“Hey Fred pour me more of that mud would you?” He sat picking at the remains of the home fries. Scanning the paper he read the article and still couldn’t believe it. The counterman refilled the cup and dropped two prepackaged creamers next to it.
The article read: Two days ago a teenage boy and his dog were gunned down in cold blood while they walked through the neighborhood.
Turning to the patron to his right Harry spoke. “What do you make of this crazy sum a bitch?” The old man’s craggy features moved slowly, a ripple insinuating itself through the wrinkles on his face.
“Can’t trust anything these days, makes me want to go back to Richlands. Never had any problems like that back in southwest Virginia. Hell we could sleep with doors and windows wide open.”
“Yeah, know what you mean. Wasn’t that bad around here until recently. What do you think the kid was doing to make the killer react that way?” Harry could see the man straining to come up with an answer.
Shrugging his shoulders he answered, “Got no idea, ain’t no good reason to go around killing people. After all he was just a kid.”
“Musta been something, people don’t just kill for nothing.” Harry responded.
“Yeah can’t argue there but what kind of coward kills and then disappears?” The old man stared into Harry’s face as if he was searching for the answer.
Harry’s expression softened before he responded. “You think a killer’s gonna stick around and wait to get arrested. Maybe he should post a sign telling everybody he did it.”
“So you think it’s a man’s done this?” The old man’s voice deepened, carrying an accusatory tone.
“You think a woman coulda killed a kid? Women’s too sentimental to be killing young kids.” Harry prodded with his statement.
“You’re naïve if you think only a man’s got the nerve to put bullets into people they dislike.” The old man signaled for the check, obviously tired of the conversation.
“Bring my check too Fred would you?” Dropping singles on the counter Harry rose and walked the old man out to the parking lot.
“Enjoyed the conversation, have a good day.” As Harry walked to his car he thought about the rapports from the pistol as he pulled the trigger. He didn’t want to do it but he had warned the kid that letting his dog leave little brown presents on people’s lawns was not a good idea. He had to send a message. After all what good’s it do if kids don’t respect their elders?
