End of Innocence

Nate stood there looking around; contemplating what had gone so wrong that he had been dumped in the middle of this backwoods hellhole. It, of course, like so many things for so many people, traced back to the sins of his father. His mother had escaped holler living but then she had the audacity and misfortune of being caught and killed in a cartel crossfire which then involved his father, who, while barely working within the parameters of the law managed to get himself tossed from his Florida location back to where his life had begun. There was no doubt it was a punishment for his lapse of judgment in shooting and killing a man in broad daylight in the middle of a busy and well attended restaurant. So to say that eleven year old Nathaniel Ray Givens wasn't too happy with his father as he stood at the front door of his new junior high school in Lexington was an understatement.

He had loved his old school and life in Florida. He and his mother had gotten along fairly well though he was beginning to pull away a bit as many preteenagers seemed intent on doing. His father Federal Marshal Raylan Givens had always been a part of his life despite their living arrangements. Nate had been born to a very in-love couple but when his mother Nadine decided that she had no desire to bring up her young son in the hills of Kentucky she fled to a cousin's house in southern Florida. She hated leaving her man behind but to become the mother she had always desired she placed her son first. To give Raylan credit he understood enough not to lash out at her for absconding with their son, but the disappointment was quite clear in his face and voice. But he was never late paying child support, he remembered every birthday and Christmas sending all kinds of memories of home and he visited as often as he could, snatching up any assignment that would bring him anywhere close to where his son lived.

But he did move on, marrying Winona, who refused to have children due to his dangerous career choice and that only pushed him closer to the son he did have. After six years it was clear he and Winona were heading in different directions much more quickly than they could ever rein in. Raylan ,who had been looking to transfer for years from the marshal training school in Glynco to Florida found himself e-mailing, IM'ing and texting his son regularly all things he never thought he was either capable of or would do unless a gun was to his head. But Nate was always on his mind and something that kept him sane in the insanity that seemed to swirl around him on a regular basis.

A break finally came one day though it was in a way that he had never wanted. Nadine had called saying that Nate had been feeling poorly on and off for over a year and they finally had a loose diagnosis. Raylan had been aware of his son's plight had even flown down and had taken him to a specialist at one point, but answers weren't forthcoming and he had to get back to Georgia before any specific answers were found. But finally there appeared to be some kind of discovery that proclaimed his son suffered from some kind of allergies to many foods and preservatives in the modern food chain along with an unidentified autoimmune disorder. The result of this was he felt symptoms relating to his body's rebellion that ranged from stomach/intestinal discomfort and nausea to bladder pain as the lining seemed to be disintegrating as his body attacked it. They were concerned his stomach lining and intestinal tract may be next as well as his joints. This was a mystery and one that seemed to be eating his son alive. So he got his transfer due to hardship.

Now years later Nate's condition was somewhat under control but it was tenuous at best. He took lots of little capsules and ate a very limited diet. He had good days and bad days and often it was quite apparent by the expression he wore. He was a tough kid and didn't look for any sympathy or excuses due to his illness but it certainly was responsible for wearing him down and making him moody at times.

Nate had insisted that he go into the building alone and Raylan stood back leaning against his car watching his son size up his new school. He smiled as Nate turned around for that last look of encouragement. Raylan nodded his Stetson bobbing with the motion, he made his hand into the shape of gun and fired off a fake round and blew away the imaginary smoke from the air; it had been something they shared for years when the parted ways. Despite Nate growing up a bit it still made him smile and acknowledge the action that they alone shared.

Leaving his gun slinging father behind Nate made his way inside with all the paperwork he had been mailed to them in previous days. He found the locker that matched the number on his first sheet and found the combination worked. He opened it up and stuck his backpack filled to the brim with supplies inside. His next stop was to the office, he carried his folder and its contents along with forms that he had to turn in for his medical care. He would receive extra privileges such as bathroom breaks whenever he asked as well as extra time between classes and time with nurse at his say so. Plus the absentee rules didn't apply to him as long as he kept his grades up. But what he hated was giving his medications to the nurse. He had rallied to keep the pills with him and take them between classes back in Florida but here in Lexington they hadn't granted his request stating he had to get them from the nurse. He feared it would only serve to make him standout even more than he already did. He didn't dress like these kids or talk like these kids and he just wanted to go home. It was hard enough starting school in the middle of the year, but what made it worse was that he would be the youngest sixth grader as he had tested into Kindergarten at age four in Florida. He wouldn't be twelve for some time to come.

Due to his health issues he couldn't play sports like he had when he was younger. He had loved soccer and took after his daddy on the baseball diamond. He was a great hitter and had a fantastic arm both which he would make use of on his better days, but a typical game was out as he couldn't generally run without pain. He was a smart kid above grade level in reading and a very articulate speaker but that generally didn't make him very many friends, unless they wanted him to win an argument for them. Whether his intelligence and maturity came via his illness or his birthright he struggled with it as much as he did everything else in his life.

He entered the office and stood smiling at the secretary who was having no success at getting off the phone despite her best efforts. He looked at himself in the reflection in the window and pushed his bangs, still lightened by the Florida sun, upwards. Even if the marshal wanted to deny paternity there wouldn't have been a chance in hell as the reflection revealed a young Givens all the way. Nate was a good looking boy who would have no problems wooing the girls when the time was right. He had his dad's rugged looks along with his mother's bone structure which made a perfect balance. He would most definitely turn heads.

Before the secretary could get off the phone the principal came out to greet him and invited him into her inner sanctum. "Welcome Nathaniel," she beamed.

"Nate, everybody calls me Nate."

"Okay then, Nate. I want to thank you for coming in early today so we could talk. I just want to make sure I understand everything I need to. Now you are moving here from Florida right?"

"Yes ma'am," Nate responded remembering his father's advice on how the titles sir and ma'am were used regularly in these parts.

"Alright, you're living with your father, is that right?"

"Yes."

"And he works at the Federal Building downtown, how exciting."

"If you say so."

"What does he do for a living?" she asked smiling.

Nate took a big breath, he had wanted to say lawyer, bailiff, just general office worker but he was sure somewhere in that file the truth laid waiting. "He's a…"

"Deputy Federal Marshal," she said having reached said place in the file. "Now that is real exciting."

"Not if you want him home every night," Nate mumbled under his breath.

"What's that?"

"Nothing, yeah he has an awesome hat, a cool, shiny badge and a very deadly gun."

Principal Carrington paused unsure what to say. "Well I'm sure he is very careful." It was all Nate could do not to cry, laugh or shake his head. "Now I have your schedule here and a map of the school, we can take a walk around right now just so you have an idea where everything is. The rest of the kids won't be here for another fifteen minutes or so."

With the tour out of the way he headed back to his locker just as the rest of the school began to pour inside. He took a deep breath as his fellow students milled around the hallway; he would just have to make the best of it. The move to Kentucky wasn't an easy one; he knew his father had tried valiantly to stay in Florida but was practically shown the state line and told not to come back anytime soon. They knew Raylan would always be a rebel and they had a sinking suspicion that the DNA didn't fall far from the tree.