My brother’s wife had cheated on him

"What are you doing Jason ? No. Don't kill it. Don't. Noooo! " I screamed, as a seven year old Jason used a rock to put my pet cat, Billy, to sleep forever.
That wasn't the first time he did something like this. Every time father got me a new pet, Jason would kill it within a few days.
Father didn't get me any new pets after Jason had killed my puppy, Murphy, and my pet bird, Polly. He just killed the ones that he found me playing with. Father, obviously, wasn't happy with this.
He knew that since the 1970s, research has consistently reported that childhood cruelty towards animals was the first warning sign of later delinquency, violence, and criminal behavior. Jason was, thus, sent to therapy many times.
Father had a reputation to maintain, and he didn't get us any more pets after Polly died. Somehow, that seemed to have solved the problem.
Years have have passed by since then and those childhood tales have been swept under the rug. But then again...

---

"I didn't know what to do, man! I was so angry! " Jason said, clenching his teeth as he finished the sentence.
Jason was my elder brother and his wife had cheated on him. He had walked in on her, while she was in their bed, with her yoga instructor. I already knew all of this, because he had called me and told me everything, the day it had all happened.
A month after this tragic incident, his wife had mysteriously gone missing. She had simply disappeared.
Every finger pointed towards Jason.
People knew what his wife did. The police knew the whole story.
Everyone thought he was the one who was obviously responsible for killing his disloyal lover.
Moreover, no one could locate her anywhere. It was like she had suddenly fallen off the face of the earth.
"What did you do, Jason? Where is she now?" I asked, as my teary eyed brother stood in front of me.
"I took out my gun from the dresser, and pointed it at them"
"Did you shoot her?" I asked.
He was silent for a while. I loved Jason dearly. He was the best elder brother, I could've asked for. I don't know what I would've done if I was cheated on. Perhaps I'd never know. I wasn't Jason.
"Jason! Did you kill her? "
"Of course not! But I.... I wanted to. How could she do this to me? I loved her so much."
"Calm down. Have this." I said and poured him a glass of scotch. He swallowed it down in one gulp, and looked at me with sad, empty eyes.
“I couldn’t kill her! I can’t believe it! I should’ve killed her, but I could not. Now that she has disappeared the whole world thinks I did. What life is this?†he said, crying. The eyes of a man who had lost everything stared at me finally, and I didn't know how to help him.
I sat there on that cold winter night, trying to console him. That night, Jason asked me whether I had anything to do with her disappearance.
“Have you gone crazy?†I asked. Copious amounts of alcohol and grief does that to a man. “Just swear on me and tell me you didn’t†Jason said.
“I swearâ€
There is no consequence for breaking your heart, in this cruel world. There is no judgement and there is no punishment. The world only expects you to move on, despite of how traumatic it might have been, for you. I knew how much he loved his wife. If he did kill her, I'd understand. But he kept on telling me that he didn't. I'm not Jason, and I honestly don't know how I would've handled his whole situation.
"I didn't have anything to do with it." he told the police on the first day when they knocked on his door.
Jason's response didn't change after they turned his place upside down, trying to look at every corner for evidence. They didn't find any. "I have no idea where she is. I honestly don't care" he said, to anyone who asked him anything regarding her.
The police had to let it go after a few months, because of lack of any evidence.
Jason did eventually recover from this heartbreak. It took him four years, but he has finally moved on.
I know this because I've just received an invitation of his wedding. He's getting married for the second time tomorrow. Things have turned out alright for him, I guess. It took him four years to get over that woman, and I'm happy that he did. People still think that he had something to do with the disappearance of his wife, but that's the thing about people. Nothing can convince them, if they make up their mind and believe in something. Maybe that's why religion is still a thing.
Jason has always maintained his innocence, and unlike everyone else, I believe him.
I believe him, because I know he didn't kill his wife but if he gets a chance to do it now, given the condition she's in, I know that he will.
I can't let that happen though, can I?
She cheated on my brother. She broke my brother's heart and I've made sure she doesn't get to break anyone's heart ever again. Jason is too weak and would killed her now, and put her out of her misery.
But I'm not Jason.
I didn't kill her.
I take my hammer, and as I enter the basement bearing the good news of Jason's wedding, I can hear her crying. That's like all she does, these days.
She used to beg me to release her in the beginning, but over the years, she has realized that I won't do that.
Now, whenever she sees me, she doesn't ask for freedom. She begs me for just one thing.
She begs me to do to her, what Jason couldn't.
But I'm not Jason.

---

"What the? Give it to me!" a nine year old Jason said and took Polly, my pet bird, out of my hand.
She had her wing ripped off, her beak hammered in and was bleeding, but, somehow, still alive.
"I'll just put it out of its misery. Why do you keep doing this?" Jason asked.
"Are you going to tell father?"
"No. But you have to promise me that you won't repeat this. Why do you torture these innocent creatures anyway?"
I didn't know the answer to his question then.
"I'm taking the blame on me, for the last time. Swear on me and say that you won't repeat this!"
"I swear"
===A.B===


Source.