"I hope it's not sushi!" Don joked.

Alan laughed "It's gonna be fried fish"

He put a few spices on the fish and fried it on a pan especially designed for use over camp fires.

"When I was a rookie agent" Don began as Alan waited for the oil to warm up. " my team leader got burnout. He had been in the bureau for like twenty years. I told myself that that would never happen to me. Now here I am, going through the same thing"

"I should take you fishing with me more often!" Alan patted his son's back, glad that Don admitted his problem.

"I joined the F.B.I to make a difference!" the agent continued. "But all I'm doing is endless weeding."

"Or,maybe you feel like you're cutting the weed, rather than pulling out the roots." Alan made the metaphor more precise and accurate to Don's situation.

"That's it!" Don nodded, as Alan put the fish in the pan, and there was a loud sizzling sound.

"Taking on criminal behavior by the roots, now that's a tough one" the retiree commented.

"Tell me about it" Don said, and they fell into silence. Eventually the fish was done, and they ate.

"Enjoying your fish Don?" Alan asked.

"Yeah! It's delicious!" he told his father.

After some thinking, Alan had an idea.

"Why don't you try to make time for volunteer work?"he suggested. "You could join the big brother program, or coach little league. Menteering is one of the best ways to make a difference at the root."

"I couldnt' coach little league, I'd be called in the middle of a game, or cancel practice because of a case" Don said. "But the big brother program sounds like a good idea."

"Art joined when he retired, and it made a hell of a difference. You get paired up with an at-risk child, and you help turn their life around" Alan said.

"I'll look into that when we get back." Don said.

Father and Son spent a few more days fishing and talking. Then, they returned to the big city.

Don, feeling a little less cynical about his job,went to the 'Y' near his apartment to apply for the Big Brother Big Sister, program. They gave him a background check, interviewed him, and he had to go to some training sessions. Eventually, he was paired with John MacKintosh. His father,an assistant manager at a supermarket, had been shot and killed by a robber. The poor boy acted out in school, was withdrawn.

Don went to the boy's house to introduce himself, and take the boy out somewhere. He knocked on the door, and a petitie woman in her thirties answered the door.

"I'm Don Eppes, John's new mentor?" Don said.

"Are you in law enforcement?" she asked.

"F.B.I" Don said, then explained. "I'm supposed to carry the gun with me at all times"

"I see" she nodded. "I'll go get John"

Soon, a red haired boy, about ten yearsold,with a catcher's mitt came to the door.

"Hi!" he said gingerly, not quite sure what to make of the stranger at the doorway.

"John, this is Don, from the big Brother's program." the mother said. "He's going to take you somewhere."

"Do you like baseball?" the boy asked. "I"m in little league."

"Yeah! I was in the minor leagues"

"Really?"

"Yeah, and in little league, like you are now. Maybe I could go to one of your games?"

"Sure" the boy shrugged.

"So, what would you like to do?" Don asked.

"I dunno" John shrugged again, then had a thought "We could play video games"

"John!" the woman scolded.

"It's fine" Don assured her.

The boy lead Don to the small living room with green carpeting, blue sofas, a medium sized T.V. and an old recliner.

"I see that you've got an X-box." Don said.

"My uncle Pat gave it to me for Christmas!" John, carefully choose a game, and put the CD into the X-Box. Then, he gave Don a control, and explained the game, which entailed flying a plane and shooting at things.

The agent found the controls to be rather complicated, and vowed that next time, he'd suggest that they play catch or something.

TBC