— 3 —
“Eighty-two … eighty-three … eighty-four …†And then Aaron heard someone outside scream. The boy grabbed at the door handle as hard as he could. It swung open fast, hitting the inside wall beside the sink. It bounced off the wall and nearly hit him on the butt on the return as he darted out.
Aaron screamed, his voice shrill and panicked. “Daddy! Daddy!†He fell on his father, grasping at his shirt, the blood smearing on the boys hands. He saw the women who screamed, the two old women that glared at Dragon for his vulgarity. “Please help my daddy! Please!â€
The women, two elderly sisters, Joanne and Josephine Weatherly stood their frozen, their hands to her open mouths in fright.
His father’s one eye tried frantically to get the boys attention. He tried raising his arm to touch the boy but he had no strength. He gasped trying to speak, but all he could do was gargle blood. His lungs were beginning to fill with it.
Angie appeared, and seeing the man’s beaten and bloody face, nearly puked on the worn brown carpeting. “ Oh shit. Oh shit.†She dropped to her knees, put her hands out as if she knew what to do, something to help the man. But she was afraid to touch him. She turned to the women. “9-1-1. Call 9-1-1.â€
Neither did anything. Josephine, the taller of the two, felt faint. Her knees buckling she began to fall. Joanne reached for her as she passed out, breaking her fall, but both fell to the floor, hitting a in-store marketing display for romance novels. Harlequin books rained down on the Weatherly sisters.
Angie tried to find her phone. It wasn’t there. “Shit.†It was sitting next to the People magazine.
Aaron was now sitting back on his legs crying profusely. Rubbing at the tears, they mixed with his father’s blood on his face looking like grotesque finger painting.
Daly Summers, the on-duty manager, made the emergency call: “A man’s been beaten at Books Galore in the Valley Mall. We need an ambulance … and police.â€
Jeremy Munson died before the EMS could arrive.
