CHAPTER TWELVE
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Rory. “Some of these young men and women aren’t kids, they’re in their early twenties. Old enough to know that behavior like his is unacceptable. Yet they take it.”
“Maybe they’re scared or desperate,” said Eric shaking his head. “I don’t know.”
“It was not a good feeling,” said Tahlako, lowering his head. “I’ve never had anyone treat me so terribly. He suggested that I cut my hair. My hair is my identity.”
“You don’t have to cut your hair, Tahlako,” said Luke.
“He was cruel to Tony as well. Making fun of his intelligence,” said the young man.
“I’m not sure how he can focus on anyone,” said Archie. “He had too many students and not enough teachers.”
“He’s right,” said Bull. “Rory and I both mentioned to him he needed to hire more people and that we knew of some guys who might be interested. He got hot, although in fairness he loses his shit over everything. I think he’s taking too much of his own stuff.”
“Other than being angry when you mentioned hiring more people, what did he say?” asked Hex.
“He said too many people in the gym creates issues and takes money from his pocket. We watched him take kids two-by-two into a room and inject them. He sells this shit,” said Rory pushing the box to the center of the table, “like it’s candy.”
“We’ll have the team look at everything in this stuff. Any idea where the stuff is coming from? Is it being shipped in?” asked Cam.
“Not that we could see. I think it’s made locally, or at least driving distance from the gym,” said Bull.
“Alright, you guys get some rest. I have a feeling this is going to take longer than expected,” said Luke.
While at dinner, Julius and his parents were still present, talking to the legal team. Brian and Kari were speaking with them, formulating a plan of how to attack when it was time.
“Julius, how are you feeling?” asked Luke taking a seat. He kissed his Aunt Kari’s cheek and smiled at her.
“Better than I’ve ever felt before,” he said shaking his head. “I don’t know how you all did it but I owe you everything. I owe you my life.”
“You don’t owe us anything,” said Luke. “We want you to have a long, healthy life and we can contribute to that, it makes us happy. The challenge will be when you appear in court, if all of this makes it to court, you won’t be able to tell how you miraculously recovered.”
“I understand,” he nodded. “What would happen to make it not get to a courtroom?” Luke just smirked at the young man.
“Things happen sometimes, Julius. Butch is a man who takes a lot of risks in his life but he is not a man that’s going to risk everything. If he thinks he has no way out, he may take the fast way out.”
“I see,” nodded Julius. “Well, as long as it takes, I’m happy to help you put him away. I should have come forward sooner and said something. I can’t believe I put my parents through this all with the hopes of a Division I scholarship and NIL money. It was stupid of me.”
“It’s never stupid to follow a dream, Julius,” said Luke. “Believe me. My grandparents and parents taught me that following your dreams is the most important thing you can do in life.”
“Did you always dream of being a Navy SEAL?” he asked.
“Not always. My brothers and sisters and I were all orphaned by drug-addicted parents. They owed the drug dealers a lot of money and apparently we were going to be used to satisfy the debt by selling us to traffickers.”
“Oh, my God,” whispered Tina Henderson. Luke nodded.
“It could have ended very, very differently. Instead, my uncles saved us all. They wrapped us up in protection, fed us, clothed us, and then gave us the option to stay together. Here. With them.
“Within a few months all six of us were adopted by Mom and Dad. We were given every opportunity to succeed, to do whatever we wanted in this life. I was fortunate enough to go the Naval Academy and then become a SEAL. My wife, is the niece of Tailor whom you met.”
“Yes,” nodded Julius. “He’s huge!”
“He is,” laughed Luke. “But you’d be hard-pressed to find a man more gentle than Tailor. So, yes. I dreamed of a lot of things. Mostly food and shelter for my siblings and me. I got lucky. Very, very lucky and ended up with so much more.”
“I guess dreams change, don’t they?” said Julius.
“If you’re lucky, every damn day,” smiled Luke. “Continue to get well, continue to heal and the team here will take care of you until it’s time to make yourself known to Butch again.”
“Will you all be with me when that happens?” he asked. Luke realized in that moment just how young Julius really was. He was younger than his own son, younger than most of the young men on the property. He was a kid.
“We’ll be with you to the very end, Julius.” Luke stood and started to leave the table when Julius called him back.
“Sir? Luke?” he called. Luke turned to look at his expectant face. “If I should want to go to the Naval Academy, is it too late for me?” Luke grinned at the young man, nodding.
“It’s never too late, Julius. Never.”