A to Z: M - Merchant & Mad

My A to Z Challenge: Flash fiction written using two words and a photo for inspiration. How did I chose the words? First I brought up a noun list for each letter, then averted my eyes, scrolled the mouse down, stopped and double-clicked. That was the word! The second word was chosen the same way but from a dictionary list of words.
NOTE: Photos are from free to use photo sites such as Pixabay.com and Morguefile.com. No attribution necessary.

It just wasn't right. They had worked so hard, her parents especially. All the blood, sweat and tears they had poured into the store. They'd come from the old country thirty years before, barely speaking English. Mama had worked doing laundry for rich folks and Papi had worked day labor. They'd saved every spare penny, even while raising three kids.

She was the oldest. As soon as she was old enough, she'd started babysitting, putting most of the money she earned into the family kitty. Her brothers did the same with their paper route money.

The summer she graduated from high school, her parents were finally able to fulfill their dream. They bought a small corner store in their neighborhood from the retiring owner. They were so proud, they were finally merchants! They owned their own business.

She went off to college but her brothers stayed to help their parents in the new store. Then it happened. She got a call from her youngest brother. A new gang had moved into the area and started harassing the stores for protection money. Her parents refused, even after her brothers told them to pay. Two weeks after the thugs made their first visit, they came back and trashed the place. But worse than that, they pistol whipped her father after knocking her mother unconscious in front of him.

She was mad, very mad. They would pay, and pay dearly. While she had majored in law enforcement in college, she had found a more lucrative career as an enforcer for some very special people. People who adored her. But most importantly, people who would have her back. Yes, they would pay.

She smiled.

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