Aftermath, p.8
Aftermath, page 8
Now, I don't know if you knew this, but after I started selling drugs, I kept a little .22 revolver on me. I did everything I could not to let anyone know I had it. It was my last resort. I didn't tell you in case you came after me.
Don't take that wrong, I didn't think you would, but I also see what happens when you lose it.
So, when those guys started to walk towards me and pulling out knives, I grabbed my gun. These boys were not going to be whooping my ass.
They also thought that it was a game for them. You know the type, the ones who played too many video games and lost the ability to notice the difference between the real world or a video game.
Luckily for me, a cop drove by and saw what was happening. I even got luckier when the cop pointed his gun at the gang bangers.
They got arrested for attempted assault with a deadly weapon. Come to find out, this was not the first time, but state laws made it the last time for a long time.
As good as I felt to be out of that and that the state has a stand your ground law, I knew that it would not be the end of it. If that gang got upset that I smacked around two of their guys, how will they feel that three of them are now going to be locked up for several years.
I talked with the cop that helped me out and when I told him I worked at the firehouse, he seemed to like me more. We decided to meet up and he would fill me in on the gang. He would also invite the girl he was dating from the firehouse.
As he went on his way, he did tell me that he loves seeing people stand up. If that is what he thought, what did others think?
It took a few days for us to meet up. At that time, I went to work at the station. I met his girlfriend and we talked a bit. I will say it was good to talk with her. I hoped her boyfriend would be as good to talk to.
Honestly, I was wanting some friends. I don't know if you have any friends now, but it was hard on me. So, when we did meet up, I knew the girlfriend Katie well and felt like I knew Matthew. The three of us must have talked for about three hours at a restaurant called the Dalian King.
The food was good and towards the end of our first time hanging out, Matthew told me about the gang that I seemed to have pissed off. Come to find out, the guy running it was from some South American country with ties to the cartel. His full name was Santos Jesus Ramos Nolasco.
This guy was only 5'-6" and the police had been trying to get him for the rape of four different girls. What pissed me off was when I heard the girls all were younger than thirteen years old.
Scott, let me tell you. At that point, I would have tried to kill that Santos. I just pictured this creepy guy who made women cringe at his touch. My stomach turned at the thought of this guy.
I was not one to say that everything happens for a reason before. I do think that way now. As I walked out, I saw that girl from before. The one who the two thugs were bothering. I almost went back in, but I decided against it."
Scott stopped Mark with a joking cry out of "why didn't you go get the girl?" Scott would have only done something like that around his closest friends. It got them both laughing and took away the tension Mark was building.
After they finished with a few more jokes, Scott asked what happened next. It didn't take Mark long to get back on track. When he did, he went to where he first met Santos Jesus Ramos Nolasco, the child molester.
"I hate to say, but I lost track of time at this point. Things seemed to move at such a fast rate. The day that Santos was sitting on the back of my car, he made it clear that he planned to kill me.
Me being me, I didn't like that plan. That is why I decided to channel my internal Bearman. In my calmest voice, I told him that his plan has some flaws.
Then I said "It might be that I am in a good mood today so I will tell you what those flaws are. I come from a place that people have tried to kill me and I am still here. If you come after me, you have to ask which one of us will be here in the end."
He obviously didn't like that. My guess was that no one really talked to him like that. He liked it less when I went too far and in a voice loud enough that anyone could hear, I told him to leave the little girls alone.
I learned that child molester doesn’t like to be called out. At least he didn't like it and he tried to show me how much. The worse thing was how he tried to fight.
He started to bounce around with his fist up, telling me how he was going to whoop my ass. I noticed people watching again. This group looked to be bigger than the last one.
As I said, I was channeling you. That is why I did a move I had seen you do before. I took a step closer with my hands open and up. When he bounced closer to me and pulled his fist back to punch, I smacked him with my right hand and held onto his face. With extending my right foot and posting it next to him, I pushed him to the ground. I turned with as much force as I had
His legs flew up in the air and he made a thud sound. It had to of hurt. There was no question that it knocked the air out of him. People must have known who he was because a few people cheered. The excitement was something else. I finally understood how you let it get the better of you.
If two guys didn't run up to help him, I would have most likely kept going. Instead, they picked him up and started to drag him away. One of the guys pulled a gun and pointed it somewhere in my direction.
People ran away when they saw the gun. I don't blame them. Who wants to be shot by some thug that can't aim? Well, I guess no one wants to be shot at all.
While Santos was being taken away, he yelled back that he was going to kill me. I didn't expect him to stay around when I heard the police sirens.
Man, I will tell you I didn't want this; I wanted a peaceful life. Maybe meet a good girl and have a kid. Now to do that, I had to deal with a gang leader."
Mark started to smile as he thought about what he was about to say next. It was one of those smiles that says I have a secret. Scott had no idea what was going through Mark's head, but it made him happy to see that smile.
Then after a few seconds of being lost in his thoughts, Mark went back to telling his story.
"After the people walked away and I went to get in my car, I heard a voice that sounded so sweet. It was this beautiful black hair, Asian woman. The same one that I had stood up for and the reason all this stuff was going on. I only could look at her and felt a smile covering my face.
We looked at each other and she started to blush.
I knew it was not just me that was feeling the excitement of being this close to the other person. It felt to me as the world passed before another word was said.
She broke the silence by thanking me for helping her out. We talked for about a half-hour. It was the best conversation I had in a long time.
There was nothing more than talk the whole time. I had to imagine that the people passing by were wondering why we were there talking. Whatever they thought didn't matter of course. There was a beautiful woman in front of me and her focus was on me.
Scott, you know I am not a bad-looking guy. On the same note, I am also never going to be modeling anything. That might have been part of the reason I didn't want to let it end.
Her laughter was music to my ears. When she invited me to come to the restaurant, I didn't even think when I said yes. I did make one request and that was that she join me for dinner. She got a smile on her face and nodded her head.
We had our first date set up. I didn't think about it being in front of her father and friends working at the restaurant. I won't go into that story; I tend to go on about the three-hour date.
As you know, that was not our last date and as I said, we are engaged. I guess she really liked me, or she is going a long way to say thank you."
Laughter filled the room as Scott started to laugh uncontrollably. Scott interrupted Mark's story and his laughter by saying "Man you’re a dumb ass. You’re not a bad-looking guy and to be my friend, you had to be a good person to walk away when everyone else was trying to get what I had.
You were and are one of my closest friends. I knew you always to be honest to me. So, you relaxed and let a girl see how you truly are.
Why the hell would she not want to be with you? Don't put yourself down. You have done a lot more than most people we grew up with. What a life you have, I only wish I could have had this."
Mark was filling with a good feeling. He had just been given the highest praise he had ever gotten. He was about to thank Scott for what he said, but there was a knock at the door.
Scott jumped from his seat and pulled a gun that was hidden on his ankle. Walking over as though he was expecting to have something happen, he asked who it was when getting close to the door.
A woman's voice came through nice and clear. In that sweet voice that Mark knew so well they heard "I have an order from the King of Dalian." Mark pointed to Scott and mouthed to put away the gun.
Of course, Scott did it and opened the door. Scott was stunned by how pretty the woman was. Her Raven hair was pushed back, but just resting on her shoulders seemed to bring out the smile on her face. With a soft expression that made you want to trust her, she asked for Mark.
Mark was already on his feet and pushing Scott out of the way. Scott was happy to see his friend hold someone he really cared about. He was starting to feel guilty for showing up.
After all, he has done nothing but destroyed while his friend has been building and saving.
Everything seemed to brighten for Mark as his fiancée walked into the room. She carried two bags of a dish that neither Mark nor Scott could pronounce. It didn't help that they had to many drinks, too.
It didn't take long for Mark to take the food and ask her to sit down. The only time Mark appeared to be acting strange was when he went to introduce Scott.
When Mark said "Laura, this is my friend from Ohio. Sadly, he is only in town till tomorrow. Laura this is..."
That is when Scott jumped in. "Thomas, but my friends call me Tom. Laura, it’s good to meet you."
Mark gave Scott a funny look but went with it and referred to him as Tom as long as Laura was there with them, which was no longer than twenty minutes.
While everyone was in high spirits and laughing, Laura said goodbye. "Tom, it was good to meet you. I will let you boys talk. I have to go study if I want to get my master’s in accounting."
With a big hug to Scott and a bigger kiss to Mark, Laura was out the door. The closing door just made its thudding sound when Mark and asked what was with the name change.
"So, do I call you Tom or Scott? What am I missing?" Mark waited, then Scott explained it to him. "Hey, don't think I was trying to play games.
Remember Scott Bearman is dead. He died back in Ohio by Dan as far as everyone knows.
That is the day Thomas Norris was born. Since then, I have not been called by Scott other than by you. Well, there was Rose, but that was because I had no choice but to let her see me."
Mark smiled and shook his head. "Alright TOM, you will have to tell me that story sometime." Scott gave a smile back and told Mark that maybe after he finished his story.
"Ahh yes, I was just to go on my first date." They both opened the dinner that Laura dropped off. Mark showed his food and pointed at the food, then kept talking.
"This is what we had.
It is an off the menu item. I guess there are a few dishes that are true Chinese dishes that can be ordered if you know them. I can't say any of them. I sound like I am having a stroke when I try."
Mark tried to say the dish name they were eating, and he was right. They laughed and Scott almost choked from laughing while eating.
"Laura and Mr. Liu were good to me. It was the first time I felt good about being here. Don't get me wrong, I was excited about becoming a smoke jumper and what I was doing while getting there.
Those two welcomed me in and treated me well from that day forward. That is why I didn't have any questions when I asked her to marry me.
But before then there was still that Santos guy who I knew wanted to do something to me. I made a choice to stop letting him come after me and to get rid of the scum bag.
I was not going to do what you would have done, but I needed to tear down that gang and have them out of my life."
Scott knew what he would have done back then. He was just wondering what Mark thought. So, he gave in and asked. "Let me ask you something. What do you think I would do? I mean, I was not that bad, was I?"
Mark could not help to smile. "You know I watched you give Dan his scare. I also watched what you did to the guy who attacked you back in Fremont.
I guess that is where I got part of my plan from."
Scott replied with "So you're saying that I had a little mean streak in me? OK, I can see that, and I guess some others would too."
Mark lost his smile for a moment and reminded Scott that he killed Dan and had a part to do with his brother’s death. A mean streak was an understatement.
It took a little talking about what happened with Mark's brother Jay. The tension had gotten very heavy till Mark let out a deep sigh and told Scott he knew that he did what was needed. If it was not him that killed Jay, someone would of. They both knew Jay was on his way to do a lot of things much worse than he had.
"So, what do you mean you got your idea from what I did? If I was in your shoes now, I would just put a bullet in the head of the gang leader and the next two in charge." Scott said with a smirk.
Mark got back to the story.
They had eaten all their food and filled their glasses of bourbon back up. "I went to my new friend Matthew. I told him what I had planned. He didn't like it, but what I was going to do could break that gang up, he would help.
All I need from Matthew was a ride to the house of Santos Jesus Ramos Nolasco. The catch was I needed a ride in his police cruiser. You know how optics help makes a point. The gang needed to know I was friends with the police.
The next time Matthew went on duty, I met up with him and we went to Santos's house. It made my day to see about ten guys on the porch with Santos. I really wanted others to see this. The word needed to get out to the other gang members.
You could see the cockiness in his eyes since he had guys there to have his back. When I stepped up to the chain-linked fence around his front yard, he started to talk.
Santos was almost yelling to make sure everyone heard him. First, he told me how foolish I was to come to his house and how the cop with me would not save me. Then he finished his crap by making a joke that made no sense.
Hell, his guys didn't laugh till they heard him laugh.
I knew what I came to do, and I refused to get wrapped into his rants. Instead, I calmly said, "Santos Jesus Ramos Nolasco, you should know who you try to mess with. I have learned who to be friends, with so when you do something, you can walk away."
I pointed with my thumb over my shoulder to Matthew. Then I told him that I would make him a deal. I gave him a week to break up his gang and get out of town.
He jumped in asking me what would happen if he didn't and came after me and my friends. That got me to smile. I said with a smile "If you don't leave, I will burn down your house and every house you stay in. I will burn down anyone's house that tries to keep the gang alive. Now if you come after my friends, I will make sure you can't get out of the house. Anyone that helps you will suffer the same fate."
I walked away at that point.
He was saying something, but the fear was clear in his voice. I don't know what he was saying, and I didn't care. I have given him the warning and that is all I needed to do.
I waited for a week and a half before I checked if he was still in his house. It was late when I did, and I saw him in his house drinking with a few guys and some girls.
I expected him to not take me seriously, so I went back to my car. After digging around for about a minute, I found the pipe wrench I needed.
Returning to the house, I found the gas meter and turned one of the connections till some gas started to come out.
It did take some work, but it did what I needed. Gas started to spray everywhere. It was more than I was hoping for. I didn't wait and I found some brush along with the house and got a nice little fire going.
I didn't want to be around to be identified and left before the fire got to the gas. I knew well enough what was going to happen. This would make my point and send the message to get out.
At least that is what I thought. Hell, it worked for you. Instead, I came out of the fire station to see my car on fire and Santos next to it.
You remember my old car, it was nothing fancy, but man I liked it.
Santos didn't see me right away, but when he did, I was running to put the fire out. With one of the stations' extinguishers, I got the fire put out, but my car was gone. He made sure the interior and engine all burned.
Before I had a chance to think or say anything, I was spun around and punched in the face. I fell, but oddly, the punch didn't hurt. It was being caught by surprise that knocked me down.
When I got up, you could see that Santos looked to be on the edge of tears. As I was about to fight him, he started yelling. "You burned down my house. I have nothing and now I will end you!"
That is when he pulled out a gun and pointed it in my direction. From how he was holding the gun, I had to assume he never shot anyone from a distance. He had his knuckles up and the gun sideways. I never understood why people do that. Anyone that has shot a gun knows you can’t aim like that.
No matter how he held it, one lucky shot could do some damage. I try to talk him down and pointed out that if he tries to kill me, there would be no way out. The building has cameras and was full of people.
One of the guys I worked with must of saw what was happening and came out to see if I needed help.
When he yelled my name, Santos turned to look and pulled the trigger.
I don't know if someone had been praying for me or I am lucky, but the shot missed me. The bullet hit the inside of my car and put a hole in the burnt headrest. I took my chance while Santos was thrown off by shooting the gun.
He must have never heard of finger control. I turned sideways and rammed my shoulder into his chest. We both went to the ground this time, but I kept control of him and with a few elbows to his face, he was done.
