A/N - a few thoughts on the long term results of the work done by John and Finch.
(Nope - *checks pockets* - still not making any profit from this)
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Changed
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"I'd like to thank you all for coming out today to help me show our appreciation to a man who has volunteered here at the Neighborhood Center for longer than most of us and has put more of our kids onto the right path than anyone I know."
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"He saved my life…"
*applause*
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"If not for him, I'd be doing and selling drugs… or worse…"
*applause*
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"The night I met him, I was on my way to my first night working a corner… He changed my life…"
*applause*
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"He looked after both my boys while I was inside... Helped me get back on my feet…"
*applause*
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"He's my samurai!"
Scattered laughter from the crowd.
"Most of y'all know what I'm talkin' 'bout."
*applause*
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"And now a word from the man himself!"
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"Y'all know I don't want to be here."
More scattered laughter.
"You say I saved you. You say I changed your lives - but I didn't do that - you did. If I was able to help with that, it is my honor…and my duty to the man who changed mine.
You see, most of you don't know MY story. How I would be serving a life sentence or worse right now if it weren't for a man who stepped into my life at just the right time."
You could have heard a pin drop in the modest meeting room at the neighborhood center - a place where kids could hang out and maybe find something to keep them away from gangs and drugs.
"I never knew my dad. And my mom died when I was just a kid, so it was just me and my brother, Travis. He was a good man, my brother. Looked out for me - and for a lot of other people, too. He was lookin' out for a waitress who was getting hassled by some punks one day - only those same punks came to our home that night and shot him dead.
I had a heart full of revenge. You know how much I love to play my trumpet? I pawned it to buy a gun.
I found one of the men who killed my brother. I pointed my gun at him. I pulled the trigger. But a man came outta nowhere and grabbed my arm. Kept me from killing him. Got him arrested instead.
Then he helped me take down the entire gang… Well - HE took them down - with the help of a couple good cops. Let me think I was doing it. They are in prison to this day - the ones that are still alive.
But the thing that really made the difference… The thing that changed my life… it wasn't that I got my revenge. That wouldn't have brought my brother back. It was that he never treated me like the punk I was. He showed me what honor was - dignity. He showed me that it didn't just exist in comic books. He showed me that heroes come in many different forms. He treated me like an equal - although I was far from it. Never spoke down to me. Never treated me like I was something less. He treated me like a man. And that was when I became one.
If you feel your life was saved - or changed - or re-directed… You should be thanking him.
If you want to - you can honor him - and me - by helping set a kid straight. Carry on the legacy.
I never saw him again. I never learned his name. But I called him Reese. He saved me. Remember him when I'm gone."
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I think this one will have a sequel… Stay tuned.
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