Vigilantes

Billie Joe, now sporting a vast assortment of bruising and lacerations to go along with his swollen jaw, sat with his arms wrapped tightly around his knees. He couldn’t lift his eyes from his unconscious son lying mere inches away, an innocent bystander to Mike’s vicious attack on Billie. He was so fearless, darting right up to Mike and attempting to pry him off of his father, kicking and screaming. Mike’s response was chillingly less heroic as he threw Joey against the wall, his sudden disregard for the boy’s life fueled by an impulse to protect his lover. Mike tragically failed to see that in his desperate attempts in shielding Billie from pain, he was causing more than he could ever conceive.

***

“Mikey, please, don’t do this,” Billie whimpered as best he could with his face pressed against the wall.

“Stop talking,” Mike commanded, his hands concentrated upon getting Billie’s pants off as quickly as possible.

“Please, Mike…it was the only thing that felt right! I couldn’t just let that rapist get away with what he did!” Billie rambled on, hoping to somehow get through to the crazed man behind him.

“I said stop talking,” Mike hissed, ripping all fabric hastily away from Billie’s backside.

“You don’t need to protect me anymore!”

***

Billie could hear little footsteps making their way towards the kitchen, stopping as the innocent eyes took in the site of the unconscious boy on the floor and the bloodied, silent man shivering against the wall. It was a rare moment in which Jakob Armstrong was rendered entirely speechless. His father, noting the obvious danger it was to remain in the house much longer, was the first to speak.

“Jakob, we have to get out of here,” he said firmly, tearing his gaze off Joey to observe the wide-eyed child before him. Jakob’s fears remained unspoken, so Billie continued, “Mike’s a bad man, Jake. We need to leave before he comes back.”

“Did he…?” Jakob motioned towards his older brother, tears filling his frightened eyes.

“Yes, Mike hurt Joey. Now hurry, go pack a suitcase for you and your brother. It doesn’t need a lot, just some clothes to get through a few days. I’ll be able to come back and get more shit for you later.”

“You’re coming back here? Why?”

“Mike’s sick, buddy, and it’s my fault. I need to help him,” Billie explained, though his voice faltered uncertainly. He knew staying with Mike would be potentially life-threatening…but he couldn’t leave him. Wasn’t it partially his fault for Mike’s insanity in the first place?

“Where are we gonna stay?” Jakob sobbed, hesitantly stepping closer to his father.

“Tre’s,” Billie blurted, not at all ready to explain to the drummer about Mike’s mental instability.

“Daddy, are you ok? Do you need-”

“I’m fine. Just go pack that suitcase.”

Jakob lingered for a moment, his naiveté rendering his young mind incapable of comprehending the severity of the situation his family was in. All the boy understood was that Mike hurts people, and they needed to leave. He wanted to ask his father so many more questions but realized that this was neither the time nor the place for questions. Perhaps later, once they were behind the safely closed doors of Tre Cool’s residence, Jakob would be able to ask the questions plaguing his brain. Billie hoped to God those questions didn’t include who his real father is.

***

Billie shrieked as Mike penetrated him, the sheer rage and pain he was inflicting entirely foreign to Billie. Never was it this rough when they made love. Never was it this degrading. All he could do to keep his mind off the sting was to dissociate from himself, pretending that everything was happening to someone else. It would have completely worked, too, if Joey hadn’t burst into the room hell bent upon stopping Mike.

“Get off of him, you sick bastard!” Joey screamed, expecting with child-like gullibility that Mike would immediately do as he said. Quite the contrary, Mike’s thrusts became even more violent, tearing the frail muscle in Billie’s backside. The smaller man shrieked louder, feeling as if he was being ripped in two.

“Stop it!!” Joey hollered, kicking and punching Mike as quickly and as forcefully as his small body would allow. Mike continued to ignore him, moaning as he reached his climax and spilled his load into Billie.

“Stop it, stop it, stop it!”

“Shut the fuck up!” Mike roared, whirling around to grab the boy and throw him off to the side. Unfortunately, he severely miscalculated his own strength and sent the boy sailing headfirst into the wall. The collision was identified with a deafening crack, and Joey’s unconscious body slumped lifelessly to the floor.

With his back still turned away from the commotion, Billie cried, “Joey! Mike, what did you do?! Why’s he not screaming anymore?!”

Mike flipped Billie around to face him, allowing his victim to see exactly what was wrong with his son, as he proclaimed, “He’s not dead. Stop fucking crying.”

Billie was unable to discontinue his flow of tears, much to the aggravation of Mike. The taller man slapped Billie, which, needless to say, didn’t work either. Another sickening grin danced its way onto Mike’s lips as an idea began to form…the easiest way of shutting Billie up. Mike forced Billie onto his knees with a few persuasive swipes of his fists, bringing his cock to the smaller man’s mouth. It was still glistening with his fluids as well as Billie’s blood.

“Suck this shit off, you murdering slut,” Mike snarled, then added, “and if you bite me, I swear to God I’ll kill you.”

Billie trembled, hesitating slightly before opening his mouth. Mike forced himself inside, choking Billie.

“Now, you’re not going to tell anyone about this,” Mike announced, pulling himself from Billie’s mouth. When Billie didn’t respond, he thrust himself inside once more, causing more gagging and spluttering from the helpless man on his knees.

“Let’s try this again: You’re not telling anyone about this, right?”

Mike pulled himself from Billie’s mouth, and this time he stuttered, “N-n-no, not a g-g-goddamn s-soul.”

Pushing himself back into Billie, Mike continued, “And if anyone asks what happened to Joey?”

“He…uh…f-fell off his bike.”

“Good boy.”

Mike released his grip on Billie, backing away slowly as if to observe his handiwork. The man kneeling before him had blood and spittle dribbling out of the corner of his swollen lips, the beginnings of a black eye, and a bruised, puffy jaw. His pants were still hanging off his thighs, leaving his genitals and buttocks exposed. Though Mike couldn’t see it, he knew there would be a slow trickle of blood coming from Billie’s backside. He nodded, satisfied that Billie had learned his lesson.

***

With his sons buckled securely in the backseat, Joey still unconscious, Billie drove the short distance to Tre’s house, praying he was home. His first stop, though, was to the home Mike previously shared with Brittney. He simply couldn’t leave baby Brixton in his house anymore…it was no longer safe. Billie gave Brittney virtually no explanation as to why he was delivering her son back to her, for he believed his battered appearance was enough of an indication. Brittney eagerly took her son from Billie’s arms, telling him to be careful and to call her if things ever got out of hand. Billie left her house in a daze, wondering why Mike found the woman to be so incredibly awful. She seemed like a genuinely caring person…

After parking his car in Tre’s driveway, Billie eased himself gradually from the driver’s seat, his backside flaring up in pain. To his relief, Tre came bounding out from the front door of his house before Billie was able to coax himself out of the car. The drummer’s childish expression of glee was instantly replaced by horror as he came close enough to notice the injuries to Billie’s face and the unconscious boy in the backseat.

“Holy fuck, what happened?!” Tre exclaimed, helping his friend out of the car.

“Don’t…don’t worry about it,” Billie gasped, exhaustion threatening his conscious mind.

“How can I not worry about it?! You look like death, Beej, you really do…and Joey? Something tells me he’s not just sleeping,” Tre observed, crossing his arms over his chest in a rare moment of sincerity.

“Please…I’ll explain later. Can my boys stay with you for a while? It’s not safe at home right now…”

“Sure, sure, my godsons are always welcome here…but what’s going on with you and Mike? I called his house the other day and Brittney told me he’s living with you now,” Tre stated matter of factly, hinting towards the culprit behind the violence.

“Yeah,” Billie replied feebly, not bothering to say anything more.

“So he’s the reason why it’s not safe for the kids?”

“Yes, Tre.”

Tre shook his head morosely, peering into Billie’s car at Joey and Jakob…then noticing a darkened splotch on the driver’s seat.

“Billie, is your ass bleeding?!”