by Saxon Andrew
“So you don’t deny you assaulted them.”
“What if I were to tell you that it was them that assaulted me?”
The judge looked at him, looked at Robert Senior and said, “We have eyewitness testimony saying something else. It seems to me that you are a very aggressive person, Mr. Gardner. Mr. Grest, what do you know about this student?”
“I have a record of him throwing a big rock at a teacher in class when he was in the ninth grade, your honor.”
The judge looked at AG and shook his head. “It’s people like you that make our schools too dangerous. I am going to give you a choice, Mr. Gardner and I strongly suggest you take it. I can put you in jail and hold you until you go to trial for assault, which is a felony. You’ll sit in jail until your trial which should happen in six months; or you can make another decision.”
AG looked at the judge and said, “What decision?”
The judge looked to the back of the court and an Army Captain stood up. “This is Captain Green and he is an Army recruiter. I think you need discipline and the Army can teach it to you. If you agree to join the army right now, I will dismiss all charges and you will keep a clean record.”
“What about my graduation, Your Honor?”
The judge looked at Mr. Grest, “I’m sure he has enough credits to graduate already. We will give him his diploma now.”
The judge looked at AG, “What’s it going to be?”
AG turned and looked at the five accusers and they refused to look at him. He stared at them for a minute and then turned and said, “Where do I sign?”
Captain Green said, “It will take about thirty minutes to get the paperwork here.”
Judge Jackson leaned back and said, “You five will stay here until he does sign. If he changes his mind I will need you here to sign your affidavits. Mr. Grest, you are free to go.”
Robert’s father handed Mr. Grest his Keys and said, “Take my car; I’ll get a ride with one of the boys.”
Captain Green looked at AG and saw a well-muscled young man that was very self-composed. “It seems we only get trouble makers,” he thought.
• • •
Cynthia burst into Mr. Grest’s office right behind him and grabbed his arm, “Mr. Grest, what have you done to Anthony Gardner?”
Mr. Grest looked at Cynthia and said, “Took him to court for attacking those boys. He’s being made to join the Army as we speak. That’s the last trouble he’ll cause in this school.”
Cynthia stared at Mr. Grest shaking her head and he said, “What?”
“How could you have made this kind of horrible mistake?”
“What do you mean?”
“Mr. Grest, those four boys attacked Anthony when he tried to save my brother from being dropped from the balcony over the lunchroom. Robert Adams had got them to terrorize my brother to try and make me continue to date him. When AG stopped him from doing it the four boys attacked him.”
Tim Long had stepped into the office right behind Cynthia and said, “She’s telling the truth, Sir. I was the one holding her brother over the rail and if not for quick action by AG he would have fallen to the floor. Those four attacked him.”
Mr. Grest looked at them and furrowed his brow. Cynthia said, “There’s more Mr. Grest. The rock that was thrown at the teacher in the ninth grade was thrown by Dale Wooddale. AG reached up and deflected it. The teacher saw his arm and accused him.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Tim said, “I was in the class, Mr. Grest. Dale threw the rock.”
Now Mr. Grest was getting a sick look on his face. “Oh, it gets much worse, Mr. Grest.”
“How could it be any worse?”
“Miss Lavender, please hand Mr. Grest the file where you have been keeping AG’s grades.”
“Why have you been keeping his grades in a separate file?”
“You told me to do so right after the rock throwing incident.” She handed him the file.
Mr. Grest opened the file and started looking at all of the report cards and test scores. He was amazed but then he saw the SAT score. “Oh my God!”
“Exactly right, Mr. Grest. You’ve just had our valedictorian forced to join the Army.”
“You two come with me. Maybe we can stop this.”
• • •
AG signed the last form and heard Captain Green say, “Welcome to the United States Army,” just as Mr. Grest burst into the courtroom followed by Tim and Cynthia. The five boys saw Tim give them a hard look and grew extremely nervous. Mr. Grest was yelling, “Stop, please stop.”
Judge Jackson looked up and said, “What’s going on?”
AG watched Mr. Grest, Tim, and Cynthia run up to the judge’s bench and begin talking to him. The judge listened, looked over at AG, and then at the five accusers, then back at AG as he read the contents of a file.
Captain Green nudged AG and said, “Do you know what this is about?”
AG smiled at the Captain, “Justice is not always on time. But it seems to be sure…eventually.”
The Judge stood up and pointed a finger at the four sitting in the front row. “Do you know the penalty for perjury?”
Robert’s father stood up and said, “What’s going on here? That thug attacked my son.”
“After your son had his friends hang a special student over the rail in the cafeteria. Now I’ll ask you again, do you know the penalty for perjury?”
One of the boys stood up and said, “I have not lied. I told Mr. Adams what happened and he wrote it down.”
The judge picked up the complaint and began reading, “It says here that he hit you in the chest and slammed you back into the lockers.”
“He did your honor.”
The judge looked at Robert Adams senior and said, “Ok, what happened just before he did that?”
“Well, we jumped him to teach him a lesson.”
“So he was defending himself.”
“I told Mr. Adams that Robert told us to do it.”
The judge looked at Robert Adams and the contempt on his face was obvious. “Get out of my court.” Robert Adams started to say something but seeing the Judge’s expression he stood and quickly left.
Cynthia looked at Robert and he could tell what she was thinking, “Like father, like son.” He was more ashamed than he could ever remember and there were numerous episodes of shame during his childhood. This one beat them all. His father would just not listen to anyone once he made his mind up.
The Judge looked at Captain Green and said, “There has been a huge error, Captain. It seems that this young man was protecting this young lady and her brother and was totally innocent of anything. He is also, according to Mr. Grest, the smartest student to ever attend his school. Please destroy the documents. He won’t be joining the Army.”
AG looked at Captain Green and smiled, “Not gonna do it, are you?”
Captain Green actually laughed, “Are you also a mind reader?” He turned to the judge and said, “He was not forced by the Army to sign these papers. He did it of his own free will and he now belongs to the United States Army.”
The Judge stood up and said, “You will release him.”
“Sorry, Your Honor, but this is a Federal issue now. We will not release him.”
Cynthia panicked. Her father could represent him. He could get it done, and then she looked at AG and remembered what he had asked. This was the consequences he had warned her not to stop. She looked at AG and he smiled at her and shook his head.
She felt an overwhelming sadness grip her. She was going to lose him. Just when her heart had started to find joy, he was leaving and would probably end up in that place called Vietnam. This just wasn’t fair, but she had promised not to get in the way of the consequences happening. She had done that not thinking things through and then she realized something else. She was not worried about losing her interest in him. She now knew that there would never be anyone else for her but him; but her little insecurities worried her that he would
go away and find someone else. She looked at him and he could see her obvious pain. He mouthed to her, ‘I love you.’
Cynthia put her head in her hands and began crying; out of happiness and pain.
• • •
Cynthia was sitting in her car with AG after they had left the courthouse. She was still crying knowing that he was leaving in two weeks. AG had his arms around her softly telling her everything was going to be ok. Cynthia looked at him and said, “AG. There’s a war going on and the Army is sending soldiers there. Don’t tell me everything is going to be ok. You could be killed.”
“Cynthia, do you believe that you were born to be a doctor or did it just occur to you one day.”
Cynthia furrowed her brow, “Why are you asking me that?”
“Just answer the question.”
Cynthia thought for a moment, “I have never had any desire to be anything else. I have been pulled to everything medical as long as I can remember.”
“What if I told you it was too dangerous to be a doctor. You would have to treat some of the most dangerous diseases infecting mankind and you could get sick and die. Would you give up on being a doctor?”
“That’s the risk you take to help your fellow man. Of course I wouldn’t give up my dream.”
“What is my chosen profession, Cynthia? What am I uniquely qualified to be?”
Cynthia thought, and try as she might she could only come up with one thing, “You are a fighter.”
“Actually, Cynthia, my chosen profession is to be a warrior.”
“What’s the difference, AG?”
“A warrior fights to make the world a better place than he found it. He works his entire life perfecting the skills needed to excel in his chosen profession. A warrior defends those that cannot defend themselves from those that would harm them.” AG paused and lifted Cynthia’s face and looked her in the eyes, “The only way for me to develop my talents is to go where I am forced to use them to survive. I must put myself in high stress situations so that my talents will reveal themselves. I’ve known all my life that I have an important role to play in the future and I must develop my skills in order to fulfill that role.”
“But you could be killed. With your talents you could be rich and famous if you wanted.”
“But I don’t want that. I know that as an athlete, I would be the best at any sport but it would be due to using my talents and that is not fair. I knew at some level that I was going to have to leave to fully develop. I just didn’t know it would be this quick. It is important that I go. My only regret is my having to leave you.”
Cynthia put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, “Aren’t you going to miss going to college? You could have gone anywhere in the country with your scores.”
“There is time later for college. Quite frankly, I don’t know how they can help me with my profession right now. Later on I can see the need for knowledge. Besides, I’ve read pretty much every book in the library and college is nothing more than reading and being able to regurgitate information back at 70% or better. I can do that without attending college.”
“You probably could.” Cynthia sighed and then said, “I’m taking you home to meet my parents.”
“Why?”
“I want them to meet the man I’m going to marry.”
“What!”
“You are my chosen, AG. There will never be another for me. I can feel it in my heart and I know it in my soul. I have made up my mind; you are my chosen.”
“Cynthia, I am going to be away for a long time. If you delay this decision you could have a lot of fun at college. I know you care for me. I just don’t want your college years to be less than they could be.”
“Then don’t go. If you are not here then they will be less than they could be. Besides, I need to focus on my chosen profession, too. I don’t need the distraction of a bunch of guys in my life. All I really need is right here with me now. The time we can be together will be worth the wait.” Cynthia sighed, “I need to go by the school and pick up my uniform. Then we’ll go see my parents.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“Yes, I need the uniform tomorrow.”
“No; I meant going to meet your parents.”
“Yes.”
AG looked at Cynthia and sighed, “Alright, bring em on.”
They arrived at school and the grounds were dark. AG and Cynthia went into the gym and picked up Cynthia’s cheerleading uniform and walked back out to the car. As they approached the car, Cynthia felt her heart go into her throat. Standing next to the car were three dark forms but there was no mistaking the middle one. It was Tao.
AG took her hand and pulled her and she followed him to the parking lot. They walked up to the three figures and Cynthia saw that it was the same three that had attacked her that night. AG hit a knee and lowered his head, “Good evening great warriors of the Wang-dao. Is there something you need from us?”
Tao and the other two warriors bowed and Tao said, “Please rise loyal servant of the Wang-dao. We have come to ask for forgiveness for our actions against you and your chosen. Our actions were not justified; they went against and shamed the Warrior’s Code. We humbly ask what we can do to balance our actions.”
Cynthia was stunned. The giant warrior was bowing low to them. AG stood and asked, “What has changed you, Tao?”
Tao raised his head and held out his two arms that were still in casts. “You gave me time to see myself for what I have become. I was like my father before me, dispensing pain and suffering to all I came in contact. I had become the man I hated with all my being. The Book of Wang-dao showed me that I was not a warrior but a mere fighter with no soul. I was one of those that warriors are charged to protect against.” Tao looked at Cynthia and lowered his head, “Clan Favored, I know you hate me with all your heart and I also know you can never forgive me, but I want you to know that now that since your chosen is being forced to leave, I and my two brothers here will insure that no one harms you or your family. I will personally guarantee your safety; I also promise to you that I will protect the women that live in Wang-dao territory from the harm I was going to do to you.”
Cynthia could feel his remorse. She looked at AG and could see that AG was looking at Tao like a brother and that he was happy at the transformation in the giant Wang-dao. Cynthia shook her head and thought, “He saved us both.” She smiled and walked forward and placed her left hand on the head of Tao and said, “I forgive you great warrior. I believe you that your heart is now that of a warrior.”
Tao took a deep breath and shuddered, “Thank you, Clan Favored.” Cynthia then touched the other two warriors and forgave them.
AG walked up and put out his hand to Tao. Tao stood, put his cast in Ag’s hand, and shook it. “I no longer need to know how you beat me. I just know that I am glad you did. I am going to continue teaching the children the book of Wang-dao. I learn more than they do and I have a long journey ahead of me to achieve balance.”
“You’ve taken the first step my friend and your second father is very proud of you.”
Tao started and looked at AG. “You know him?”
“Yes and he has been worried about you. You have done a lot to remove his worries.”
“Now I know how you won. You are the One.” Tao bowed to AG then turned and left with the other two warriors.
“What did he mean by that?”
AG watched him leave, “Nothing. Let’s go meet the parents.”
Chapter Seven
AG and Cynthia got out of her car and walked toward their first class. AG had two weeks before he was to report to boot camp, so he decided to spend as much time as possible with Cynthia. Since she was at school, he continued to go to class. They came out of class and found Tim Long sitting on the bench outside the gymnasium, looking like something was terribly wrong. Cynthia looked at him and asked, “What’s up, Tim?”
Tim looked up with a disgusted look on his face, “Robert just told the coach th
at he injured his left arm when AG hung him over the balcony and he won’t be able to play in the State Championship this Saturday. Chip is just not ready to face Central. Muldoon and company will destroy us without Robert. Truth be told, I think Robert is just afraid of facing Muldoon again after the hits he took last year.”
“Who is Muldoon?” AG asked.
“He’s the center linebacker for Central and he is a beast. There were a number of us that have a chance for a college scholarship. but with the shellacking they will give us without a quarterback,” Tim just shook his head. “We will have to settle for a small college if we’re lucky.”
Cynthia shook her head, “It doesn’t surprise me. He’s a coward.”
Tim could only nod having no defense for Robert.
• • •
AG found Robert in the bleachers watching football practice with his arm in a sling. Robert saw him coming and stood up to run but AG said, “I’m not here to hurt you.”
“What do you want?”
“I just want to ask a question.”
Robert remained standing and was prepared to flee, “What?”
“Does living in fear make your life what you want it to be?”
Robert stared at AG and didn’t say anything.
“You’re afraid of being injured by Muldoon.” Robert continued to stare at him saying nothing. “You’re also afraid of your father and that is where your fear originates. Before you can free yourself you must face your demon and learn to live without it.”
“You don’t know him?”
“What is the absolute worst thing he could possibly do to you?”
“He could beat my brains out.” AG smiled and Robert said, “What?”
“How tall are you?”
Robert was startled by the question but answered, “Six four.”
“And you weigh?”
“Two hundred twenty five.”
“You bench press how much?”
“Three forty.”
“And your father can lift…..?”
Robert thought a moment, “He could take my car, my allowance; he could take everything.”
“And leave you at peace for the first time in your life. I think that would be a fair trade.”