full-bloomed rose. His eyes bulged. A thin layer of sweat covered his face. His jaw was clenched. He was panting. Ryan could feel his face being fanned by Jack's breath.

"Jack" he gasped. "Help—

"Shut the hell up, you sick son of a bitch" growled Jack Logan. Both rows of his teeth were clenched shut. "Once I am done with you, you are going to leave this house! How dare you bring that asshole into my family's home! You fucking piece of shit, I should put a bullet in your head right now! You listen to me and you better listen: you leave my family alone and that includes Kali! You go anywhere near her, I will gut you like the pig that you are and I will leave your worthless corpse on your grand-daddy's doorstep! Do you understand me?"

"Fuck you," gasped Ryan.

He tried to appear cocky and tough. He was unaware that he looked exasperated. His face was flushed and sweaty. His eyes were wide and alarmed.

As a gift for his attempt to appear arrogant, Ryan received a hard punch into his ribs. "AAAARRRGGGHH!" Ryan groaned loudly as he dealt with the harsh pain in his torso. The pain was so severe that his knees buckled.

Jack forced Ryan to straighten by slamming his body against the wall again. "Do you understand me?" he growled into Ryan's face. Ryan didn't respond to his question, so he gave the taller man a blow to his gut. He felt the younger man dip a little as he groaned. Jack used the wall as a weapon by slamming Ryan's back against the unrelenting surface. He heard the man groan loudly. He watched Ryan's body about to crumple. He released Ryan's jacket and grabbed his throat. He slammed him against the wall again. "I will kill you," he growled into his face. "Or better yet, I will wait until you're riding in that fancy ass Lamborghini of yours and I'll have two officers place you under arrest for possession!"

'You wouldn't dare,' Ryan thought. He continued to glare at the detective with intense hatred. "You're bluffing" accused Ryan with a snarl.

"Really, you really think that I am bluffing? Try me, Whittler, and you will see..." Jack glared at the younger man. "And I am not worried about your grandfather either. I think your old grand-daddy will be too embarrassed to help your sorry ass! He's been trying hard to pick up the pieces after all of the scandal that he has been going through!"

'MOTHERFUCKER!' screamed Ryan's mind. Ryan tried to lunge at Jack, but the older man was stronger. The hold on Ryan's neck kept his upper body close to the wall.

"...He won't help your ass and then you will have to deal with the fellas in the pen. I'm sure that the Bull-Sisters will love your ass. You look like their type: sweet and sensitive" Jack teased.

"Jack, I'm ready to go now."

The statement caused the older man to calm down. The declaration had come from the second sweetest voice that he's ever heard. The first voice used to belong to his late wife, Harriet. Jack glanced over at the bathroom. Kali stood by the doorway. She wore her dress. He made a bet with himself that if he saw her earlier tonight at the party, she would've looked very pretty in her outfit. He noticed how she continued to keep the towel on her wound. In her other hand, she held the shirt that she was recently wearing. Jack watched her gaze at the both of them. She held an expression of marvel.

Kali could not believe her eyes. Jack Logan was manhandling The Ryan Whittler as if he was a two-bit thug. For Kali, she thought Ryan was untouchable. He was wealthy. He was a descendant from a powerful family, which made him powerful indirectly. She had witnessed firsthand how powerful and crafty Ryan was. She saw how he managed to get out troublesome situations, unscathed because all he did was mention his family's name.

Now, she saw Ryan looking weak, pathetic and more importantly, she saw that he was just another human being. His pale face was now ruddy with exertion. His red, shoulder-length hair was disarrayed. His dark, tailored suit was rumpled. She knew that the mentioning of his family's name cannot get him out of this predicament. From the way her godfather looked at the moment, Ryan's last name definitely wouldn't get him out of the ass whipping that he was about to receive. Then, she realized that she has been emerged in this society for far too long and she needed a new social circle.

She saw Jack released Ryan's neck. He made a few backward steps while still glaring at the man before him. Ryan let out a few coughs. She watched Ryan straighten out his suit's jacket. He stared at her godfather during the entire time. Unexpectedly, Jack had struck Ryan's nuts with one of his knees. She listened to Ryan groaned in pain and watched him drop to his knees. With the sounds of Ryan's coughing playing in the background, Jack walked over to her. He held out his right hand to her.

"Let's go, darling."

Jack escorted Kali up the basement's stairs and into the kitchen. She wished that there was another exit out of the Tolley residence, because she felt embarrassed. She spotted Patrick inside of the kitchen. He sat in a corner of the large room. When his eyes settled on her, they lit up with excitement. He traveled to where she stood. There was a brief exchange between the two individuals. She thanked the waiter for his help. He offered his help. She thanked him once again and then gave the man his shirt back. In return, he gave her a slip of paper and informed her to call him, if she needed help.

After her encounter with Patrick, she proceeded to walk with Jack to the foyer of the house. Her embarrassment grew even more as she walked through the mobs of party-goers and she saw the horrified looks on their faces. She heard their murmurs and statements about her as she passed.

'Oh, I wish I could just become invisible,' she thought as she strolled down the corridor that led to the foyer.

By the time they reached their destination, the Tolleys were waiting for them, along with Daniel and Mary Anne. Once Mary Anne saw her friend and the bloodied towel, she ran over to Kali.

"Oh my God Kali, what happened to your face?" Mary Anne shrieked in horror.

"Mary Anne, she'll be all right. She managed to trip on one of the stairs as she was going down them. The blood is from a gash that she has on her top lip. She is going to need stitches, so I am going to take her to a hospital" informed Jack.

Kali's eyes focused on Daniel. He was standing by the entryway of the living room. His face appeared stoic, but his eyes spoke volumes. She could see his anger. He reminded her of his Uncle Jack with his ability to mask his anger. She diverted her attention to Mr. and Mrs. Tolley, who now stood in front of her.

Mrs. Tolley's face held a look of concern. "Jack, she doesn't need to go to the hospital for that!" The smaller woman turned to her husband. "Marcus, could you--?"

"Sure, of course I can give her lip the stitches" Mr. Tolley informed them all. His dark brown eyes stared down at Kali. "Would you like for me to give you the stitches, Kali?"

She felt Jack clasp onto her shoulders. "Would you like for Mr. Tolley to give you your stitches?" she heard him ask. She glanced over her right shoulder at Jack for a second before she turned her attention to Mr. Tolley. She nodded her head.

"All right, come with me Kali," Mr. Tolley said with a smile.

With Jack and Mary Anne in tow, Mr. Tolley escorted Kali away from the party atmosphere and up to the second level of their home. The small group of individuals entered the hallway. Mr. Tolley stood in head of the group and led the way to the darkened room that was at the end of the hallway.

"Kali, sweet baby, do you know why we're here?" Jackson asked her.

The handsome man had squatted down in front of Kali, so she could stare into his eyes. Kali's vision was blurry with tears, but she still could see his eyes. She thought that they looked scary now. The whites of his eyes were slightly pink. She thought that he was finally turning into the monster that hid inside of her new daddy.

"Kali, what did I tell you about those tears?" Jackson, her new daddy, said to her. He sounded very angry. Her new daddy was angry now. Her level of fear had increased. Her little body trembled. She her hands squeezed onto Christie. Suddenly, a bright light flashed before her eyes. She felt pain in her cheek and nose. The bright light disappeared and her vision returned. She saw Jackson's face again. His cheeks were pink. She saw that he put on his 'scary face'. He grabbed her left arm. Her squeezed her elbow and it hurt. She whimpered from the pain.

"Listen, you better fucking answer me, you fucking bitch!" he groaned at her. "Now, what-the-fuck did I say about those tears?"

Kali managed to cry out, "Our f-friends d-d-d-don't like them." She let out a few more cries. "I w-w-w-w-want to g-g-g-go home, daddy."

"Shut the fuck up, Kali" he ordered. "You'll go home after we finish up at this party. A lot of people are here to see you. Now let's go."

Jackson stood up to his full height. He pulled her towards him and then he roughly guided her out of the bathroom. She entered the dimly-lit hallway again that was filled with smoke and the funny smell. He still kept his hand on her arm. He was standing next to her. He glared at her. Kali saw that he was still angry. He gave her a warning. She didn't hear it because the music was too loud. He started to walk. He pulled on her. They walked down the dark hallway and into a brightly-lit room. Her vision was blinded by the light while her sense of sound was bombarded with the noise of raucous applause. Once her vision returned she saw that she was in a living room. There were a lot of people in the room. She silently counted. She only could count up to the number ten. She counted the best way that she could. She counted up to the number ten three times. All of the people were staring at her and Jackson. They were smiling at them.