Chapter 23 #2
“I put my head down and worked my ass off. Because when I left here, I made a decision that no one was going to tell me who I was moving forward. I was going to decide who I was. I was going to decide who I wanted to be. And that’s exactly what I did.
I went to community college first and then transferred to a larger university, and then I went on to earn a full-ride scholarship to law school.
If you want it bad enough, if you stay determined, you can make your dreams a reality.
I wanted to make a difference in this world.
There were a lot of people who were betting against me, but do you know what matters most at the end of the day?
” I paused and glanced around the room, my gaze landing on Ruby’s briefly before turning my attention back to the center of the room.
“You. Who you believe you are. Who you want to be. No one gets to decide that for you. Now, you’ve got to follow the rules while you’re here, stay the course, toe the line, and all that shit.
And it’s the same thing when you leave here.
You’ve got to be smart and do your time in and out of here to pursue what you want.
But in the end, you get to decide your path.
I work for myself now. I represent people who can’t represent themselves.
I get to be the voice for those who aren’t equipped to speak on their behalf.
And I get to fight for things that I believe in.
That’s what you need to figure out.” I paused and took another sip from my water bottle.
“What do you believe in? Who do you want to be? Because only you have the power to make that happen.”
Everyone clapped and whistled, and I chuckled and held my hands up.
“I’ll hang out for a while and come around and chat with you.
And if you want to know anything important, I’ve got my friend, Ruby, here,” I said, motioning to where she sat in the front row.
“She’s actually a doctor, so she’s a hell of a lot smarter than I am, and I’m sure she’d be better at talking to you than I would. ”
More whistling and clapping.
I stepped off the stage, and Terrence told everyone to head to the lunchroom, letting them know that we’d be in to chat soon.
“Nice job, River. They like you. They relate to you. You can make a difference here just by sharing your story,” Terrence said, leading us down to the cafeteria.
The next hour was spent with both me and Ruby moving around and talking to the kids. They were fascinated by her, and I understood it because I was, too.
“You’re a real doctor, Ruby?” Jonah asked.
He was fifteen years old, and he’d been sent here because he’d broken into his neighbor’s house and taken food, which he said was for his younger siblings who were hungry.
The neighbors had called the police, and they’d found a pocketknife in his jacket, which made it a much more serious crime, and here he was.
“I’m not a medical doctor. I have my Ph.D. in psychology.”
“So, you’re a doctor of the mind. Do you work in a hospital with sick people?” Patrick asked with a big smile on his face. He was sixteen years old and hadn’t disclosed why he was there. But at the end of the day, these were kids. Just young men who’d made some mistakes and were paying the price.
“I’m just someone who knows a bit about psychology,” she said. “And I just graduated, so now I have to figure out what to do with that.”
“What would you like to do?” Jonah asked.
“I think I’d like to work with kids to some extent.”
“You’re a real lady boss,” Patrick said, and the other kids started laughing.
“She is a lady boss,” I said with a smirk.
“Is she your girlfriend?” Duncan asked. He was the youngest kid here at fourteen. He looked even younger, and I saw the sadness in his eyes. Recognized that the minute I looked at him.
“Nope. She’s calling the shots, and she doesn’t want a boyfriend,” I teased, and all the kids erupted in laughter, taking turns slapping me on the shoulder.
“Don’t give up, dawg,” Patrick said as he fist-bumped me like we were old friends.
“Did you ever get in trouble for anything, Ruby?” Duncan asked, and the rest of the kids turned their attention back to her.
“I got into a few fights when I was young, and I wasn’t the best with authority because I always thought I knew better.”
Shocker. She still did.
“And now you’re a real doctor? How’d you do that?”
“I didn’t have a perfect life. But I knew that education was important at a young age, and I was determined to take that as far as I could.
I didn’t have money or people pushing me to go to college in my family, outside of my dad, who supported my decision to go.
But it wasn’t important to him. He just respected that I wanted something more for myself. ”
“Your mom wasn’t around?” Duncan asked, his voice making him sound even younger than he was.
Shit. He was Romeo’s age when he’d been sent here.
The one thing I’d always been grateful for was that I’d been here with him.
That we’d been together when we were here.
We’d had one another’s backs, and we’d been forced to defend ourselves more times than I wanted to think about.
But we’d made it because we’d had one another.
I didn’t know if Duncan had anyone in his corner.
“Not a whole lot. And it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. My dad is a really great guy, and that was enough, you know? But what River said is true, only you can decide your future.”
“I like that.”
“How about you? Does your family come to visit?” she asked.
“He’s got a family here, don’t you, Duncan?” Patrick said. I saw the bond there, and it was going to help get them through this.
“I do. These are my boys. And my dad’s never been in my life. My mom tries, but she has her hands full with my two younger siblings. My stepdad doesn’t like me much,” he admitted, and I could see the hurt written all over his face.
The loneliness.
The wounded young kid who was trying to put on a brave face.
I’ve been there.
“Lots of people didn’t like me when I was young. That doesn’t mean anything. People are tough on kids. Do you like who you are?” Ruby asked.
His eyes widened. “Well, I can be a jerk to my mom sometimes. I get pissed off and act like an asshole.”
“How about you stop doing that? Because you know who that hurts in the end, right?” she said.
“Me.”
“Yep. Does your mom love you? Does she deserve to be treated like that?”
“She loves me a lot. I know she’s sad that I’m here.”
“Well, then maybe you can make the best of the time you’ve got here, like River said. Think about who you want to be when you leave.”
Damn. This kid was looking at Ruby like she set the sun. Hell, I glanced around, and they all looked at her that way.
“I’d like to be a fireman someday,” Duncan said unexpectedly. “But my stepdad said it won’t happen because I’m not big enough.”
“Pfft,” Ruby huffed as she shook her head. “You’re fourteen years old. You don’t know how big you’ll be when you’re older. But do you know what the best revenge is when someone tells you that you can’t do something you’re determined to do?”
“What?” he asked.
“You go out there and you do it. You leave here, and you work hard in school because you need to be a good student to become a firefighter. It’s competitive, and they won’t hire someone who causes trouble.
So, you put your head down and start making good decisions.
It doesn’t mean that you won’t make mistakes, but when you make them, you learn from them.
And you keep that goal of becoming a firefighter in your mind the whole way.
Let that drive you toward becoming everything that you want to be. ”
“Is that what you did?” he asked.
“Yeah, something like that.” She smiled just as Terrence came over and told us it was time for the kids to go outside and get some fresh air.
He walked Ruby and me back to the front lobby and asked for her number to see about her coming back to speak to the kids again sometime.
We thanked him, and when we were both in the car, she turned to look at me.
“You were great in there.”
“You were fucking amazing. You had those kids eating out of the palm of your hand,” I said.
“Whatever. They idolized you.” She shrugged. “You were very inspiring, River Pierce.”
“Remember that when we’re naked later.”
I could feel myself getting pulled in deeper with this woman.
It should terrify me, but it didn’t.
I only wanted more.