New weird

"You take care now"
The sun was setting in the park and I was late going home again. I'd spent too many hours sitting on this bench talking lately and my wife was beginning to wonder why I was always late.

"Yeah you too. Tell your wife I said hi. On second thought that might not be the best idea."

"No, you're probably right."

It was a small town and being as it was such I knew just about everyone there was to know. Comes from being a cop so long I suppose, but it also makes my job more difficult. If I was a lawyer I'd be pulled for conflict of interest on every case, but in this town that's unescapable. Take this here case. He was almost my brother-in-law before he got too wild. We both look a little worn out now. We both got grey hair and faces betraying our age. We could be brothers, we're probably cousins. But time marches on and we make our choices and then there we are staring at each other separated only by the law. Then he took it too far on whiskey and meth and ended up killing his wife, and though he didn't know it then, his unborn child. When something like that happens it tends to rip away any past, at least for the moment.

"I suppose I should thank you."

"I don't think that's really the case."

"I wasn't doin' nobody no good though. It's easy to see when I don't got whiskey clouding my brain. I've learned a lot since then."

"Good to hear."

"You know I don't know if I can keep doin' this. It gets harder every time you know that."

"Yeah. I guess time does that. Destroys all your ties after a while."

"Hey, you ever hear of how my Grandpa saved a women from a building fire?"

"You're just full a stories now aren't you?"

"It's all I got to do sometimes you know. We just sit around swapping stories. Couple of really old guys have some of the most interesting stories around. Guys so tied to this here bit a land that they've got stories going back for ever."

"Doesn't sound like it's too bad eh?"

"Nah. It can get boring and repetitive though. I suppose after a while I'll be able to move on from that whole thing."

"And then where?"

"Don't know. Not back here though."

We both share a bittersweet chuckle.

"Anyways I really got to go though."

"Yeah I know. There's only so much time you can sit around talking to ghosts of the past."

I put on my jacket and walk away. You know when I caught him I nearly shot that son of a bitch. Figured it's what he deserved. But I made my mind up not to. Vengeance is mine saith the Lord. Turns out the state thinks so too. For all that I would of shot him it hurt when I watched him in that chair.