The first mark "chapter 2"
229 Words
The First Mark
Marcus Dale lived in a single-wide trailer park off I-77, south of Cleveland.
Jack watched him for five days. Marcus worked nights at a gas station, slept till 2 PM, and spent evenings drinking Steel Reserve with guys who had the same empty look. On the fifth night, Jack saw the scar. A crescent moon across Marcus’s knuckles. The same scar his dad described in the 911 call recording Jack had gotten through a public records request.
Jack waited till 3 AM, when Marcus stumbled out of a 24-hour diner alone.
“Marcus Dale,” Jack said.
Marcus turned, drunk and defensive. “Who the hell are you?”
“You were in my house on October 12th, 2024,” Jack said. “You held the shotgun on my dad.”
Marcus’s face went pale. “Man, I don’t know—”
“You told my mom to shut up. You pistol-whipped her.”
Marcus ran. Jack caught him behind a dumpster.
There were no speeches. No second chances. When it was over, Jack left Marcus where he fell and walked back to his car parked two blocks away.
Back home, he opened the notebook. He crossed out “Marcus Dale.”
Under it: “2/9.”
He didn’t sleep. He didn’t feel guilt. He felt cold. Clean. Like something broken had finally been set straight.
- Writer
