Tic Tac in the Sun

On December !4th, !979, Diane and Henry Milton committed double suicide by hanging in their one bedroom apartment in Portland Oregon. Their 4 day old son was found asleep placed in a nativity scene at a local church. That child's name was Henry Milton Jr, convicted for the murder of !9 year old Leslie Peters in December of 20!4.

In !979 the president of the United States was James Earl Carter Jr. The population of the United States was 225,055,487, and the average life expectancy was 73.2 years. In 20!4 the president of the United States was Barack Obama. The population of the United States was 73.8. John Shingledecker asked me why I killed Leslie Peters. I told him I didn't know but that was a lie. My lawyer told me my best chance was to plead insanity and get a lesser sentence in a mental facility. I would have gotten that sentence had I recited my pre meditated, detail oriented concoction. I simply said, I don't know.

In !985 the president of the United States was Ronald Reagan. The population was 237,900,043, and the average life expectancy was 74.!. On November 22, !985, Jane Whitley, my foster mother told me that my parents loved me very much. She told me that some people are just sick, and nothing anyone can do could ever stop them. She told me that them leaving me at that church seems bad now, but when i'm older i'll realize it was the best thing that could have happened to me. At 6 years old I didn’t know what the word inevitable meant but I do now.


On February !8th, 20!5, Valentine's Day, Kenneth Ehrenreich sat me down at a brown colored metal table in a small room with a one way mirror. He slapped my file down on the table, kicking up a bit of dust, pulled up his pant legs and sat down across from me with a grunt. He was a short, round man with thick spectacles he instantly took off and sat on the table. During my stay at the Oregon State Penitentiary i heard a lot about him, they called him Kenny, or Ken. By ‘they’ i mean the familiar faces on the other side of the bars. Like Brenda, it's her son's !8th birthday today, or Aamir who’s having an affair with Brenda, very, very close to my cell. It's amazing how involved you can get in peoples lives who are legally required to seclude you from people's lives.

Ken spoke in a stern voice, “Henry, how you doing,” before I had time to respond he picked up the file and began to speak again, “admitted to the OSP on january 3rd, charged with murder in the !st degree, that of one Miss Lyla Peters,” he looked up from the file for the first time, “how did you kill her Henry.”

“I don’t know,” it's true i didn't.

“What do you mean you don't know Henry.”
“I don't remember,” i lied.
“Do you know why you're here Henry,” he leaned forward and stared at me with eyes that a sane person would see as soft.
“Because i was convicted of the murder of Lyla Peters on December 24th, 20!4”
“No henry, i mean here, right here in this room with me...do you know what my job is,” his eyes got even softer.
“No”
“I'm a criminal psychology expert, I get in the minds of criminals, try and figure out why they do what they do to help law enforcement better understand how to catch them,” his eye contact never stopped, “do you understand me henry?”
“I guess”
“So please, enlighten me,” he leaned back.
I took a deep breath and thought, but as expected my mind drew a blank. But i knew i had to say something.
“You're operating under the very false assumption that everything happens for a reason,”

On July 22nd, !975, !6 year old Annabelle Sornsen was found in critical condition after crashing her car into a tree in Apple Valley California. She was rushed to the hospital but later died of her injuries.

In !975 the president of the united states was Gerald Ford, the population was 2!6,455,055, and the average life expectancy was 72.6. Annabelle Sorensens car didn't have airbags.

On August 9th, !922, Howard Burns had a heart attack at a local cobbler in Lower East Side Manhattan.

In !922 the president of the United States was Warren G Harding, the population !!0,322,345, and the average life expectancy was 58.4. Howard Burns was one of !8 deaths on August 9th in New York City.

On January 22nd, 20!7, 22 year old Dean Altone shot a man twice in the men's section of a JC penny’s near Hallowtown Oregon. He was sent to The Oregon State Penitentiary.

In 20!7 the president of the United States was Donald Trump. The population was 3!8,900,000, and the average life expectancy was 78.74.

“They call me Ken, and by they I mean my friends, you a******s call me Dr. Ehrenreich,” I slapped his file down on the table, picking up a bit of dust, “now that we've gotten that out of the way let's focus on what matters, like why the hell you pulled a gun on a man in a goddamn department store."

What happened next haunts me to this day.
Dean took a deep breath, looked around the room, then looked me dead in the eyes and said, “you're operating under the very false assumption that everything happens for a reason.”

Author's Note

Written in 16 mins.