Vance’s humiliation turned into a blind, animal rage. He looked at the cake on the table. If he couldn’t break her spirit with words, he would destroy her dignity. He reached out and grabbed the cake box. “You want to talk about honor? Let’s talk about respect.”
He grabbed Eleanor by the shoulder, his grip bruising. “This is for your big mouth, lady.” He took the cake and smashed it directly into Eleanor’s face. Chocolate and frosting covered her hair, her eyes, and her clothes. The room went silent again, a collective gasp of horror echoing through the hall.
“Grandma!” David screamed, trying to stand, but his injuries held him back. Vance wasn’t done. He rubbed the frosting into her face, sneering, “How’s it taste? Eat up, old woman.” He shoved her, and Eleanor fell to the floor.
Vance ground the remains of the cake into the floor with his boot. He then turned to David and landed a heavy blow to the boy’s ribs. “And that’s for your birthday, kid.” His henchmen finally stepped in, realizing he was going too far. “Sir, take it easy! People are watching!”
Vance stood over them, breathing hard, a manic grin on his face. He felt like a god. But on the floor, Eleanor was moving. She didn’t sob. She wiped the frosting from her eyes with her handkerchief. Her expression was terrifyingly calm. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She hit speed dial ‘1’.
The call connected instantly. A deep, authoritative voice answered. “Mom? Is everything okay? You never call this line.” Eleanor’s voice was like cold steel. “Michael.” She didn’t use his title. She spoke as a mother giving an order. “I’m at Fort Sterling. Visitor’s center.”
Lieutenant General Michael Miller, commander of the entire regional corps, felt a chill go down his spine. He knew that tone. “Mom, what happened? Are you hurt?” Eleanor replied with four words: “Code Red. Lioness Down.” The General’s heart stopped. That was their family’s emergency signal, used only in the direst circumstances.
“I’ll be there in eight minutes,” Michael said, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and fury. Eleanor hung up and sat back on the floor, pulling David’s head into her lap. She began to wipe the blood from his lip, ignoring the frosting on her own face. She looked like a simple grandma again, but she had just unleashed a hurricane.
Vance was still strutting around, oblivious. “Go ahead, call the cops. See what happens,” he mocked. He didn’t know that the “cops” coming for him wore stars on their shoulders. He didn’t know he had just touched the mother of the man who ran the entire base.
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