Failure Is Not an Option

Failure Is Not an Option Rock looked at the open letter lying on the bathroom floor in front of the toilet. "Damn!" He hadn't spent two years at Potomac High before getting his G.E.D. And joining the Air Force only to be recruited into their Special Forces Unit after graduating basic training and becoming a highly decorated soldier and then a professional assassin only to wear a powder blue tux with a pink tie! "HELL NO!" It offended his sense abilities.

The letter was from his twin brother, Frances, asking him to be the best man at his wedding. Though they were twins Frances had always looked up to Rock. He had followed Rock's career with avid interest. If professional assassins had trading cards, Frances would have had the complete Rock collection, rookie card to the most current; complete with the number of hits Rock had each year and his won -- loss record. Rock rarely let a target slip away. Not since San Geronimo.

Rock was aware that he would not have been nearly as successful without the inspiration provided by Frances. Every trigger he pulled, every neck he garroted, every drink he poisoned, he thought of Frances. In a way he owed it all to Frances. And now Frances was getting married and wanted him as best man. Failure was not an option. "Damn!" He walked to the bathroom sink and splashed cold water on his face. "Not powder blue and a pink!" he moaned.

He had sworn he would never wear those colors again. The year was 1992. Rock and his Special Forces unit had been sent on a top secret mission to "neutralize" Sal Manila, the poisonous San Geronimo dictator installed by the CIA in order to "maintain the balance of power" in the region in the 1970s.

But before Rock could get the chance Manila's man enveloped his position and Rock only escaped by slipping into a powder blue and pink cocktail dress and slinking out of town with a band of disgruntled waitresses. Oh, the horror. And though Rock only escaped by the skin of his tutu, many good men did not return that day and the United States Government held an inquiry to determine what had gone wrong. Mistakes had been made, blame must be placed. Rock's brilliant career pirouetted to a halt.

Rock had only managed to get through those dark days because of the unconditional support of his brother, who encouraged him to take his God given talents and put them to good use. He began a second career, professional hit man. Years of therapy had done little to diminish.