Justin Murphy's Page

He stood there as someone knocked on the door, wondering if this person knew about the murder he committed last night. Leon Brooks, a short hairy man almost 70 years old, wouldn’t even take one step, he assumed something bad was on the other end of his door. He wouldn’t even blink, and the knock at the door just got louder and louder. Leon wondered who it was, but at the same time he knew he would pay for the murder if he opened the door.
‘’This is the police, open up!’‘ commanded the police officer behind the door.
‘’Just give me a few minutes.’‘ Leon answered ’‘ I’m making the bed.’‘
The police officer shouted ‘’We’d like to ask you a few questions.’‘
Leon didn’t even move as, knowing full well, they might question him about last night’s murder. But if he didn’t answer they’d have reason to believe he did have something to do with it, and he was just avoiding them. Even Leon himself found this ironic, being that he was a retired deputy sheriff. He moved towards the door at a slow pace, inch by inch, not making any sudden movements as he creaked open the door.
The police officer asked ‘’May I come in?’‘
’‘What do you want to question me about?’‘ Leon wondered.
‘’If you’d let me in.’‘ she said. ‘’Then I’d be able to tell you.’‘
Leon opened the door as the female police officer walked in, a black woman of average height with her hair in braids wearing a black uniform and gold badge. As she entered his living room, and took a seat, he was now aware of what she wanted.
‘’I want to ask you about John Lassiter.’‘ she said. ‘’He was murdered last night.’‘
’‘Oh yes, I heard about it on the news last night, a terrible thing.’‘ Leon replied.
Leon flashed back to previous night, it was a cold breeze, and the darkness was pitch black. He stood there holding a knife to John Lassiter’s throat. He grinned as Lassiter, a man with dark hair and a goatee was on knees begging for his life. Leon clinched the knife as Lassiter trembled in fear.
Lassiter begged him. ‘’Please don’t kill me, I’ve never hurt anyone in my life. I swear to god.’‘
’‘Bullshit!’‘ Leon roared. ‘’All you’ve ever done in your miserable life is hurt people!’‘
Leon tilted his head back, and with one swift stroke of the knife, cut Lassiter’s throat. He watched as blood poured down every inch of Lassiter’s dying body. Leon observe as Lassiter’s stumbled to crawl on all fours, then falling on his stomach as his fingers twitched. Leon kicked him, and rolled Lassiter’s body on its back, his eyes were already rolled back into his head. Leon smiled as he stood over Lassiter’s dead body. He knew he did what he had to do to make things right. Leon picked the body up, and placed into the tailgate of a nearby pickup truck.
He got in the pickup, driving for a few miles to the nearest lake. Getting out of the truck, he picked up Lassiter’s body every bit of strength he had left in his own aging body. Leon walked over to the lake, and threw John Lassiter’s body into the lake. He didn’t care whether anyone found his body or not. Leon knew John Lassiter deserved to be murdered, it was the one thing that justified what he did. He stood there for a few more seconds before getting back in the pickup truck, and driving off.








Leon then snapped out of his evil deed last night, and refocused his attention on the female police officer. Waiting for her to start asking questions, he just sat there, ready for any sort of allegation to come at him. He looked on at she started flipping these small pages in her notepad, Leon wondered what she was going to ask about the murder.
‘’John Lassiter’s body was discovered not too long after the murder.’‘ she said. ‘’And some witnesses claim they saw you talking to him earlier last night just 30 minutes before.’‘
’‘What witnesses are you talking about?’‘ he asked.
The female police officer said ‘’Several townspeople who were wandering the streets last night.’‘
He looked at her as he belted out a chuckle, he couldn’t believe this was all the evidence she had. The hearsay claims of random townspeople who wandered the streets last night? Was she new to the police force or something? From all the years he spent at the sheriff’s department, this was some of the most amateur detective work and the most bush league attempt at crime investigation he’d ever seen. To Leon, this line of questioning was nothing more than a waste of time!
‘’So you’re relying on the testimony on a bunch drunk patrons who just ‘’claim’‘ to have seen me talk to him?’‘ he asked.
‘’Yes.’‘ she said. ‘’Is that a problem?’‘
Leon asked ’‘How many years have you been a cop?’‘
’‘What does that have to do with investigation?’‘ asked the female police officer.
‘’Just please answer the question.’‘ He answered.
She responded ‘’This is my first year.’‘
’‘You see, I spent my days as a deputy sheriff for about 40 years.’‘ said Leon ‘’And you’ll have to do better than the testimony of just mere townspeople.’‘
Leon walked the female police officer to the door like a gentleman, he wondered why the local police department would involve a rookie in a murder investigation. It just didn’t make any sense, they often involved more experienced officers in such cases. He put on a good act in front of this rookie female cop, but if townspeople connected him to John Lassiter’s murder, he knew he’d have to do better next time. Leon shut the door, and sat down in his armchair with a sigh of relief. He would have to rest some before he made his next move.






Later that day, Leon visited his nephews Nick and Jake Reardon, he noticed 9 year old Jake was still quiet and withdrawn after what John Lassiter did to him. Leon pulled out a teddy bear, and gave it to Jake. He was relieved to see Jake’s eyes beam with a smile, it’s been awhile since he did that. He hugged Jake, who hadn’t felt this safe in a long time. Leon wanted to somehow help Jake understand he would make sure no one such as Lassiter would ever hurt him that way again.
‘’That son of a bitch can’t hurt you anymore.’‘ Leon said. ‘’I made sure of it.’‘
Leon sat there watching sandy haired pint sized Jake as he walked back over to the television set. He always did anything he could for him, someone had to, Jake was autistic, and needed someone older to protect him. Nick did a good job of looking out for his little brother, but he was just 21 years old. He just couldn’t do it alone, someone had to give him a hand, and Leon was more than happy to be there for both of them.
Nick asked ‘’Did you kill him?’‘
’‘Yep.’‘ he answered ‘’Sure did.’‘
He looked at Nick, who he also wanted to assure everything was going to be alright, and that he wasn’t in this alone. Leon hugged him, hoping the worst of this was all over. If he had to kill someone else to make sure Nick and Jake were safe, then so be it. Even though Leon was well aware murder was nothing to be proud of, he knew it was nothing to be ashamed of either, if it was done for the right reasons. He just didn’t want Nick going down the same path he did.
‘’You no longer have anything to worry about.’‘ Leon said.
‘’Promise?’‘ Nick questioned.
He answered ‘’I guarantee it.’‘
Leon wanted both Nick and Jake to have the brightest futures possible. He knew it could happen with the right guidance, and as long as they were both kept safe. If there were less people in the world like John Lassiter, that could be even more possible. Leon grinned over the fact John Lassiter was dead, and the human race was better off without him. He had no regrets for the murder, and Lassiter got what he deserved, death suited him even better than prison.
‘’Jake will be safe now.’‘ Leon said. ‘’What Lassiter did to him was beyond your control, there was nothing you could’ve done.’‘
’‘I know, but I still think I should’ve done more.’‘ said Nick.
He noticed tears streamed down Nick’s face which lied under a nice thick bush of dark brown curly hair. It just pained Leon to see Nick agonize over this, he just couldn’t stand it. He gave Nick another big hug as he wiped the tears from his face. Nick didn’t know it, but Leon saw all the hope in the world underneath those tears.
Leon said ‘’If you could just see all the things possible for you and Jake beyond all the pain, beyond all the suffering.’‘
’‘Yeah I wish I could, but I can’t after what happened to Jake.’‘ replied Nick.
‘’Try to look at the good things ahead for you both.’‘Leon said ’‘Don’t think about what happened with Lassiter.’‘
Leon put his arm around Nick who was now seated on the couch, he just wanted to make the pain stop, reach out to them, and make them realized the suffering can stop. But it appeared murdering John Lassiter may not have been enough.






‘’Is there anything else I can do?’‘ Leon asked. ‘’Anything at all?’‘
Nick replied ‘’I don’t know if you could.’‘
Leon was glad to see Jake cheer up since he’d been the one hurt by Lassiter, but for some reason Nick just couldn’t get over what happened to be Jake. He just hated seeing Nick depressed, it was just too much to bear. Leon sat next to him on the couch, wanting to be kind to him, and help brighten his mood.
‘’Look, why don’t I take you and Jake somewhere?’‘ Leon asked ‘’Someplace special!’‘
’‘Maybe some other time.’‘ Nick replied.
He was now even more concerned about Nick. If he didn’t want to do anything, then there was no telling how long or how deep Nick’s depression would get. There was no way of knowing how upset he was on the inside. Leon just saw a mere frown on Nick’s face, but couldn’t read his mind. He just wanted to reach out and be there for him, but Leon just couldn’t get through the emotional barrier Nick had put up. He wished Nick would just budge, and take the first step to recovering from this. But how, after all that just happened?
Leon wondered why Nick wasn’t cheering up as fast as Jake had, maybe because Jake is much younger, he would’ve forgotten about it in time anyway with the right amount of protection and comfort. But since Nick is much older, it’s harder to forget, and harder to forgive himself for what happened, even though it wasn’t his fault. He just wanted to shake Nick, and make him forget about it. But he knew it wouldn’t do him any good. Maybe it was just too soon for Nick to bounce back from this, but this thought didn’t erase Leon’s concern for Nick.
‘’Are you sure you’ll be alright?’‘ Leon asked.
Nick replied ‘’Yeah, I guess so.’‘
He knew deep down inside Nick wasn’t alright, not at all. It just made Leon sick to see Nick this way. Why did there have to be so much pain, why did it have to happen to them? He didn’t know why Nick and Jake had to be put through something so horrible. Was it just something horrible John Lassiter had done or was it apart of some twisted divine plan? Leon just couldn’t figure it out one way or the other.




Bob Foster walked into the local police station, a 70 year old man with his squinty eyes and toothless grin hanging underneath his cowboy hat. He was determined to get what he wanted as he headed for the police commissioner’s office. Bob didn’t have to say anything to the commissioner, who knew exactly what he was there for. He and Leon Brooks had been rivals since the 1970's during their days in the wrestling business, they feuded back and forth throughout the decade. And he still couldn’t stand Leon Brooks well over 30 years later.
The police commissioner said ‘’Let me guess, you want to discuss the murder of John Lassiter again, right?’‘
’‘I know Leon Brooks killed him.’‘ said Bob ‘’And so do you!’‘
’‘Just because you have an old grudge against him doesn’t mean he’s guilty.’‘ the police commissioner responded.
Bob shot back ‘’Several people saw him talking to John Lassiter the night of the murder.’‘
’‘We know that.’‘ said the police commissioner. ‘’But we don’t have enough evidence to hold him.’‘
’‘You’re making a big mistake, you’re letting him get away with murder!’‘ shouted Bob.
The police commissioner ordered ‘’I think you need to go home, and get some rest.’‘
Bob was infuriated by the police commissioner’s suggestion, he didn’t have to take this shit from anyone. Bob had been a hard working American all his life, had served in The Marines, and is a taxpayer, he didn’t see the need to stand for this. He shot the police commissioner a dirty look, as if he wanted to knock the living shit out of him. But then again, he’d be locked up for striking a police officer. So, what good would it do? He left the police station with a disgusted look on his face.
‘’Damn stupid police commissioner, probably can’t even tell his job from the shit that comes out of his ass!’‘ Bob muttered to himself.
He just couldn’t believe how ignorant the local police department, a local police department is supposed to be a town’s finest, but it seems this police department hired rejects from the Police Academy films. It was just embarrassing to go in there, and deal with all the incompetent bullshit that existed in that police station. Bob wanted to see justice done, but it appeared this particular police department didn’t even know what the word ‘’justice’‘ meant.
He just had this gut feeling deep down inside that Leon Brooks was somehow involved in John Lassiter’s murder. Bob couldn’t explain it, the feeling was just there. And it just wouldn’t go away, it was a bad taste in his mouth he couldn’t wash down. He wanted his old rival put behind bars for the murder, but how in the hell would this happen if the local police department was too stupid to catch him? Bob just didn’t see the logic in any of this, it didn’t make any sense whatsoever, and he couldn’t shake it off.