Chapter 1

Lying down on the back seat of my mother's SUV, I was relaxing when I felt her start to slow down. The turn onto the gravel road that followed just made everything more vivid as my old life was gone, gone as surely as the gravel being crushed under the tires on the road we were on. Sitting up to take a look around things were even worse than I thought as there were houses out in the distance but nothing close. That also meant that there was going to be no one for me to hang around with or even shoot hoops with; not that I was any good at it but still I liked to get out and try. Before I could start to complain again that I did not want to live in Idaho we rounded a bend around a small hill and in front of the SUV I could see a fairly large farm house with several outbuildings making up the perimeter.

Stopping in front of the house I asked my mom, "This is where you expect us to live?"

"Yes Brian, your grandfather invited all of us to live here after that business you started in California."

This was the fight that my mother and I had fought for the last two months. She would say something about my last fight and I would respond sarcastically in kind. This time I did not even get a chance to start to really get into it because a old man stepped out onto the porch and the bang of the screen door brought both of us up short. My first impression of him screamed farmer or maybe rancher as he wore a western shirt blue jeans and the proverbial cowboy boots with the ends of the jeans tucked inside. The two dogs sitting at his heels just completed the picture I had of a farmer.

That soon changed as my mother and I made our way into the enclosed traffic circle that fronted the house with the main house in front and other buildings that I assumed were barns on either side. From where my mother stopped we were too far to see what his face really looked like under the hat that he wore. That soon changed as he stepped off of the porch and walked towards were my mom had stopped in the yard. Deciding to follow my mother's lead and stepped out to join her in meeting my grandfather that before two weeks ago I did not even knew existed.

Opening the back door where I had been camped out for two days while my mother drove I found another reason why I hated the idea of living in Idaho, the smell. Sure I expected the smell as I remembered the time my school had a field trip to a farm. This smell was far worse and I was sure the heat of summer was not making the fumes any better. Hiding my disgust at the smell that surrounded us we made our introduction with my mother Susan introducing first herself then me. When my grandfather inquired about where my twin sisters were my mother stated that they would be flying in at the end of July. Right now they were spending time with their father before they were forced to hide out in Idaho. When my mother cleared up my missing sisters I greeted my grandfather with a handshake and after he pointed out a couple of buildings and what they were for he escorted my mother and myself inside.

The inside of the house was actually quite spacious with the living room, dining room and kitchen making up the equivalent of a great room. Looking around I could see that all the living room furniture was leather. On the wall next to the fireplace was a very large plasma television and boxed around that was an entertainment center with modules containing the DVD player, radio tuner, and what else I had no idea. The dining room had a very expensive table and chairs that could seat ten or more but currently only had six chairs around. The kitchen had all tall wood cabinets around the perimeter and a large island that from the chairs sitting in an arc could seat six more people. The counter tops were all stone slabs that from their shine cost quite a bit. Not to be out done by the tops I could see that all the appliances were stainless steel. After the great room my grandfather showed us the rest of the house and with what I saw in the other rooms I guessed that farming and ranching in Idaho paid my grandfather well.

The rest of the house was just as impressive except for the fact that there was only four bedrooms to which my sisters would have to share. Mentioning that fact to my mother brought about another discussion with my grandfather about who would sleep were. At the end of that was the first time I was happy as it was my grandfather's plan that I have the apartment over the barn. My mother was not happy with the idea that I would not be in the same house but relented when I mentioned that if she put out the idea that it be given to one of my sisters the other one would complain. In the end it was my grandfather that mentioned that the apartment had an intercom system tied into the kitchen.

Deciding to move my stuff from the SUV before my mom changed her mind I left them sitting around the giant dining room table and headed outside to haul my few bundles up stairs in the barn. Stepping inside I could see that the first order of business was a serious cleaning as all the furniture had dust covering everything. Normally I would just complain to my mother but since I was going to be living here I figured that I could do some exploring at the same time. It was an hour later when my grandfather showed up dragging a rather large hose with him. Before I could ask about it he stated that he did not expect me to start on cleaning so soon as he was intending to use his air compressor to blow out most of the dust. Considering how little progress I had made with my efforts I welcomed his offer and his air hose. After opening the windows to let the dust out I was ordered outside along with my mother who had finished her own unpacking job and had come out to see why I was standing outside. My mother soon had her own answer since we were standing downwind and as soon as we heard the sound of the air hose we had a rather impressive amount of dust coming out of the windows.

Stepping back inside the apartment after my grandfather had finished, I could see that there was still a lot of work to be done as there was still a light layer of dust on everything that the air hose could blow out the window. Picking up the rag I had left when I fled my grandfather's dust storm I spent the rest of the afternoon and night minus the time I was called for dinner cleaning my father's old room. The reason I mentioned the room belonging to my father was the boxes containing his life before he joined the Marines. Going through the boxes I realized that he was a normal kid before he left home and if the rolled up posters were any indication he had a serious crush on Madonna when she was young. I also found picture albums and several boxes of cassette tapes and CD's from all sorts of bands from when he was in high school.

Since it had a closet there were also large numbers of pants and shirts hanging on hangers but after testing one of the shirts I realized that my dad was taller and even more broad shouldered than myself though if what people say that I will be bigger than my dad are true then I actually had something to look forward to.

The following morning before the sun was over the horizon my grandfather was waking me up for my introduction to the chores necessary for a working farm to operate. He informed me that my first chore each day was to muck out all the stalls. After that it was time to feed the animals which was followed by our breakfast which I was told we would be doing omelets. When I told him that I did not know how to cook he told me that we would work together on fixing my lack of ability. Heading outside once we had finished cleaning up after breakfast there were more chores around the house that took us until ten in the morning.

When those were done I received my first reward as he got in the passenger side of his truck while leaving the driver's side for me. Being his chauffeur for the next couple of hours I decided that living in Idaho could be worse as I received my first driving lesson. Something else I realized was that my grandfather was a very wealthy man as we drove around his land for hours and never crossed the same ground twice. Of everything he showed me, the one I found the most interesting, was what he called his hidden garden. The garden entailed two dozen trees set in an arc around the irrigation canal. Between the trees were large bushes with king sized thorns that would discourage anyone from poking their head into my grandfather's business. The one down side was the same could not be said about the other side of the canal as there were no trees on that side and the owner there had sold off some of his land and now there were a couple of ranch houses with families living in them that destroyed my grandfather's idea of a secret garden.

Discussing the garden with him I found out that he had built it for his first wife who had been killed by a drunk teen driver years before he met his second wife, my grandmother and gave birth to my father. My grandmother had been jealous about the garden he had built for his first wife so she had never come out to the garden and over the years he had left it not wanting to upset his wife.

Asking if he would mind if I used it for my martial arts training he agreed saying that someone should get some use out of it. With the idea of using it for my practice we drove home. Finding my mother in the kitchen I reminded her that I needed to find a new studio so that I could practice. Reminding her of my martial arts training was the wrong thing to bring up as the rest of lunch was rather frosty. She blamed me and my martial arts for my last fight down in California and why we were forced to move to Idaho.

My last fight, yea that was a joke; it was more like the OK Corral.

Two Mexican kids I had known since first grade had been ordered to rob a convenience store by their gang. It just happened that my mom had sent me there to pick up a gallon of milk to go with dinner. As soon as the bell rang announcing that someone had entered the store there was a 9mm pistol held sideways pointing at my face from about four feet away. Seeing the boy behind the bandana and hearing the voice, I was shocked. I knew the voice was my friend Juan from my school.

Instead of immediately complying with his order like my mom said I should have done, I asked, "Juan what the fuck do you think you are doing?"

Right then I knew that I made a mistake as his eyes got very big realizing that someone had recognized him. Seeing the fear and uncertainty in his eyes, I knew I was in trouble. When he stepped closer he screamed at me saying, "I am not Juan now get down on the floor."

Until he stepped closer and shoved the pistol right in my face, I did not know what I was going to do as he was too far away from me to make a grab for the pistol. However, by stepping forward to intimidate me, he stepped close enough that he was now in my reach. Deciding that I was not going to be a victim, (too much like my father I guess). I went through the motions in my mind of what I had been taught in my martial arts class. One, step out of the line of fire. Two, gain control the weapon. Three, disable the attacker. That was exactly what happened, as I side stepped away from the barrel of the gun, I grabbed his wrist twisting and forcing the gun farther away from my face and down and away from my body.

He still had control of the trigger but I had control of his hand and arm and I had them both facing away from me. Before I could disarm him Juan pulled the trigger. My face at that moment happened to be close enough that I felt the blast from it going off then twice more in quick succession. All three rounds going through the front counter shattering the glass that was there. Stepping into his arm at the elbow I pulled back hard until I heard a pop as the joint gave way then a scream. I knew that his elbow was gone as it now rotated past the one hundred and eighty degree point backwards. Hearing the pistol hitting the floor, I stepped away still controlling the arm I side kicked his leg aiming for his knee. My strike there brought out another scream as his knee buckled inward as he fell sideways.

Thinking back on that, I think I should have shouted "TIMBER" as he fell with his ruined knee. Seeing no one else around me I was thinking that the fight was over as Juan was crying and holding onto his ruined knee with his one good hand. Bending over to pick up the pistol that he had dropped I had it in my hand when I heard something click behind me.

Looking behind me there was another kid from school I recognized as Roberto, Juan's cousin who was another kid from school wearing a bandana like Juan. In his right hand he was holding a knife. It turned out that he had been down in the beer locker grabbing a couple of cases of beer when I stepped into their action. Now with a switchblade in his hand, he yelled he was going to kill me and started towards me. Not even thinking about what I was doing, I raised the pistol and pulled the trigger, putting the bullet into his chest. I did not mean to fire, it was just an automatic response, raising the pistol and pulling the trigger. I do not even remember pulling the trigger.

I never knew why I pulled the trigger, after disabling Juan who had a gun, disabling Roberto with a knife would have been simple after all the hours I had spent in class doing unarmed drills against knife wielding opponents. Instead, I had raised the pistol that I had picked up from Juan and fired, hitting him in the chest, one of the police officer's that responded had called my shot center mass. That was in April when I killed Roberto and crippled Juan.

Several weeks later the District Attorney called and let my mother know that the shooting was being ruled justified self defense and I had been cleared. The next day the death threats started. Only they were not just against me, but also against my mom and sisters, actually my half sisters. Soon after the first reports of my being cleared were broadcast was when my mom heard from my grandfather. That was when my grandfather offered my mother his place for all of us to live so she immediately agreed since the police were advising her that the threat against us was credible. Personally I would have preferred to stay but my mother was not going to chance the lives of my sisters.

Chapter 2 »