Walking Contradictions

Thomas's scream ripped through the entire apartment complex at two in the morning, waking everyone up.And if that didn't do the trick, then the loud bang of a bedroom door being thrown open did, and Anna was ripped from her bed and hugged and spun around. "You little genius! We're rich!"

"What?" Anna asked hazily and terrified.

"That bag was full of money!" Thomas started to sob happily and dropped to his knees. "Thank you Lord!"

"The fuck you mean?" Brad mumbled as he got out of bed and headed into the living room, seeing the black suitcase set out on the coffee table. The case was flipped open and sure enough, there were stacks upon stacks of hundred dollar bills. "Sweet fuck." Was all he could say. Someone pounding on their front door kept him from passing out. He went over and unlocked the three locks and cracked the door open. "Hey Mr. Jones."

"All this damn yellin! The fuck goin on? We tryna sleep in this bitch!" The burly bald black man demanded.

"I'm sorry, Dad is over reacting to some good luck. I'll shut him up." Brad replied with a sigh.

"Mista Jones!" Thomas yelled as he ran to the door, a broad smile on his face. He pulled the door wide open and put several bills in his landlord's hand. "All the rent money I owe you."

"It's about damn time." Mr. Jones said, counting his money. "Now shut the fuck up. Some of us gotta work in the damn morning." And with that he turned and went back to his apartment on the first floor.

"First thing you're paying is your debt." Brad said, firmly shutting and locking the door. "I'm tired of being followed home from work."

"First thing in the morning I'm going to see Tony." Thomas smiled, pulling his son into a tight hug.

The next morning Thomas hurried down to the bus stop and bored the next bus that was headed downtown. He kept looking around at the other passengers on the bus as it bumped down the road; he didn't trust a single one of them. His shoes and pockets were stuffed with as many bills as he could fit. Paying off his debt was a big deal to him. His children had seen him off this morning, telling him how proud they were that he was finally doing this. Life was about to be so much easier after this was done.

The bus came to his stop and he got off and headed down the street to Tony's bar. He didn't know why it was open at ten in the morning, but it was. It's hours were from nine AM to four AM and was always packed. He entered the brick building and was enveloped with the smoke filled darkness inside. He walked up to the bar and nodded at the bartender. "I need to see Tony."

"Come on." The bartender sighed, leading Thomas to a back room where Tony sat behind his desk counting money.

Tony was your classic Italian man and looked like Pauly from Goodfellas. His graying hair was slicked back, he was on the larger side, his voice was deeper and had that classic North East accent that everyone tries to imitate but can never get right.

"Tommy boy!" He smiled, standing up and pulling Thomas into a tight hug. "How ya been kid?"

"I have your money." Thomas said, a smiled returning to his face.

"Do you now?" Tony smiled and laughed, opening the top drawer in his desk. He pulled out a file and checked something. "You mean my $6,000 you owe me?"

"Yes sir." He started to unload all of the money onto the desk, taking pride in himself and hearing his children's voices in his head telling him they were so proud and happy. He had a flashback to when he wasn't able to pay Tony back and getting his ass kicked. But no more! And after today he wasn't going to gamble.

Tony counted the money, nodding his head occasionally, looking impressed. "How'd you make all of this?"

"Got lucky doin somethin illegal."

"You didn't rob a bank did you?"

"No. I was snooping around, found it, stole it, and then came here." Thomas said, getting scared that Tony was going to try to break his hand again for giving him tainted money. But to his relief Tony just smirked and handed him a fifty. "Buy your baby girl somethin nice for me." He said.

"Now listen," Tony said, putting the money away and looking Thomas dead in the eye, "because I like you, I'm gonna tell you this. I don't usually advice my clients not to come back, but you worry me kid. I know money's already tight and you got two kids. So I don't wanna see your ass back here for a few months racking up what you can't pay off, understood?"

"Yes sir." Thomas smiled.

With another firm hug and whack on the back, Thomas left the bar and headed home to spend some more time with his kids before he headed off to work. He worked at a hole in the wall bar, where he knew all the regulars, what they liked, what time they'd show up, and who'd they'd have with them. It didn't pay much but it got most bills out of the way and it was enjoyable.

"Whoa that's really intense." Thomas said, looking at his now black nails. Sally Hansen didn't fuck around with her colors.

"Yeah really." Anna mumbled, screwing the lid back on the nail polish bottle. "Not a bad look for you though." She smiled at her work and then up at her father.

"Good job kid." Thomas smiled, checking to make sure his nails were dry before ruffling his daughter's hair and getting up. "Well I have to go to work. I'll see you guys in the morning." Walking down the street to work was calming for the first time in a long time. He wasn't followed by anyone on foot or in a car, no one harassed him, no intimidating looks, just silence. When he entered the bar, he looked around and saw the blonde hair he loved so much. "Hey Cindy." He smiled as he walked to the back to sign in.

The night was slow, so Thomas spent a lot of time sitting at a table with Cindy talking to her. They picked up on their odd trivia game that they would randomly play when they were out in public. Thomas hated that he couldn't bring Cindy back to the apartment during the day, because Brad would freak out again. So they would go back, have sex, and she would have to sneak out at dawn. He hated it but she had cats at her place and he was allergic.

"You won't know this one." Cindy smiled deviously. "What year was All Along The Watchtower released?"

"Originally by Bob Dylan in 1967 on John Wesley Harding and six months later, Hendrix covered it on Electric Landlady." Thomas smiled. "I use to work in a record store, I know everything there is to know."

"I knew you were a cheater!" Cindy exclaimed.

"I am not." He acted offended but laughed. "I just remember stuff."

"Yeah whatever, cheater. Nice nails by the way." She teased, putting her hand on his knee and giving him a look. The pair starred at eachother intensely before Thomas broke away to see who had come in the door.

"Back on duty." He sighed, sliding out of his seat and returning to his post behind the bar. "Hey Brian, the usual?"

The walk back to the apartment was full of sexual tension and being flirtatious. They weren't even bothered by the car slowly following them down the street all the way home. They stumbled up to the apartment and dashed to Thomas's bedroom. He didn't want his kids to meet his girlfriend this way and was lucky tonight to find them both asleep.

Brad and Anna knew their father got around and Brad was more supportive of that than dating. "Whatever makes you happy." He would lie. Anna would usually shrug and say 'She was nice' or 'Never wanna meet her again' if she were to ever have a run-in with one of her father's 'girls'.

"So," Cindy smiled deviously, "what do you propose we do?"

Thomas grinned. "Something sinful."

"Turn that shit off." Anna groaned the next morning as her brother's alarm started to go off.

"Fuck off." Brad retorted as he turned the alarm off and got out of bed. He stretched and headed out into the living room and looked around. Their Dad was still asleep and his door was closed. "Food." He grumbled, slumping into the kitchenette and looking in the fridge. His father's bedroom door opened and he ignored it until someone gasped. He straightened up and saw a short woman with blonde hair and doll like features staring at him. "Enjoy your night?" He asked casually.

"Erm..yeah." She blushed. "We didn't disturb you guys, did we?"

"I sleep with ear plugs." Brad smiled, closing the fridge door and stalked off to his room and closed the door. "I've seen her before."

"Who?" Anna grumbled, pulling her pillow over her head. "Likely, I don't care."

"I think something's going on."

"Just shut up and go to work so I can walk around naked."

Brad got dressed and headed out of the apartment, giving the woman coming out of his father's room a cold look. He left the apartment and headed down the stairs and froze. A sleek black Lincoln Town Car was out front of their apartment building, the motor still running, all windows tinted. This wasn't good.

The back passenger side door swung open and an older man in a suit and sunglasses looked at him. "Brad Anderson?" He asked in a firm voice.

Brad shook his head and backed away towards the stairs before turning around and darting back to the safety of the apartment. He heard the man running after him and slammed and locked the apartment door, pressing himself against it and holding his breath. He listened outside as he heard dress shoes clicking outside the door and cringed when the pounding on the door started. He felt the vibrations slam into his body and closed his eyes. Go away, go away, just fucking go away.

"The fu-" Thomas started to say as he came out of his bedroom until he met Brad's glare and fell silent, crouching down and scurrying to the large bay window in the living room and peeking out. "Shit. Shit shit shit. Get down." He whispered.He snuck into his children's bedroom and pulled a tired Anna into the living room. He motioned Brad away from the door and got Cindy out into the safety of the living room as well. "Stay down, stay quiet." He whispered.

The group listened as the pounding on the door stopped and the knocker left. Then the yelling outside started.

"Anderson!" A voice yelled. He cringed. It was Tony. "You gave me bad money, boy! You know what happens when someone plays with my money!"

"Playing with my money is like playing with my emotions." Anna and Brad mumbled in unison before stifling a giggle. The giggling stopped when the bullets came ripping through the front window and their father slammed them to the ground and threw himself on top of them.

Glass shattered and shards went all over the apartment and in people's hair. Anyone on the street scattered, screaming obscenities. The sounds of the three automatic firearms ripped through the entire neighborhood. The shooting seemed to continue on for eternity. Finally it stopped and the car took off with a screech.

"Everyone ok?" Thomas finally asked, getting up and examining his children and girlfriend to make sure they were ok. His heart pounded faster when Anna pulled herself up and held her wrist, cringing. "What's wrong?" He pulled her hand away and gasped. A shard of glass has sliced her skin open badly and blood trickled through her fingers.

"I'll be fine." She hissed, pulling away from his touch. This was all his fault anyway. She headed off to the bathroom to tend to her battle wound.

"Well, as Rocco said in Boondock Saints, pack your shit, we gotta get out of here." Brad said calmly, brushing glass off of his clothes.