Angus Brown is a 45 year old man who grew up in the streets of Dothan, Alabama. Angus gets up and gets ready for the day, he’s been a construction worker ever since he was 18 years old. He remembers going to work with his father and working all day on house after house. Most of the houses in the low rent district were ones that he helped build. He sighs when he looks at his gruff appearance in the mirror. A scar about an inch long runs down his right cheek. That scar was earned protecting himself and his younger brother from a group of white rowdy teenagers outside a bar one night. Angus finishes up and leaves the house, toolbox in one hand, hard hat in the other one. He looks at the run-down houses on his way to the bus stop, he can’t help but think about how the whole neighborhood went belly-up. Most of the houses were run down or straight up destroyed. Graffiti and garbage littered the streets and many people walked the streets with nothing to do but kill time. The grass was dead and brown and there weren’t even any sidewalks left to walk upon. A large expanse of field stops Angus dead in his tracks, he stares at the place where he used to live. He closes his eyes and for a minute he can see what used to be his home. A small white cottage style house with chipped paint and a damaged roof stood in place of the empty field. There were stray toys and car parts strewn across the yard. Through one of the windows he could see his mother, going into the kitchen for another spoon. His father is at work, paying for his mothers habit and the bills. Anguses brother sat in front of the television set in a daze. He didn’t even look up at his mother who passed by on her way to the bathroom. Angus and his brother blocked out the things they couldn’t fully understand. He opened his eyes and blinked, and just like that the expanse of field stood before him. He looked down and continued on his way to the bus stop. He sat down under the canopy and plopped his tools down. The bus should be down the street in a few minutes. Rain clouds brewed in the sky and thunder clapped in the distance, it would rain soon. A woman and her two babies came and stood next to Angus under the canopy. Rain started to drizzle and the mother hugged her kids close. Angus noticed the mother didn’t have a jacket and took his off. “Here you go ma’am.” He handed her the jacket. She looked at him with a grim smile and nodded. He didn’t care that she didn’t say thank you. Angus knew he had her gratitude, just because a person doesn’t verbally give thanks doesn’t mean they aren’t grateful. The bus came rumbling down the street, he let the kids and their mother get on first and then he hopped on himself. The bus was crowded with lots of people. Half were on their way to work and the other half looked homeless. Angus hung his head and stared at the dirty floor. When he reached his destination he got off and started towards work. At work he signed in and got to building the remainder of the last standing house. This house was Anguses pride and joy, it was the house that he rarely had any help with. He even made it a goal of his to finish the house before he died. The house was about 98% completed. Angus hoped to have it done by the end of the day. The day came and went by fairly quickly and Angus had completed the house.On the way home, Angus decided to stop by at a nearby corner store to buy a pack of cigarettes. In the store he grabbed a few things he needed and headed out. Outside there was a cop smoking a cigarette. The cop looked Angus in the eye and they held the stare for several moments. Suddenly, Anguses hand flew to his scar. He saw the bar him and his brother Thomas were at. The group of teenagers walked in and were already causing trouble. “Oh god” groaned Thomas. “It’ll be okay buddy, just ignore them if they decide they want to start something, okay? We don’t need no trouble.” he continued to nurse his beer as the group got louder and louder. The leader of the group was tall and had a buzz cut, he looked like a military man, there was something off about this guy though. His eyes were hard as stone and his jaw tighter than a wound up copper coil, the man had a tattoo of a snake on his neck. The man sauntered up to Thomas and Angus, he tapped them on the shoulder. “You don’t belong here.” he said. Angus and his brother ignored him, but this time the man pushed Angus. “I said, your kind don’t belong here. You best be leaving boys.” he smirked and looked at his buddies. “I don’t think so.” Angus finally spoke. This took the man by surprise and he backed up. Angus stood up, “I got as much right as any one of y’all to be here.” he got closer to the man. “That don’t mean it’s right.” the guy exclaimed. Angus turned around to sit back down and the guy punched him hard in the back of the head. Angus went down with a thud. The next thing he knew there was a bottle being broken. Thomas screamed “No!” and the last thing all Angus saw was black. Anguses hand fell from his scar, “It was you!” he glanced at the cops snake tattoo on his neck. “Excuse me?” the cop asked. “That night in 1978 at Brady’s Pub.” he cut his eyes at the man, “You assaulted me and then a week later you and your buddies decided it would be fun to cause a little fire at my expense!” The mans eyes briefly widened and then his face returned to normal. “You don’t know what you’re talking about you drunk piece of s***.” The cop spit at Anguses feet. “I’m not drunk sir. I know you.” he stood his ground. “You better leave before you get yourself into trouble.” the cop warned. “No. I’m not leaving just because you say so. I know what you did and trust me you’re not going to get away with it, not this time.” he stood taller than before and lit a cigarette. “Or maybe,” he continued “you could be the one to scurry off this time”. Angus grinned and blew smoke into the atmosphere. The sun was setting now and neither of the men were moving. They stood there and stared at each other not saying a word. The cop finally pulled his gun, “Boy, you are one dumb fool.” he clutched the trigger a little more. Angus wasn’t scared, this man took everything from him. His mother, father and younger brother Thomas all died because this man and his bigot friends decided to play a joke on Angus. A single tear dropped down Anguses cheek, he had nothing nor did he want anything. Anguses life has been mediocre and as fulfilling as it could be. The cop tilted the gun and said, “Any last words?” Angus laughed “Yeah, actually. I am a good person and the color of my skin shouldn’t matter any. To you, I am trash but in reality I am one of the most compassionate human beings. The color of my skin cost me my family and you have their blood on your hands. Just as you’ll have mine on your hands as well. I can die happy since I have fulfilled everything I’ve wanted out of life. What have you accomplished? Your power could be gone in the blink of an eye whereas I know I have helped and protected people not because it was my job but because I am a good person. You sir, are not going to be able to stand yourself. In a few years when you can barely walk let alone ‘protect and serve’ you will have no power. Just a lousy pension with no friends and absolutely no control over anybody.” With that Angus smiled and closed his eyes. The sound of the gun was the last thing he heard.