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"Hi, Tom! What's in the briefcase?" I asked my brother
casually. "Oh, nothing. I'm helping Willie to deliver
some medicine to several of his patients," Tom replied
as he pointed to a brown briefcase in the corner of his
bedroom.
Willie White had moved to our neighborhood recently.
Tom was rather friendly with him and had even taken up a
part-time job as his errand boy. Some weeks later, I
noticed that the bag was still in the house. I asked Tom
about it again. Tom told me to mind my own business and
became very protective about the bag. He carried it with
him wherever he went. Tom's behavior made me suspicious.
I was curious and determined to know the contents of the
briefcase.
One day, I slipped into Tom's room as he was having
his bath. I searched the room for the briefcase and
finally found it behind the cupboard. I could hear my
heart pounding loudly through my ears as I opened the
bag. What a shock I had when I discovered what was
inside. Just at that moment, Tom stepped out of the
bathroom.
"What are you doing in my room?" Tom asked coldly as
he snatched the briefcase.
"I'm sorry, Tom," I said. "I did not mean to pry. But
don't you know that the medicine Willie selling is
actually bad drugs?"
"You don't know what you're talking about, Brian,"
Tom replied angrily. "Willie is a nice person and these
are not drugs! They are medicine! Now, get out of the
room and don't you ever come in unless you're invited!"
Our relationship deteriorated from the day onwards.
We seldom talked and no longer joked like we used to.
Unable to bear the torture of the strained relationship
and Tom's involvement in an illegal activity, I
confronted Tom one day.
"Tom, don't you see that what you're doing is wrong?"
I told him. "Think of all those lives that you're
helping Willie destroy. You've got a bright future ahead
of you. Why are you ruining it?"
I tried very hard to convince Tom but it was all in
vain. Tom really believed that Willie was some kind of
miracle doctor who could cure people with his
`medicine'. Tom avoided me after that incident.
I was caught in an unenviable position. If I were to
report the matter to the police, Willie and Tom would be
apprehended and sent to prison. I could not do that to
Tom. He was the only relative I had in this world after
our parents died in a car crash ten years ago. And so, I
did nothing about it.
Late one night, a patrol car pulled up in front of my
house. A policeman informed me that Tom had been killed
when he had tried to escape from the police. I was
devastated and wrecked with guilt. If only I had been a
responsible brother and citizen, tom could still be
alive today. |
