#179--Empire
In the name of justice and the protection of the innocent, I've seen the worlds I've built torn down time and again. No matter if I construct castles in the sky with a handsome prince or if I only want a humble cottage with a girl of my own, they come knocking with their brogans and their rude questions. In the end I stand surrounded by the wreckage of my dreams.
Only once have I built something up just to see it come crashing down. Or at least only once since I've been on my own. I'm good at building things. It's not so difficult to identify what a person wants and how to make them think they are getting it. There is a certain satisfaction gained from watching someone else's world come crashing down, but in the end I've realized how very fleeting it is.
I've read the news and read between the lines. I know enough to see how someone smart enough and with the knack could build a world to crash down around Bobby's ears. I've done it. It isn't so terribly difficult. It only takes some thought, some insight, and the desire to do so. A dying man's desire can be devilishly strong. When the fates hand you the extra power of death, the kind of death that doesn't have to touch you, there is a kind of magic to it.
The man will have paid no real price for it, of course. His punishment was for something else entirely. His greater wrongs caught up with him and he couldn't find anyone who would play along. I do wonder if the little one played along at all or only Bobby. I couldn't get her to. Makes me think she's crap in bed.
Should I wait and watch for Bobby's name in the papers again? Should I walk behind him for a while to see that he's well enough? His world is gone. Carefully constructed over decades of pain and denial, he relied on that world in every aspect of his being. Every time we spoke I could see the wavering edges of it.
Now it's gone and I wonder what my next step should be. Build up? Or break down?
Nicole Wallace
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
374