Chapter 74

Craig was lying in a warm tub which Sarah had run for him. His headache was something of the past since he swallowed two painkillers earlier. He felt better, but he knew it would take some time for the pain in his face to go away. He was just happy his nose was not broken as he originally thought. His eye was almost swollen shut, but at least he was cleaned up and most of the swelling would have settled by tomorrow. Despite everything that happened, he had already been through the dreadful task of telling his family in detail what had happened except for the little detail about Pamela.

Craig submerged his body in the warm water. He had to be in a relaxed state of mind so that he could think clearly. He had noticed the fear on Sarah and the children's faces earlier even though they tried not to show it. One thing that concerned him was Andrew, he did not show any fear. In fact, there was something else in his eyes and he seemed to have been in a world of his own. Craig knew that his boys would be able to take care of themselves, but not against the ones who ganged up against him. They moved around in packs just like wolves spreading their disease. They would not think twice about killing or really hurting people.

'How are you feeling hon?' Sarah asked when she entered the bathroom with a cup of tea in her hand. She placed it down on the rim of the tub next to Craig. He could see the concern on her face as she regarded him.

'Thank you, love,' Craig said. 'It probably looks worse than it really is.'

Sarah sat on her knees next to the tub with her arms flat on the rim. Her head was resting on her hands as she regarded Craig with sensitive eyes. 'What should we do?'

'I don't know,' Craig sighed. 'I'm not running, that's for sure. I'm going to teach them a lesson. You should have seen this one guy. He had tattoos even on his face. He claimed we are staying in his house, but fuck him, this is our house now.'

'Did he say that?' Sarah frowned.

'Yes. Do you remember that thing I found in the attic?'

'Yes.'

'Well, it makes sense after tonight. Brian told me about the previous family who stayed here and that they were scum. He didn't say it in so many words, but I did the math. The two brothers went to jail for rape or murder, maybe both, I can't remember. One of them attacked me tonight. He spent some time in jail no doubt about that. These kids are in some bad shit my love and everyone is too scared to do anything about it. They are taking over and they might even have the police in their pockets.'

'Do you think so?'

'Most definitely. How can the police just lose a docket like that? The guy on the R27, in my opinion, is a serious case, I mean really. There's something I don't trust about the inspector who came here over the weekend when the window had been busted. It was the same guy who handled the case when that man committed suicide on the dirt road. Something's wrong with them and I'm not taking any chances anymore. I'm not saying that I'm taking the law into my own hands, but if it comes to that, then I would have to. I was even thinking about dropping these guys in the ocean so that the crabs can eat them.'

'Don't say those things, my love,' Sarah said a little agitated, fearing that her husband might actually consider doing something as stupid as that.

'I'm not letting those fuckers near any of you,' Craig said. 'I don't care if I go to jail, but at least they will all be gone.'

Sarah regarded him for a while and smiled, 'something happened at school today we haven't told you about.'

'Yeah?'

'Some guy at school was looking for trouble with Pat. Apparently, this guy was like the leader of this famous group they told us about. It might even be the same guys who assaulted you tonight.'

'So what are you smiling about?'

'You have to hear this. I think none of them will ever touch Patrick again after today. Andrew apparently arrived at the fight and lifted this guy up in the air with one hand slamming him into the wall a couple of times. After he was done with him the poor kid was struggling for breath.'

'What, but that's not Andrew at all. Andrew is the quiet one who minds his own business. He never gets involved in fights.' Craig frowned and felt a stitch of pain around his eye.

'I know. When Emily told me about it, I couldn't believe it myself. Where did he get the strength from in the first place? Do you really think it has to do with what he found on the hill? I find it hard to believe still.'

'I know it sounds weird, but we can be prepared to believe anything.'

'Maybe you should go talk to Andrew and find out if he's okay,' Sarah said.

'I will. He seemed distracted earlier tonight when I told you what happened.'

'I noticed it too, but don't be too hard on him okay,' Sarah said softly.

'Hard?' Craig chuckled. 'Why would I do that? He protected his family today and I'm proud of him. Maybe he can help me kill these bastards.'

'Don't even think about it,' Sarah snapped.

Craig smiled. 'Talk about hard. The only thing that's going to get hard around here is this,' Craig said grabbing hold of his penis.

'Mmm, then we'll just have to do something about it then, won't we?' Sarah smiled. She got up and kissed Craig on the forehead. 'I'll get your food ready, you are probably starving.'

'Thank you, my love, I'll be there shortly.'

Craig was staring at his toes wondering about Andrew. What happened that he became violent today? He noticed a slight change in Andrew's behaviour over the last few days, but it was subtle and Craig did not think much about it.

Craig scratched his right shoulder. He thought about Emily and Sarah and what those bastards had said about them. He recalled them joking about raping Sarah and Emily. There was another itch on Craig's shoulder and he scratched, harder this time, almost frustrated. That was when he felt small bumps on his skin. He remembered the convict had touched his shoulder when he had spoken in a language he did not understand. Craig's heart sank.