The Way It Had to Be

a story in the form of poetry. fact and fiction mixed together.

He circles the schoolyard
eyes brimming with lust,
searching for a another little girl
to submit to his crimes,
take her to his home,
make her his own.

The cigarette hangs from his mouth
as he waits wearily,
the bell rings and he checks out the prey,
which ones catch rides,
and which ones will stay.
And so he gathers up his energy
and launches his strike,
he almost took another girl
because he can’t get it up with his wife.

Now he the next day he finally picked out a fresh one,
a nice little blonde with the name of Angela,
the type of girl just starting to eye the young guns,
but might be attracted to older men with more to offer.
So he rolls down his window and asks her for a name,
but to him his victims are one in the same.
She replies hesitantly,
but there’s something about this guy,
like he would never do anything to corrupt her young mind.
He begins to become aroused,
but he’s almost out of time,
so he offers her a ride,
and her ignorance tells her that it’ll all be fine,
so she opens the door as he cracks a big smile,
his excitement is unbearable,
he hasn’t had a young girl in a while.

Now from a distance,
Jamie could have remained as a witness,
but this is something he refused to sit through,
put yourself in Jamie's shoes,
and what would you do?
So he tapped me on the shoulder
and we started on over.
He told me to wait where I was,
and he walked briskly to the car,
deciding that the man had gone to far.

The man looked up with alarm,
as pulled from his car by steady young arm,
thrown to the ground,
fingers stomped on until he was fully disarmed,
and then Jamie proceeded
to brutally beat the man,
I watched as Jamie stomped on his ribs until he could no longer stand.
The man screamed in horror as Jamie crushed his face into the ground,
and Jamie wrapped his hands around his throat without making a sound.
He chocked the man until he could barely breath,
And what I saw next I still struggle to believe.

He took the man by the back of his head,
and I’ll never forget the words that my best friend said,
“By the time you looked at my sister, you were already dead.”
Then he took a rock from the gutter and he smashed in his head.

And that’s the last time that I saw Jamie free,
a normal teenager just like you or me,
they put him away,
but even now as he sits in his cell,
he tells me for one second he doesn’t regret that day,
only that he didn’t have more time to hear the man scream.
He was a smart kid and could have gone to college in his late teens,
he could raise a family with a successful life,
and more than enough money to make all of his means,
but for Jamie,
killing that man was worth more than any of his dreams.

Author's Note

this is based on a true story, i use the term "I" because it's more effective in telling the story, but Jamie had a different name and so did Angela and it was somebody else there, not me, just telling it in first person for artistic effect. (and i fixed a mistake where i callef him "jason" in one line instead of "jamie", i had originally been using the name Jason but i changed it to Jamie and missed one.)

Reviews

[Nely Amorim]

very graphic but gripping to read, especially as u say based on a true story. You tell it well, in poetic text but it still takes you on a journey, like a story. Wonderful work.

[Sydelle Houston]

"as pulled form his car..." fix it to 'from'

Other than that, heavy subject and treated with just the right amount of emotion. Well done! You sort of wish that Jamie beat the perv within an inch of his life instead of taking it....