All We Need is Love

ALL WE NEED IS LOVE1

His momma and daddy and his friends called him Billy, though he would have preferred William. He was born in a local hospital, his daddy there too; surrounded by love and attention.2

He grew up lean and strong, with a keen mind and a loving heart, and…3

His momma and daddy loved him, and4

his friends loved him, and5

his relatives loved him, and6

he loved his siblings with everything he had.7

One day, when he was 18 and about to graduate from high school, he shot a man in a dance hall outside of town with a gun he had “borrowed” from his uncle’s closet. The man died in a couple of days, and Billy was charged with8

manslaughter and sentenced to five years, but…9

His momma and daddy loved him, and10

his friends loved him, and11

his relatives and siblings loved him,12

and he loved everyone as well.13

Billy was a model prisoner, and he was released in 3 years.14

“You’re going to be all right now, Billy”, his momma told him.15

“Your daddy and I love you and we will take care of you.”16

He got a job as a carpenter’s helper from a man who still remembered17

him, and life went back to the way it used to be. One of his old friends told him that his sister liked him and would he like to go out with her, maybe to the movies or something. Billy said “yes”, but not to the movies; he considered the flickering images to be “windows into hell”. Instead, he took her out to eat at a local restaurant, and they dined on steak and catfish and baked potato. Afterwards, they went to a disco, and danced for a while; from there they went on a long walk down by the river. Billy knew that she wasn’t a virgin; she had a child that he loved to play with. He forgave her for that, saying, “Lord knows this is a loving world”, and told her that he loved her.18

Billy asked her to marry him, and she joyously said “yes” that very first night. They planned a June wedding, and the week of the blessed event there was much festivity in the town. But the day before the wedding, Billy walked into a liquor store and stole the man’s money, and then shot him when he reached beneath the counter.19

He got 20 years this time, but…20

his momma and daddy loved him, and21

his brothers and sisters loved him, and22

his wife to be loved him, and23

Billy loved them right back.24

Billy made a name for himself in prison, becoming known as the “poet”, and the “butterfly man”. All his spare time behind those bars he spent writing poetry and collecting butterflies he caught during his one hour a day recreation breaks. He sent his poems off to various publications and took25

pictures of his butterflies and did the same; some of his writings and pictures even won some prizes.26

This time he spent 15 years before they released him. Everyone, even the warden, shook his hand as he was headed out the gates, saying, “It will be all right this time Billy, you wait and see.”27

This time he had a job waiting for him at the local newspaper28

writing a bi-weekly column about poetry and nature, mainly butterflies 29

of course.30

And, his momma still loved him, though she was confined to a31

nursing home now, and32

his daddy was dead, having passed on a few years ago, and33

his girlfriend was married and had four children now,34

and his younger brother still loved him, and35

Billy loved them all.36

But, a few short months after being set free, he walked into a small bank and robbed it, leaving a security guard dead on the floor there, and taking off in his car. A few miles down the road, a state trooper cut Billy off, and they got into a shoot-out that Billy won. Billy took the trooper’s car, figuring it was faster, and continued his flight. 30 minutes later, surrounded by dozens of police cars and helicopters, he crashed into a ravine, and the chase was over.37

Miraculously, he was unhurt, and taken into custody. At his trial a year or so38

later, his judge called him a “cancer on society”, and sentenced him to death by lethal injection. Billy didn’t understand why his judge called him that, but he did understand his sentence; he knew he deserved to die.39

But…his momma loved him, and40

his little brother loved him, and 41

he loved them as well.42

It took 13 years for his lawyers to exhaust all his appeals, but his momma but his little brother showed up for all his court dates, at least until his momma died. But, his little brother was there, he was there until the very end, and he and his little brother loved each other.43

Today was a very special day for Billy, for not only was his sentence to44

be carried out today, it was also the 70th anniversary of the day of his birth.45

The warden and the priest and a few others made that last long walk down the hallway with him, and then he was taken into a room and strapped onto a gurney. Billy could not see his little brother on the other side of the one-way glass, but he knew he was there, and Billy loved him.46

The soft-eyed warden asked Billy if he had any last words. “Yes,” Billy said47

looking directly at the warden, “I love you”. Then the doctor came in and hooked up the tubes and needles and started the flow. The lights in the room seemed to dim, and as his life ebbed away, Billy thought:48

“All we need is love.”49