To Tell or Not to Tell

Sheriff George was not happy about what he was about to do, but he had made a promise. Ralph, the man who had hired him originally, and who was his predecessor as police chief was in the hospital, soon to die, probably only to live for a week or so at best. Ralph had called George on the phone and made him promise to see him there.  And George would not break a promise to the man whom he respected so much.

When he got to the hospital, he stalled a while in front of the elevator, before he pushed the fatal button. When he reached the third floor he stepped slowly out and tentatively walked to the room where he would see his former boss. Ralph had told him the room number, 311, so he knew where to go. 

He opened the door without knocking. It was not that Ralph could get up and let him in, after all. There was a nurse there, however, and Ralph asked her to leave the room as this was to be a very private get together. She agreed and left the room without looking back or speaking a word.

           After George helped Ralph sit up his bed, the two men hugged, not something that they had ever done before, but it seemed to be the right thing to do. When the hug broke up, Ralph informed George that he had to tell him something that needed to be said..

           “I have to tell you something dark and dirty about my past. It will shock you”. George nodded his head, wondering why such an issue should be brought up now. It was a bad enough situation talking to a man soon to die without adding something so negative to the conversation.

           “I killed a man when I was just a teenager. He had bothered me for years, but at that time he did something that I could not let go. He beat up my younger brother severely, and taunted me with what he had done. He even laughed in the telling. Unfortunately, for the two of us, there was a short steel pole nearby, which I picked up and then struck him with soundly on the head, killing him”.

           George was in shock. He could not believe his ears, and shook his head in bewildered disbelief. Maybe Ralph was losing his mind, and giving life to a bad dream he could not separate from reality.

Looking at the expression on George’s face, Ralph declared: “No, George, it is true. I want to meet my maker with a clean conscience. I want you to be the one to tell the others on the force what I just told you. They deserve to know that I wasn’t always the ideal man to be a police officer. It was guilt that moved me into joining the force.”

           George was without words. He just shook his head again, not knowing what else to do.

“George, you will have to promise me that you will do this. I know you to be a completely honest man, one who will stick to his promise, to his word. Now say to me that you will.”

The look on Ralph’s face made it clear to George that despite his personal feelings of protecting someone he had long been close to, he would have to do what Ralph had just asked of him. Honesty had always been the spoken path between them. So against his own wishes he agreed to do what Ralph asked him to do. The deal was sealed with a shaking of hands, something they both felt was a physical expression of a solemn promise. Ralph’s grip still was a hard one despite his other physical losses as a dying man.

           When George arrived at the police station, others, who knew his destination, asked about the former chief. The only thing he felt comfortable saying was that the old man did not look good, that he was ‘not long for this world’, but that he still had the spirit he was well-known to have. 

           When he got to his office, he sat down in deep regret of his promise. He did not want to do it, but his honesty was an important part of his character, a promise given was like a law made to him.

Still, he wasn’t sure that he could keep his promise. All his memories of ‘the Chief’ were positive ones. He had helped George climb the ladder of authority in the department, for which he was eternally grateful.

George meets with Ralph’s eldest son.

There was going to be the regular Wednesday afternoon meeting of the police force. George reckoned that was probably why Ralph made him give his promise earlier the same day. As he walked slowly to the meeting room he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Ralph’s oldest son, Edward. 

“I hear that my father asked you to visit him in the hospital.”

In a deliberately casual manner George replied, “Yes he did.”

“Did he tell you anything about the time that he murdered someone?”

There was a moment of silence, before George replied “Yes he did. How did you know that he would tell me this?”

“I’ll just say that I am not surprised. He told me and my brothers this story just a few weeks ago. The murder took place when he was still a teenager, and the person he killed had seriously harmed his brother. He referred to this telling as a way of apologizing to us for not informing us sooner, just like his joining the police force was a form of apology to the community.”

“I would like to ask you not to tell this story. Dad would not know your silence, and the people in town respect him so much in his police work, sometimes saving the lives of his fellow citizens. There would be no real gain by telling this story.”

George’s reply was, “I think that you are right Edward. I should not follow through with the promise I gave your father. Nothing would be gained by it, and he would not know that I broke my promise.

George Speaks at the Meeting

George started his speech in the meeting by referring to the time that he had just spent with Ralph at the hospital, and how even near death, Ralph still had his well-known firm handshake.

“Now I know for certain that he would not want me to have praised him in this meeting, but for once I think that disobeying him is a good idea. I have nothing to apologize to him for in a case such as this.”