I didn’t wear the mask. Was that a mistake? Cole’s hands trembled as they strapped him in. Shit, this is really happening. 

Pa always taught us that family came first. Initially he had been worried about his girlfriend Debbie. She needed him and he wasn’t there for her. It hadn’t taken her long to move on.

The Carson boys had grown up poor. Cole and his younger brother Tommy were always chasing the money. Not having it makes a person crave it more.  

Cole went after it the honest way. Hard work and overtime down at the construction site. Tommy was a different story.  

Cole’s younger brother began selling drugs and hitting ‘licks’ on other drug dealers. He ripped mostly small time street punks but earned a bad reputation quick.  

Then a rip went bad and Tommy killed Johnny D, one of the bigger drug fish in the Seattle street scene, along with a second man Johnny had been riding with. That man turned out to be an undercover cop.

Police found DNA at the scene and a wallet.  A wallet with Cole’s drivers license in it. The nineteen year-old Tommy used it to get into clubs to deal X. They picked Cole up a couple hours later. 

The fact that the DNA was a ninety percent match didn’t help Cole’s case. It didn't matter, because he couldn’t turn in his little brother. He loved Tommy and the mouthy small statured youth would never survive prison. Not to mention his family would never understand if he ratted him out. So Cole pled guilty after they picked him up, before they dug any deeper.  

Besides, his taxpayer provided public defender had told him not to worry. The elderly half-inebriated man must have said it ten times during the process. Yet, here I am.  

Once the judge ordered Cole’s execution, his brother disappeared. Dust in the wind. Years had passed, but last month his father had located his long lost sibling living down in LA. His dad convinced Tommy to return to Seattle and come clean and face the consequences of his actions.  

Even with all of his appeals exhausted and the execution date closing in, Cole had been relieved. Maybe things were finally turning around.  

Yesterday brought the final family visit on death row. Cole learned that the memories of some sins faded hard.  Seems Johnny D’s people had learned of Tommy’s return and had gunned him down in the street last night.  

“Any final words?”  

“You're killing an innocent man.”  That was all that came to Cole.  

The executioner looked over at the guard by the telephone who shook his head. There would be no governor’s reprieve today. The executioner picked up a needle and injected a yellow fluid into Cole’s IV.  

Cole looked into his father’s sad eyes through the large plate glass viewing window. Maybe I should have worn that mask? Naw. When you execute an innocent man, you should have to look him in the eyes.  

That was Cole Carson’s final thought.