A Small Turn Of Human Kindness - Harvey Milk

«Sardines again, Joey?

I’m so sick of all this.

Why are we out here?

Why did we leave San Antonio?»

The fire rose as she said this, showing that

her eyes were moist

«There's still a half a Nestle’s Crunch bar in the bag.

I’m sick of all this,

too, ya know.

And you know why we left San Antonio so don’t even start that…

I’m sorry Mary.

I know this is no place for you, especially now.

«We were on the edge of a hay field, separated from I-20 by a strip of pine

trees.

What kind of father am I gonna make, I was thinking to myself.

A man with broken down hands who can’t even find a bed to lay his wife on

«Maybe we should find a manger.»

I said, making an old joke.

She started to cry

for real

«I'm sorry, babydoll.

I’ll find a place for us somewhere, I promise…

I love you.»

It was a stupid thing to say and we didn’t talk again for a while

after that.

She laid down with her back to me and I stayed up to watch the fire.

About an hour later, I guess, I heard tires screeching and a loud «thud»

from the highway.

I got up to go see what had been hit.

Just before I got to

the trees, I heard Mary say «What the fuck was that?»

She was sitting up

waiting for me when I got back

«I just saw the saddest thing that I have ever seen in my life.

This big doe

just got run over and her baby is just lying there beside her, just sitting

there licking her and looking around, Jesus.»

Mary got up and pulled my revolver out of the bag

«What are you going to do with that?»

She was already in the trees.

It took almost five minutes for the gunshot,

then suddenly, she was back

«I shot the fawn.»

«Yeah, I heard.»