Chapter 10

Sins of the Father 3

The night Samuel found his mother weeping in church at midnight was when he found out the truth about his father. The man, if he should even be called that, was a common murderer, the same as his brother, locked in a vicious never-ending cycle. His mother bitterly stated that Samuel would be next.

With shock and disbelief Samuel confessed of his brother's appearance outside the prison to stop his foolish notion of taking vengeance. His mother was about to tan his hide for even touching a gun, but the boy's distraught face told her he had already learned his lesson the hard way. The chain of violence in their family had finally ended with him.

Maybe other boys could do the same if they heard the same message.

Samuel hid this thought deep within him as he walked home from school a few weeks later.

"No! They killed my brothers! Not just one of them, all four of them!"

A boy was shouting futilely at his friend beside him. Within the angry youth's hands was a handgun, black and deadly. He couldn't have been but a year younger than him, Samuel thought.

It was one involuntary step, hesitant and fearful. The second was stronger and he felt as if a comforting hand was being placed on his shoulder. His next strides were full of purpose.

"It's heavier than you thought it was, yeah?" Samuel called out to him.

The stranger was holding the object awkwardly in his hands, no doubt realizing the weapon's true weight, or perhaps the weight of blood upon it.

"It's none of your business!" he spat out.

Samuel held his hands up in surrender. "Listen, you're feeling angry and all you want to do is kill the guys who hurt your family. You want to pull that trigger and watch them bleed out on the street."

The boy stood there stunned unsure how the person standing in front of him knew every thought running through his head.

The son and brother of killers took a deep breath, "But I know one thing that keeps running through your head, above the anger and the grief."

"Wuh-what…" the boy whispered shakily.

"You're terrified."

The youth nodded his head slowly. He had no idea what he was doing. He thought that all he had to do was get the gun and shoot the gang members who gunned down his brothers over the past six years. No one would blame him for wanting retribution!

So why did he feel sick to his stomach?

"My name's Samuel. What's your name?" Samuel asked putting his hands down now that he won the boy's trust.

"Patrick, Patrick Bubley."

Samuel nodded slowly. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the family's sad story. One by one the family of five boys had four of their sons killed in the street. The first had been due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the rest were in vengeance for the eldest, and it looked like the remaining Bubley brother was following the same path.

Not unless Samuel could stop it.

"Come with me."

Patrick blindly followed his friend, doing as he bid as the pair hid the gun in an abandoned car at the mechanic's shop. He wasn't sure why he was obeying Samuel, but the slim boy had a look of determination on his face.

"Trust me, you won't need that where we're going."

Patrick's eyes widened as they approached the State Correctional Facility. He was going to be turned in by a snitch! He made himself to run, but Samuel grabbed his arm.

"Wait, please, you have to talk to him."

"Who?"

Samuel looked up at the iron bars. "My brother."

TBAATBAATBAATBAATBAA

Luthor was lying in his jail cell when the guard, Johnson announced he had a visitor. The inmate was confused. The only visitors he had lately was his court appointed lawyer. The man said with the appeals procedures and the sheer amount of court back logs, it could be years before they carried out his execution. He had a lot of time on his hands.

"Sam, how'd you get in here?" Luthor stood to greet his brother. To his surprise, Samuel had brought a friend.

The boys glanced over at the guards at the other end of the cell block. "We told them we were doing a project for school," his little brother said. "Please Luthor! You have to talk to him!"

The whole story came spilling out of Patrick Bubley – his grief, his confusion, asking God why him and his family?

Luthor's eyes filled with pity and he could see the boy tensing with rage at the look. No one in the neighborhood tolerated that expression from anyone, even if they were well meaning.

"Listen, killing someone isn't the answer. It's not brave to shoot someone down, to end their life. I told Samuel that he needed to be the first in our family to do something – you need to live, live to be old. Your brothers would have wanted that, not for you to wind up next to me, or worse in another grave beside them."

Patrick's body shook with shame and anguish as the inmate spoke. Luthor was right. Nothing could be solved with further bloodshed. He never thought about merely living. Their rough hood guaranteed a youth would die before he reached his 20's. Who would take care of his drug addicted mother? He had to help her, and to keep his brothers' memories alive. Getting the gun was a mistake. He could see the four of them, standing proud and tall at the sight of their baby brother turning away from the path of violence.

Samuel threw an arm around the skinny boy's shoulders, supporting him while Patrick could finally let his emotions out. Sam knew the victimized youth was probably holding in his pain over the years, the adage that men didn't cry being the norm.

As they left the older brother, the pair stepped out into the cool, free air, Patrick felt cleansed. A great weight had been lifted off his heart. The pair made plans to deposit the gun in the police station's anonymous drop-off location.

Luthor breathed a sigh of relief knowing he had convinced the youngest Bubley brother to drop his quest for vengeance. He thought that would be the last he saw of his little brother.

Samuel was back again two weeks later with another angry boy. Patrick brought in his neighbor the week after that. Day after day Luthor spoke with any who visited him until his voice was hoarse with his pleas. Some youths chose to walk the brighter path. Others turned away to darkness. True to his prediction to Samuel, he saw the same youths a few years later locked up in the maximum security prison in the cell by him.

Johnson turned a blind eye towards the numerous boys visiting the prisoner on death row. A month after the first visitation, Luthor found an unopened candy bar on his prison issued pillow, he gave a respectful nod towards his jailer. It was sweeter than he remembered.

The city reported the lowest level of crime and violence in the neighborhood that year.

This is the last for this episode. It sounds too similar to the chapter before it. Thank you christianqueenofegypt for reviewing. You also reviewed the single story before.

More to come,
Grignard