This is dedicated for all those who have lost loved ones out of fear and that which we cannot control. Fear is a powerful emotion. It can cause us to do things we might not normally do. This is in memory of what happened in Missouri.
All Because of Fear
By
AJ
Bruce searched for his oldest son. Something had been bothering him. Bruce hadn't seen Dick during that whole week since he had been busy with other important things regarding Wayne Enterprises. Sometimes his other life had to take center stage. It took Bruce more than an hour to find his son. He found Dick in the family chapel. Dick was in the alcove lighting a candle. They hadn't done that practice in several years.
"Dick?" Bruce approached the young man. He could see there were tears in his son's eyes.
"Why did that officer fire?"
"What officer?"
"There was a shooting this week. A man died despite the fact that he told the officer not to shoot. His hands were raised."
"Was the man a criminal?" Bruce asked.
"I don't know," Dick answered. "The officer shot him in the back, then continued shooting even after he was down. The officer killed him, all because he was different."
"So you don't know if the young man had committed a crime."
"All I heard is that the young man was at that place at the wrong time. He stopped when the officer said to and the young man raised his hands and said, "Don't shoot."
"What is the officer saying?" Bruce asked.
"That the young man had a gun and was planning on shooting him," Dick answered.
"Planning on shooting him? That does not make sense. Did the young man even had a gun?"
"They didn't find one," Dick said.
"So the young man held his hands up and said to the officer not to shoot, but the officer shot him anyway." Bruce was trying to understand the situation.
"Yeah," Dick said, as he put down the lighter and stared at the candle that was now lit. He stood there in silence, just staring into the candle's flame.
"What's the candle for?" Bruce asked. He suspected, but he didn't expect the answer he received.
"It's for both."
"For both?"
"Yeah," Dick replied. "For the loss of an innocent man and for the loss of an officer as well."
"How do you figure that?"
"The officer didn't need to use excessive force. The young man had asked him not to shoot. He wasn't running away, his hands were up. The officer could have handcuffed the guy. I figured the officer reacted out of fear. He may have felt afraid and . . . And because the young man was different, he . . . he simply reacted out of fear and ignorance. Maybe he felt threatened. And now, his career as a police officer is over and he has to live with the fact that he killed someone, all because of fear."
"Dick some people would be angry that this happened and they would want revenge against the cop, any officer. There has been things like this in the past and more people have gotten killed. But I am proud that you see and even feel compassion for that officer and for that innocent life that was taken."
"You taught me not to fear others because they are different. And I've been on the receiving end, people being afraid of me because I was different . . . a circus freak. You showed me compassion. You weren't afraid.
"I would never be afraid of you. I understand. People are afraid of me, too."
"Because you're rich?"
"Many see rich people as different, too."
"Why do people fear what is different?" Dick asked.
"People fear what they do not understand. They have misconceptions about people who are different as well. Many see people who are different as a threat to their lifestyle, something they cannot control.
"But that's wrong and stupid to think that. We're all the same inside."
"I know, Dick. But there are those that are still blind to that fact."
Bruce picked up a candle and sat it beside Dick's and lit it.
"What's that for?"
"For love. Love is the only thing that dispels fear."
"For love."
Bruce put his arm around Dick's shoulders as they stood in companionable silence watching the flames of the two candles meditating on how far they had come, differences and all.
End