Sunday, September 28, 2008

One At a Time



Last night was an interesting night. What to hear about it? Here we go.

The day before yesterday Sgt. Lupe ran across some dumb ass teens, out past the City's curfew. She was foolish enough to allow them to go home on their own, with just a warning. A little later on, that same day, she spots the same three juvies attempting to break into a freaking church, or so she claims. They spot her and take off running, well two did, the other one was too scared to run and she was able to put him in custody. Knowing that I have zero tolerance on these little bastards and their parents, she calls me out to the scene to see if I want to aid him to my list of kids I conduct random bed checks on. I get out there and surprise, surprise. It is one my little habitual curfew violators. We take his dumb ass home, but not before going over to the house of one of the Little angles who ran and gripe out his mom for not know where the hell her 15 year old son is at 3 o’clock in the morning.

Then we take little Leroy (that what we’ll call him) back home to his mom’s house, where he is issued a ticket for the curfew violation. A ticket that his mom can’t afford. Now, since I have already told little Leroy what an embarrassment he is to me, seeing as he looks like me, and how if he was my blood I’d cluck him upside the head with my flashlight; I also feel obligated to let him know that I don't think he is a bad kid but is making some bad decisions. So, this leads him to ask me what he is suppose to do when he mom kicks him out of the house and then the reports him as a runaway.

Gentle Giant that I am, I give and my business card and write my cell phone number on the back. Before handing it over to him I let him know that if he and his little buddy misuse my number, for any reason, I’d come knocking on his door and that there will be hell to pay.
Anyway, fast forward to last night. Guess who called me, before I went into work. Yep, little Leroy. He is at odds with him mom and don’t know what to do. So, I call work and tell them that I am going to be a little late, because I have to make a detour and go pick his ass up. I have decided, with his mom’s permission, to bring little Leroy to work with me so we can have a heart to heart talk and maybe I can be that beacon that leads his ass down the right path. Maybe.

I took him to the station, gave him comic books to read, while I did my work. He was talked to by different sergeants, of different races and various troops and made to stand before our detail. Sgt. Latin even gave the kid tickets to a hockey game (Little Leroy use to play hockey). I mean to tell you if this young man was not known by the police officers on deep nights before, you better believe his ass is now. He will be dumb as fuck to do anything illegal.

Anyway, after our 12 o’clock detail lets out I take him to the crack house….err, sorry, over my mom’s house, because she needed to borrow money and it was part of my route for that day. I introduced him to my slacker, little brother, who was having sex for some reason. Do you know that I didn’t think my little brother had sex? Seriously, I thought he was that damn lazy, but he damn sho’ did have some female all up in his bedroom. Still, he was nice enough to come out of his room and spit some wisdom on the kid. Little Leroy, like most, felt an instant connect with my little brother. He might be a lackadaisical son of a gun, but he can charm the pants off of you. (Don’t worry, my mom lives far enough away that I am not worried about the kid remember how to get back to her joint).

En route to my mom’s place, I tell him a little about my situation growing up. I let him know that life for me ain’t been no crystal staircase. So, by the time we leave from my mom’s house he is willing to open up and tell me about how his dad died, last year, his parents separation, his mom near death experience, how his own grandmother stole his dad’s insurance policy; leaving him and his mom with nothing. The works. The boy has had it hard, and he is acting up as a result. But everyone has their sob stories and I let him know that that is no excuse for him to act the way he does and never an excuse to buck up to his little, frail mom. This kid, is twice the size of mom, folks.

Then I take him to my Ihop, where he gets to meet the wait staff there. The people at Ihop love me, folks. Their world lights up when I come into the door. I don’t care how busy it is, they make time to cluster around my booth and spend a little time with One Man. Talk about your ego boost, and it impressed the hell out of little Leroy who said, “Wow, everybody knows you here.” Of course, that was not the purpose of taking him to Ihop. You see, not only was little Leroy wearing the same thing that he had on the day before, but I had also learned, en route to station, that he hadn’t eaten all day. He swore to me, up and down, that he wasn’t hungry, but we all know that was a lie. What 15 year old, grown boy, isn’t hungry. C’mon now.

Anyway, he ordered a big ass bacon, egg and cheese burger and he got to listen to my group of misfits talk about the things they did, which lead them to were they are in life right now. Plus, they song my praises, which is always good.

After we finished at Ihop I was taking little Leroy home, when all hell broke lose at one of our clubs in South Dallas. It came out as a shooting, but ended up being just a big ass free for all and you know your boy One Man has to be a part of the fray. These men and women at these clubs know I don’t play with them. So, we go there and help break up that mess and then, once again, make a bee line to his house. Well, I’ll be damn if I don’t see another teenager walking down the street, just as calm as you please. I make him get in my car, take him home and as I am writing his ass a citation, this Hispanic male comes stumble pass me. He has had the hell beat out of him, to the point that I have to call an ambulance. Well, sure enough, this unfolds into some drama, that I won’t get into, but once we get it all situated, I take little Leroy home.

It is now past three and we can’t get little Leroy’s mom to wake up, to save our lives. So, we call and leave a message on the machine, that I am going to keep him for the rest of the morning, which I do. Mr. Leroy had one hell of an experience with me last night, because I am what you call a shit magnet. We got flagged down an aggravated assault, he got to see both nice and mean Sgt. One Man, I taught him how to check a person on our MDC. And he got to partake in an arrest of this stupid ass drunk, who broke out his girl's front glass window. It was one hell of a night, but I am hoping that he got something out of the experience. After all, the Dallas Police Department rained down a lot of love and care on that little man.

Yeah, I think I might have done a little too much, invested a little too much time, but I think he appreciated it; I know his mom did. The poor lady is at her wit’s end. Only time will tell if I, with the help of my fellow boys and girls and blue, were able to make a difference in this young man’s life. Your boy, One Man, trying to save the world one thug at a time. LOL

-One Man’s Opinion. Peace.

(Plus, I am under the assumption that if I invest a certain amount of time in his ass, I become authorized to hit him when he steps out of line.)

19 comments:

Jazzy said...

wow...that was a good thing...a GREAT thing...you did for Leroy. Hopefully it will be one of those experiences that helps keep him on the straight and narrow.

lmao @ you calling yourself a "ish magnet"!

The Dreamy One said...

okay now One Man!!!

That is what I am talking about, trying to help out the youth!!!

Undeniably...Deep aka Tina-B said...

You did a good thing. Yo showed him that there is another side to the law!

Mayne he'll grow up to be just like you! LOL

But all props to you and your generous heart.

(But I'm still wondering why DCF/ACS or whatever you guys call it aint involved? 2nd offense would have led str8 to intervention.)

Freedom In Christ said...

ALWAYS know that serve is NOT in vain.

God Bless YOU!

RealHustla said...

Good for you. Unfortunately some kids need allll that attention to believe that they matter. From the looks of it ain't nobody else gone go through the effort of incorporating him into their day.

D-Place said...

Glad you were there for the little brotha.

Anonymous said...

You did a great thing for Leroy. He should now know that there are people in this world looking out for him.

It was good for him to see the human side to the boys in blue. He needed to see that just b/c you're doing well now doesn't mean it was always like that and he can't use his past as an excuse to eff up his future.

Good look on that. We need more like you.

P.S. send me your info if you wanna keep reading!

Anonymous said...

Amazing Race 13 is on right now!!!!!

We REALLY need to go on there!!!!

lyre said...

you are a good man. By the way, i bought secret life of bees today. I'm ready when you are.

Madam Z said...

One Man, I LOVE YOU!!! This is the most heart-warming story I have read in a long time. I hope, hope, hope that Leroy will remember your attention and kindness to him, and that it will turn him around. I hope you will be able to check up on him and give him a booster shot now and then.

Anonymous said...

Thank you. Just thank you. I am thankful that God gifted this world with you and blessed this young man with time with you.

Bangs and a Bun said...

Wow - seriously, you are an inspiration my friend. If only all police officers took that kind of approach with the youth. One way or another, karma will come back around and repay you in great ways. And hopefully, this kid will straighten out as a result of your actions.

Dave Van Buren said...

hey someone has to help the kids. I'm actually surprised that he called you in the first place, maybe he is ready for a change.

Anonymous said...

You did a good thing. Hopefully, Leroy took something positive from this experience.

Robyn said...

you're beautiful.

for real.

Anonymous said...

More people need to do this for each other.

It takes a village.

God Bless you ONE MAN. You are THE MAN - in a good way : )

King's Kid said...

God bless you One Man, you did something that we all should be doing in these last and evil days.

Each one reach one. Prayerfully, the young man did get the message. But even if he did not, the Lord is pleased that you took the time to try. I love you for trying.

I would have loved to have your spirit around when I was catching hell with my son. God is merciful and he is 33 now, with a record, but finally on the right track.

Hopefully, the time you have, and probably will continue to invest, will help him in avoiding the pitfalls and detours of life.

Bless you my brother.

Peace

Dope Fiend said...

LOL all that just so you can knock the boy upside his head! hehe

But curfew....i'm highly interested, why is thee a curfew?

Rodney said...

You are my hero! I'm praying for Leroy. Can I roll with you when I visit Dallas in March?