Chapter 9

Ava rushed in when she heard the noise. Seeing them, she blurted out, "It's nothing. Your dad just took a fall." "A fall? Since when would falling down make you cry so hard that your eyes swell up?!" Josh's voice was steel when he said, "Either tell me what happened, or I'm going door to door raising hell in this village!" "No!" Ava's panic doubled. Things were already humiliating enough. If Josh made a scene, they might as well die of shame. Looking at her husband, she was unsure whether to tell Josh. But as Josh turned to leave, Ava was forced to grab him and sob out the whole story. They had spent the afternoon trying to borrow money, but every relative turned them down. There were two reasons. First, they were too poor. The fact that Oliver was asking for 200 dollars made people doubt if they would ever repay. Second, the mess with the Holts and Kains had become village gossip. Nobody wanted to associate themselves with such embarrassing relatives. When their family failed them, Oliver started going door to door. He ended up at Marcus Kain's house. He offered to lend money with a condition. Oliver had to slap himself and apologize to the Kain family. It was pure humiliation. Oliver would have left immediately at any other time. But this was his only shot at borrowing money. Eventually, he slapped himself a few times. After he had slapped himself, Marcus threw him two dollars like scraps on the ground. He even mocked the Tates for being prideless beggars. Furious, Ava wanted to yell at him, but Oliver pulled her away. Being an honest man who would never hurt anyone, he just picked up the money and left. They could hear the laughter following them down the street, even from afar. Oliver held it together in the moment, but the humiliation broke him later. What man could swallow such shame? But he would swallow anything for his son! They tried other houses but came back empty-handed. After a whole afternoon of begging, they merely got two dollars. Helpless, Oliver cried until his eyes swelled. As a father, the shame of only bringing home two dollars after all that was too much. So he faked being sick. Josh's face went dark after hearing the whole story. He headed for the door without hesitation. "Where are you going?!" Ava tried to block him and asked. "To pay them back!" Josh calmly said. When Ava was about to say something, he cut her off, "I'm not leaving here, and you don't need to humiliate yourselves anymore. When it comes to making money, I can outdo everyone in this whole village! "Don't worry, I'm just going to talk sense into them. Nothing will happen. Wait here, and I'll be right back." He was gone before she could stop him. "What do we do?" Ava was on the verge of tears. Gritting his teeth, Oliver jumped up from bed. "I'm following him!" "What if it turns into a fight?" Ava asked. "It'll be fine. I'll be there, so just wait here," Oliver said. He didn't let Ava follow him. But before leaving, he slipped a kitchen knife into his belt. The past few days of enduring all the shame had built up something dangerous in him. He could handle being bullied by others. But if anyone troubled his son, it would be a line they would regret crossing. Josh didn't know his father was following as he ran to Marcus's place. He kicked the door open without warning. "Who's that?" Marcus and his family of five were having dinner. They were taken aback. Seeing Josh, Marcus shot up and slammed the table. "Josh Tate, you little shit! What the hell are you doing here at this hour?" "Paying back a debt." Josh pulled out two dollars and walked toward Marcus. He asked, "I heard you made my dad slap himself four times for this money, right?" Marcus got it now and sneered. He said, "Yeah, I did. And he was happy to do it. What's wrong? Are you here to get back your father's worthless pride? Take a good look at yourself. Do you think you've got what it takes?" "Like I said, I'm here to pay you back." Josh held out the money. "At least you know your place." Marcus reached for it without hesitation. The moment he grabbed it, Josh's hand shot out and slapped his face four times. It happened so fast that it left everyone dumbfounded. He had said he was here to repay, so where did these slaps come from? Marcus snapped out of his shock. As his face twisted with rage, he grabbed a stool to throw at Josh. His two sons and daughter-in-law started cursing and were about to attack him too. But they froze when Josh pulled out a kitchen knife. "Try me. Let's see if your stool reaches me faster than my knife finding your throat!" Josh's eyes flashed with murderous intent. He had dealt with enough tough guys while doing business. This was nothing new. These people couldn't scare him. But the Kains were terrified. Village fights happened all the time, and sometimes knives would be involved. But that was always somebody else's problem. Who wouldn't think twice when it was their own neck on the line? Marcus gritted his teeth and said, "Josh, you're pushing your luck. Your dad agreed to this. What gives you the right to barge in here acting tough?" "You lent my dad two dollars for four slaps, so I paid two dollars back with four slaps. We're even now. How's that pushing it? I would have behaved reasonably if you did. But if you want to play rough, we'll see who bleeds first!" Suddenly, a roar shook the room. "Touch my son, and I'll butcher your whole family!" Oliver burst in like a god of war with his kitchen knife raised high. Marcus's jaw dropped. The Tates had always been pushovers and were always taking abuse without a word. What happened today? Both Oliver and Josh had turned wild. Five against one knife was one thing. But with two knives pointing right at them, their legs went weak. "O-Oliver, take it easy! We didn't hurt him. He hit me first!" Marcus stammered. "You deserved worse, you bastard! I ought to gut you myself!" Oliver's eyes blazed red as he cursed. And he meant every word. Josh was surprised to see his father but couldn't help smiling. Their family had always been the village punching bag. Seeing his father find his spine was worth celebrating. He turned back to the Kains and asked, "So what's it going to be? Should we call it even, or should we fight? Are you going to get your revenge after this? That's fine by me. As long as you don't kill us both right here, we'll see who's the last man standing."