Highsider Ch. 02

Author's Note: Here is the second part to the second series. My intention is still to keep this one going without having to reference the previous arc, but if you want to get a fuller understanding as to who the characters are then you can read Long Road.

This one should go pretty quick, I am not sure how long chapter wise I will make it but rest assured that the unpopular flashbacks from the previous story are gone, though I feel like the story suffers a little from it. Where I could use flashbacks to draw similarities between two separate timelines, I can completely understand where the confusion would come. Previously introduced characters will be brought back in later installments.

Like always, I appreciate the comments, the votes, and the continuing reading base that you have given me. Nothing makes a writer continue than seeing people enjoy their stories. I might try my hand at some comedy stories, but the complications I have had trying to get non-erotic stories published in this site have seriously made me reconsider that. Originally, I had planned to include the background of Daemon and Angel in another series, however issues with the content made it impossible.

For now I will continue this series, there is still a lot to tell.

Much love,

Aka_Mike

...

"Why is his car here?" I asked my mother, who's infamous meddling clearly continued.

"Because he's here," she replied dryly, "he just wants to talk to you. You don't know how hard it is for me to have to balance and juggle which one of my children is going to come and visit."

"Are you serious?" I asked, "mother, you know what he did to me! I would've be doing what I am doing if it wasn't for him!"

"It was an accident," she replied, panic and fear in her voice. Looking at Ann for support she continued, "he hasn't told you yet? I thought having both of them here would have at least made him tell you what happened."

"How could you think that?" Ann grabbed my arm, "and why would you involve me in this entire situation?"

"Because if you are going to be a part of this family," my mother said between sobs that I suspected were fake, "you need to know what happened."

"I told you not to meddle, mother," the ice and venom in my voice was not disguised, "I left for a reason: so that you could have your preferred son."

"That would be you, little brother," his voice broke the tension and replaced it with even more.

"Why are you here, Angel? Did you not get the idea yesterday that I did not want to see you?"

"I did," he replied as he smiled at Ann, "how are you darling?"

"Don't," I said as he tried to reach out for her, "don't fucking touch her. This is not my home, so I can't ask you to leave, but you people certainly can't force me to stay." I moved toward the door before Ann stopped me.

"I think its time for me to find out exactly what is going on here," she said. "I know I don't deserve it, but I think I should know what the hell is going on because it is clearly a big deal and your mother seems to think that you two need to clear the air."

I looked at my mother who had rushed to my brother's side, and letting a loud sigh of resignation I slowly nodded my head. Taking a seat in the table, I signaled for my brother to take the seat across from me. Ann sat beside me, while my mother sat next to my brother. "Do you really want to know? Even if what I am about to tell you will definitely change the way you look at me, even if it might change the way you feel about me?"

"Yes," Ann replied, taking my face into her hands, "and nothing could ever change the way I feel about you. If this is something that we have to face, I want to be able to face it together, with you."

"Well," I said looking at my brother, "why don't you get us started, brother." The venom returned to my voice.

"Ann," he began, ignoring the tone of my voice, "how much do you know about our family?"

"Just what I have seen and what little your mom has told me."

"You can divide our family right down the middle," he continued, "half of our family is the normal 9 to 5 kind of people. They have great lives, they marry, they become contributing members of society. Then there is the not so much side of the family."

"What does that mean?" Ann looked at me when she asked.

"That means they are criminals, darling," my brother answered. "For many years, our family has been involved with some high profile criminals within the cartels. Every generation, one family member is chosen to lead the family, they combine the riches we gather so that some of the children can make a life for themselves. Right now, I am the head of the family, our uncle passed on the reins a few years ago. But I wasn't supposed to be the one."

"It was supposed to be me," I finished the speech, "I was the one that was supposed to take over the family business." Ann looked at me in complete shock, "but just like my father before me, I chose not to take the position."

"Why?" Ann asked, "what made you decide that? Was it me?"

"No, darling," my brother chuckled as he answered, "he had decided this long before he met you. But meeting you, I'm sure helped convince him that his decision was the right one."

"Then what happened?" She had released my arm, I am sure she did not realize she had done that but that was something I hadn't missed.

"Since I was 8 years old," I began, "I was being modeled and tutored to learn the ins and outs of the business. What I thought were clever games were actually exercises developed to teach me the workings of how to be a criminal. They wanted a perfect leader, all I wanted was a childhood. But even then, what I wanted didn't matter a single bit. By the time I was 12, I was well adept at shooting a variety of different weapons with precision, what kind of boy does not want to play with guns? But again, what I thought were games were just training regiments.

"At 15, I started to notice how people acted around me. Always with some fear, sometimes with awe, respect even. But always fear, that was always the constant. My cousin Edgar was the one that made it clear that there was something going on, he would always stick with me every time we went out. I asked him once why he was always there, he just said that it was his place to be there, he said it like a fact that I was supposed to understand just with that explanation."

"You see," Angel continued, "Edgar was the chaperon. He would always be at his side, if anything happened he had ways to contact any of us. You had the best life possible, but you walked away from it little a spoiled little child, all because of one tiny little thing."

"One tiny thing?!" I stood from my chair, startling everyone in the room. My brother reached into his coat for a second, before slowly drawing his hand away. "Even you, even now," I added, "you still fear me. Just like almost everyone in the family. But we both know it wasn't a 'tiny little thing,' brother. We both know what really happened."

"An accident," he said dismissively.

"You made me kill all those people!" I replied, a sudden and devastating silence filled the room as Ann reached out and covered her mouth in shock, again not realizing her actions were driving that dagger into my heart.

"It was an accident," he said, standing as well, "besides it made your reputation."

"It destroyed my life," I said, "can you possibly imagine what that kind of thing can do to the psyche of a fucking 15 year old? Can you possibly imagine that?"

"You're being dramatic," he said as he took his seat, "even now, you're still being nothing but a fucking immature child."

"I was a child!" I moved toward the refrigerator and grabbed one of the beers that were left from the previous night's festivities.

"You were a man," he said, "we made sure of that."

"How did you do that?" Ann spoke, looking at me and then moving her gaze at my brother.

"It doesn't matter," he continued, "what matters is that he could've done great by the family. He could've done more than anyone before us. Instead, he developed a conscience and threw it all away because of one accident."

"It wasn't an accident," I replied, "if it was an accident, brother, then why don't you tell Ann where our dear cousin Edgar is at this very moment?"

"He's dead," my mother spoke, looking at Ann, "he was stabbed to death in prison."

"And why did he end up going to prison, mother?" I asked, the anger slowly emerging.

"It doesn't matter," Angel continued, "his family is being cared for."

"Oh so you mean you are being a good son to his parents? You're being a good provider to a wife that doesn't exist? A good father to children that were never born?" I slammed by hands on the table as I continued, "tell her, brother, why did he have to die in prison?"

"Like I said," he continued, "it was an accident."

"What exactly happened?" Ann asked, looking into my eyes, "please tell me, baby. What happened?"

"One of the things we would do for the community was small little projects," I began, "sometimes it was helping an old lady plant a garden, sometimes it was routing electricity from one business to a home where they couldn't afford it. Doing that is kind of dangerous, you have to shut down the power to the block while you rewire the entire system. That way you can work with everything without risking electrocuting yourself.

"So it was not unusual for me to be climbing an electrical pole and wait for my brother here to give me the signal to start work. Edgar would go inside the house and set up the wiring inside while I did the wiring outside, once Edgar would be ready, he would signal my brother who would signal to me that it was good for me to turn the power back on. We had done it many times, I could rewire everything with my eyes closed. But this time, it was different, it didn't seem different then, but in hindsight, there were signals that I was too young to see then. The house we were rewiring was empty when Edgar went in, the job would take longer waiting for the people to actually get there.

"Angel simply said it was going to be a surprise for them to walk into their home and discover that they had electricity, it seemed plausible at the time. Edgar took longer inside the house than necessary, but again it was something that I didn't realize until much later. When the people came back to the house, my brother still did not give me the signal. When more and more cars began piling outside the house and more people were entering, he still did not give me the signal. Once cars stopped showing up, he finally did."

"It was an accident," my mother said this time, "how could anyone have known..."

"Have known what, mother? That people would bring children to a party? He knew, mother," I said pointing at Angel, "he fucking knew, and he still made me do it."

"Do what?" Ann asked.

"When he gave me the signal, I connected the wires, and started to make my way down from the pole. Then, the house..."

"The police found that there was a gas leak inside the house," my brother continued, "when they turned on an appliance in the house, the accumulated gas inside the house caused a spark in a faulty wire which ignited the entire place."

"No," I said, "you had Edgar create the gas leak. You had Edgar strip the wires so that there would be a spark. You had me be the detonator."

"You sound just like the investigators," he said, "you know it was an accident."

"If it was," I added, "then tell me again why Edgar went to prison? Why did you and I? Why was he the only one that got convicted while you and I walked away?"

"Because it was his fault," Angel continued, "he was the one that messed up the wiring, he was the one that did not notice he had accidentally cracked a gas line and flooded the entire house in gas. It was an accident."

"Yet I still killed 24 men, women, and children. Faces that still haunt me to this day, voices that speak to me in my waking hours, tell me brother how do they sound to you? If they even still do." I looked at Ann before I continued, "we turned ourselves in, the police did their investigation. We were given community service for illegally tampering with the city electrical system, but Edgar got 24 counts of murder in the second degree. A month into his sentence, he was stabbed in the showers, no witnesses."

"It was a tragedy," my brother continued, looking at Ann as he said this, "the investigation was bullshit."

"Yeah it was," I added, "we should've gone to prison as well. Instead, here we are, sitting and talking while all those lives are gone. That's why I joined, Ann, that's why I became a Medic. So that I could do some good for someone, a way to repay a crime I committed because I trusted the wrong person. I trusted that my own brother would have the best intentions for me, and instead he turned me into a fucking trigger."

"Yet that trigger became well known and feared," he continued, "Daemon and Angel, we became legends overnight because of a tragedy. People began to fear us even more, made business easier to handle when our competitors thought that we would go that far to ensure our business associations."

"You made a circus out of a tragedy," I added, "what made you think that I would possibly agree to any of that?" Looking at my mother I continued, "why would I possibly want to have anything to do with a man that treats his own blood that way? But still, it has to be your way, mother, regardless of what anyone could possibly think or feel, it has to be your way. Well there you have it, mother, we had our little sit down. We told Ann the story of why my brother and I can't and will never be in the same room ever again. Do you feel better about yourself, mother?"

"We can look past this and just be a family," my brother said, "nothing with the family business, just brothers. Family. She looks like a good woman," he said looking at Ann, "and our mother deserves some peace of mind in this whole thing."

"You know, mother" I said as I emptied the beer in my hand, "you don't have to worry about juggling between which one of your sons comes to visit. Once I leave, you won't have to worry about that ever again," before anyone could say anything I continued, "I'll be leaving, and trust me I won't be coming back. Angel, I would appreciate if you don't come by for the next few weeks until I leave, after that, feel free to visit whenever you'd like. If for some reason I ever have the need to come into town, I will make sure that you are informed as to where I will be and for how long so that we don't 'accidently' run into each other.

"But trust me, if I even feel a set of eyes in my back from anyone in the family I will become very upset. If I am upset, there will be very little anyone can do to stop me from coming after you, like you said you did a great job building my reputation. As of this moment, you and I are brothers by name only. Next time I expect to see you will be at our parent's funerals, your children are welcomed to reach out to me if they ever need anything."

"This isn't what I wanted," my mother said, crying openly this time, "I just wanted you two to get together and talk so that we could become normal again."

"I told you not to get in the middle of it," my father's voice broke the tension, his hands full with grocery bags. As I moved to help him, he continued, "and I told you to leave Ann out of it. I am sorry you have to bear this burden, girl. You should not have gotten involved in it, but of course my wife does not listen to anyone but herself." Turning to Angel, he continued, "son, you are always welcome in this home, but I think you should leave for now."

"Yeah, pops," he stood and embraced our mother, "I understand." Walking toward me, he extended his hand, "I'm glad you are here. You are looking good, brother. I only hoped that we could put this behind us."

As I shook his hand, I continued, "I'll walk you outside." Turning to my father, I made it clear that what I was going to say next was meant for only Angel's ears. As we stepped outside, I could see that the same car and driver were waiting for him, "listen, Angel, I will do my best to keep whatever peace we can between us. But do not test me, do not reach out to me, and do not think that I want to come back to the business. I want nothing to do with it." Shaking his hand again, I added, "may I never see you again."

"For what it's worth, brother," he said holding back tears of his own, "I am sorry. She is a hell of a woman, take good care of her."

"I know," I said, "and I will."

...

"I was half expecting to see blood somewhere in the floor" my father said as he walked towards our hiding spot. My mother was not aware that I smoked, and was under the impression that my father had quit smoking a few years back. In fact, I was the only one that knew he smoked, a secret we shared gladly. "I'm sorry, son. I told her not to try to do this, but you know your mother."

"Yeah," I said as I took a drag out of the cigarette, "I didn't think she would go this far, though. How is Ann?"

"What do you expect?" He said, "she's in shock. It's not an easy story to take in, you know? But she loves you, son, she'll come around. It wasn't your fault, the courts and the families both know this, you seem to be the only one blaming yourself."

"It's hard not to, dad," I continued, my thoughts interrupted by the sound of the front door being opened. "I think this one is for you, want me to hold your cigarette?"

"No, son," he added as he threw it away, "I think it's for you." We both looked at Ann looking for us, "let her tell you what she thinks, don't make up her mind for her."

"I think its time you and I had a word, don't you?" She said as she moved towards us, "and I will definitely need one of your cigarettes, while I assume you'll need this" she pulled a six pack of beers from seemingly nowhere.

Taking one of them, I asked, "what do you need to talk about?"

"Was it really an accident, or do you really think that your brother organized it?"

"When we were in court," I began, "all the evidence pointed to it being an accident. But if you knew my brother and the way he thinks, everything with him is a long series of preparations. He is nothing if not methodical and precise. I wouldn't put it past him to have planned this as some sort of payback or warning for someone, somewhere."

"Then why do you blame yourself?"

"Because I connected those wires," I replied, "I caused the explosion. I pulled the trigger, even if I didn't know that I was handling a loaded weapon, it is still my fault."

"You know," she added, "this explains a whole lot of things about you."

"I'm sorry you got thrown in the middle of this, but yeah I guess it does."

"Now I understand why you said you had cheated on me when that girl kissed you, and why you reacted the way you did when I fucked that guy."

"Yeah," I replied, this was not a conversation I wanted to have but I knew that it had to happen.

"So what do we do now?"

"How do you feel about what you learned?"

"You have been carrying this weight for years, a weight of guilt you don't deserve. If anything, it just makes you look like you have integrity. If you thought you would get rid of me with that story, sorry buster but you have failed. I'm even more crazy about you." She leaned and kissed me softly in the lips, "but your mom is devastated."

"I don't really care," I replied, "she eventually needs to learn to stop meddling and that not everything can work out the way she wants it. Some things cannot be fixed."

"She meddled between us," Ann said as she leaned and kissed me again, "that's gotta count for something."