I sit alone in the dark room. A single light hangs above me, tethered to the ceiling by a single

string. Not very structurally sound, but I doubt the people running this place really care. My

attention shifted as I heard the heavy door crack open.

“Marcus? Marcus Barnett? I’m Detective Rodgers. I’m just here to ask you a few questions,

okay?”

I shrugged. The man in the doorway was maybe 5’ 10”. The hair framing his face had long ago

faded to a pale gray and bags hung heavy under his dark brown eyes. He walked with a slight

limp and wore a dark gray suit, and a small black notebook resided under his left arm.

I knew how this was going to go. Everyone knew what I was by now, especially this ‘Detective

Rodgers.’ They all saw the blurred-out image of Liam Weathers’ bashed in skull, how the thick

red blood had leaked from his deformed face. They saw me, a bloodied stone in hand. “The look

of insanity” in my eyes, as people called it. “A broken man with a broken psyche.” Bullshit. I’m

not the villain here. I never was.

“Okay, Marcus. Let’s just get right to it. If you answer me honestly, I might be able to help you. If

you choose to lie to me, the second I leave this room, I can’t do anything for you anymore,”

Rodgers said.

I nodded.

“Did you kill Liam Weathers on Monday, October 3rd?”

“I did.”

“Did you mean to kill him?”

“I had no choice.” It’s not like I could cover this one up.

The detective scribbled something in his notebook.

“Mr. Barnett, I will be right back. Please do not move.”

And just like that, the man hobbled away and I was left alone once more. I won’t lie, I didn’t want

to kill Liam. He was my best friend, but after he got back from university, he’d changed. He

turned into some self-righteous prick.

~

“Every time I close my eyes I see him, Marcus,” he’d said to me. “I see him, and his mangled

body laying limp at the bottom of that there pit.”

I stared at him as he pointed across the clearing where the ground dropped off into an abyss.

Maybell Gulch. I squinted my eyes, noticing the police tape and iron stakes which now adorned

it. That didn’t use to be there. When we were kids, Liam and I would get into all sorts of trouble

up here; throwing bottles down into the pit, counting the seconds and hearing the bash of glass

as it collided with the floor. After a while we had upgraded from bottles to old TVs and blenders.

Anything that would make that satisfying bash sound.

Liam had a sister back then. Martina Weathers. She was the image of southern beauty with long

slender legs, a cinched waist and…haha, well, rather “well endowed,” if you know what I mean.

She had a head full of blonde beach waves that grew down to her lower back. That golden

waterfall swayed from side to side when she walked; promiscuous without even trying. She

never hung around with us though. No, she fancied a fella named Judge Matthews, your typical

golden boy. I’m talking quarterback, straight-A student, body rippling with muscles with that

swoopy dirty blond hair that every girl drooled over. He got everything he wanted from chicks, to

 

grades, to cars, to scholarships. Our senior year he got a full ride to Iowa State on a football

scholarship. I still remember that smug look he wore when he walked the halls. Fucking prick.

That win only elevated his ego and from that point on, he wouldn’t take no for an answer to

anything or from anyone. We’d always gotten a bad feeling from Judge, but Martina wouldn’t

listen.

Well, I don’t really know the whole story, just what Marty told Liam through broken sobs, and

what Liam told me. I remember how I felt though, my fist clenching with such intensity that my

palms began to bleed as my nails dug into them. I remember that feeling in the pit of my

stomach. Rage. Fiery, red hot rage. He’d gone too far this time. Marty was too scared to take

action, but I wasn’t.

I’d found him at the football field. He was running the tracks when I pulled up in my dusty pickup

truck. I grabbed a bottle from the back seat, Crown Royal. There was a rumor going around that

these things didn’t break easily. We’ll see about that.

I stepped out, my boots crushing the freshly-fallen leaves under my weight. It was a nice sound,

but nothing like the sound of glass shattering. That crackling sound got the attention of Judge

though. He perked up and his dark eyes met mine. I swear, you can tell when somebody’s

jacked in the head just by looking at their eyes.

“Can I help you?”

I didn’t respond, just gripped the bottle tighter. God, I probably look like a drunk. He stood up,

placing his orange shaker bottle, or whatever the hell those things are called, on the turf.

“Dude, you’re not being sneaky. What do you want?” he huffed.

“How was it?” I finally responded, maybe 20 feet away.

“How was what?” He arched a brow.

“You know damn well what I’m talking about Judge Matthews. How was it? Was it better

knowing she couldn’t fight back?”

“What the fuck are you-...” I cut him off.

“Was she crying? She was crying when she told Liam. She said no, you bastard. She said no

and you didn’t fucking listen. Nobody can say no Judge Matthews. Such an ignorant little prick.

She’s a Southern Baptist. Did you know that? Did you care to know?” I was on a roll now. I

couldn’t stop. “She’s gonna be shunned. Shamed. She was gonna wait. She wanted to wait.

You stole that from her you-... You-...” I felt my face get hot. The more I thought about it the

angrier I got. I was stumbling over my words. I was blubbering like an idiot. What was I even

doing here? Do I really want to do this?

“Are you done?” he interrupted me, stone-faced. He felt no remorse and those eyes… Fuck it.

I swung my bottle as hard as I could, crushing it against his temple. I heard something smash,

but it wasn’t my bottle. Judge hit his knees hard and his eyes rolled back in his head. Then, like

a massive tree that had just been cut down, he fell back. Blood began to trickle down from his

temple, which had a slight indent in it. And the bottle-... the bottle-... Oh shit.

I stumbled backwards, throwing the bottle behind me. Oh my God, Oh my God. What did I do? I

reached into my pocket and fumbled for my phone. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking as I called

Liam.

“Hey Marcus! What’s up-...”

 

“Liam! Liam oh my god I really messed up! I don’t know what to do! I don’t know what I was

doing. I need help, bad. Um… can you-... can you-...” Then I got an idea. I glanced down at

Judge’s body and took a breath. “Can you meet me at the gulch?”

“Yeah, man. Give me 10 minutes. Um, is everything oka-.'' I hung up.

I hauled Judge’s body into my pickup, but it wasn’t an easy task. Man weighed maybe 300 lbs,

at least. I heaved him into the backseat and threw a tarp over his body. When I got to the gulch,

Liam was already there, pacing.

“Dude! Hey Marcus!” He waved a hand at me frantically. “What’s going on? I ain’t ever heard

you that panicked before.” There was so much concern in those empathetic blue eyes of his.

“Marty wasn’t going to do anything so I took care of it. He isn’t gonna hurt anyone else.” I

cringed at my own words as they left my lips.

“What did you do?”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t bring myself to say it. Instead, I just pointed to the backseat. Liam

took a cautious step forward and opened the door. I couldn’t tell you what he felt when he saw

the body, but in an instant, all the color had drained from his face. He jerked away, keeled over,

and threw up in the grass.

“Marcus! What the fuck!” He choked out, bile dripping from his lips. “Did you kill him? Oh my

God, man, this is so twisted!”

I threw my hands up in defense, “No, okay. He’s the twisted one! He’s been preying on all the

chicks in this town and nobody acknowledges it. Nobody cares just ‘cause he’s popular or

something. It’s not okay, Liam. You know it’s not okay. Menaces like him shouldn’t be allowed to live to see grey hair. I’m just pruning the rose bush of a diseased cane before the entire plant

dies with it.”

Liam stepped away from me. “Marcus, why are we at the gulch?”

I stepped out of the truck and positioned myself in front of Judge’s body. “I’ve got it planned out,

okay? We’re gonna make it look like he got drunk,” I grabbed the Crown Royal bottle I had

stashed in my jacket, “and fell into the gulch.”

Liam reached a hand up to his mouth, forcing down the second round of vomit. Then he looked

at me, and his blue eyes were no longer full of empathy, only fear. Fear of me. Then he stepped

beside me and together we lifted the body out of my back seat. He wasn’t as heavy when the

weight was distributed between two people. I’m glad I called Liam. I knew he wouldn’t fail me.

We got to the edge and were preparing to put the beast in his grave. Then I heard a moan, low

and deep, full of agony.

“...Ugh… What the-... what happened-... I-...”

Judge’s head lolled back and his eyes fluttered open slightly, squinting at the light of the moon.

Liam and I looked at each other. Neither one of us knew what to do. Judge began to squirm and

wriggle himself free of our grasp. He crashed onto the dirt floor, mere feet away from the edge.

“Marcus? Wait, is that-...” He coughed, still disoriented. “Is that Liam Weathers?” Then his eyes

widened as he came to the realization of what was happening. “Oh God. Are you guys gonna

kill me? Is that what this is? Listen, we were both drunk! I was just being a dumb high schooler!

I-...” He began to choke on the sobs erupting from his throat.

I could hardly believe it. Big man on campus, Judge Matthews, was crying. No, he was breaking

down. He was searching for words, anything to get him out of the mess he’d put himself in. I

looked at Liam who had his phone out. “Hey, what are you doing?”

 

“He needs a hospital. I’m calling 911.”

Out of instinct and maybe fear, I lunged forward and smacked the phone out of his hand. He

jerked away from me in surprise as his phone tumbled onto the dirt floor, quickly being covered

in dust.

“Are you crazy?! I’d go to jail for attempted murder! Do you want that? Do you want me to spend

my life in the slammer?”

“I agreed to get rid of the body with you. That was it. This is too dark.”

I was clenching my fists again. “Was it too dark when he had your sister pinned to a wall, too

drugged up on some off-brand roofie shit to even think straight?” I looked back at Judge,

cowering away from us. Away from me. Liam didn’t respond after that. His mouth gaped open

like he was about to speak, but nothing came out.

Judge Matthews had gotten everything he wanted. He’d had a good life and whether he wants

to believe it or not, he’s the rotten villain in one girl’s story. I’m gonna be the savior. I walked

towards Judge, grabbed the collar of his shirt until he was forced to face me, and when I looked

into his eyes there was still nothing.

I knelt down, helped him off the ground, and in one fluid motion, put my boot to his chest and

sent him flailing into the dark abyss. His screams got quieter and quieter as he fell and then

bash. They cut off suddenly. I saw Liam flinch when that happened. He didn’t like this bash.

I kinda did though.

I think that was the last time Liam and I spoke. He couldn’t bear to be around me or the gulch

anymore. Before we left that night, we both swore we wouldn’t say anything. That’s how it was

supposed to be.

His words brought me back to the present and he continued.

“I know what we said, but Bailey’s pregnant now, okay? She can tell something’s gnawing at

me, she always could. I’m gonna have a family, and I need to be able to make sure my baby

and my baby’s baby knows her daddy ain’t no criminal.” Tears stung his eyes when he said this.

“Besides, it was an accident, right? Ain’t nobody gonna take your life for some dumb mistake

you made when you was kids.” I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to continue this conversation. He

did though.

“I’ve decided to come clean.”

“No,” under my breath.

“I’m gonna turn myself in and take what I’ve had coming to me.”

“God Damnit, no,” into my hands, now shaking.

“Maybe give that poor boy’s family some closure. After all these years, you can’t seriously tell

me you think them folks believe their golden boy child threw his life away? He had so much

going right for him. He always did.”

“Liam, bud, I’m begging you. Just shut up.” I pleaded with him.

“Sorry, Marcus. I gotta do what’s right.”

No. That couldn’t happen. I was successful and happy. This was not what we agreed on.

But instead, I just nodded at him. “Sure… sure buddy I understand,” I felt my left eye twitch

slightly as I forced a reassuring smile, my fists clenching. He returned with a smile of his own.

Then he turned around, preparing to leave. The poor fool. I reached down, grabbed a rock off

the ground, and before I knew it, I was on top of him.

“Marcus! The hell are you-”

 

Then bash bash bash.

He stopped talking after the first hit, and his voice morphed into something inhuman as his

pleading turned into desperate screaming. No longer talking to me, but to anyone who could

hear him.

I saw the red on his face and the red clouded my vision until his incoherent wails finally stopped.

I didn’t stop though.

Bash bash bash.

I heard my stone shatter his skull until nothing remained but a red bowl of pulp - like salsa. I got

off and stumbled backward, falling onto the ground as I stared at what I had done. I reached my

hands, still trembling, up to eye level, admiring the new colors of my skin. My memory is foggy

after this, but I remember hearing someone scream. I fell back, staring at the sky as people

rushed towards us, the stone rolling out of my hand. I had no choice, okay? I wasn’t the one

who broke our promise.