Life Punishes Us—Can Death Save Us?

Jorge Millard staggered back to his room, fighting the agonizing memories from taking control of his body, mind, and, soul, again. His mother, father, and brother are dead. He was the only one left alive. Yes, his father left enough money for him to take care of his mother and brother. He did the best he could, he reminded his conscience.

As he was about to hit the bed, a voice behind him said, “You can’t go back to bed. Lots of work must be done because three tenants have moved out!”

It was one of the tenants whom he hired to assist him in running the huge tenement that his family owned.

Jorge turned around, stared at Roy, and said, “What the hell am I paying you for?”

“To clean up,” Roy reminds him. “I already did. But you need to do your part.”

“Why am I alive?” he moaned plopping down on the bed.

“Because you are evil,” Roy said.

He bolted up, glared at him, and screamed, “You are fired!”

“Again?” Roy said, grinning easing closer. “You need to stop doing that because every time you fire me, you come back for me and have to pay me more.”

“You think I am evil?” he asked, still glaring at Roy.

Roy stared back at him, then remembered, “When your father was alive, you couldn’t come near any of his properties. But your brother could. When he died your mother allowed you back in. You starved her and your brother when you became their caregiver to gain control of the three properties he owned. Now you are the only relative left alive. You now are the owner of three debt-free residential properties, and still, you aren’t happy. Why aren’t you?” Roy quested easing closer to him on the bed.

Nodding as regrets rushed to the surface, changing his expression, he groaned in defense, “I did my best.”

“Of course you did. To make sure they were no longer the competition,” Roy reminded him of his greed.

“Death saved them, why isn’t it saving me?”

“Death saves the good so that life can punish the bad for their wickedness,” slid from Roy’s thoughts.

“So, I am alive because I am evil?”

Roy burst out laughing, “You really believe that you will get away with the cruelty you did to your mother and brother? You starved her and your brother to death. They died with bed sores while suffering from malnutrition because you refused to feed them properly and hire a caregiver to take care of them. Even though you have access to the millions in your mom’s account. Which you spend as if it’s your own. You enjoyed life at her expense.”

The pain in Jorge’s chest intensified as Roy’s truthful realization stuck to his heart like poison darts in a bull’s eye. The pain increased his breathing as he glared at Roy. Sat up straight on the edge of the bed, his hands covering his face battling the truth before it rendered him weak.

Roy slam dunked, “Life must pay you back before death comes. Don’t you know those two are friends!”

Jorge stared up at him, as reality hammered more pain into his heart and his conscience added more. He pushed his conscience back where it began tackling reality’s truth. This time, thanks to Roy's power of words, the truth was stronger.

He couldn’t win. The truth was out now.

Two months later Roy found Jorge Millard unresponsive slumped over on his desk in his office.

Yes, many humans must live so that life can punish them for the evil they added to our world. Life must pay us back, and yes, sometimes, death saves some of us.

If your heart could speak, what would it say?

I am aware that life must pay us back. I try to live a good one so that when life pays me back, it won’t destroy me.

Does life punish you? Will death save you?

P.S. This story is nonfiction.

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed it.