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homerfreak2011

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“Mom… Mom really… No, it’ll only take us about 10 minutes… I told him I didn’t mind stopping here… Yeah, Mom… Can’t wait to see you… Love you too… Bye.” Johnny shook his head and stuck his phone in his pocket. He turned to his brother. “She says you shoulda took me home first.” The two laughed. Johnny, a dark-haired, green-eyed, 20 year old lived in Pennsylvania, but was in Georgia to see his family. Aiden, a near mirror image of his older brother, had picked him up at the airport and had needed to make a quick pitstop at the bank before going home.

“She just misses you is all.” The two were behind four other people. It would take maybe 10 minutes to the front. Johnny looked around the room. His nerves were acting up. The building had gotten deathly silent. Then he heard a voice…

“GET DOWN ON THE GROUND! NOW!” A guy in a black ski mask and a black hat stormed through the glass doors with his gun drawn. His finger was on the trigger. He reached out and grabbed Johnny’s shirt collar. He put him in a headlock and put the gun to his temple. “NOW!” Aiden looked up at his older brother with fear in his eyes. Johnny was sweating, but that was the only sign of fear he was showing.

“Aiden… get down.” The 17-year-old obeyed and got down on his stomach on the floor. A woman across the room screamed.

“Oh God, don’t let him pull it! Please, God!” Aiden’s eyes were focused on the masked man. The guy dragged Johnny to the counter and put an empty garbage bag on it.

“FILL IT! NOW!” Johnny swallowed hard, feeling the arm gripping around his neck. The nervous teller immediately obeyed. Aiden started to get up. The robber fired at him. The bullet didn’t come near to hitting him, but Johnny was pissed. He grabbed the guy’s arm that was wrapped around his neck and flipped him over on his back. He went to grab the gun, but the masked man wasn’t about to let it go. They struggled over it… Then a shot was fired… Then another… The masked man got up, grabbed the half filled bag, and ran for the door. Johnny didn’t get up.

Aiden stumbled to his feet and dropped to his knees next to his brother. The one person that had protected him for the past 17 years now lay dying at his knees. Aiden shook Johnny’s shoulders.

“J-Johnny…?” His eyes opened. Blood was pouring from his mouth and the hole in his abdomen.

“Ugh…” He laid his head back against the cold bank floor.

“Johnny, don’t… Please, don’t…” Aiden hugged his older brother. Then his gaze focused on the door. The guy was still there, with a cold smile on his face. Then, without another motion, he was gone. Aiden swallowed hard and turned back to his brother. Then the sirens came. Johnny’s face was pale and his pulse was gone. The tears welled up in Aiden’s eyes. Police and EMT’s rushed in. They pushed him aside to get to Johnny. Aiden didn’t move. He let them shove him backward against the tiled floor. He didn’t care. He felt his blood run cold as they pulled out the black body bag…

* * * * * * * * * *

“Aiden?” There was a knock on his bedroom door. “Aiden…?” The door slowly opened. He looked up to see his girlfriend Scottie in the doorway. She walked into the dark room and over to her boyfriend, sitting in the corner, holding a pistol. She knelt down beside him. “You can’t do this to yourself… You were sitting in this exact spot when I left earlier… You haven’t moved, have you?” His eyes were blank. She took the pistol from his grasp and laid it on the bed. “Aiden…” She sat next to him and wrapped her arms around him.

“How could he take somebody’s life? How does someone do that? He didn’t care… He even smiled…” She hugged him.

“Baby… quit thinking about it…”

“What made him think he had the right?” She kissed him. He didn’t make an effort to kiss back. His eyes were bloodshot. She ran her thumb down his cheek.

“I know… I know…” She held him close. His alarm clock started beeping. She looked up at it. “Nine o’clock?” He grabbed his remote and flipped on the TV.

“The news.”

“…and at 7 this morning, our town was struck with grief as 20-year-old Johnny Pickens was murdered at the Reynold’s Savings and Loan. The murder is shown here on the bank security cameras. His younger brother, Aiden Pickens, escaped the scene unharmed. The man in the tape is now behind bars.” Aiden’s gaze shot up to the screen. “Nathan Hannah, a Reynold’s police officer, is charged for the murder and robbery.” He stood. His eyes focused on the picture. Memorizing every detail. Scottie quickly turned off the TV and pulled him down on the bed.

“Honey, no…”

“He just let him die…”

“I know he did, but no… You have to let it go…” He looked deep into her eyes.

“Let him kill your little brother. Then YOU let it go.” She looked down as his words pierced her. He sighed and stood up. “Just leave.”

“Aiden…” She stood and hugged him. “I love you.” He wrapped his arms around her.

“I love you.” She gave him one last kiss before leaving. His closed his door, leaving his light off, and went back to his corner. He opened the barrel of his pistol and pulled out a bullet. He pulled the knife from his pocket and started carving into the bullet. First a ‘N’… then an ‘A’… “He never hurt anyone… how could you be so full of hate? He did nothing but good and you killed him…” ‘T’ The tears welled up in his eyes and slowly started running down his cheeks. ‘H’ “How could you just let him die like that?” ‘A’ “Fuck you.” ‘N’

He pushed the bullet back into the barrel.

“Fuck you.” He stood and put the pistol in his waistband. He left his room, storming through the living room. His parents were on the couch, his mother crying, broken over what had happen. Without giving them a second glance, he stormed out of the front door. Scottie was still in the driveway. She was talking to Aiden’s sister, Denise. When he walked by her, she grabbed his bicep.

“Aiden, baby, what are you doing?” He shoved her back against her car and just kept walking. She watched him walk off, hurt by his actions. She was the last thing on his mind right now. He knew if she was with him, he’d just hurt her. She wasn’t the one he was after.

He felt the cold metal of the pistol against his stomach.

* * * * * * * * * *

“…a survivor from the Reynold’s Savings and Loan attack is currently behind bars for the murder of Officer Nathan Hannah. Late last night, Aiden Pickens shot down Hannah in cold blood while Hannah was in his own jail cell for the murder of Pickens’ older brother. Officers on duty reported that Pickens’ didn’t fight them and didn’t try to run after the murder. They say he was very cooperative and even went as far as saying he was polite about the matter. A Reynold’s county resident, Pickens’ has no criminal record…” Scottie’s eyes were wide.

“Aiden…” Her cell phone went off in her pocket. She pulled it out and flipped it open. “H-Hello?”

“Scott?”

“Aiden! I just… You… What the hell?!”

“I love you.”

“Why the hell did you do that?!”

“Scottie…”

“What?!”

“I love you.” She sighed.

“I love you, too… How much is your bail?”

“Doesn’t matter. I don’t mind to sit in here. I had to do what I had to do.”

“Oh, Aiden…” She shook her head. “Why?”

“For Johnny.” She knew how much he admired his older brother, but she never imagined he’d go this far.

“Are you gonna be alright?” He sighed.

“Yeah. I’m gonna be just fine. I just… well… I had one phone call and I wanted to call you. At least to say I love you.”

“Christ, honey…”

“I’ve gotta go…”

“How much is your bail?”

“Don’t worry about--”

“Aiden. How much?” She heard a click as he hung up. She heard the music on the TV that meant ‘news update’.

“One of our reporters were on the phone with a Reynold’s county officer when gunshots erupted. The officer is now saying the shots were from the cell of Aiden Pickens.” Scottie’s heart stopped. “We will have more on the story as it unfolds.” She felt tears sting her eyes. The reporter looked at her supervisor, then shook her head. “We just got word that they cannot find a pulse on Pickens. Our hearts go out to the Pickens family as this is the second son to be lost in two days. CNN has offered to keep the story updated. We’re out of time. I’m Trisha Johnson. Goodnight.”