Chapter 26
Beautiful Dreamer
Calvin does not become the 50th president of the United States. He has neither the wealthy background of the previous occupiers of that esteemed office, nor his hero, Lincoln's never ending perseverance despite humble beginnings. No wonder why it was easy for the boy to make that logical leap to be a hit-man after playing desensitizing video games after school. Men in video games and movies wielded AK-47's, sniped people from rooftops, and ended up wealthy and living on picturesque beaches.
Life was not a video game and such violent actions begat violent consequences.
Growing up in Washington DC had that effect. Crime rate was high, gun shots rang in the night. Killing someone meant most likely being put into prison for the rest of one's life. It was not a worthwhile or honorable profession, yet many of his high school peers got roped into the gang life. Calvin stayed away, mostly in fear of his mother's wrath. He could see that the youths who pulled the trigger only ended up with haunted faces and empty souls.
He wanted to change that.
Working with a local pastor, and another teenager who lost his father and brother to gang life, Calvin set up an after school program encouraging basketball, soccer, and other team sports. He especially steered those troubled youths away from idealizing a cruel profession like he had done. Many had unhappy childhoods such as his - a single income household, a stressed mother, and no father in sight. They all had put more faith into video games or gangs than they had in themselves or in God.
Calvin spoke to the others about dreamers who wanted better things in their future. Not just having money, fast cars, or even food on the table, but the visionaries who wanted to better the world like Lincoln and another hero, Martin Luther King Jr. Both men sacrificed their lives for their vision. Surely the youths could give up an afternoon to hear the message of peace instead of violence.
He put his history classes to good use saying that the Twenty Sixth Amendment allowed everyone an opportunity to cast a ballot based on age as soon as they graduated from high school. Not only were they considered adults, but they had a voice in electing the next leader of their nation. The color of their skin was also symbolic. Jim Crow laws prevented him and many others from even entering a polling place a mere 150 years ago.
Calvin felt like he was speaking on deaf ears. He needed the force of an angry angel like what happened to him all those years ago to snap some sense into the kids, but as saw the 44th president of the United States, the first African-American, being sworn into the highest of offices, it gave him hope that he and all those around him could still reach that mountaintop.
This was was really emotional, especially when Monica reached out and touched the old man's tears.