I couldn't remember where I was going when I found myself strolling through Boboli gardens on the other side of the river Arno. Perhaps it was the heat on a hot summer day that made me completely forget. It was a beautiful day but in it were people who didn't deserve to be around to see it. The least of all was that dog owner I saw in the corner of my peripheral vision. I stopped and turned around. I have never seen such a horrible sight. The dog was just trying to answer natures call when it wanted to shit near a statue of an angel but the owner- a man around forty years old, his pants visibly too big for his waist, without his shirt on and an extremely large beer belly, brownish hair and a look in his eyes that betrayed the fact that he was drunk. He was kicking in the belly of that poor animal. The dog was probably a dalmatian if I was correct and it was whinning and sticking it's tail between it's legs while his owner kicked him into his abdomen screaming: »You fucking wild animal. You beast. Only us- humans are allowed to shit. You are just supposed to be cute.« He hit him again. And again. And again. At first I thought I should just walk away because it wasn't my buisness, the man looked scary and was twice the size of me. And besides what is a ten year-old boy like me going to do about it. But still I had to do something so I gathered all the courage and stepped up to the man. A big lump in my throat. My hands were shaking but I still made it close to the scene.
» Excuse me sir.« I said a bit shyly.
»What is the problem with you kid!« The man screamed back at me.
»I think what you're doing with your dog is wrong.«
»Well fuck what you think kid, it's my dog. I can kill it if I want to.«
»My best friend told me we should treat animals with respect.«
»Fuck off kid« he said kicking one more time into the dog until it collapsed from the pain.
The man looked at me with such hate in his eyes and raised his hand in an effort to slap me. I ran away. As far as I could. It wasn't until I've reached the hedges at least a hundred meters away that my mind was overflown with only one thought.
We don't need people like that in this world. People like that deserve to die.
The voice was coming from inside me. Like I was talking to myself but I haven't said a word.
We don't need people like that in this world. People like that deserve to die.
There it was again.
We don't need people like that in this world. People like that deserve to die.
I realized I was still carrying that toy gun in my jacket that you and Adolfo used to play with this morning. I thought it still had some of those orange balls in it that served as bullets. It was the only thing close to a weapon. I wondered. Maybe...
I turned on my heel and ran back to the man that now had his foot pressed against the animals face.
»HEY MISTER!« I yelled as I came closer.
The man looked at me and I figured this was as good as time as any.
He opened his mouth to say something but I didn't give him the chance to even utter one word as I fired my plastic toy gun and shot.
The orange ball flew through the air like it was cutting butter.
The loud PANG as it fired from the gun.
It flew directly into the man's mouth.
The man started grabbing his throat and started putting his fingers into his mouth. Probably trying to force himself to puke.
He fell to the ground. Grasping for air. He faced me. His hands still around his neck, his face draining of color. He looked me directly in the eye as he said:
»You're the devils kid.«
After that he went completely still. With an empty look in his eyes.
The dog ran away in the other direction. It seemed happy. I seemed happy. I looked at the dead man laying in the grass four meters away from me.
We felt no fear. We did good. We saved a life. We made the world a better place. We should be proud. We are happy. We are a hero.
I heard that voice inside me. It was the same voice as before.
We did good. We are happy. We are proud of ourselves.
The voice was calming and it was familiar. It had been with me my entire life. Guiding me. Helping me. I trusted it but.... it was wrong. I was no hero. I was no savior. I just killed a man. He was the first one to die at my hands. It wasn't right. I turned around and sprinted until I ran into the first person I saw. A woman around twenty. I told her I saw a man fall to the ground all of a suddden. The woman ran to the scene and called the police. I told the same story to the police officer when he questioned me.
It was a beautiful day in july but some people just didn't deserve to see it.
It's been ten years since that event. As far as anyone else knows the man in the boboli gardens drank himself to death. No questions asked.
