"Oh, By The Way..."(cont.)

He had a fantasy of kicking in the door, dragging Brandon out into the yard and making him beg for his life, of making him confess every sin he had every committed against Danny.

Danny had thought of this moment dozens of times, planning his every movement and punishment. But now that he was there, it wasn't so easy.

He thought of his wife, and his best friend, and his betrayal. He was twenty feet away from the front door. But as much as he wanted to begin, one question kept coming back to his mind.

"What if I miss?"

Danny wasn't good with guns, he hadn't shot one in ten years. He had taken the pistol from his father's house.

It looked so easy in the movies. Just aim and squeeze the trigger. But if somehow he failed, what then? What if the gun jammed, or worse yet, Brandon was able to get it away from him?

He was sure they were carrying on an affair. He was certain he wanted to punish Brandon, punish both of them.

But he couldn't make himself take the chance of failure. If he tried and didn't kill Brandon, then his life would be over.

And they would have the last laugh over him.

Danny slowly reached for the glove compartment and replaced the pistol. He silently cursed himself for his fear.

He dropped the car back into reverse and backed out of Brandon's driveway. As he drove back home, he tried to clear his head again. He had decided against his original plan. Now he had to come up with another idea.

He couldn't let this continue. He couldn't let them think they were putting one over on him.

As Danny turned onto his street, he had decided to let things wait for a few days. He'd come up with another way to get back at them. There were many cars parked on the side of their street, so it took an extra minute to get home. Turning into his driveway, he was snapped out of his haze by a familiar sight.

There, right in front of him, was Brandon's Escalade.

Danny's eyes grew wide, then narrowed. Gritting his teeth, he again opened the glove compartment and withdrew the pistol. It was fate, he thought. I've come home early and found them in bed together. No one would ever convict me.

He used his key to quietly unlock the front door and slip inside. As he slowly walked down the hallway, hand holding the pistol up by his shoulder, he felt strangely in control of his life for the first time.

Ahead of Danny, the door from the kitchen came open and a familiar face walked directly in front of him.

As he extended the gun toward her, Danny couldn't help but smile.

Cindy looked up at him, a startled look at her face. She started to smile back at him, then noticed the pistol pointed at her.

"Danny…what…what's going on here?"

"You tell me," Danny sneered. "Why don't you just come clean right now."

With that, the swinging door to the kitchen swung open. Brandon walked in, his shirt untucked.

"Hey Cindy, where is the wine? I couldn't…"

Danny turned the gun, leveling it at Brandon and cocking the trigger.

"Danny? What are you doing home, man? What…why are you doing that?"

Danny smiled. He liked the way the gun felt in his hand, and the power it gave him. These two had conspired against him, schemed behind his back. Now he was on top again.

"How stupid do you think I am? You should have known there's no way you could get away with this."

Cindy stepped over in front of Brandon and put her hands out to Danny. "Baby, I don't know what's wrong, but we didn't want you to know until…"

"Shut up! Shut up, I've listened to your lies for too long. This time…"

The kitchen door opened again, and Danny swung the gun over to cover whoever would come through. Two smaller figures came through, and stopped when they saw the weapon.

"Son?" said the first. "What's going on in here?"

"Dad?" Danny said. "Why are you here?"

Danny's mom came from behind her husband, holding a large cake painted with white and blue icing.

The cake read "Happy 30th Birthday Danny".

Danny stared at the cake, as his relatives and coworkers began to pour out of the kitchen. They began to sing "Happy Birthday," but stopped as soon as they saw the gun.

Danny put the pistol down, as tears of joy streamed down and a big smile crossed his face.

However, no one else was smiling any more.