The morning Ed Burrows' head was shot off was no different than any other.
Ed got up at 7 to the smell of his coffee already brewed by the auto-timed coffee maker. Andy was in the living room stretching for his run. Sam was over at Vinita's. Robbie was snoring in bed and Pete was passed out on his bedroom floor having not had the energy to get into bed after a five-day drug bender.
Justin was not around.
Tommy was across the street from the house with a finger on the trigger waiting for Ed to come out for the paper. He had his instructions.
He would get one shot probably. That was it.
Justin had shot up with Tommy the night before and had given him very specific details on where to stand and what to do. He promised Tommy there was no way he would get caught.
The gun popped and Ed's head exploded. Tommy couldn't believe his luck.One shot. One hit. Justin will be very proud. Tommy stood there observing his work. He almost forgot to run away.
Andy saw the body first. Robbie second. Someone went up and got Pete.
Pete looked down at the destroyed body of the man who had destroyed his life. He was paralyzingly aware that this event would solve a lot of his problems and create many new ones.
Tommy sent a text to Justin. "I have done it. Forgot plan. Where do I go now?"
While he waited for an answer Tommy went to the local diner. The thought that he was a murderer never crossed his mind. He had tucked the gun into the back of his pants. He really didn't know how that thing worked. He only knew what Justin had told him.
He plopped himself down in a booth and the gun went off.
The boys looked down at Ed's body. Nobody moved.
Ed's skull had been so shattered there was nothing they could do.
Robbie covered his mouth with his hands. There was no noise coming out of him.
Andy knelt on the porch. His eyes raised to meet Pete's gaze.
Pete said simply, "I didn't do this."
Justin responded to Tommy. He said, "Go home."
Everything in the diner came to a complete stop. People thought they had heard a gun go off but nobody appeared to have been shot and no one saw a gun.
Tommy stayed as still as possible. "Oh my God," he thought. "I just shot myself in the ass." He held a napkin behind him and limped off to the bathroom. It hurt like fuck.
Justin looked at the guy in the bed. He couldn't remember his name.
"Hey Jay," he said.
"it's Joe you moron," the guy replied.
"I gotta go."
Justin put his clothes on and walked out the door.
He headed to Pete's place. He could only imagine what was going on there. On the way he practiced a few variations of his game-face. Surprise and then concern. Should be ok. He was thinking that the surprise should probably last a little longer than the concern.
At some point he would have to pull Pete aside and tell him what he had done.
Tommy went into a toilet stall and pulled his pants down. His ass hurt like fuck. It appeared he hadn't shot himself but there was a nice round hole in his jeans. He assumed there must be a bullet in his seat out in the diner. He went back out and gingerly sat down. His breakfast had arrived. I will tie a tablecloth around my waste when I leave, he thought. And no one will know any better.
Justin headed over to Pete's place. He had no idea what he was going to see.
Andy had made the 911 call. Pete grabbed the phone out of Andy's hands and called Ben.
"Hey, What's Up?" said Ben in his normal calm way.
Pete tried to sound the same.
"I am standing on my porch looking at Ed's dead body. Someone has shot his head off."
"Oh my God. Have you called anyone except me?"
"The world is aware of this," said Pete. "And I don't know what to do."
Ben said he would be right there.
Justin had arrived and was standing in the small field across the street from Pete's house behind a small utility shed. He peeked around the side and did an assessment. Lots of people on and around the porch. Sirens in the distance,
"There's a lot of damage here." he thought.
With reassurance he said to himself:
"But this was necessary."
Tommy arrived home.
His mother asked why he was wearing a tablecloth.
He said, "because I shot myself and put a big hole in my jeans."
He walked passed her and went to bed.
She questioned all the money her and her husband spent on Tommy's therapy Still making stuff up, all the time.
Tommy told his parents such outlandish stories that they were convinced he was a compulsive liar.
Truth is Tommy never lied.
Pete heard the sirens coming too. He hoped Ben would get there first but it was unlikely.
To his left across the little field he saw a dark shadow near the shed. Someone was watching and hiding. The figure came around and into full view.
It was Justin.
Pete left the porch and walked across the field towards Justin. Justin approached Pete as well. When they met Justin simply said, "So?"
Pete punched him smack in the middle of his face.
Justin fell backward and landed with a loud thud on the ground. A loud thud on soft fresh snow.
He gathered himself and stood up. Blood dripped from his nose.
In halting words and struggling for breath Pete said simply, "What have you done?"
Justin opened his mouth to speak and Pete clocked him again.
On his back, Justin screamed, "Stop hitting me!"
Pete began, "I know you did this and how dare you. Who the fuck do you think you are?"
Justin scrambled back up to his feet."
"What make you think I had anything to do with this?"
Pete punched him square in the face a third time. Justin collapsed to the ground again. Pete walked over, put his foot across Justin's throat and pushed into the ground. He leaned over the the now suffocating and immobilized Justin and said, "I know you did this because I just beat the shit out of you and you didn't defend yourself."
Pete removed his foot. Justin coughed and gasped to get his breath.
"I'm sorry. I had to make a decision for you."
"This wasn't your decision to make."
JUSTIN
Fuck you punch hard.
JUSTIN is bleeding profusely from his nose.
PETE:
I held back you fucking jerk. Who did you get to do this? And get behind the shed. You are at your own crime scene.
JUSTIN and PETE move behind the shed.
JUSTIN
I got Tommy to do it,
PETE
Fuck me.
JUSTIN
I did this for you.
PETE
What the fuck are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?
JUSTIN
Ten years ago you said that when your brothers didn't need their dad any more you would kill him.
PETE
So what?
JUSTIN
They don't need him any more and you weren't doing it.
PETE pauses and backs away.
PETE:
I was going to.
JUSTIN:
When?
Pete doesn't know how to answer this and stares at the ground. Justin wipes the blood off his face with his scarf.
JUSTIN:
You were never going to do this.
PETE walks away.
JUSTIN:
(yelling) Were you?
PETE continues walking back to the house.
JUSTIN:
Where are you going?
PETE turns.
PETE:
I am going back to my home to take care of my brothers. They just lost their dad.
JUSTIN:
Where am I supposed to go?
PETE:
I don't care.
PETE walks further away. His back to JUSTIN
JUSTIN:
Petey!!
I know you can hear me!
PETE turns around.
PETE:
(in tears) You are the only person I trust. How dare you.
JUSTIN:
One day you will get this.
I did this for you.
PETE turns away and walks faster. He turns quickly.
PETE:
Next time get me some fucking mittens.
JUSTIN:
Poetry aside Petey, I really have nowhere to go.
PETE doesn't turn around.
JUSTIN:
And for the record, Speaking as your boyfriend, The outfit your have chosen for this horrific occurrence is really bad.
PETE charges back to JUSTIN, who raises his arms in defense, and clocks him one last time.
