Our Version Of Events

I stood outside waiting for the school bell to ring, it was 13:51. I kept staring down the road, Spain wasn't really my favorite place to be but Mr. Ings always loved Catholic schools so here I am with his son. It's been two years since Mrs. Ings died and I was reassigned to protecting Jack, I thought he'd fire me like the rest guards but for some reason he didn't. I have to say though I enjoyed watching over the Misses than her kid, he wasn't really a brat but let's just say there was no love lost between the both of us.

"Hey D, keep the engine running " I said to the driver in the black SUV I was gently resting on. D was the family driver long before I started working for them, he was loved by the whole family, probably the only person among us the kid doesn't acknowledge as a mere worker.

"You've got it, Xander" D replied.

Xander. Mrs. Ings first called me that. Right after I got the job, she said it was the name of her late brother. Personally I preferred Alex but as long as the check came I never complained and the name kind of stuck.

I had been looking at 2 cars packed a few metres down the road. I had never seen them before, it like there were people seated inside and it felt weird that they were there but I wasn't much concerned, Mr. Ings dealt with dangerous people but I personally always felt his family were more safer when he wasn't around.

13:55, could this day not go any slower? I didn't enjoy the heat I was standing in plus the suit didn't really help. I would have taken it off but I didn't want to expose the gun hanging on my waist.

I heard a vehicle approaching from the other side of the road, I looked up and saw another black SUV coming. I recognized the plate number, it was one of ours.

"You have to be kidding me" I said to myself. It was Mr. Ings it had to be, and if he was here then trouble must be lurking around. The car drove up and parked right in front of us, the windows were tinted, so I wasn't sure who was in it. I slowly tucked my right hand into my suit and reached for my glock, the safety came off as I stood there waiting for what next. The doors opened up

"Stand down, Alex. It's me" a man said as he stepped out the car, it was Mr. Ings.

"Sir, I wasn't expecting you to be here" I said. My mind was relaxed by the fact that it was actually him and his guards in the vehicle, something kept troubling me but I couldn't yet say what it was exactly. Whatever it was it disturbed me so much that I held on to the gun, my eyes watching every bit of activity.

Mr. Ings never dropped by unexpectedly it was never his habit, not unless he was running from or to something. I also noticed his guards not minding the fact that they were displaying AKs in a school premises.

"Well, I am here. Nothing we can do about it now" he said. And then gave me a light pat on the shoulder.

"When do they close?" he asked, the bell rung immediately he asked the question. We both looked up as the sound of happy kids filled the atmosphere, an old man in security uniform got up from a chair he was sitting on reading the papers and at the same time watching us, to open the gate. Normally people holding weapons in front of a school environment might cause a worry or two but we've been there before, infact the school had to talk to me to conceal my weapon but I guess that is now all out the window.

"There he is. Jack! " Mr. Ings called out, I finally caught a glimpse of the child amongst the bunch of kids slowly filling the space that seperated the school building from it's gates. Some parents were already inside and they had a spot they could sit till the kids were ready to go home, but since I was armed they never let me inside.

"Dad!" the kid said as he began running towards us. For someone who only spoke to him through the phone for 2 years now he seemed pretty excited to see him, but heck what do I know about healthy family relationship not like I ever had one.

I watched them hug each other, there was nothing fuzzy about this moment. I still had that feeling of dread Mr. Ings was always carrying trouble with him and it was in that minute that it dawned on me. What If he wasn't carrying trouble but trouble had gone ahead and was waiting for him.

"The 2 cars" I muttered out loud, loud enough that Mr. Ings took one look at me and knew something was wrong. I quickly turned around the cars were both moving towards us quickly, I was right they were people seating idly in those cars all this while. I moved as quickly as I could grabbing Mr. Ings and Jack and dragging them both to the ground safely behind the packed SUV. The cars were close by and as I got behind the safety of the SUV I saw the windows rolled down and from it came hands holding different guns, without even the slightest provocation a gun fight ensued. The assasins from the cars and Mr. Ings guards who saw me react and caught wind of the action in time, I tried reaching for the door handle if I could get them in the car then D could drive them off. Then in the midst of the gunfire I heard approaching footsteps coming from behind the SUV, I didn't hesistate, a bald man wearing a bandana holding a revolver showed his face and I put a bullet right through his skull before he even had time to react.

I tried to reach for his weapon and a bullet flew past my head, I quickly dived back to the safety of the SUV side. I looked infront to the other SUV parked facing ours and realized 2 out of the 4 guards Mr. Ings came with were dead, the opened school gate was now deserted with both students and parents running to the safety of the school building. I looked back at Mr. Ings using himself as a shield to cover his kid.

I knew I was the only thing that could change the course of this battle, I pulled out the second glock from my waist. With guns in both hands I moved towards the front of the vehicle; I was sure that only one man stood making sure no one tried flanging them by coming from the back of the SUV so I went for where he wasn't targetting towards. Diving out of protection I caught one off guard and shot him right in his left shoulder, a second one caught sight of me and tried to shoot but forgot about the 2 other guards and he immediately was baptized with bullets

"Only one left! " one of the guards said. In that moment I caught sight of the foot of the wounded assailant and shot at him, he fell and I got a clear shot to his head.

"Now it's one! " I said. I couldn't get a shot of him even though I was flat on the floor and could see from underneath their car, this one was well positioned behind the tires.

As I slowly stood up, I remembered the dummy grenade I always carried with me for luck. I pulled the pin and threw it towards the car, it landed on the roof with a loud thud and I saw his head raise a bit to see what just landed on the vehicle. It wasn't a clear shot but it got the desired effect, after seeing the grenade he moved back from the vehicle giving me access to his legs, I ducked down immediately and took three shots, one to his foot the other two to his body. Then I laid there waiting to see if he'd still move but he didn't, when I finally got up I realized D was dead. He had kept both windows down so he could chat with me and get some fresh air into the vehicle.

"S**t " I muttered . The other guards were checking on Mr. Ings and his son they kept asking questions like

"Sir, are you okay" he kept saying he was fine but they kept looking over his body probably expecting to see bullet holes or something.

I kept staring at them, it kind of reminded me of when I started this line of work. Not a day goes by that I don't regret ever trying something else but that wasn't the memory that came to me. No, the memory that came to me was the first day when I met Mrs. Ings, her husband had introduced me to her as her bodyguard. Back then she was still 5 months pregnant.

The first question she asked was "Have you ever lost someone on the Job? " my response was

"Yes, but always due to their failing medical health. Because as it turns out what they truly needed was a doctor" I remember she laughed so hard after that.

As my mind flashed in thoughts my eyes locked with Mr. Ings' eyes he gave an approving nod sort of like a thank you, I didn't nod back I simply looked away. To him it may have been a serious attempt on his life and what's left of his family but to me it was another Tuesday. I walked over to the assailant cars to retrieve my dummy grenade, I wasn't planning on waiting till the cops show.