Death Of An Innocent

'Please put the gun away'
she asked over the phone
so many miles between them
and yet her voice touched him
in that special place that
only they two knew and shared
'ok' he said with a heavy sigh
the weight of the world sitting
heavily upon his shoulders
no longer a boy, not yet a man
and still so much pain and anguish
that it cannot be dealt with
in a normal fashion
maybe if his parents had
listened to him once in a while
instead of ignoring him and
making him feel worthless, unloved
perhaps if things at work had been better
or if he hadn't made that wrong turn
wrecked the car and gotten the tickets
the fines, the embarrassment
piled atop the despair and the anguish
'promise me you won't pick it up again, ok?'
she pleads with him, wishing she were
closer, why did she let her parents
talk her into coming here, so far away
from the one person in the world
who needs her the most right now
tears fall onto the phone
slowly rolling across the plastic
and dropping to the floor
hundreds of miles away, more tears
falling on another phone
landing on another floor
in an empty house
on an empty street
from an empty heart
'i promise' he says, picking up the gun
after all, what else is there?
how can one live with so much pain,
humiliation, torment, anguish
just a smile from mom
a 'job well done' from dad
just one thing may have
turned this whole thing around
'ok, goodnight. I love you'
but in her heart she knows
that she is never going to hear his voice
see his face, feel his touch
ever again
and in his mind, he is doing her a favor
cutting her loose
from this loser of a man-child
this worthless nobody
'I love you too'
*click* as the line goes dead
so also go his fingers, dead,
around the hand-grip
index pressed to the trigger
places the barrel against his flesh
tears squeeze through his clenched eyelids
and, seconds later, it is done
no one hears, no one sees, no one cares
except this one young girl
hundreds of miles away
who cries out in the torment of her own mind
'WHAT DO I DO? WHO DO I CALL?
HOW DO I STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING?'
but already she knows it is too late
even as she asks advice of others
in her heart, she knows
and now it is killing her .....