Killing a Friend

I saw it all in slow motion…

Not just once, but over and over again like a reoccurring nightmare.

After the first shot she dropped to her knees twitching.

“She didn’t feel a thing. It’s just nerves.”

As he brandished his .357 magnum over Betty’s head like an executioner my uncle reassured me that the first shot killed her instantly.

I held back my tears as he shot her two more times between the eyes. Finally she collapsed and laid motionless on the ground.

I didn’t want to cry in front of the men. Trying not to show my tears I slipped inside the house. I kept my cool until I got to my bedroom. I closed the door behind me and cried like a baby.

The men still outside could hear me whimpering. Then my uncle came inside to console me. He told me the bullets were designed to expand upon impact quickly destroying the brain causing instant and painless death.

As my Uncle and I walked back outside the other two men were standing beside the fire where Betty’s head had been set to burn. A loud popping sound came from the fire. “There goes an eyeball,” said Big John. We all laughed.

As we retured to the strip of lawn where she was killed I imagined a chalk outline of her profile illustrating a crime scene. Suddenly I felt something splashing me. Flesh and blood spewed from the saw as her carcass was cut in halves. It was raining hamburger.

Later on having steaks at the supper table my Grandfather admitted he had a hard time eating Betty. I felt like I betrayed her. As his brother scoffed my Grandfather told him she was like a member of the family. Uncle Sonny thought we were crazy…

“It’s only a cow!”

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