Justice

Justice’s “Stress” was playing on the radio. They were going fast, too fast. Wind tugged on the forty year old Volkswagen beetle flying at top speed. The sun had just passed below the peaks of the Lewis and Clark range, bathing the road in the gloomy glow before the blanket of the night would drape itself over the world. Two beams shot from around a corner up ahead. Cal’s lips sloppily curled themselves into a vicious grin. His hands flexed around the wheel, tilting it to the left. 

“Is you crazy? What are you doing?” Surrie asked in her inebriated state. 

“Chicken,” Cal slurred. Lipton stayed silent. The lights in front of them veered to the right, if there was just a bit more light, the car may have seen that the road was coated in ice, maybe not. They heard the screech of the tires on the glossy road. Surrie’s face was drawn back with horror as the car plummeted into the void. Cal’s eyebrows raised, but his lips didn’t even twitch.         The Lipton VII could hear the pop of the tires, the screech of tires on the slick tar road. The car wouldn’t be found for at least 4 more hours, no need to rush. It isn’t like anybody could have heard that crash out here anyway. Lipton wanted to feel sad, he wanted to convince himself that he shouldn’t have done what he did, but Lipton wasn’t one for overthinking. They needed to die, and so Lipton had to ensure that would happen. A distant boom, almost more a slap, rang through his eardrums, he had calculated the survival rate from a fall at that height and speed, nobody could have survived that. Nobody. 

One as observant as Lipton knew that Cal would be pushing his bug as fast as it could go. Not a smart idea on such a winding road. If only Cal could be a safe driver. If he had been a safe driver, he may not have caused that accident. A newlywed couple and their four year old child would still be hiking in Glacier park, enjoying the beauties of this Earth’s nature. Far from hideous human nature. 

Requirements of the law was not important to Cal. He seemed to think personal survival was worth more than justice. He was wrong. Lipton would have forgiven Cal for his mistake if he had waited for the police, if he had went to help the crashed couple, if he had stopped getting wasted nearly every day of the week. Lipton hoped Cal had recognized his mistake before he had become an undecipherable pile of organic matter and crushed Volkswagen Beetle. Too bad the car had to be destroyed too, it hadn’t done anything wrong. Why punish the tool for its master’s evil. Lipton had known Cal for almost four years. Many memories had been made together, many a drink shared. For Cal, it seemed many a drink not shared as well. 

It was hard spending so much time creating a human who trusted you, but without justice, society is no more. JUSTICE IS THE ONE REQUIREMENT.