NARRATOR: Berkowitz sat hunched over his desk. His poorly sewn in snake vertebrae crunching his lower back. [sfx. cracking] Rubbing the scales around his face he checked for a bent one near his eye in the mirror. Above the picture of his daughter he could see that his eyes were bloodshot. The brilliant brown patterns struck with ugly blood vessels.
BERKOWITZ: [quiet and sorrowful] I’m a mess…
[sfx. knocking sounds]
BERKOWITZ: Come in.
JUDE: My friend! I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.
BERKOWITZ: For You? Never!
NARRATOR: Berkowitz stood up to shake Jude’s dog paw before sitting down again.
BERKOWITZ: What brings you to these parts?
JUDE: Nothing much, just thought I’d stop by to see an old friend. Maybe take a shot or two of his favorite whiskey, ey?
BERKOWITZ: Well I could stay for a bit, it’s been awhile since we’ve been able to just talk.
JUDE: It’s funny, you didn’t sound like that in the days of freedom. I remember a lot morrre- cursing.
BERKOWITZ: Politics does that to you, and rolling grenades in labs.
JUDE: Ah, maybe that’s it. Hard times…
BERKOWITZ: Regretful times you could say.
JUDE: Perhaps.
[sfx. cups set on table]
JUDE: You still do those anti war rallies?
[sfx. cups clink together]
BERKOWITZ: Sometimes.
JUDE: That’s good, gives your brain a break.
BERKOWITZ: You came here to talk politics?
JUDE: No, just thinking. Speaking of, I see you kept your uniforms up.
NARRATOR: Berkowitz’s uniforms scattered the wall. Starting from a simple sack cloth with a toy badge to a pristine navy blue uniform. Medals and pictures of important people appeared on his wall as well, a lifetime of achievement in one room.
BERKOWITZ: Yeah I have.
JUDE: I tried that myself, it just didn’t look right.
BERKOWITZ: How so?
JUDE: Not enough pictures. I don’t think I took more than a handful during the war. Hell, most of em’ are on your wall.
BERKOWITZ: I never took you for the picture type anyway. You always had a gun in your hand.
JUDE: You did too.
BERKOWITZ: [shrugging] Hard times.
NARRATOR: [sfx. ticking sounds] Jude checked his watch.
JUDE: [quick] I lied.
BERKOWITZ: I figured.
JUDE: I’m not asking anything from you. I’m just informing you.
BERKOWITZ: Of what?
JUDE: Of some people that are- unhappy by your latest ruling.
BERKOWITZ: Any reason?
JUDE: You know why.
BERKOWITZ: [showy, hands gesture out] Enlighten me.
JUDE: This is no time to play around Berkowitz, these are very powerful people.
BERKOWITZ: [raised voice] All the more reason for you to enlighten me then!
[sfx. cup getting slammed on a table]
JUDE: Why?! Why are you so against punishing them!?
BERKOWITZ: Because we could become a better nation through peace!
JUDE: Stop the politician talk! You know as well as anyone why they don’t deserve peace.
BERKOWITZ: That may be true in your world. But in mine, we don’t punish those that already received plenty of punishment. These people deserve forgiveness, they have for a long, long time.
JUDE: Do they deserve forgiveness for ripping the flesh from your face? Removing your eyes? How about when they installed your new spine section by section knowing your body would reject it?
BERKOWITZ: I don’t understand you Jude, we punished those people together. Remember when we made them hold live grenades and run into the forest? Or when we broke their legs and threw them in their pools? As far as I’m concerned we have both done some things that we should regret.
JUDE: How about their children who took the spoils for our labor! Or those that worked in the brothels with those gruesome sex mods? What of those that died in those pointless wars? Their children inherited our suffering. And those children enjoyed our suffering.
BERKOWITZ: And they paid, they paid as much as they could, willingly! Asking anything more of them would be foolish.
JUDE: Well if they paid. That makes up for all our suffering then?
BERKOWITZ: Jude, I’m sorry- I know you’re still angry. But this is going forward.
JUDE: Of course. I just came by to tell you that these powerful people feel the same way I do. I fear they aren’t as friendly as I am.
BERKOWITZ: Thank you Jude.
JUDE: Yeah.
NARRATOR: Jude got up, taking a picture of the wall full of memories of the past. He looked back at Berkowitz before grasping it tight and taking it with him.