Charlie's Web

Rick

Advice that his father had given him rang in his mind. After his mother had left them, his dad was so overcome with grief. Every day felt like a funeral for the life they no longer had, minutes stretched into hours, then days to weeks. Family photos stayed in their place, silly smiles and bunny ears mocking them. A fog of sorrow followed the young boy and his father like a shadow, never allowing them to release the memories they desperately held onto. He could still recall that night clearly. The stale smell of cheap beer wafting from his fathers cracked lips, the sound of the flies that had made permanent residence in their sink, laying eggs on dishes and feasting on month old TV dinners.

"You don't just give up on love, remember that, Ricky. People nowadays are always searching for the next best thing, and I guess your mom found something better than us, huh," the old man laughed bitterly, ashing his cigarette on the floor.

"Marriage is hard. Love is hard, and I don't want you making the same mistakes I did. You find a good girl and you hold on, you don't just give up. Hell, I should've fought harder for your mother. The thing is, women don't always know what's best for them, and your mom was always a free spirit, she always wanted something more, something I couldn't give her. I should've put my foot down, you know? It's too late now, and the worst part is, I'm just as guilty as her," the man picked up his beer, taking a long swig before resting his head in his hands.

"If I would have caught wind of her little "plan". God, the things I could've done. I would have put iron bars on every single window before I let that woman walk out the door. You see, that's how much I cared for her. And that's why, when you find a nice young lady for yourself, you make sure you lay down the law. I was too lenient, but women, they need structure. They're not always the smartest, son, that's why they need men like us to guide them, because we know what's best for em'. And even if they bitch and moan, soon enough they'll realize that all we wanted to do was make em' happy. You know, if more women just listened to their husbands I swear to god this world would be a utopia. It's the natural order of things, Ricky. Now you remember what I told you when you find that special girl. I wish my father would've had this talk with me, would've saved me a world of trouble."

The words circled through his head as he watched his sweet dove. She was walking hand in hand with that dirtbag, Jesse. The one upside to the situation was the fact that they hadn't stayed at his house for too long. They'd decided to go for a walk at the park right by Charlie's house. The park was a fairly open field of grass with a small playground in the middle, so Rick chose a bench nearest the parking lot to sit and observe.

He could admit that his father wasn't a good man, but he'd been right. Charlie didn't know what was best for her, the one time she seemed interested in a man and he ended up being a total loser. Rick knew what she needed; a loving home where all of her needs would be taken care of, healthy meals, time away from all of the chaos of her life. Her wish would be his command, and she would live out the rest of her days being treated like royalty.

Not many people would have gone through all of the planning, all of the hard work that he had done. He was different from most people, though. He was willing to do anything it took to make Charlie happy. There would always be roadblocks, that was the way life was, unfortunately. Jesse was a barrier, a large stone wall keeping Rick and Charlie apart. And if he wanted to reach his ultimate goal, to protect and cherish his one true love, he would have to demolish that wall, but it had to be done correctly.

As he sat and watched them laughing and chatting, his first instinct was to pull them apart, and force Charlie to watch as he beat the son of a bitch to death. It would be so easy, he could envision the way Jesse's face would swell and bruise from the attack. The feeling of his strong hands wrapped around his neck, the musical sound of a brief snap as he crushed his windpipe, cutting off airflow. The bulging of those awful green eyes that Charlie loved to stare into. He'd reach into his sockets and rip them out one by one, yanking and severing the optic nerve and rectus muscles. She wouldn't think they were so alluring after that. His hands groped at the air, as if the image in his head was truly happening right in front of him. Oh, what a glorious sight that would be! Every scream and squelch and plead would come together to create a wonderful symphony.