The sun had already set and the crickets had began to chirp. The sycamore trees swayed in the wind and their leaves dropped into the Salinas River. A snake curled up near the water and and owl was perched on a nearby branch. Everything seemed so calm and peaceful. Everything except my heart, my mind and Lennie.
Di’n’t I promise Aunt Clara I would watch out for him. Di’n’t I promise myself I would be mighty nice to him after I almost drowned him. Well I di’n’t keep neither of those promises ‘cause if I had I wouldn’ be in this situation. It don’ make no difference now though. I was already in this goddam situation. I knew Lennie di’n’t mean no harm to anyone. He was a good boy but he was a damned ole fool. Lennie was lookin at the river while sayin “George. I’ll go off in the hills an‘ find a cave if you don‘ want me” (Steinbeck 104). I wanted to tell ‘im to go and to go fast but the big fool wouldn’ have had a chance in hell. He woulda starved to death an’ starvin was a long painful death. I jus‘ di’n’t want that for Lennie ‘cause he was a good boy, he never meant no harm to anyone. The rest of ‘em were getting closer now. I could hear ‘em coming up the path through the willows. I knew Curly wanted revenge an’ he had told the rest of em’ to “shoot for his guts (Steinbeck 97). He wanted Lennie to die a long, painful death. Maybe I coulda talk Curly outa it but Slim was right. If they locked ‘im up they would jus’ torture the poor bastard an’ I aint gonna let that happen. I sat there next to my ole pal and raised the gun to his neck. One shot to the neck an‘ he wouldn‘ feel a thing. It would be short and painless for ‘im an’ I coundn’ see no way to save im. But could I live with it? Could I kill my best pal an’ act like nothing happened around the rest of ‘em. The footsteps were gettin’ closer now an’ I could here ‘em yellin’. We had ran outa time. I shut my eyes and told im “I aint mad ‘an I never been mad” (Steinbeck 97) at ‘im. Then I pulled the trigga and...