Chain Reaction 3.28: Young Life

     "You sonofab*tch!"

      It's all I can do not to be distracted as Ethan calls out, "Michael!"
      Mikey ignores his dad, looking only at Malcolm. "You... You killed my mother!"
      Is that remorse in Landgraab's eyes?
      Maybe that as*wipe hit me too hard and I'm seeing things, I ponder, thinking of how the scars appeared on my face.
      "It was self-defense," Malcolm says, and I snort.
      Mikey doesn't believe it for a minute. "No. You... You tore my family up, you selfish sonofab*tch." He pulls a gun!

      I can tell Ethan is barely keeping his cool. He may not look it right now, but Malcolm is dangerous.
      "Mikey. Give me the gun." Ethan creeps toward his son.
      "No, Dad. He deserves to die. The world would be a better place."
      You're not touching Emily's nephew. I'll kill Malcolm myself if he moves.
      Malcolm has his say. "Michael. Don't get involved in things that are above your head."
      "Go to hell."
      Several things happen at once.

     Ethan dives for Michael just as Mikey fires. Malcolm shows all the shock I'm feeling before he crumples into a heap. Ethan wrestles his son to the ground.

       "No! Mikey! What have you done?!"
       Michael keeps trying to fight off his father. Ethan may not weigh as much, but he's much more fit than his heavier son.
      I look over at Malcolm. He certainly isn't getting up. His lifeless eyes stare up at the starry sky.
      Michael just killed his mother's killer. Ethan may be furious, but something in me enjoys the justice.

     Mikey shoves his father off him. "Of course you're shocked! It's because I actually did something about that sewer rat. All you've ever done was follow your stupid, cop rules!"
     "Do you realize what you've done, Michael?"
     "Yeah. I sent that bastard to hell, where he belongs."
     I lightly kick Landgraab's shoe. Then, just to be sure, I take a step and lean down, feeling for a pulse. Yep. Dead. Mikey shot him right in the heart at close range.
     The Taylor men continue to argue behind me, but all they do is go around and around the same points. Ethan tries to get Mikey to see the long-range implications of his actions; Mikey tries to get Ethan to see that justice has finally been served with 'final' being the key word.
     As for me: yes, I agree that Malcolm needed to die, but I hadn't planned on getting Michael out of a jam. This is going to be tricky.
     "Stop it, both of you!" I yell just to get them to shut it. They turn and look at me, and I sigh. I need to think.

      "Mikey, who knows you're here?" I ask.
      "Chloe knows I've gone out, but I didn't tell her why." He looks at his dad, the reality of everything starting to sink in.
      "Leave the gun here and go somewhere else. Go to the movies or something and go in one of the theaters that is about to finish, making it look like you were there the whole time." I sigh again. Cameras. The ticket. That won't fly, but it's the best I have right now.
      Michael refuses to see sense. "No. Let the police come. I'm a hero. The guy's a cop-killer as well."

     "That won't matter. Mikey, you're the son of a woman he murdered. You come out here and shoot him in an act of vengeance--"
     "Oh, don't get all high-and-mighty with me, Drake! It's not like you've never killed anyone," Michael fires his words at me.
     "I shot a woman who had a gun pointed at me!" I yell back at him. "What you've done here is create a mess."
     "I don't care. My mother can finally rest in peace now that her killer is dead."
     Ethan pipes in. "Are you suggesting he run, Drake?"

     "No. I'm a hero. I'm not going anywhere," Mikey insists.
     I chuckle and scratch my jaw. The way he said it sounded so juvenile and amateur. I wonder if this is what I looked like to Franco. Smiling still, I look at Ethan and ask, "All right, Ethan. You're the ex-cop. You tell me. Does Mikey stand a chance to play off the 'hero' bit?" Personally, I think Mikey needs to run. No. Even better... Stronger ideas form. We need to disassemble the handgun and dispose of the parts in many different places. We can dump Malcolm's body somewhere, water preferably, and let some random dude find him. Simple. Effective. Fast.
     "No. He's waist-high in motive. That's why I never killed him."
     We also need an alibi. I have an idea, but we don't need to be standing around here any longer.
     I look at Mikey. "Do everything I say."

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Jarvis

     Isabella and I date for a month. I still haven't met her family. To be honest, the things she's told me about her dad scare the plum out of me. A bodybuilder? I don't care if he's an elder (Isabella was the late baby in the family). With as protective as she claims he is, I'd like to put off that meeting as much as possible.

     Then, I do meet him and discover he's not terrible. Sure, he's protective, but if I just show him some respect, he's more content. And I discover Isabella looks just like her mother, who I'm happy to say is still beautiful. That means Isabella will be too. I start to wonder if I have a future with this woman.
     I'm thrilled Isabella can keep the topic of conversation away from my less-than-stellar childhood. I don't like telling people who my step-father was (especially with the media buzz going around). Plus, I doubt her parents would look kindly upon someone who lived in a tent most of his young life. She's good at talking about herself, and I don't mind.

     She wants me to meet the rest of her family when we start pushing our two-month mark, and I can't think of a reason to get out of it. There's a charity function they're all going to, so that's where she'll introduce me. Charity function. Yeah. Wealthy family. What do people even do at charity functions?

     "I look ridiculous," I say for the nth time. To humor her, I'd let Izzy style my hair. When I said she could, I had no idea that meant she was going to glop on loads of hair product to try and tame my mane. Then... a blue suit? I've never worn a suit this color in my life, not that I've worn many suits. If I'm meeting her family, shouldn't I at least look like myself?

     "No you don't. You look dashing," she says with a giggling undertone. She's teasing me about how uncomfortable I am.

     "I'm nothing more than a dressed-up monkey."

     "Fine, but you're the sweetest, cutest dressed up monkey I've ever seen." She smiles and kisses me on the cheek.

     I sigh melodramatically. "Fine, fine. Let's get this meeting your family thing done."

     She grins happily. "I want you to meet my nieces first. They're twins, but it's not too hard to tell them apart."

     What? "Oh...kay." What are the odds? Why has she never mentioned the twin thing to me before? We never really talk about our families much. She knows I have family that I don't like to talk about, so she's shut up about her extended one ever since that first date. Now, I wish I'd bothered to learn more.

      OMG. 

      Red hair. A twin. Last name Taylor. I know that laugh. It's... Charlotte. And she looks amazing. Lottie is Isabella's niece.
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Arts center used for the museum:

So, again, two very un-coordinating sections that just happen to fall around the same time (well, the 2nd bit pushes ahead, but yeah).

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