A Song Of Redemption
Page 15
all they could think to discuss, Jeremy said, “Well, I should probably go man. Good talking with you, Mac.”
Mac replied, “Yeah, definitely. You gonna come back next month and we’ll talk about the new issue?”
“Sure.” said Jeremy.
After they hung up the phones, Mac was escorted back into the cell area and Jeremy walked back out to the front desk area. He started to walk out the front doors, but then stopped and returned to the desk area. The guard on duty looked up at Jeremy and said, “Yes?”
Jeremy asked, “About how many of the cons get regular visitors?”
The guard rubbed his chin and thought for a moment, then said, “Regular visitors? Not many. Heck, most of the cons don’t get any visitors… ever.”
“Who’s been here the longest?” Jeremy asked.
“Hmmmm…” thought the guard, “Probably Harold Jones, the big gray-haired guy on East wing. He’s been here longer than any of the guards even.”
“Does he ever get visitors?” Jeremy asked.
“None that I’ve ever seen.” said the guard.
Completely unsure of what he was doing, Jeremy said, “Can I see him?”
“What, like, now?” the guard seemed incredulous. “Do you know him?”
“I know of him.” came the reply.
The guard looked at Jeremy for a moment, then shook his head and smiled. Picking up a walkie-talkie, he said, “Visitor for Harold Jones.”
After a few minutes, a large, gray-headed man came to the visitation area. He looked at Jeremy, then around at the other windows. “Who’s here for me?” he said in a deep, gravelly voice.
Jeremy raised his hand and pointed at the phone on the other side of the window. Jones picked up the phone and said, “Do I know you?”
“No,” said Jeremy. “You don’t know me. My name is Jeremy Bonds, and I just got out last month.”
“Well, isn’t that nice.” Jones mocked. “What do you want, Mr. Bonds? You come to gloat?”
“No, I…” Jeremy stammered, having no idea why he was here or what he was supposed to say. Finally, he just said what he felt. “When I was on the inside, someone strange to me brought me a gift. I can’t forget the special way that made me feel.” Jeremy tried holding back a smile, but he was fully aware of how this all must look to Jones. “Jones,” he said, “is there anything from the outside I could bring you to make your day better?”
“A woman would be nice…” said Jones. Then they both laughed. “I don’t know,” he continued, “...do they still sell Moon Pies?”
“Yeah,” Jeremy replied, “I think so.”
Jones nodded and leaned back in the chair. “You can bring me a Moon Pie and a RC cola if you like.” he said.
Jeremy seemed pleased at that. “I’ll check with the guard, but I think I can do that.” he said. “Hey Jones, you ever go to that Bible study they have every month?”
“Nope.” said Jones.
Jeremy continued, “Well, the next time they come, you might consider going. They seem to really care about us cons.”
“Mmmm Hmmmm…” Jones affirmed. “Is that all you wanted, Mr. Bonds?”
“Yeah.” said Jeremy. “That’s all I wanted. Thanks for talking with me Jones.”
The two hung up, and Jones disappeared behind the barred doors. Jeremy went back out to the desk and checked with the guard on the possibility of getting Mr. Jones a Moon Pie and and an RC cola. There would be some hoops to jump through, but nothing Jeremy couldn’t handle.
A few weeks later, Harold Jones heard his name called again to the visitor area. After being escorted in. he saw Jeremy on the other side of the glass. On Jones’ side of the glass, he saw a Moon Pie in its original wrapper and a plastic cup with what appeared to be cola in it. On Jeremy’s side, there was a Moon Pie and a can of RC cola as well. Jones picked up the phone and Jeremy said, “They wouldn’t let me give you the can, something about sharp edges. But trust me, that’s RC cola in that cup.”
Jones held up the Moon Pie and said, “Can I eat this now?”
“Sure,” said Jeremy. “I’ll join you.” And Jeremy opened up his Moon Pie and began eating. Jones opened up his and took a bite. As he was eating, he closed his eyes and smiled, savoring the taste.
After washing it down with a little RC, Jones looked at Jeremy and said, “All right Mr. Bonds, why are you doing this?” And he took another bite.
Jeremy said, “There’s someone I want you to kill…”
Jones stopped chewing.
“No,” Jeremy laughed, “I’m totally kidding. I don’t want anything from you Jones, I just remember what it’s like to be on the inside. Little things can mean a lot.”
“Yeah, okay.” Jones said as he shook his head. As they finished their snacks, the two men talked about sports and movies and things. As the conversation wound down, Jones said, “What’s your girl’s name?”
“Which one?” asked Jeremy.
“The one who does the Bible study.” Jones clarified.
“Mary Lynn?” Jeremy said.
“Yeah,” Jones nodded. “I’ll see what she has to say next time she’s in.”
Jeremy perked up and said, “Great. I’m sure she’d love to see you.”
“Yeah, okay.” said Jones. “Thanks for the Moon Pie, man.”
“Anytime” said Jeremy.
Jones hung up the phone and walked back to the barred area, where a guard was there to escort him back to his cell. Jeremy hung up the phone and went back out to the front desk area. Walking out the front doors, he got on his bike and started it up. After pausing for a moment, he looked up at the sky and said, “If you’re there… if you exist, I need you to show me.” Waiting for a moment and not seeing or hearing anything, he put his bike in gear and rode off.
CHORUS 2
(Turning Point)
Jeremy continued to visit Mac and Harold Jones on a regular basis, and he was developing a list of others who were incarcerated and never got visitors. He knew he couldn’t visit them all, but he started talking to Ronnie Murphy about people from Ronnie’s church taking time to visit the cons as well. Without even being a member of the church, Jeremy almost single-handedly doubled the impact of the jail ministry.
While still going through the motions of the biker lifestyle, Jeremy was obviously reducing his participation in the seedier aspects. He still hung out at Jimmy’s, and he still worked on bikes for a living, but he wasn’t consuming or selling drugs anymore, and he hadn’t been with a woman since his first night out of jail. Jeremy attempted to pray a couple of times, asking God to reveal Himself or give Jeremy some kind of direction.
Ratchet became torn, because while he supported Jeremy in whatever he felt he needed to do, the rest of the gang was suspicious of Jeremy now. It all came to a head when word got to Skeeter that the Chupacabras were expecting a shipment of product in two days, at the railroad depot on the South side of town. The bikers met at Jimmy’s bar to discuss a game plan.
“Okay,” Skeeter opened, “The Chupacabras will be there en force, so we need every available body packing heat. Jeremy, that goes for you too.”
“Why are you singling out the kid?” asked Ratchet.
“Because he hasn’t been in on a deal since he got out of the pen, Ratchet.” accused Skeeter. “It’s been months, he should have been back in the swing of things by now. I’m not so sure he’s still one of us.”
Ratchet stood up and got a scowl on his face. “Now you listen to me, Skeeter.” he began. “Jeremy has taken a blade for this gang, he’s been shot at, he’s done time, he’s done everything we’ve asked of him. We stick by our own, and if you have a problem with Jeremy, then you have a problem with me.”
There were some rumblings among the other bikers, and Skeeter tried to diffuse the situation. Taking a lighter tone of voice, he said, “All I’m saying is, we want to make sure that when th
ings get nasty, Jeremy isn’t going to run off and leave us hanging.”
“I won’t leave you hanging.” said Jeremy, obviously insulted.
“Alright,” Skeeter went on, “the shipment is supposed to arrive at the depot at 11:00. It takes about twenty minutes to get there from here, so we’ll meet here at about 10:30 and leave about 10:45. That should give them just enough time to receive the shipment before we arrive. Now, we’re going to be coming in loud and proud, so by the time we enter the front gates of the depot, they’re going to realize what’s going on. It’s going to get ugly quick, but it’s time to make a statement to the Chupacabras. This is our turf.”
The riders all cheered. Jeremy smiled and nodded, but it was only a facade - he wasn’t going to be able to hide much longer. Ratchet would always support him, but the others were already pulling away. It was only a matter of time until Ratchet couldn’t defend him any more, and then what?
When the day came for the shipment, the riders all met at Jimmy’s bar at the appointed time and checked their weapons. It looked like a military zone as bikers loaded and checked handguns, shotguns and some minor explosives. As Skeeter made sure his pistol was loaded,