The target was in front of me, Andy, my childhood bully. The woman who sold me the gun swore that I could use it in plain sight and get away with murder. She said it would fix everything. I prayed she was right.

I saw him for the first time in decades in the school pick-up line for our kids. Ironic. It was the same place he made my life a living hell but there he was, all grown up. You’d think karma would have dealt him back even a portion of what he gave to me but his life was perfect. Good job, good wife, good kids. Everything I had to work hard to earn he had handed to him on a silver platter.

Don’t worry, I wasn’t crazy. I wasn’t going to hurt any of them. Remember, I said Andy was my target. It was almost too easy. I walked up behind him, said his name, and shot him in the head before he had time to recognize what I was holding.

There was screaming of course. Not from him, but we were at a school. I felt sorry for the kids but it needed to be done. The circle of violence at Jefferson had to be resolved.

The next thing I knew I was wrapped in a some sort of tinfoil blanket in the back of an ambulance. They said I was in shock and that I should take all the time I needed. I didn’t appear to be in handcuffs which was good. It appeared the woman’s word was good. An officer approached, but kept his distance to exchange whispers with my EMT.

…yes, he’s a hero…

…wishes he wasn’t…

…four rooms before he found his son…

“Excuse me, officer?” I interrupted, the scraps of information sparking a guilty squeeze in my stomach. Hopefully the kids weren’t scared too badly by the circumstances manufactured by my weapon. “Do you think my daughter and I will be able to leave soon?”

The Officer looked at the EMT who quickly jumped in to explain the situation.

“Mr. Lewis is in shock, as you can see. You should probably come back later.”

“That’s kind of you, but I swear I’m feeling much better now. See?” I started to get up but the EMT quickly moved to block my exit and settle me back in my seat.

“Mr. Lewis, I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist.”

“Oh, alright. But will someone please get Emily? I know you police types need your statements but she must be scared out of her mind with all this,” I featured vaguely at the various emergency responders on scene. Seemed like overkill to me but what did I know about these things?

The officer once again looked at the EMT and I lost my temper. “Officer, please. I am not a child and while I appreciate the help Ms-“ I squinted to see if I could spot a name tag and was embarrassingly forced to substitute a vague wave towards her person. “Ms. EMT is not a doctor. Please tell me what I need to do get my daughter and go home.”

The officer straighten his spine and nodded. Finally!

“Sir, I apologize but I am not here for your statement. You already gave that.”

I blinked. “Ah, of course. Then what’s the hold-up? Am I being arrested?”

“No sir, not at this time. But my supervisor requires a positive identification of the body before transport.”

My eyes lit up. I would get to see the fruits of my labor. “Of course, I would be happy to identify Andy-“

“Sir you misunderstand,” said the officer, growing tenser the longer we conversed. “This isn’t about Mr. Brown. Only immediate family can identify a body. I apologize but we require your identification of a girl we believe to be Emily Lewis. There were several fatalities in her classroom as it was adjacent to that of Thomas Brown.”