In the Absence of a Good Life

(27) Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

The Dispatcher (A.K.A - The Eldest Brother - Layton Tucker)

I heard my phone ring out in my pocket. The irritating ring tone that my brother had set for me annoyed me to no end. I tried to block it out. When it kept ringing, I put it on silent and tried to focus my concentration again.

It was without a doubt, Alice, the shrewd old lady that was, unfortunately, my boss. I had told her again and again that I wouldn't accept any new clients while I had unfinished business with another. It just wouldn't be right. Also, it would effect my 100% success rate. I had to have silence when I was working, otherwise I just couldn't concentrate.

Even the stupid idea of the phone ringing had set me on edge. Why couldn't I just focus like everyone else!

I looked at my watch, it read 11:20, Gus should have finished telling the boy that he wouldn't kill him by now. The poor lad was going to get one hell of a surprise. Again I was distracted as my phone buzzed in my pocket. I thought I'd put it on silence! I took it out of my pocket and put it on the bench beside me. I then put the equipment that I wasn't using on top of it, to drown out the sound of it vibrating.

'Come on, Gus, how long do you take?' I whispered. Soon after, I saw a silhouette walking passed the opening to the alleyway that I was in. I quickly pulled my coat over my hand and stepped out of the darkness.

I got closer to the silhouette and saw that he did indeed match the description of the boy that Gus had given to me. 

It started to rain and I pulled my jacket closer to my chest with the hand that wasn't holding my coat. I approached the kid.

'You got money on ya kid? I just need to call my family.' I said trying to sound as desperate as possible. I pointed to the pay phone in the distance.

The kid shook his head in response and smiled. 'Sorry, mate.' I let go of his arm that I'd held onto when I'd first walked up to him and patted him on the back with the hand that was holding the coat. 

'Yeah, me too.' I whispered before I jammed the hand that wasn't holding the coat into his throat, just underneath the chin.

He was dead before he hit the ground.

I'd been hiding a small knife underneath the coat, and I'd switched hands just before I'd gone to pat him on the back.

I had to clean up what I'd done before somebody chanced upon me and the body. I picked the kid up and dragged him over to the alleyway that I'd been waiting in. I took everything valuable that he had so that the incident would look like an average mugging. So many of them went on around here that the police had given up trying to investigate them. The system was corrupt, but it worked to my advantage.

I laid the boy on the ground, he was so young, it was a real waste of life. I guess it was his fault for getting into the situation in the first place though.

I picked up my things and packed them all into a backpack. I remembered my phone and went to pick it up. It was no longer ringing, but I had quite a few messages left on voice mail. I put the phone to my ear and listened to them all.

I looked in horror at the body of the kid I'd murdered. It hadn't been Alice trying to get hold of me; it had been Gus.

'Shit.'

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EPILOGUE

Jimmy hadn't come home that night, nor any of the nights afterwards. His friends had immediately cast their minds to think that foul play had taken place.

His body was found in the alleyway two days after the crime had taken place. The police had not investigated. It had been just 'another mugging' after all.

Terrance vowed that he wouldn't rest until justice was served. He dedicated years of his life to finding Jimmy's killer. 

Five years after Jimmy's untimely demise, Gus had been taken to jail for life imprisonment, along with all of the employees of Alice's thug-for-hire business. She herself was never found. It was, however, only after the police department had been pressured by a hoard of angry civilians, that they had taken action. Jimmy's death had opened the flood gates to all of Gus' victims and the families of those who had suffered in much the same way.

Shelly and Mel's relationship withered and died over the course of the five years, due to the difference in opinion of Terrance. Neither side felt hurt, only a sense of relief. They had thought it best to end the contact between them rather than trying to drag the remains of the relationship through the dust until it disintegrated. They didn't want to live under the pretence that everything was okay.

After justice was served, Terrance started to grieve the loss of his friend. He eventually recovered and began to make his grandfather proud. He now owns one of the most powerful and well respected security businesses in the country.

Jimmy's mother, who had sobered up after the disappearance of her son when he had run away from home, and his father, who had decided to take responsibility for the actions he had made in his youth, at around the same time, were among the few who attended the funeral.

On his gravestone was the inscription; 'a life wasted is not a life at all.'

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So there you have it. I am sorry to those who were expecting a humorous tale of a delinquent who attended school, but I find that true comedy, can only be found in sitcoms that have moments of poignancy in them. It brings a certain sense of 'realism'. This is what I hoped to achieve, and I do realise that the comedy fades from the story towards the end.

To round it all off in a pathetic attempt, I shall quote my own story;

This is what happens in the absence of a good life...

Thank you

dixi. abei.