Mark

            by Adnan Shah

 

            Mark and Anthony were brothers. Mark was seventeen and Anthony was eighteen both attended the same school. They did everything together; they biked and played soccer. One day Mark asked Anthony to go to the marina with him. There was a dark side to Mark that even his brother Anthony didn’t know about.

            “What are we going to do at the marina?”

            “You’ll see. I want to do something I should have done a year ago,” Mark speaking while looking at the sky.

After school they biked to the marina which was about a mile from their house. On the way they had decided to stop at Bubba’s house and asked Bubba if he wanted to join them. He said he would and the three were at the marina in ten minutes. That day the marina was unusually quiet and the water looked darker.

Bubba left after only fifteen minutes. However, Mark and Anthony decided to stay for a little longer. They followed a trail to a certain spot where no one was around.

 It was perfect to do whatever they wanted. Mark had set up a trap for Anthony in the water. He had set up a net which had rocks on all of the four sides and a rope holding it up in the water. The touch of a hand or foot would activate the trap and sink its prey to the bottom. Deviously, Mark dared Anthony to swim in the water, directly across  the trap.

 

Mark watched as Anthony’s stroke took him closer and closer to the trap. In the blink of an eye the net swallowed him. Mark watched. He was relieved that his trap worked.

Mark arrived at  his house before his parents got there. His parents asked him where his brother was and Mark said that he went to the marina with Bubba and was going to spend the night at Bubba’s house. As it was a Friday night, the parents consented.

            The cop pulled up to Mark’s family light big green house. The cop thought to himself, “who would want a boy dead that comes from this house.” He walked up to huge cherry stained door. It was answered by Mark.

            “Are your parents available so I can talk to them?”

            “What happened officer?”

“I’m here to talk to your parents about your brother’s death.”

            “What! What do you mean? My brother? What happened to him?”

The officer walked up the flight of stairs. He thought to himself that it might have to do with money or jealousy.

            “Mr. and Mrs. Sher I have a bad news for you. We found your son’s body at the marina.”

 The words were like poison; they were hard to swallow. Tears were pouring down their faces as they listened to the officer speak.

“From what it looks like it was a homicide because it seemed as if it was planned out. I am really sorry for your loss. I will do anything to help you. You can help me by answering a few questions. When was the last time you saw your son?”

“Friday morning before he left for school,” the parents responded.

“Are you sure your son went to school?” questioned the officer.

“Yes, because Mark, his brother, said that he went to the marina with Bubba after school and was planning to spend the night at his house.”

“Can I speak to his brother?”

“Go ahead. He is downstairs,” responded the mother.

The cop walked downstairs to speak with Mark.

“When was the last time you saw your brother?” asked the officer.

“Oh, after school he said he was going to the marina with Bubba and was planning on spending the night at his house.”

“Can I ask you why you didn’t go? And did it ever occur to you that Bubba may have had something against him?”

“I had a few chores to do here. I don’t know if Bubba hated him but his girlfriend broke up with him and started going out with my brother. I think that might have gotten Bubba mad because he loved her a lot,” Mark spoke with a million things rushing through his head.

“Thanks for your cooperation. Do you know where Bubba lives?

“He lives on 1121 Delaware Street which is just a few blocks down.” Mark replied, trying not to say too much to the cop.

            The officer wrote everything he could and thought long about his conversation with Mark. As the cop reached Bubba’s house he sat in his car for  some time so he could think over what Mark had told him. The house seemed to get darker with every step. With three knocks the door opened.

            “Hi are you Bubba’s parents?” the cop asked.

            “Yes. How may I help you, sir?”

            “Is your son at home? I have to ask him some questions about his friend Anthony’s death?”

“Wait, you mean Anthony is dead? What happened? What does my child have to do with it?”

“We found Anthony’s dead body at the marina. I got information that he was with your son at the marina. I believe your son might have had something to do with it because Anthony was going out with your son’s ex-girlfriend.”

 Bubba’s parents were in shock and called their son to speak with the officer. They couldn’t believe their son had committed a crime.

            “Were you with Anthony yesterday?”

            “Yup.” said Bubba.

           “What did you guys do?”

            “Nothing…‘cause I left early. Anthony and Mark decided, for I don’t know how long, but yeah I left kinda early.”

            “You mean Mark was there too?”

            “Y-eah.”

            “Did anything about Mark seem strange to you?”

            “I don’t know he was just himself.”

            “What do you think might have made Mark want to kill his brother?”

            “Let me see. I think it might been over his girlfriend and the tragedy that happened to Mark a year ago.”

            “Wait you mean it wasn’t your girlfriend that Anthony was going out with but Mark’s? What is this tragedy you are talking about?” said the officer.

“A year ago, Anthony was playing with fire and Mark told him to stop playing with fire or something might happen. What ended up happening was that Mark’s shirt caught on fire. It burned part of his face. Mark was left with a big mark on his face.”

            The officer jotted in his notebook everything Bubba was telling him. He was putting the pieces of the mystery together: Why would Mark have killed Anthony?

The cop drove back to Mark’s house thinking over and over about the situation on the way. He went back for additional information.

“Can I ask you what happened to your face?”

“Oh don’t worry about it.”

 The cop insisted that Mark answer him.

“This happened a year  ago. Anthony was playing with fire and my shirt accidentally caught on fire and burned part of my face.”

“Are you mad over what happened to your face?”

“No, sir. At first I was, but I soon learned to live with it.”

“Earlier you told me that Bubba had killed Anthony, but I don’t believe that. I think it was you. I believe you were still mad over the incident that happened a year ago. Your girlfriend that you loved broke up with you and ended up with him. That sparked hatred in you. You wanted to pay him back.”

Mark was in tears now. He tried to explain why he had done what he had done.

“Do you know how it feels to walk around with a mark on your face that disgusts everyone that looks at it? I told him to stop playing with the fire but he insisted. Only if he had listened. He had these special treats from my parents because he was a better looking son than I was. And on top of that my friends left me to be friends with my brother also my girlfriend, who I loved with all my heart, left me like everyone else did.”

The officer had heard enough. He got up to put the handcuffs on Mark. Mark’s tragedy was not an excuse for the crime.