SMALL SACRIFICES - JD Dunne
John Daniel Dunne sat alone on the condominium's patio, staring up at the twinkling stars which filled the late night sky. A wry smile touched his lips as he sighed.
The past week had brought so many life altering changes, his head was still spinning and the youth wasn't yet certain someone wasn't going to soon be pounding on his door, awaking him from the magnificent dream.
Had it truly been only nine days earlier, that he'd once again stood in front of Judge Travis, facing the repercussions of his illegal hacking and waiting for the man to decide his fate? The youth had accepted and fully expected to leave the courtroom in handcuffs, certain he'd be spending considerable time in jail. He had been more than a little surprised when the man on the bench had continued his case.
It had never occurred to JD, when the huge bear of a man who worked with his probation officer had arrived to insure his appearance at a job interview, that his entire life was about to change.... for the better.
Exhausted and at wit's end, his minimum wage jobs barely keeping away the eviction notice, his college degree a long forgotten dream JD had been giving serious thoughts to going to work at one of the companies which had sought his abilities after his first arrest for hacking.
While he wasn't naive enough to think, while making the offer of an exorbitant paycheck, those companies wanted to recruit someone his age for anything other than his ability to break into any type of computer system, it had basically come down to a matter of survival.
Survival that would mean destroying the values his mother had instilled in him.
Sally Dunne had struggled her entire life to do what was right and see her son grew into an honorable man.
Her husband had been killed in a car accident when JD was two and with no other family to help and very little education, she had taken any job available, finally going to work as a maid for a wealthy Boston family, living in the servants' quarters behind the great house.
JD couldn't remember a time when she hadn't been cheerful and smiling as she labored, scrubbing, sweeping, washing, and cleaning up behind the spoiled upper crust of society, squirreling away a portion of her meager wages for her son's education.
There had never been a day when she didn't make time for her dark eyed son, telling him stories, playing in the park on Sundays, searching for answers to his constant questions and finding joy in his laughter. But more importantly, Sally had raised him right, teaching him to respect himself and others. She had made certain he knew the difference between right and wrong, as well as the value of honest hard work. She had taught him never to lie, cheat or steal. Those valued lessons were the main reason he hadn't used his extraordinary abilities on the computer to his own advantage.
Even after she'd become ill, Sally had worked until the cancer had taken its toll, making work impossible.
Cancer. Radiation treatments, chemotherapy, specialists... His mother had continued to fight, showing him the true meaning of strength and courage, but it was a battle she had eventually lost. She had died one bitterly cold Sunday morning, leaving JD alone, saddled with medical bills far too numerous and too expensive for one so young.
He had wanted to honor his mother and her memory by getting his education, but there just wasn't enough money so he'd sacrificed his degree to pay off what he could of the debts. But Sally's meager savings hadn't been enough and the past due bills had continued to arrive, swamping him, until he was torn with what he should and shouldn't do.
Then the judge had given him an option, arranging an introduction that would forever change the young hacker's life.
It didn’t seem possible, but, now, here he was living in a fancy apartment, a far cry and many blocks from the rat infested pesthole he had been living in since his mother’s death. It was a radical shift and he was still ill at ease, but new his room mate had turned out to be a pretty swell guy, taking JD under his wing and making things as easy as possible.
Buck Wilmington went out of his way to make him feel at home, and had opened not only his apartment, but his heart to the orphan boy, giving the youth a best friend and big brother all rolled into one. The ex-Navy pilot seemed determined to finish the job Sally Dunne had started, helping JD honor his mother's memory by remaining the solid dependable young man she had wanted him to be, taking his place beside the other steadfast men on the Larabee's special team.
Dunne knew he had a lot of things to be grateful for: a mother who had shown him more love in her few years on this earth than some people knew in a lifetime, the wisdom of a hard ass judge who saw potential in the youth standing before his bench, the friendship and brotherhood of the men he worked with, who despite their teasing jibes and taunts about him being a wet behind the ears kid, had made him feel welcome, wanted and needed.
He was especially grateful to Chris Larabee. The man had taken a chance and given him an opportunity to prove himself, making JD a part of the Elite Task Force.
JD continued to stare at the heavens and his voice was soft as he spoke to the stars, "I know you sacrificed a lot for me, Momma. I promise you won't have sacrificed it in vain. I love ya, Momma and with the help of these men, I will make you proud."
*******
SMALL SACRIFICES--Josiah Sanchez
His huge clasped hands hung loosely between his knees as he sat alone, bent over, his graying head bowed, his eyes closed, struggling with himself.
Slowly, he raised his head and opened his eyes to stare at the cross hanging on the mission wall. He had spent the last years volunteering here doing penitence, trying to find peace in his soul, but peace was an oddly elusive creature, especially when it knew it was being searched for.
In the empty room, hoping to explain his decision, the ex-FBI profiler spoke, his deep rich voice no more than a mere whisper. "I know, Lord, I promised to do Your work and never return to the life I had lived before. The life I lived before those three little girls died...." He paused, trying to wipe the memory from his mind, but failed, just as he always did. After several long moments, he struggled on.
"But, Lord, these men need me. They're good men, fair men, honest men. They want to do what they can to protect others and isn't that the right thing, the Christian thing, to do? Protect those less fortunate from the evils out there?"
He stared up, knowing there would be no answer. No ground shaking, sky splitting sign to condemn him or support him.
Pushing to his feet he raked his hand through his short salt-and-pepper hair and paced the narrow aisle. "I know I promised and a man shouldn't go back on his word, especially to You, but Lord, I feel like I can do more with these men than I can here.
"Don't get me wrong, now, I love the mission and my work here and the people. The people...." He sighed softly, his huge shoulders slumping. "The people. They break my heart, Lord. The homeless, the forgotten, the abandoned. They come here when there is no place else for them to go. It's a haven for them, something we all need. I help feed them, Lord, fill their bodies with food and their minds with Your goodness, but it's not enough.
"I can do more helping Chris Larabee. I know the people they will be hunting. I been those people, I've seen those people, I've walked in their shoes and I've seen the awful Godless evil they can do and I want to stop it from ever happening again. I have the skill, and I have the knowledge, and now, I have the opportunity. They wouldn't have asked me if they didn't need me..."
He trailed off as a thoughtful look came to his face. "Need....maybe, Lord, I need them. Maybe I need to purge my soul of all the foul demons from my previous life..." He was silent for a long while, then spoke again.
"I've thought on this and it's right, Lord. I won't abandon this mission or the people. I'll be here when I can, doing what I can to feed them and teach them, but really, Lord, I need to do this. For me, for my soul to find the peace it lost back when those innocent little girls died.
"I know I promised to do Your work and spread Your word, but who says I can't do both?" He fell silent again, staring upward. "I will do both," he vowed, "and my soul is such a small sacrifice to make if I don't."
With a satisfied look on his face, and a peace in his heart he hadn't felt in years, Josiah turned and moved down the aisle as sunlight streamed though the old stained glass windows and flooded the floor with seven colors which banded together to make a bright rainbow in his wake.
THE END