IGKTW - Round 2 - An Oath and a Decision (490 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.96 on 11 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by GANK (View user info) at 2006-05-04 09:59:36 EDT
The preacher offered a Bible in his open left palm, facing Perry. It wasn't for him to take hold of. It was for him to place his hand on.
"Do you solemnly swear, in the presence of God, with me as your witness and brother, in the prescience of your own mind, to deny your inclination toward revenge?" To the preacher, this event was no less solemn than anything he'd ever done.
The look on Perry's face was one of complete intensity. His eyebrows closed in on the top of his nose, his lips were pursed and formed a straight line, and the muscles in his jaw indicated how tightly he was clenching his teeth. There was something about the eyes, though. His eyes. They didn't have the same fire as the rest of his face. They belied, with the slightest twitch, something just beneath the surface: uncertainty.
"Yes, I-, I swear," Perry managed to mumble, removing his hand from the book.
"Very well. Since you understand the severity of the oath that you've taken, let me commend you on your willingness to submit yourself to it. You have shown abundant patience."
In fact, it was Perry's lack of patience that led him to contact the preacher. The turmoil in his head, the decisions he was debating, were placing him in a precarious moral dilemma. He sought to make himself accountable to God and man with that oath. He sought to calm his mind.
.=================.
He thought of Janey, his daughter. She would've turned 8 in the approaching summer, with her curly blond hair and her mother's complexion. She would've learned multiplication by now. She would still be innocent of the failures in the legal system - the failures that brought them all to this point.
-
"On a fateful day full of wind and cold
And snow up to the knees,
A wife and daughter, stocked with hot chocolate
And plenty more groceries,
Crossed paths in a car with an alcoholic
Who rammed them at top speed.
You can't take a bottle from a drinkin man
But please take away his keys."
-
The man had already been stopped for drunk driving 7 times in 2 years, when the 8th time finally turned deadly. Perry was stuck with his thoughts, "The injustice. The tragedy. His wife. His daughter. Six months since they passed. The damn judges who didn't crack down on him. Him! Yeah, him most of all. One month since he swore that oath."
If only it wouldn't consume him.
.=================.
"You know, preacher, I'm tired of hearing that God works in mysterious ways," as the frustration poured out of Perry. "Because that's always a convenient way for someone to get me to do or not do something that THEY want. Not what God wants. Nobody knows what God wants, preacher. You don't even know. Families that love each other? A protection of innocence? A need for justice to be served? Those are good things, right? How is it just for a man to kill two people with a car and get 18 months in prison? You tell me that."
"It's not," came the preacher's reply. He was trying to be as reasonable as possible.
"Okay, then, we agree that something is not right here."
"Yes, but we don't agree on what your response should be. If anything, let God be the judge. Plus, you gave your word."
"You're right, I did. That's the only thing holding me back. I've never been known to go back on my word." And then it hit him. Just like that he realized that he'd already made an oath before God, the day he married his wife.
He promised to love her. And HONOR her. And cherish her. And PROTECT her. He could think of know better way to fulfill those vows one last time, than by killing the man that destroyed his family.
"Maybe God wants me to be the judge, preacher."
"Now, don't make any rash decis- ," was all the preacher got out before Perry hung up the phone.
-
"On that frightful day full of wind and cold
And snow up to the knees,
A wife and daughter, their souls departed
Up to the heavenlies,
Two souls detached, and justice smacked,
Til reprisal by Perry.
You can't take a bottle from a drinkin man
But you can take away his need.
Said you can't take a bottle from a drinkin man
Lest you kill him where he breathes."
-
"Eighteen months?," Perry thought, "I have patience in abundance."
.=================.
The day the man was released, serving 15 months instead of 18 for time well served, Perry was there waiting.
.=================.
The bailiff offered a Bible in his open left palm, facing Perry. It wasn't for him to take hold of, but he did so anyway. He placed it on his own left palm, as the bailiff continued.
"Do you solemnly swear, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
The look on Perry's face was one of complete indifference. His eyebrows rested above his eyes at normal position, his lips were slightly parted but not in a smile, and every muscle in his jaw was relaxed. There was something about the eyes, though. His eyes. They didn't have the same casual air as the rest of his face. They belied, with the slightest glimmer, something just beneath the surface: satisfaction.
"I do." The certainty in Perry's voice was unmistakable.
User Reviews
Submitted by LittleMonster (user info) at 2006-05-05 08:39:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-05-04 16:24:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
And one more should leave it above 1.75. Yes, no?
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-05-04 16:24:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Uber is still semi-fucked, methinks.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-05-04 16:23:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The fuck? None of my +2's are showing up...
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-05-04 16:22:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2006-05-04 16:22:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Okay, I guess I have to be The Cunt.
I really HATE to have to break a streak, but if this is a competition I have to rate honestly.
There was good stuff here, but it's heavy, man. It needs more development, and there is some cumbersome language that could have been streamlined, stuff that bumped me out of the story.
But the song was very good, so I want to give more than a 1.75. Not sure how many 1s and 2s that is. Maths ain't my thing.
I think if you had more time, these bones would have carried more meat.
Submitted by Coyote (user info) at 2006-05-04 11:00:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Is that a real song from somewhere, or did you create it for the story?
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-05-04 10:47:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Alright, well in.
Submitted by gank (user info) at 2006-05-04 10:39:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I was going to have Perry run the guy over with his car.
You know, for 'just deserts' (my new way of spelling that, thanks to redskies).
I thought that might come off a little too cute though. I don't know.
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2006-05-04 10:07:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I mean, how Perry killed him, is what I meant.
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2006-05-04 10:06:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was pretty intense the second time I read through it. Would've liked to know how he killed Perry.