He dropped her hand and without any hesitation, swung around and hit me right in the eye and sent me slamming against the wall, making my body slide down to the ground from the sudden loss of balance.

Before I could stand, all I saw was Logan come charging down the alleyway, and I watched as he slammed his fist against his father’s jaw, knocking him to the ground. Sadie rushed over to me to help me stand. “Are you okay?” she asked, panicked, but I was fine, if not just shaken from the whole situation.

“I’m good, I’m good,” I said. My eyes fell to Logan who was standing over Ricky slamming his fists into his face over and over again. His eyes were hard, his stare cold, and he kept swinging.

“Logan, no!” I shouted. I yanked on his arm. His eyes were wild, the fire inside of him burning him to ashes.

Logan.

Lo.

My most painful low.

“Logan, that’s enough. He’s passed out. It’s okay.” I kept my voice gentle, trying not to show how scared I was. He went back to swing at his father, but I held onto his arm. “Look at me, Lo. Please,” I begged. “Logan, you are not him,” I promised, making him pause. “You are not him. You are not your father.”

He stopped.

“You’re okay, Logan Francis Silverstone,” I swore, tears falling down my cheek. “You’re okay. Give me your hand,” I ordered.

He took it.

I helped him up.

I watched his breathing slow as he climbed off of Ricky, and he stared at his bloody knuckles. I reached for his hands, but he yanked them away. His eyes fell to Sadie’s face, which was almost as bad as his father’s. “Shit,” he exhaled. “Come on,” he said, walking off. Sadie and I followed behind him as he led us to TJ’s doctor’s office.

After banging on the door, TJ came down in his pajamas and unlocked the door. “What the heck, Logan? It’s Sunday. Sunday is rest day.”

Logan didn’t say anything, but he stepped to his side, revealing Sadie and me.

“Shit,” TJ muttered. “Come in.”

We stayed there until we were all fixed up, and TJ checked on Sadie’s baby, who was thankfully okay. When we left, I told Sadie she could stay with me, but before she could reply, she received a text from Ricky.

Ricky: tell your hero that he’s going to pay for this. starting with his mom.

“Oh no,” I murmured, as Logan’s eyes widened with fear. “Call the cops.”

Chapter Forty-Three

Logan

Rushing to Ma’s apartment, I pushed the door open, my chest heaving. “Ma! Where is he?” I shouted. My heart almost stopped beating when I saw Ma on the ground, being kicked in the stomach repeatedly by the devil himself. I leapt at him and tossed him across the room with all my strength. I hurried to Ma’s side, trying to wake her up.

A snicker was heard behind me as he stood up. “Well isn’t this a grand family reunion? Don’t mind your mama there. She’s just taking a nap.”

I stood up and charged at him, wanting to tackle him to the ground, but I paused, hearing Alyssa in my head. You’re not your father.

“Just leave us alone, Ricky.” He looked a mess, as if he’s been using a lot of his own drugs.

“Not until I get Sadie back. You had your fun. Now give her back.” He hollered, walking toward me.

“Ricky…you need help, man.”

“Fuck off, asshole. Give me Sadie.”

“She’s not your property. She’s not going with you.”

He ran his hands through his hair, pulling on it out of anger. “I was there for you, boy! When you had nobody, I took you under my wing.”

“Getting me hooked on drugs? Yeah, how thoughtful of you.”

He rushed toward me and wrapped his hand around my neck, pressing our foreheads together. “You don’t talk to me any damn way you want, son.” Even though I wasn’t the tiny kid I used to be, Ricky was still much bigger than I was. He was even scarier when doped up, too. There was no telling what he’d do, but all I knew was I’d rather him do it to me than those two girls sitting in the car downstairs.

“Go home, Ricky. It’s over.”

“It’s over?” He pushed me away and then swung his fist into my eye. The pain that followed was hardcore. I stumbled backwards and tried not to fall, gripping the sagging sofa.

“I’m not going to fight you, Ricky,” I muttered, my fingers falling to my eye.

“Yes, you are,” he muttered, moving in and slamming his fist into my gut.

I felt the vomit rising up from my stomach, and I did my best to push it down. “No, I’m not.”

“Why not?” he asked, pushing me to the ground and slamming his foot into my stomach. “Why not? Because you’re weak? Because you can’t be a real man?” he screamed, kicking me repeatedly.

“No,” I muttered, spitting out the blood that was in my mouth. “Because if I did, I would be just like you.”

“I’m so tired of you,” he muttered, running his hands against his mouth before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a gun. “I’m tired of you interfering with my life. I’m tired of you stepping in between my situations. I’m tired of your face. So we’re just going to end this now.”

He pointed his gun toward me, and I shut my eyes, but when I heard the sound of the bullet, I felt nothing.

My eyes opened, and I saw the cops standing behind me, and Ricky lying on the floor, shot in the shoulder.

The cops and paramedics rushed into the scene. It was all a blur as I watched them race to Ma and then to Ricky. Alyssa spoke to the officers with Sadie, explaining what happened. I tried to open my mouth, but my jaw was so swollen that it hurt to speak. A paramedic came over to me to check out my face, but I shrugged them away.

“I’m fine,” I choked out, my throat burning. They ignored me, and started cleaning my cuts, speaking of stitches to my nose and chin.

“We’ll have more questions at the hospital,” the officer told Alyssa. “We’ll follow behind you as you drive over.”

She nodded, then headed over to me. She grimaced as her fingers lightly touched my face. “Oh, Lo…” she whispered.

I huffed out a chuckle. “Yo-yo-you…” I paused, cringing at the pain in my jaw. “You think I’m bad, you should see the other dude.”