BANG!
“What do you hear, Joey?”
“Did you hear the sound of a shell ejected as you fired molten hot lead towards me? Did you smell the gunpowder in the air as it flew through the air? Or feel the recoil of the weapon in your hands as you used it to try and destroy the man in front of you?”
“To kill your brother?”
“Does the idea of feeling my blood splatter your face bring you relief? Knowing that I would no longer be standing in the way of dad’s praise? Is hearing him finally say he’s proud of you worth the idea of seeing me breathe my last breath?”
“Everything you could ever want, that your heart desired, all locked behind the the sight of my lifeless corpse of the Gallery floor.”
“Is that what you hear when you pull the trigger?”
“Or do you hear something else? Do you hear dad shouting at you in hatred, in a blood tinged rage as he cradles me in my arms? The sounds of mom crying inconsolably at my funeral and damning you for what you’ve done? The feeling of icy cold glares, of eyes piercing through you as they look upon the man who’s envy caused him to trade an eternity of his brother’s love for a moment of superiority.”
“But that isn’t what that gunshot sounds like to me, Joey. If I listen closely, all I can hear is you admitting that everything dad said about you is right. That title around your waist? It isn’t an offering to dad, it isn’t a gift. It was chance to prove yourself as a better man. He rejected your plea for praise and forgiveness because you hadn’t earned it.”
“All he asked of you was to prove it.”
“Yet all you felt in your heart was desperation, bitterness as you saw dad coveted my accomplishment more than yours.”
“Do you know why?”
“Because I spent years working for it, I never strayed from what I believed in. All dad saw from me was drive, loyalty, justice.”
“While you only left a path of broken lives and bloody corpses in your wake. My badge was proof of my accomplishments, your belt was nothing more than a monument to your horrid past.”
“But you didn’t realize that, did you?”
“Because you didn’t listen.”
“And now? You’ve made a choice you can’t come back from, Joey.”
“Let me ask you again, little brother. What do you hear?”
“Listen closely, because I’m going to tell you what you need to hear.”
“I’m going to do my job as dad expects me to. I’m going to apprehend you for your attempted murder of the Sheriff of Arcadia. As I cuff your hands behind your back, as I take your title from your waist, I want you to hear these words.”
“I want you to feel my disappointment.”
“No matter how much I loved you…”
“No one is above the Law.”
“And I am the Law.”