Vigilantes

Detectives Morano and Leone scrutinized every possible reason Billie Joe and his children came to visit Scarlett Novaczek, but neither of them could make any progress. Their questions began to turn progressively more far-fetched and disturbing. Luckily, Jakob stayed clung to his father’s side the entire time, helping him answer their inquiries. Before long, the detectives knew that at this point in time, they still had nothing on Billie, and they gave up. Instead, they turned their interests to Scarlett and her junkie ex-boyfriend, Nate. The details behind the young man were sketchy at best, but signs of prolonged sexual abuse were imminent throughout Scarlett’s body. That was consistent with a battering ex, though the lack of physical DNA evidence would make it difficult to convict him or rule him out. The detectives admitted, without actually saying the words, that a case against Nate would more than likely fail.

Billie felt a frenzied rush of hatred towards this Nate character, for the traumas his wife went through were all too similar to the traumas Scarlett is living with right now. He knows the girl needs closure, needs to know the man who did this to her will never harm another person again…but from the looks of the detectives’ explanation, she wouldn’t receive either one of those things. If Scarlett was anything like his Adrienne, those two particulars alone will gradually drive her to the point of suicidal insanity…although, the more Billie thought about it, the more he came to realize that it may also have been her silence that drove her mad. The reality that she didn’t tell anyone what happened to her ruined any chances of nailing the bastard who did this to her.

Back then, though, Adrienne wasn’t aware that her rapist was the man who fathered Jakob. In fact, it wasn’t until shortly before her death that the pair of them found this out after a particularly awkward annual checkup for the boy. He was to have his blood drawn and typed at this appointment to check for any irregularities…and Dr. Kildoff was just as surprised as Billie when the child had type B blood.

***

“That’s not possible,” Billie stammered, feeling himself growing increasingly light-headed.

“I’m afraid that it is, Mr. Armstrong,” Dr. Kildoff contradicted quietly.

“You aren’t actually suggesting-”

“You’re not the boy’s father, Billie, I’m sorry. It is impossible for a couple who both have type A blood to produce a child with type B blood.”

Billie bit his lip, shameful tears filling his distraught green eyes. This revelation confirmed his fears that his wifehad been raped nearly a decade ago…and he hadn’t done a damn thing about it.

“But…Iraised him, and he acts just like I did when I was a kid…” Billie’s voice trailed off, knowing his justifications were futile.

“That’s merely coincidental, but one thing is certain:You raised this child. You’re the only father he’s ever known. Keep that in mind, Mr. Armstrong, this situation isn’t as grave as it appears.”

“Then why do I feel like shit?”

Dr. Kildoff smiled sadly and stated, “Just talk to your wife. I’m sure the two of you will be able to work this out. Now when we re-enter the room, act like nothing’s wrong. We don’t want to frighten your son.”But he’s technically not my son, Billie thought bitterly before wiping any traces of sorrow from his face.

Later that evening, Billie made an off-hand comment about Jakob’s blood type, dancing around the subject of the boy’s true father. Adrienne was floored so profoundly that she collapsed into the closest piece of furniture, unable to speak for several minutes. Upon asking whether or not she had cheated on him, Adrienne looked directly into her husband’s eyes and spoke with such forceful intensity that Billie felt guilty for even alluding to such a thing.

“No. Not once ever.”

Three weeks later, Adrienne was dead.

***

“Dad?” Jakob asked fearfully, having repeated the word three times before.

“Yeah?”

Billie was pulled from his flashback, grateful for the interruption. He felt himself consistently dragged into such reveries, each one more revealing and unpleasant than the next. Each one with an ignored clue and disregarded hint. He shivered and hugged himself, aching for the woman he married.

“Joey says Scarlett wants to talk to you.”

Billie looked down at Jakob, bewildered. Why on earth would the girl want to talk to him? His mind began racing, panicked. Had the detectives already planted a seedling of the idea that he was her rapist? Frankly…he didn’t want to know the answer.

“Ok, Jake, why don’t you stay with the detectives here…I’ll be right back.”

Jakob nodded, releasing the grip on his father. Billie opened the door that led to Scarlett’s hospital room, and his dread merely escalated when he saw that Joey wouldn’t be staying in the room.

“Where are you going?” he whispered frantically to the boy.

“She wants to talk to you alone,” Joey shrugged, then proceeded to join his brother outside of the room.

Billie walked uncertainly up to Scarlett, seating himself in the chair his son had been in seconds prior to his entrance. He stole a glance at her before swiftly looking away, the sight of her making his insides crawl once again with rage towards the vicious pervert who was responsible for her suffering.

“I know you’re not the one who did this to me,” Scarlett started, unsure of how to get the conversation going with anything other than that.

Billie simply nodded, staring intently upon the floor.

After an instant of silence, Scarlett continued, “I’m worried about Joey.”

Billie’s gaze was immediately drawn to the girl, her sickening appearance momentarily dismissed from his mind. All he could think about now was Joey…

“Why?” he demanded, inching closer.

“He told the detectives that he got gonorrhea from me,” she explained with a slight frown.

“That’s right,” Billie nodded, urging her to continue.

“But…Mr. Armstrong, he didn’t. I do have gonorrhea, but I haven’t slept with Joey yet.”

“So then who…”

“I’m afraid my ex might be hurting him too.”

All rational thought vanished from Billie’s mind. The sheer thought that the creep was raping his son placed murderous, vengeful plans in his head…and that he would get away with it. The injustice of it all forced Billie to the realization that there was only one way to protect his son from the pervert and from harming himself the way his mother had: Nate had to be taken down. If the system failed them and if the detectives refused to pursue a case that could not be won, he would certainly take matters into his own hands…even if it meant killing the bastard.

“What makes you think that?” Billie questioned through clenched teeth, multiple methods of painful castration flashing violently through his brain.

“He’s…violent. He’ll do anything to get what he wants…Mr. Armstrong, this isn’t the first time the fucker raped me. Now that I moved on, he’s pissed. I think he might…” Scarlett found herself unable to finish the sentence, though Billie understood exactly what she was going to say.

“Try to kill my son?”

“Yes,” she whispered, a stealthy tear falling from her unharmed eye, “and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it.”

Billie stole a cautious glance to the window, making sure the detectives weren’t watching the conversation. He was surprised to find that the two of them had their backs to the window, keeping an eye on the two boys in front of them. Satisfied, Billie pulled his chair closer to the bed so he could whisper, not taking any chances of possibly being overheard.

“There is. The cops told me he’s a junkie, right?”

Scarlett nodded, uncertain of where exactly he was going with the information.

“What if he were to accidentally overdose?”

Scarlett’s eye widened, comprehension shining through. With a lopsided grin, she murmured, “I know exactly where you can find him and where he hides his shit.”