Shattered Sight

From Behind the Locked Door

A few months later, the January snow began to fall in fluffy flakes. On the way to school I would always stick my tongue out to catch them, while Joey made dry jokes about my childish behavior.

We both laughed when we saw Gregory freezing because he was only wearing one glove. He had apparently lost the other and was beyond determined to find it. The hatred between him and my brother had heated up in the past months, therefore we enjoyed every moment of karma that the universe gave.

Joey had also received his gun. Almost every day he would practice with it, destroying every one of the tin cans that our mother scooped our dinner out of. His eyes were like lasers pointing at the target; he rarely missed. I would watch him while doing my homework. Smiles would bubble up inside of me as I remembered that day when I filled out the flier. The lenses of my glasses had always seen out of my love for Joey, and now I was happier than ever.

However, one day Joey had stayed out later than usual and I returned inside. I walked past his room to find the door unlocked and cracked slightly open. I pushed on it ever so slightly, then laughed and stopped myself. I respected his privacy, and besides, there was nothing in there besides evidence of a normal teenage life. But then again, if that was all there was in there, then there would be no harm in peeking, right? With a pit in my stomach, I slipped inside of his room. How could I have ever been so wrong?

The first thing that I saw was a bulletin board on the wall. From top to bottom it was filled with photos of Gregory and his popular squad, each with little notes written out of venom. I took one in my hand and shivered. Then a comforting thought came into my head. This was just Joey's way of coping with anger, no harm in that; whatever works for him works. However, then I saw something sticking out of his desk drawer.

With my hand trembling, I pulled the latch open and my eyes popped out of my head. I was now holding the receipt for Gregory's Xbox. I had to adjust my glasses and squint, but the words were clearly there. No, they weren't. That's what I told myself. My sight was awful and I have been known to mistakenly read things when emotional. For example, when I failed my math test; I thought that the book title Of Mice and Men read O Red-head Glenn for about a week. This had to be just like that, right? I had to know.

I dashed downstairs to find my mother in the kitchen. "Do you know where Joey is?" I asked in a bit of a panicked tone."

"I think that he went out for a walk, in the woods out back. Why, is everything alright?" I never answered her; I didn't even put on a jacket. I just dashed through my backyard and into the trees with wind and snow blinding my face. My heart was pounding as my eyes frantically searched the abyss for any sign of him.

"Joey! Joey!" I called out at the top of my lungs, but it seemed as if only the icicles had heard my voice. I turned left and right, seeing nothing but shadows and snowflakes all around me. The feeling of frost began to set in; however, I was determined to find him. I suddenly saw a figure slink in the distance as it tried to blend in with the trees. I gave chase. It wasn't long before I caught up with him and tackled him to the ground; a cloud of snow flew up as we hit with a thud. He attempted to get up and dash away, but I held onto his wrist and he stayed.

I could barely find my voice to get out the words, "Joey, you didn't do it, did you?" He said nothing for a few seconds, but I knew he couldn't lie to me.

Finally, he said, "I did." I clutched my chest as it felt like my heart was being ripped out and shredded into millions of bloody pieces. I took off my glasses, threw them on the ground, and stomped on them until the lenses shattered. I looked at Joey with my blind eyes, yet I saw the truth more clearly than I ever had before. I began to yell at him like he was the devil; swears came out of my mouth that I didn't even know existed in my vocabulary.

"You bastard! You bloody demon! Do you know how many innocents were arrested? How many of them now have a permanent black stain on their records because of lies? And for what? I know they treated you poorly, but that doesn't give you any right to do the same to them! And me- you lied to me. Do you know how much effort I gave to get you this job? All this time I thought that you could handle it, but my love was shielding me from the obvious facts. Well, I gave you this job and I can take it away and bring justice to those you have wronged!"

Joey gave me a look that I have seen him give people so many times before; it was the same look he gave to Gregory. However, I was now able to see what it truly looked like. His soul was gone, leaving a tortured, vengeful beast in its place. I was so focused on his eyes that I didn't see him reach into his pocket and reach for his shiny, metal toy.

He held it out in front of his face so that I could see the barrel and emotionlessly said, "No, you're not"

Before I had any time to react, he squeezed his fingers and I heard a haunting boom. The bullet hit me right in the heart, smashing it into millions of pieces, and sent me flying back into the now red, glistening snow. Black spots began to cloud my vision and all I could focus on was the pain greater than most living souls have felt. However, I forced my eyes to stay open for a few seconds longer. Joey walked over to my body, not looking at me like I was has brother, his best friend, but a stranger whom he cared nothing about. He reached inside of his pocket for one more item, and the last thing that I ever saw was him place Gregory's missing glove in my pool of blood.