Norah stared into her daddy’s lifeless eyes as a droplet of blood slid down the side of his head. Her mommy pulled her away.
“Daddy!” she screamed, reaching out for him.
“No, Honey,” her mommy said before pleading with the little girl’s grandmother to cover him.
Norah took one last look at the watery red hole in his head before her grandmother tossed a blanket over him. His hand stuck out, still gripping the gun.
She remembered the promise he made to her. “Daddy’s going to get better,” he said. Then they’d all be a happy family again.
“He promised!” she screamed, and her mommy held her tight. “Why didn’t he keep his promise?”
She sobbed into her mommy’s shoulder. “Why didn’t he see?”
Her mommy’s lips brushed her right ear. “I’m so sorry, Norah.”
She glanced at the spot where her daddy lay and wondered how she would ever be okay again.
Jacob’s eyes opened, the sound of a gunshot and a little girl’s scream echoing in his head. He lifted himself from the cold cement. The image of a little girl he didn’t recognize, her blond hair framing an innocent face, was burned into his mind.
The moon gave enough light for him to see that he was alone in an alley. His arms…
