- I woke up Saturday morning thinking about this and just couldn’t shake it. I haven’t done my research so my facts may be way off, and I don’t usually venture into current events publicly (I like to save those thoughts for long, friends and family, discussions.) but this is what I’ve been pondering … I hope it makes you think …
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In the Heat
– Gabe Thexton
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- Jesus Morales sat on the bus bench, sweating in the summer heat of Dallas, Texas. When he was in his early 20’s he and his family had made their way across private land from Mexico into the US. A rough existence greeted them, hard work in the fields was seasonal and other work was scarce.
– Jesus traveled into Dallas two years ago to look for something, anything that could make life better. Late one Thursday, he would tell you, he found that something. After another long day of job hunting and being so tired that he took a wrong turn, he found himself in the wrong part of the wrong part of town. He watched a drug deal go sour and two men take bullets to the head. The shooter then turned to Jesus and told him he had a choice to make, join him or die. Life seemed better than death, even to Jesus and so he joined the gang. Then he discovered that he must again make a choice, prove his loyalty or die, again he chose life. Soon things were ok, not good, but much better than they had been. Work was steady (people always want drugs) and the gang proved to be very like a family, always watching out for each other.
– Today was a pot-run, across town and back, get the drugs there and the money back, that simple. Jesus sat on the bus bench, strategically placed so that the sign for the stop shaded his face. He looked around passively, always alert for something out of place. The bus came and he boarded. This route was always busy and he had to wait two stops before a place cleared and he could sit. The young olive-skinned man he sat next to grinned a nervous smile and said nothing. This is not out of the ordinary for many Hispanics, they are often ignored by English speakers for fear of the language barrier, and Jesus didn’t think anything of it.
- Hassid Mahomet, who went by Harry, was relieved to see the Hispanic man sit down next to him, he knew that were he required to speak, his voice would surely crack. They sat in silence as the bus continued through town. Hassid began to nod off in the heat. His head bobbed with the stop and go of the bus. It bounced off of his book bag in his lap, which he kept there for space and theft prevention. It bounced off of his bag a second time and something began beeping.
- Jesus watched as the young man woke with a start and began frantically digging to find his cell phone or whatever it was that was beeping. The bag flopped wildly with the motions of his hands. The bus stopped suddenly, to pick up a late passenger who had been running after it. Hassid lost his hold on the bag and it smashed into the back of the next seat and fell to his feet, spilling its contents. Jesus saw the bomb and reacted without hesitation.
- The illegal immigrant gang member drew his stolen, unregistered, Colt-45 from his pants, and shot the would-be terrorist in the head. Then he grabbed the bomb, rammed his way out the rear door of the bus, and hurtled toward a back alley dumpster. He lobbed it from as great a distance as he dared and turned to run away almost before he let go.
- The Dallas district judge cleared Jesus Morales of 2nd degree murder charges on the grounds of self defense, and thanked him for his civil service and heroism. Then he sentenced Jesus to two years jail time and six months probation for the discharge of an unregistered concealed weapon. And another seven years for the posession of one pound of Marijuana.
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UPDATE!! – this is not a real story, it was generally inspired by the London Bombs of 7/7/05 and I was thinking about what that would look like in the US, then the immigrant entered my mind and mingled with the story, hope it made you think …
