Can No One Shoot Straight?

This story holds no sex, no reconciliation, no loving support from an understanding family, or any other such bullshit! This story is about pain, betrayal, rage, and hurt, as well as unexpected justice forged from the fires from hell that have kept this ghost warm during the years that followed. So if you have a problem with that you know where the 'X' is...

What made this veteran decide that it was now time to set things straight? Fate had sent him a message in the form of an 86-year-old woman. His name isn't important right now (because he can't remember it) so they just call him 'Wolf', at 6'6'' and 260lbs. he was a large man without an ounce of fat on him. he was obviously a smart man but for the life of him he just can't get past that wall when he tries to remember his earlier days! the other thing he was curious about was the evidence of old wounds of various sizes and shapes that encompassed his body. the scars were long healed and he thought made him look like Frankenstein's Monster when he took his shirt off to bathe in a small pond in the woods.

============================

The storm raged on as the rain came down, and I no longer felt the need to stay dry and was hoping that it washed away the trail of blood running down from the hole in my left shoulder. I was walking back to the large wooden crate that had become my home for the past few months with a bottle of cheap vodka that I had gotten from the corner liquor store when a crackhead stepped up and demanded my booze as well as my pea green WWII wool coat (that so wasn't going to happen!) and while I set down the bottle and begin to tell my new friend why it wasn't...the little prick shot me with a.32 caliber pistol! who knew they still made.32s anyway??

We then had an "educational" talk as I walked away telling him how to soothe his throat resulting from my throat punch that drove his Adam's apple into his throat, as I walked along the river I gave the pistol a toss...shot by an old ladies pistol, freaking insulting!!

As I made my way to my place behind a thick vale of camouflage to a large wooden crate where I was able to relax and take my coat off. after gently peeling back my shirt and examining the wound, I realized that I had to go to the mini-mart about 3 blocks away for more cotton, using what I had to slow things down, I took 3 large pulls of the vodka for good luck and headed back out to the store. The store was 2 blocks down and one up and what I saw when I made that turn brought a smile to my face!

A limo was sitting at an angle half on the curb the rest in the street some of its doors were open and a body slumped over the wheel was nothing I cared for but the five wanna-be's that threw a small thin looking bundle against the wall of the building and saying "Listen to me you old bitch, your son is messing with things he was told to leave alone, now we need to send him a message and your it!", these punks raised their weapons as they chuckled.

A quick look around at the body count laying around and noticed somebody had been busy, but what caught my eye was the short-barreled AR15 obviously modified with 2 mags taped together facing away "Hollywood style". As I scanned my targets my mind was doing what it had been taught, my breathing slowed not making a sound as I watched their movements begin to slow to a crawl, I know I could take 3 of the 5 before the rest would hopefully shoot me and get it over with! I had a moment to figure out which one I wanted to start with when a greasy Mexican walked up to the huddled form and poked it with his AK47 and said

"Lick my barrel it's time!" and I thought...' question answered' and the dance started!

I shouted "Hey you menstruating assholes! How good are you when the odds are even?"

The guy looked over and said "5 against 1, you call that even? learn to count Dickhead!"

I smiled as I heard myself reply, "Let's Dance!". Within 20 seconds the 3 on the sidewalk were dead and I was wondering why I hadn't been shot by the remaining 2 yet?, after my head swiveled to look for them they jumped out of the back seat and stood by the backdoors to cover their friends. it looked like the one on the far side just started shooting before he brought his weapon to bear on me and wound up shooting the one who had a clear shot at me in the back of the head and took off running around the far corner of the building.

I was pissed yelling at him to finish what he started! and that's when I remembered the bundle against the building so I stumbled over to check it out and 2 things happened...first was that I found out was an older lady dressed rather well as her eyes opened and suddenly she launched herself at me and as I pushed the lady down and away from me and then the second thing happened...the report of an AK47 cut threw the night and I felt the rounds tearing through my back and leg, seems the bastard had the balls to try again poked back around the corner after all! the last thing I remember before I slipped away into nothingness was the puzzled look on the EMT's face when I said "Tell him I said thanks!"

I first felt...PAIN, and a whole lot of it! the second thing I felt for the first time wasn't anger but something I couldn't quite place, then suddenly my ears cleared up and realized I heard a deep male voice talking in medical terms, and a pleasant female voice and a male voice seemed to ask questions from time to time.

"Dr. Zimmer, how many of the bullets are still inside him and what do you feel about telling him what really happened? How long do we have to wait for him to even tell him our real names...?" and that's when I heard the gay man's voice pick up a bit and giggle, "you don't have to worry sweetness, he's already given you a name and I'm jealous!!" and then I heard a firm slap and he continued "Damn, baby! retract the claws a bit, I meant no disrespect" the giggling lasted for short while then stopped. I remember thinking 'Where the hell am I? And why wasn't I dead already?? "I'll be back in 3 days to remove the rest of them, just keep him calm if he comes around and give me a call as soon as he wakes, alright?"

I heard their footsteps fade away and waited until I was sure I was alone and then started opening my eyes, the sight that I saw made me think I was inside somebody's idea of Buckingham Palace, but then I saw something that made me think I was in hell...the liquor cabinet was between a couch and chair located about 20ft. away on the other side of the room (now someone was just being mean). because my back was stitched up like a turkey for the holidays 35 minutes later found myself face down on the couch with both decanters on the floor with a length of surgical tubing filling the gap between us as I began to feel a bit better as my pain started to go numb. (you have to use what's at hand, right?)

Suddenly a door opened into the room and I heard shouting right before I heard a 'slap' sound before an alarm went off, so much for me enjoying some really good booze...these people are beginning to piss me off! As I watched 10 others fill the room before someone had any thought to shut the alarm off, an slightly irate slim guy in a lab coat came up to me speaking quickly as he flashed my eyes with a light and then grabbed both my cheecks and looked at my face as he turned it this way and that and then he was still talking about something while never looking at me so my right hand snatched his right hands thumb and index finger and quickly twisted causing his center of balance and he found himself on his knees with large round eyes looking up at me after his feet left the ground.

I said "Never think because a man is silent that he's a submissive as you try to Dominate" "THAT WAS EXCELLENT!! sorry 'little willy' but that one is so going on the website!" said a beautiful dark-haired girl stepped up dressed in tight jeans and a tight shirt and her B+ topside was a perfect match for her heart-shaped ass "I already called Grams and Zimmer and Grams told me to tell you all to clear out and I could take care of him til she arrives early tomorrow, so Haul your asses on out of here!" she laughed, then she turned to me and held up the empty liquor decanter and asked if I would like a ham&cheese sandwich while she refills my drink...I liked her straight off!

While I was waiting for her return I started trying to fit things together going from being totally off-grid bum to someone who I suddenly realized I was starting to feel the same in my crate or here and then I quickly felt a spiking of pain jolt somewhere deep inside my head and darkness took me.

When I awoke I was back in bed but the couch and liquor cabinet as well as the couch had been moved next to me, there was also a plate with a lot of crumbs and a balled-up napkin on a small table. "Damn girl! you refill my drink and then eat my sandwich?? that's totally uncool!" and I did my best to do an evil chuckle. she about jumped a foot off the couch with large eyes she was shaking a bit when she picked up an intercom unit and pressed the button down,

"Just tell the cook how you want it and it won't be a problem, o-ok?" I did so and then asked her what was wrong. She related that when she brought my sandwich and drinks back I was standing in a strange position with a look in my eyes that clearly showed my mind was somewhere else giving her a look as she entered that made her freeze solid as she heard me say "one less piece of shit to worry about!"

I blinked my eyes as my mind slowly returned to the here and now with her whispering "remind me to never piss you off!" My mind started walking the old pathways of my memories I always had a hard time doing this and all the shrinks said that I knew something deep deep down and I had to wait until I remembered it. (no I'm not kidding, they actually said that!) and here comes Dr. Zimmer to irritate me some more, Yea!

He puts me under and removes the last of it as well as some 'leftovers' from my earlier days of 'doing fucked up shit so the ignorant can do the American Dream!' and the term American Dream makes me think of all stupid crap they talked about when we were kids (my mind gave me a feeling of something stabbing me on my right side just under the rib cage), then my mind settled on 'parents' and the 1/2in. the scar running down from near the top of my head down across my left eye and cheek felt like it was glowing giving off such a blazing heat I felt as if it branded me, marking me for some strange reason, and then my mind thought 'wife' and the scream that erupted from me seemed to force my soul from my body and suddenly I was filled with an old friend and as the darkness filled me!

I realized that all my mental blocks of what happened that weekend and who I was prior to it were suddenly gone! I also knew why my soul had been placed 'off to the side', my soul would never survive what was coming, I wanted nothing to come between myself and those who chose the 'family's plan'!

My eyes shot open and I sat up, I had been laying flat on my back in a room filled with strange things I recognized some of the things around me were linked to the ninja style of martial arts. I heard an elderly female voice speaking. She began with a tale about a family that could look like gold, but be so corrupted on the inside that they often used one hand to keep those in the other in line.

Then entered a child that didn't look like any of the other children or parents yet the DNA showed him a member of the family so the family started to become abusive physically as well as mentally to him constantly all through his childhood until his late teenage years..." "when his family got careless and was caught selling drugs and trafficking women as sex slaves so they pinned it all on their family's embarrassing oddball son, made up information that showed what they were saying was true, and then planted clues that led the police to the cliff side so they would figure he jumped instead being in prison" I said, the old lady then said "they never said if he jumped or just slipped over the edge walking by..."

The voice that answered was one I have never heard before came out of my mouth and said "his mother gave him a kiss on the cheek saying how she loved him when all she was doing was holding him steady while his father hit him with a club so he and the other son could just throw him over onto the rocks below..." the room felt sub-artic cold!

I looked into the eyes of this elderly lady as she sadly said "You know who you really are now as well...?" all I could do was hang my head and give a small nod. "My late husband did not mean to be a part of your betrayal but he was duped by your Mother and Father, I have hoped I could help right that wrong, and helping you to be the one that will do it is more healing than this old heart deserves, rest well your training begins at dawn!"

A small Japanese man arrived at 4 am with a younger Asian man, They woke me up and I began a simple warm-up routine I remembered that stretched the muscles as well and after 2 hours I realized that getting better would be more of a challenge than I first thought. The older man just shook his head and left the room. The younger one came over to me and told me "My father didn't think you were able to be trained for the task at hand, I said I believe that you were and so you will begin with me" I asked him when does our training begin? I didn't even see him move and I found myself on my back with his left hand spread out across my face and the heel of his right hand stopped just short of driving my nose into my brain,..."10 minutes ago!"

+++ 5 years later +++

The son had taught me well and my abilities were sharper and more focused, But I was still a bit shocked when I looked up to see the Father in the gym, "My son likes you and thinks you're ready for my teachings but it is left to you to show me!" I threw myself into different styles and techniques and then suddenly a 4ft. stick was pointing where he wanted my hands and feet to go next. After 5 months under his tutelage, I became a killing machine with a razor-sharp mind when he began teaching me how to harness my spirit and how to tap the powers that the mind holds. Then one morning I arrived to find a hearty meal set up with the both of them when I asked what was going on the Father replied "It is a meal to say farewell between friends, you are ready and it is our time to leave".

I was sitting up on the cliffs when my mind started to replay the last time I walked this path but now I also remembered what had actually saved me was there had been a few cargo ships go down in this area leaving all sorts of debris gathering along the bottom of the cliff face for the past few miles, I happened to land amongst 4 inflatable heavy-duty life rafts from said ships and was able to get on top of one that was halfway deflated. when I came to I found I was in a bubble with a small sandy area and saltwater for a floor the walls were granite, and after the tide went back out the raft I laid on was pulled through the opening that the tide exposed and after 3 more days of floating I was rescued by a Brazillian cargo vessel bound for home,

They kept calling me 'little fish' and threaten to throw me back in. Well, 2 years later I was living with the captain's daughter and learning 2 different styles of Martial arts when Jasmine found a man that interested her, I became a merchant marine visiting Japan, Thailand, Korea, China, as well as other places I would have never seen by myself and I got paid to do it was the kicker, but it was when I buried my first wife in her native Samoa that I fulfilled my promise to her, my sweet Zian.

We spoke of her seeing the starting place where my memories began and exploring it all together laughing at what we found...Well my dear you're going to have to look somewhere else for a time as the storm your man has called forth isn't going to be very pretty and I'm just going to have to trust in your forgiving me this time around, my love!

Continued...