Scars of Revenge
Raymond E. Strawn III
Two small gravestones stand next to each other, the sun beating down on them. These gravestones look newer compared to the other rows of gravestones lined up in the empty graveyard. The name etched on the left gravestone is from a woman in her late twenties and the one on the right, a young girl only eight years old. These are gravestones of a mother and a daughter. A man in his thirties approaches these two gravestones, in hand, two pink tulips. The bright pink pedals shine in the man’s dirty rough hands; these tulips were freshly picked off the grass. The man stops a few feet from the two gravestones and stands for a moment. A tear begins to roll off the man’s right eye, reaching towards his cheek. The tear gets lost in the man’s wild rough beard. His eyes filled with hate and pain. The man bends down and places one tulip on his wife’s gravestone and the other on his daughter’s. Another tear falls, hitting the brownish-clay dirt ground. Grass is scarce on this graveyard. The man clenches his fist; anger fills his heart. His wife and daughter were killed in a terrorist attack. The terrorists claimed it was revenge and retaliation for deaths that happened in their country. Now this man wants revenge and retaliation for the deaths of his wife and daughter. He slams his fist into the dirt ground, causing a small crater to form.
On the way back home, the man walks past a park his daughter used to play on. Pain and hate begins to fill his chest. As he stares at the swings and the playground his daughter used to run and play on, he notices someone sitting on the bench. The man squints into the sun to get a better look. The man gasps. Is that a foreigner sitting on the bench? The man approaches towards the bench, with each step, hate fills his heart. The person on the bench is a male foreigner. The man knows by how the foreigner is dressed, he is a terrorist.
“Go back to your damn country!#8221; the man yells out to the foreigner on the bench. “This is my country! We don’t want your kind around here!#8221; The foreigner on the bench lifts his head up and turns toward the man yelling at him. The foreigner is slightly confused as to why this man is yelling at him, but he is used to it. This is not the first time this foreigner has dealt with this before. The foreigner shakes his head and goes back to his phone, reading and scrolling.
“Get the hell off my bench!#8221; the man continues yelling and starts approaching the bench. In the corner of his eye, the man notices a small rock and he reaches for it and throws it at the foreigner, missing wildly.
The foreigner jumps up at the sound of the rock skipping across the ground and turns quickly at the man. The foreigner doesn’t want any trouble and heads towards the opposite direction of the man yelling at him. “That’s right you damn terrorist! Get the hell out of here before I bust your face in!#8221; The man reaches down and throws another rock at the foreigner, missing wildly. Thoughts of revenge race through the man’s head during this entire ordeal. The man wishes the foreigner would stay and fight him.
The man enters his home and kicks off his muddy boots against the wall. He walks over to his couch and plops down. The couch is faded blue from the wear and tear over the years, with an odor of stale beer and popcorn. The man turns on the TV, the news fades onto the screen. The man begins swearing and yelling at the TV when it discusses problems with terrorists. A pregnant woman enters the room from the kitchen, a beer in her hand. She walks towards her husband and hands him his beer. He glances up at her and smiles. Even with all that pain and hate inside, he appreciates and loves his new wife. He would be in such a worse mess without her. He’d probably be locked up or dead if it wasn’t for her. She smiles and bends down, kissing his cheek, his beard scratches gently onto her face. She walks back into the kitchen and continues cooking dinner. She peeks over at her husband, still yelling at the TV. She looks down and begins to rub her stomach. Joy begins to overcome her. She is having a son and she is excited to start a family with her husband, but sadness starts to rise. She hopes that having a baby with her husband would help with his pain and suffering. She thinks maybe it would help him move on and he wouldn’t be so angry as much, instead it seems he is now angrier.
*****
The man continues visiting his dead wife and daughter at the graveyard. The man continues verbally abusing foreigners he sees out in public. He continues wanting revenge and retaliation against the terrorists. Over the weeks, he confronts a foreigner living a few blocks from him and even shoves him. The foreigner eventually moves out. The man’s anger and hate continues to grow, which makes his wife’s worries and concerns grow too.
“You need to forgive sweetie. Violence is not the option. Look at what all this hate is doing to you.#8221; The wife explains to her husband during dinner.
“Violence is the only option. They need to pay for what they did.#8221; He replies.
“When does it end, honey? Let’s say you could find those who harmed your first wife and your daughter, then what? You kill them. What if they were married or have children and they grow up without a father or husband. That hate and violence will grow just like it is growing in you. They will want to harm or kill you. It never ends! You need to forgive. I am here for you. We are here for you#8221; she says, rubbing her stomach.
“It would end with me killing those bastards. They do not deserve to live and I don’t give a damn about their wife or kids. They didn’t care about my wife. They didn’t care about my daughter. So, why should I?#8221; he snaps at her.
“Because you are better than that. You are better than them.#8221; She grabs his left hand and squeezes it. His head falls in defeat and shakes his head.
“You don’t understand. How can you? You haven’t lost anyone from them.#8221; He softly says to her, pushing the chicken around with his fork with his right hand. The wife looks down at her stomach and rubs it. Any day now she will be able to hold her son.
“Maybe you’re right, but I want to keep it that way. You keep getting into fights and stuff, accusing any foreigner of being a terrorist, you will get locked up and I will lose someone. He will lose someone.#8221; She gestures towards the baby. “I don’t want him growing up with all this hate and violence.#8221;
“Like I said, you don’t understand and you will never understand until either I or our son dies from those damn terrorists.#8221; He gets up violently and throws the fork onto the small wooden dining table. He begins to head towards the front door. His wife wipes a tear away and continues rubbing her stomach.
“It’s okay, sweetie. Mommy and daddy love you.#8221; She looks up at her husband who is getting his boots on. “Daddy is just sad because your big sister is no longer with us.#8221; She pauses for a moment. She realizes that if that horrible thing never happened, she would have never met her husband, she would have never married him, and she wouldn’t be pregnant with their son. She begins sobbing.
The man reaches the graveyard. He finds it odd that there is a group of people towards the edge of the graveyard. He figures that maybe more people visit here during the night. He notices it is a lot cooler visiting during the night. He walks towards his wife’s and daughter’s gravestone, two pink tulips in hand, which he always freshly picks on the way. Before he can reach the gravestones, there is a large explosion.
*****
There is panic and screams in the hospital. Doctors and nurses running from room to room and patient to patient. Children are crying in the hallways. Adults yelling in confusion. There is mayhem and chaos in the hospital.
The wife is laying down on the cart, being pushed through the hallway.
“My baby! My baby!#8221; the wife screams out in pain.
“You need to try to calm down.#8221; A doctor says to her.
“I can’t calm down! My baby!#8221; she screams out in pain.
“It is okay ma’am.#8221; A nurse says to trying to reassure her. “Your baby is coming. Everything will be okay.#8221;
“But my husband, my husband is...#8221; she screams as the contractions get worse. The baby is coming. The wife focuses on her breathing. It is time to deliver the baby.
The wife holds her son in her arms and looks down at him.
“Hey there sweetie.#8221; She softly whispers to the sleeping baby. “I have some bad news to tell you. Daddy won’t be able to see you today. You see, those bad men who hurt your big sister, they hurt daddy too. And daddy is right. I didn’t understand until now. It is going to be up to you to avenge your father’s death.#8221; She kisses her son’s soft forehead. “I don’t know how your dad did it. But I finally get it.#8221;
*****
The mother celebrates her son’s eighteenth birthday. She is so happy and proud of him. He is joining the military to fight the terrorist. He is going to avenge his father’s death. Growing up without a father fueled his urge for revenge. Watching his mother cry everyday fueled his anger. He is going to make those terrorists pay. His mother brings out the cake and the son blows the candles out and makes a wish, a wish to kill those who killed his father. He knows he is going to get his chance.
“I know today is my birthday.#8221; He explains to his mother. “But I got a gift for you mom.#8221; He reaches into his pocket and hands his mother an envelope from the military. She opens it with excitement and takes out a letter addressed to her son. She begins reading it and stops.
“You are going out next week to kill the terrorists?#8221; she asks happily.
“Yes mom I am. I am going to avenge dad’s death.#8221; He says with a smile on his face. He can’t wait. His mother hugs him tightly.
“I am so proud of you. Your father would be so proud of you.#8221;
“I know mom. I am going to do what dad wished he could have done years ago. I will avenge his death and my older sister’s death.#8221;
“Do you know where you will be attacking, if you can share?#8221;
“Yes mom. We are going to attack New York City. Those Americans are going to pay for what they did to our family, to our country. We are going to get our revenge from those Americans, those damn terrorists.#8221;
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