Chapter 500: Mercy, Hope, And Survival
It was almost reassuring that only a few people felt uncomfortable with Rule Number One. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t make it because I was a bleeding heart or anything like that. I think someone said it best when they said that ’abused kids abuse people’ or something along those lines.
In other words, those who have had their pound of flesh taken as a child will almost always make sure that they get that pound of flesh back from someone else. I just don’t want to deal with the aftermath.
"Rule two," I announced, my voice echoing from coast to coast to coast to coast of the western side of the world. "Don’t annoy me."
I could feel the stunned silence coming off the people around me, like they didn’t quite know what to make of my words. But I really thought I had made myself perfectly clear in that regard.
"You heard me," I grinned. "And I meant every word of it. Don’t annoy me. That means no whining, no backtalk, no ’but we didn’t know’, and most definitely, no showing up at my door any time between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. If you don’t want to be turned into a decorative lawn ornament, don’t be stupid, or loud, or clingy... or moral."
I paused for a second, actually enjoying the discomfort of the demons around me. "I am not your mother, your therapist, your god, or your fucking genie in a bottle. I don’t owe you comfort or understanding. In fact, I don’t owe you anything. The moment you think you are entitled to my attention is the moment you lose it."
I was dead serious about this rule. In fact, maybe I should have made it rule number one. People always remembered the first rule before their attention span kind of fizzled off. After all the shit I had been through for the past few years, I was done with playing nice.
And now that I didn’t have a house that was on the side of the wisher instead of me, I was going to take full advantage.
"Rule three," I smiled, making sure that my voice was loud. When I was sure that I had everyone’s attention, the smile on my face dropped. "No one touches what’s mine."
That was a period—end of story rule.
I didn’t need to look behind me to know that my men were standing taller at those words, a shit eating grin on their faces as they basked in their joy.
"I don’t care if it’s one of my men, a demon, a dinosaur, or a houseplant. If it belongs to me and you put your filthy fingers on it, I will flay the soul from your bones and staple it to my wall. Or, I’ll add your head to my shelf of curiosities. I haven’t quite decided yet. But it will be horrific. Once again, let me say this so you can’t claim ignorance. If it is mine, don’t touch."