This version emphasizes the guilt and justification the unnamed “Boise Man” feels while portraying his belief that the tragedy was perhaps inevitable for Josie and Sid. He’s caught between accepting responsibility and convincing himself that it was always going to end this way, whether he was involved or not. This is a fictional account of the unnamed “Boise Man”.
I never imagined that a few nights of passion with a woman like Josie Hill would lead to something so violent, so final. She wasn’t mine—not really—but in those fleeting moments, she felt like she was. It didn’t matter that Sid Larkins thought otherwise. He was too far gone, lost to the bottle and his jealousy. And now? Now she’s dead, and he’s hanging by the neck for it. Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if I’d just stayed away. If I’d never laid eyes on her. Maybe none of this would’ve happened. Maybe I wouldn’t be sitting here, haunted by the fact that my careless desires led to a murder. Sid might’ve been crazy, but it was my actions that gave him the reason. I have to live with that.
But was it really my fault? That’s the question that gnaws at me. Sid was a man on the edge long before I ever stepped into his life. The kind of obsession he had with Josie, the way he drank and raged—it was always going to end badly. Josie’s line of work drew men like him, men who thought they could possess her, and Sid wasn’t the first to try. I just happened to be the one who caught his eye when he finally snapped. If it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else. Someone always gets tangled up in these situations. It’s how these stories end, for women like Josie and men like Sid. I was just the unlucky one standing there when the dam finally broke.
Still, that doesn’t make it any easier. I can justify it all I want, but it won’t bring her back. It won’t erase the fact that my name is forever tied to hers and to his. I keep thinking about what I could have done differently—could I have walked away sooner? Should I have warned her that Sid was spiraling out of control? The truth is, I didn’t see the danger until it was too late. I thought I could just enjoy her company and slip back into my life without consequence. But there’s always a consequence, isn’t there? For Josie, for Sid, and now, for me. I didn’t pull the trigger, but I still feel like I’m paying the price.
This is a fictional account of the unnamed “Boise Man”.
