Free From – Chapter 13 – July 13th

I hope you will join me this month as we JOURNEY each day through our short story. It is about finding FREEDOM in the midst of all the captivating pieces in life that steal our peace which we need FREE FROM!

FREE FROM
July 13, 2021

Psalm 139:5, ‘You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way, and in kindness You follow behind me to spare me from the harm of my past. You have laid Your hand on me!’ (TPT)

Chapter 13

It was one of those times in life when you reflect and wish you had done things differently, a do-over. He seemed to have had a lot of those wishes, Legend surmised, his head over-stuffed and spilling out with all the do-over yearnings. But there are also some occasions in life where there simply are no do-overs, period. No second or fifth chances.
It had been one of the longest nights of his life, and the details of it felt fuzzy in his mind as he thought through it. From the moment the little guy escaped from his handhold, it had been a flurry of activity and anxiety. Trace had coiled himself like a baby boa around the body of the woman he was screaming ‘Mommy’ to and refused to let go. In fact, his vice-grip clutch on her was unable to be pried loose without force, and that simply was not something Legend would do himself or allow anyone else to manhandle.
The dire issue, however, was his mommy, the girl who it was becoming very apparent was Legend’s daughter, was drunk and drugged beyond words, and was not coherent enough to respond to the screams of her little boy. Legend felt more helpless as he listened to the agony coming from the little boy whom he had only wanted to rescue from the inappropriateness of a sick man than he had when this woman he believed now to be his daughter was being brought into this sorry world. He wished he could undo all the moments since—well, since then actually, her birth—but certainly since earlier in the morning, now feeling like light years ago.
It hadn’t stopped there. Trace held to her as if he were her life vest, and who knows, maybe he was. The poor thing was beyond messed up and not lucid enough to fathom any of what was happening around her. Weakly, she tried to shake Trace off her which only served to agonize him more. Legend had stepped in but to no avail and the look on the little boy’s face was pathetic and heart-wrenching. It was quite apparent there would be some lingering trauma from this experience and Legend felt the hopelessness and dismay. He couldn’t help but imagine all his mistakes were now piling on his girl because obviously she had plenty of poor choices she was caught up in.
Just then, a tremendously large man with an equally large beard and belly strode right through the tangle of passed-out partiers, sporting an attitude so huge that it made him look tiny. In one swoop he cuffed Trace’s mommy from the bottom of the heap, yanking her clean from Trace’s grasp, and the kid yowled as if he had been burned with scalding water. Mr. Big drug her down the sidewalk, effortlessly, like a filthy blanket, and when the little boy realized his mommy was being taken from him again, he latched on with all his might. Unfortunately, Mr. Big glanced upon him as if he were a fly and flicked Trace to the gutter. Legend had witnessed enough, and every ounce of hurt and resentment, anger and rage he had been stuffing for years blew. He charged that big ole boy with a fury and fervor he didn’t know existed in himself, and momentarily before they all crashed to the ground, three adults and one little boy seemed to be suspended in flight and time stood perfectly still.
If only it could have lasted that way. Police officers materialized out of thin air, and as the two men rolled and scuffled, they were ready with cuffs and batons prepared to do business. Legend withdrew his hands from Mr. Big, even when the fool kept swatting at the air so the tussle continued but Legend was out. For one slim second, he considered grabbing the kid and running, but he knew already he’d never get far, and the kid had already been through too much. He was still clinging to his mommy even though she hadn’t a clue where they were or who he was, or heck, who she even was.
As the officer clicked the cuffs into place, Legend felt sick to his stomach. He hadn’t seen a lick of trouble since he had finished his prison sentence and the reciprocal requirements following his release. In fact, his PO stopped to see him a couple times after their meetings had ended and had patted him on the shoulder. ‘Stay straight,’ he had encouraged. He’d been proud of himself, had even caught a glimpse of the legend he once had been; worked hard to keep his nose clean. In less than one twenty-four-hour period that had all ended. Now here he was…
Additionally, his little shadow had been through a horrific ordeal that might not have even happened if Legend had just stayed out of it. Now the little guy had been picked up by Human Services and Legend found himself looking through the metal bars at the fragile frame of his daughter, curled in the corner of one cell, and listening to the raucous snore of Mr. Big in another.
Suddenly, a loud voice, “Mr. From, get your things.” The baton slid down the bars like a xylophone, and Legend watched his daughter stir, wishing he could call out to her. “You ready?”
Shock must have plastered his face, because the officer lowered his voice a little, and added, “Bail’s posted; you’re free to go.”
“What the…” Legend began to ask, then simply shook his head. Luck didn’t happen to guys like him. Nice things didn’t just come his way. He hadn’t had luck show up and set him free from anything, well, since he’d met Annie. That was all just a trickle under the bridge now.
“Don’t look a gift horse in the eye, man,” the officer reminded him. “My advice, take it and go.”

To Be Continued…