Still Smiling

Deep breaths, deep breaths. This will be ok, come on you've done this a million times before. Easy as cake right? No not easy. Bill Harries thought as he got out of his old Toyota.

With a medium build and shaved short hair he looked like your average run of the mile guy. The sort of person you wouldn't look at twice if you passed him on the street.

Bill closed the door and began to walk across the street from where he was parked. Although he was extremely terrified, and his heart was beating about a millions times a minute he looked calm and steady.

As he walked into the streetlight we notice that he has reached into the side pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out a small rectangle shaped package. He continues his journey to the front yard, and then the porch of a house.

It's only now that we notice the suburban splendour that we're in. Many houses completely identical, except for a few cosmetic design changes. It's pleasant enough and had we not been so curios as to what young Mr. Harries was doing we would've stayed and enjoyed the somewhat odd beauty that is structured settlements.

Bill walked up the porch to door package still in hand. It is about eleven fifteen pm by our count, and that can't help but make us wonder what Bill is doing delivering a package this late in the day. He raises his hand as if to knock, and then lowers it changing his mind. Instead with one swift kick he knocks the door off its hinges.

Bill continues on into the house with the practice of a man who has done this many times before. He hears a scream upstairs and slowly begins his path up the staircase.

At the top of the staircase a door closes quickly startling Bill. Shaking his head he walks up to the door.

"Open the door Jacky. Come on open up let’s not do this." He says standing outside the door.

"I know why you're here Bill" Jacky on the other side of the door sounded as if he was crying, "There's only one reason you go to people's houses."

"No, no Jacky I'm not here for that. I wouldn't do that to ya, we've known each other to long. Now open the door."

"Why'd you break the front door?"

"Cause I rang the double a few times and there was no answer I thought you might be hurt." Bill lied.

"I don't believe ya Bill, and I'm not opening the door."

"Damn it Jacky open the fucking door or I will kill you!" Bill screamed. His composure is cracking and for just a moment we see a glint of terror behind those deep brown eyes.

"No!" Jacky began to sob again

"Jesus" Bill said to himself. He'd known Jacky for years know, fuck he used to go over to Jacky's house to hangout with his older brother Pete who was in the same grade as Bill. Jacky was like his little brother, but orders were orders.

Pete has been scamming Julius out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for years, and when Julies found out yesterday he was furious. He had sent Bill to make an example out of Jacky. The example being don't fuck with me.

Running his hands through his hair Bill took a deep breath stepped back a few steps and charged the door full force. He had his shoulder aimed at the door and his it full force. The swung open and gave view to a huddled up Jacky in the corner. Bill stumbled in, and once he regained his footing he looked at Jacky. He was still a kid really at nineteen, and hadn't hurt one goddamned fly all his life. Jacky stood up and that’s when Bill noticed Jacky was holding a baseball bat.

"Look Jacky let's not make this any harder then it has-" Bill words were cut short because Jacky had thrown the bat and hit Bill in the chest he fell to his knees as Jacky charged him. He struck Bill in the face with his foot and kicked him in the side and Bill fell on his side. As he went in for his next kick Bill grabbed his leg and pulled. Jacky fell on his back and Bill climbed over his legs.

He backhanded Jacky across the jaw seeing with satisfaction as a tooth flew across the room. Any sympathy there was for Jacky disappeared the second he threw the bat at Bill.

Bill pumbuled Jacky in the face until his hands began to ache. He stood up and watched with contempt as Jacky lay groaning on the floor.

"You have no one to blame but you're brother Jacky. You know that?" Bill said as he picked up his discarded package from the floor.

"Well I guess you also have you're self to blame. Cause guess what I wasn't going to kill ya. Sure I was going to break you're arm, probably one of your legs too, but now that you've pulled that little bat stunt of yours, you're a fucking dead man."

At this point if we were to look into Bill's eyes just as Jacky did the night he died we would see nothing left of the fear that gripped him in his car only half an hour before. It was replaced with a crazed determination. Which is to be expected one is not as good as Bill is without having some missing moral qualities.

"Hold onto this will ya?" Bill said as he placed the package on Jacky's chest. "By the way," Bill said as he pulled out a pad of paper and a pen form his jacket. "Any last words or messages?"

This is the only thing (if one wanted to count it) that could be considered morally right about Bill. Every time he killed he did this, he wrote his victims last will a testament. Sure on day it might land him in prison and Julius often pointed out but Bill felt it was his responsibility to do so.

Jacky mumbled something.

"What was that?" Bill asked as he kicked Jacky in the ribs “I couldn't hear you."

"My Ma, I don't want her thinking I'm like my brother. I don't want her to think that I've been getting into trouble. Bill paused for a moment and we once again catch a glimpse of something behind those normally still eyes. This time instead of fear it's pity.

"She knows Jacky, don't worry she knows." Bill said thinking of the night’s earlier events in which he had killed Jacky's mom.

A smile came to Jacky's face. After seeing that Bill pulled out his nine-millimetre glock pistol (a cop gun souvenir of a gun fight two months ago) and shot Jacky in the forehead. He then left the house and Jacky whose dead body lay on the floor, still smiling.