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CHAPTER THREE
It is Winter time in Chicago, the ground is white with frost, the Sun slowly fades behind
the dark rain clouds and the sky becomes dark and hazy as two men sit under A tree, in the
cold, wet grass in A Park and watch the Sun slowly disappear.
Both men shiver from the cold, their clothes torn and dirty, and they have no coats to
warm their tired cold flesh. "Are you all right Ernie?", one asks the other in A concerned
tone of voice as he looks at his friend and notices the dark circles under his eyes, his skin
pale as milk, and his body shivering immensely.
"I...I...I'm all right Roy!", he exclaims in his low, stuttering, uneducated tone of voice.
"I j..j..just hope we can f..f..find some food and A warm place to stay b..b...before it starts
to Rain!".
"Don't worry Ernie, we'll work something out!", Roy replies as he takes off his shirt and
tells Ernie to put it on.
"No, no I c..can't Roy!, I burned our Trailer House down with my c..c..cigarette, n..now
we have nothing, I can't take the shirt off of your back too!", Ernie exclaims as he hangs
his head low shamefully.
"Nonsense Ernie!, it could have been me that fell asleep in bed with A cigarette, besides,
I have A T-shirt on and there is A Thrift store two blocks from here, they throw away
jackets, and stuff that they can't sell, and I'll get us both plenty of warm clothes as soon as I
get there, and then I will go up the street to that Church, and try to get us some food from
the Preacher, and maybe even A warm place to stay until we can get jobs and get back on
our feet again" Roy replies modestly.
"Roy, you k..k..keep your shirt, I will be all right until you get back!, p.p.please!", Ernie
begs of his warm and considerate friend.
"No Ernie!", Roy exclaims as he takes Ernie's arm and lifts him up off of the grass, and
then helps him put the flannel shirt on his cold, shivering body.
"Roy, y..y..you should go ask your ex-wife to take you b..bback!", Ernie stutters as A
tear leaks from his proud left eye, "I am j..just making it harder on you!".
"Ernie, when we were in Vietnam, we made A pact!, we swore that if one of us were
hurt or sick, that the other would be there for him!, we made it through Vietnam together,
and by golly we will make it through this together, that is what friends are for!", Roy
replies in his stubborn, yet proud tone of voice.
"O..o.k, Roy, I will wait here until y..you g..get back!", Ernie exclaims as he sits down
and leans his back up against the tree.
Roy reaches in his right pant pocket with his right hand and pulls out A bottle of pills, he
then walks over to A trash can, takes out an empty coke can, then walks over to A water
fountain and rinses the can out real good. He then fills it with water, walks back over to
Ernie and hands it to him, and then takes A pill out of the Prescription Medicine container.
"Here swallow this pill!", Roy exclaims as he hands the little pill to Ernie. Ernie takes
the pill, puts it in his mouth, then takes A sip of water and swallows them both together.
"Thank you!", Ernie replies with A weak smile. "Want me to hold on to your pills until I
get back?", Roy asks Ernie as he puts the lid back on the container.
"Yes, y..you better hold on to th..them for me Roy, you know how bad I am to lose
things!", Ernie replies.
"I will be back as soon as I can little buddy, I promise you!" Roy exclaims, "you wait
here for me, don't go anywhere!".
Roy takes one last look at his hungry, sick, and cold friend with worry and compassion in
his eyes, and then turns and heads to the Thrift store.
Roy walks down an alley to the back of the Thrift store, and over to the huge dumpster
and begins digging through the garments which have been discarded. He pulls out A
heavy Jacket, A couple pairs of Pants, another heavy coat, and one thick shirt, and lays
them across the side of the dumpster.
As he pulls out A single shoe, an old man comes out of the back door cursing and
yelling, "You Damn bums are all alike!, get the Hell out of here!, I'll kill you if I ever see
you here again!", the wicked old man exclaims as he picks up A bottle on the ground by his
back door and throws it at Roy, which strikes the right side of his face, and cuts his eye lid
open.
Blood slowly runs down the side of his eyebrow and trickles down his blue cheek. Roy
jumps out of the trash dumpster, grabs all of the clothing that he had slung over the edge of
it, and runs quickly away, dropping A pair of pants as he dashes around the corner of the
building and disappears.
Roy still bleeding, carries the clothing with him up to A huge, beautiful Church. A sign in
front of the Church reads, DONATE FOOD HERE FOR THE HUNGRY .
Roy stashes the coats and other garments behind some bushes, then looks up towards the
sky and exclaims, "Thankyou Lord!". Roy then walks slowly into the Church, looking for
the Preacher. "Hello?, Father?, is anybody here?".
Roy walks down the middle aisle, to the front of the Church as he looks at A huge
painting of Jesus Christ kneeling next to A huge rock, and looking towards the sky as he
prays to his Father above in the Heavens, and A light shines briskly upon Jesus.
As Roy approaches the Alter, he see's several bags of groceries to his right, in the corner,
"Hello?, can anyone hear me?", he hollers out in A loud desperate tone of voice, "Please
Father, I need your help!". Nobody answers him, so he looks up once again at the
beautiful picture of Jesus Christ and says "I know that this food was donated for the
hungry Lord!, and, well you know my friend Ernie?!?, well he is sick and we are both very
hungry, I hope that you do not mind!".
Roy then hollers out one more time, "Hello, is anyone here?" he then reaches down and
picks up one of the bags of groceries, and begins walking back down the middle aisle,
when suddenly A Preacher, wearing A fine suit, and beautiful gold jewelry, comes out of A
door behind him and yells, "Hey you, thief, stop!".
Roy, who is frightened from the preachers yelling, runs down the aisle, turns left and
dashes quickly out the door, the Preacher behind him still yelling.
Roy stops at the bushes, grabs the pile of clothes and sets them on top of the bag. Then,
before he can leave the Preacher grabs him and yells "Help!, please somebody!".
A passing Police vehicle stops, and the Police officers run up and grab Roy. One of the
Officers puts Roy's hands behind his back and then handcuffs them together.
"Please, you don't understand!, my friend, he is starving, and he is very sick!".
"Yeah sure buddy!", one officer replies as they walk him to the Police vehicle.
Roy looks at the Preacher and exclaims, "It is true Father!, you have to believe me, he
needs help!, he will die without food and shelter, and I have his Heart medicine too!".
The Preacher replies, "I am sorry son, you stole from God, and besides that, I do not
believe your story anyways!".
Roy replies, "But it is true Father!, I hollered for you several times, but nobody answered
me, and the food was there so...", he is then rudely interrupted by the Preacher
"Yeah, Yeah, sure buddy!".
"Do you want to press charges against him Father?", the Officer asks politely.
The Preacher picks up the bag of Groceries, with the clothes on top of it and replies,
"Yes I do!, I am sick and tired of People coming into my Church and stealing, and
vandalizing things!".
The Officer escorts Roy to the car, and opens the back door. "Father, please!, you can't
do this!, Please, Ernie could die!, I have his Heart medicine!".
"get into the car buddy!", the officer demands as he bends Roy's head down to keep him
from bumping it on the door jam.
"Do not let me see you around here again young man!", the Preacher exclaims as he
walks away.
The Police drive away, as the Preacher carries the food and clothing into the Church.
On the way to the Police Station, the Officers happen to drive by the Park where Ernie is
sitting. Roy looks at Ernie with tears in his eye's as he sits waiting in the Park, up against
the cold tree where Roy told him to wait. Even from the road, he can see Ernie trembling.
"Officers, there he is!, my friend!". Roy exclaims as he tries to point with his face, since
his hands are locked behind his back. "Yeah, Yeah Buddy!, save it for the Judge!", the
Officer in the passenger seat replies hastily.
"But Officer he.." Roy begins to explain, but is rudely interrupted by the other Officer
"Clam up mister, or you'll be eating this Billy club for dinner!".
Roy's eyes turn red, as they can no longer hold in the immense force of what seems to be
A broken dam of tears, as the tears flow down his cheeks, and he takes one last look at his
lifetime Friend. Thunder claps loudly as rain begins pouring down from the dark, clouds
above, and running down the green leaves on the huge Tree, then dripping down on Ernie's
cold body.
"Please hurry Roy!, I'm sc..sc...scared!", Ernie exclaims in his childish, stuttering tone of
voice, which was caused during the war from shell shock. Ernie sits patiently, as his body
shivers relentlessly from the wet cold, his skin still pale.
MEANWHILE,.... In another part of Town
A maid carrying six beautiful crystal Champaign glasses, walks into the Dining room of
A very big Mansion, which is owned by her Employers, Mr. and Mrs. Berkeley. The
Mansion is as big as imaginable, which has crystal chandeliers hanging down over A huge
Dining table. There are six place settings on the dining table. The plates made of fine
China, and the silverware is of an elegant Sterling Silver. The Maid sets one of the glasses
next to A dinner setting, then the next, and on down until she has only two Champaign
glasses left. Then she sets one more down, and suddenly Mrs. Berkeley, A tall sassy
Blonde haired Woman rushes into the room and startles the maid. The maid drops the last
Champaign glass on the beautifully tiled floor.
"Damn it!, cant you do anything right?!?", Mrs. Berkeley screams in her usual tense tone
of voice. "I am sorry miss, you startled me!", the frightened maid exclaims.
"Well, don't just stand there!, get A broom and clean it up!" Mrs. Berkeley shouts
"And I hope that you know this is coming out of your wages, now you will have to buy me
A complete set!".
"Yes Ma'am" the frail little maid replies as she walks over to A closet and gets A dust
pan and A broom.
Mrs. Berkeley stands and watches as the frightened maid cleans up the glass, then Mrs.
Berkeley says, "I don't like that outfit that your wearing!, I told you that the Mayor is
coming over with his wife and A couple of his friends for dinner tonight!, don't you respect
me enough to wear something A little less skimpy than that?!!".
"But Ma'am, this is the outfit that your husband gave me to wear when I started here!",
the maid exclaims almost in tears.
"I didn't ask you where you got it now did I?, you got paid yesterday!, go into town when
your finished here and buy something more respectable!", Mrs. Berkeley exclaims.
"Yes Ma'am!", the Maid exclaims as she walks towards the kitchen, with the full dustpan
in one hand, and the broom in the other.
Mrs. Berkeley follows her into the kitchen, and stops to talk to the cook, "I hope this
dinner that you are making is better than it was last time!, or you will be seeking
employment elsewhere!" Mrs. Berkeley states in A rude tone of voice.
"Yes Ma'am, the Dinner will be excellent!, I promise you!", the cook replies .
"Well, good!, it had better be, the guests should be arriving in about three hours. And fix
your tie, I don't pay you to go around looking like Bozo the clown now do I? " Mrs.
Berkeley demands.
"No Ma'am, you do not!", the cook replies as he straightens his tie.
MEANWHILE.............at A house across town,
A family is sitting at the kitchen table playing A game of Monopoly. The dad is sitting
at one end of the table, the mother at the other end, their ten year old daughter is sitting on
one side of the table next to her twelve year old brother Ronny, and the oldest son, Scott,
whom is sixteen years old is sitting on the opposite side.
Scott becomes enraged at his little brother, Ronny, because Ronny is winning the game
and taking his property . Scott throws his playing cards and Monopoly money at his little
brother, and yells "Here!, take them you little jerk!, I didn't want to play anyway!".
Ronny becomes sad and replies "I 'm sorry Scott!, I didn't want you to get out, that's why
I offered to take the purple property for what you owed me".
The Mother looks at Scott in disbelief and says, "Scott!, what is getting into you?!?".
Scott rises from the table and replies "I quit!, keep my property!".
"Just A minute Scott!", the Mother demands, "A year ago you were reading the Bible to
your little brother, now you anger at him without cause!, why?" she asks putting her hands
on her hips.
"I know Mother", Scott replies sarcastically, "Whoever is angered at his brother without
cause shall be in danger of the Judgment!, Matthew 5: 22. See short stuff isn't the only
one around here who can memorize Bible versus!" Scott exclaims as he walks out of the
Kitchen.
The Mother starts to go after him and the Dad grabs her arm and says, "let him go".
"I do not know what has gotten into him lately!, he has been irritable like this every since
he started hanging around those friends of his!", the Mother exclaims in A confused tone
voice, then she walks out of the room to chase after Scott.
Ronny says, "I'm sorry dad!, I didn't mean to make him mad!, I don't know why he has
been so jumpy lately".
"Well, he certainly hasn't been as Jolly as Santa Clause lately!, has he?" the Dad replies.
"Speaking of Santa Claus dad, I have always wondered why you and Mother have always
told us that there is no such thing as Santa Clause, I mean, most Parents tell their children
that Santa Clause brought them their gifts!, why didn't you and Mother?" Ronny asks in A
curious tone of voice.
"Well Son," the Dad replies, "We did not want you Children to start out thinking of
Christmas as A time to receive Gifts from someone whom does not exist, rather, we
wanted you Children to know that it was Christ's Birthday that we were celebrating.
It is A time to remember that our Saviour was born, and the reason that we give gifts to
other people is to show our spirit, the spirit of giving, like the three wisemen gave gifts to
Jesus when he was born. If we would have let you believe in Santa Clause, then all you
would have been thinking about is what kind of nice gifts you were going to get!.
It does not matter what kind of gifts that you receive, or who spent the Money, or how
much money they spent, it is the idea that matters, not the gift. You see, some people do
not even believe in celebrating Christmas at all!, because they believe that too many people
forget the true meaning of Christmas. They get too wrapped up in receiving gifts, rather
than giving as the wise men did, and they get too wrapped up in eating all of that food, and
celebrating together for all the wrong reasons.
So every Christmas morning I pray to Jesus and wish him A happy birthday!, that is my
way of showing him that I do realize that it is in his name that we rejoice at Christmas time.
We should also remember that it says in the Bible, in Acts (20:35) that it is more blessed to
give than to receive.
"Oh, now I see dad! Dad, can I read you my Christmas poem now?", Ronny asks with
excitement.
"Sure Son, go and get it!", the Dad replies in his loving tone of voice as he pats his Son on
the arm. Ronny hops out of his chair and goes into the hallway and gets A school binder
off of A end table, and on his way back into the Kitchen his Mother comes up from behind
him and tickles him. "Ha! ha, stop, I'm going to read you and Dad my Christmas poem"
Ronny exclaims laughing and trying to wiggle away from his Mother.
"Allright sweetheart", the Mother replies, and then follows him back into the Kitchen and
takes her seat at the dining room table.
Ronny digs his Christmas poem out of the binder, and then reads it outloud as his Mom,
Dad, and little sister listen.
CHRISTMAS
Never will I forget the day he was born
starlight glittering on Christ laying bare
he came to A cruel World, its love was torn
hatred and ignorance everywhere
He grew up to make his Father proud
taught people how to believe and love
his long white robe, white as A cloud
A walking symbol of peace, such as A dove
Tormented and shamed for spreading the word
yet God's word he carried on
his words meaningful, the best ever heard
golden and true, sparkling as dawn
I wonder now this Christmas day
who really knows what it is about
still today greed slips the meaning away
yet I love him without A doubt
Remember the true spirit of Christmas
don't forget the first six letters CHRISTmas
"That is A beautiful poem Son!, did you write that yourself ?", the Mother asks with A
tear of joy running down her rosy cheek.
"Yes mother I did!, I am going to make A couple of copies and mail them to Grandma
and Grandpa for Christmas" Ronny exclaims happily.
"can I read you just one more?", Ronny asks in an excited tone of voice. "Sure honey,
go ahead!" the Mother replies joyfully.
"This one is titled, 'EASTER' Ronny exclaims.
The Dad laughs and replies, "That's my boy, always thinking ahead!".
Ronny blushes and replies, "Yeah, but I have to wait until Easter to mail this poem".
"Go ahead and read it sweetheart!", the Mother says with an encouraging voice.
Ronny reads the next poem outloud.
EASTER
Easter is here A time to remember
the second most important time of the year
the first of course is his birth in December
close to our hearts his memory is dear
Open now your heart too!
and let his love flow in
like A rapid river carrying A canoe
struggling to it's destiny time so thin
His empty tomb was not magic
simply our Father God trying to reach us
his son died A death for us that was cruel and tragic
put through trials but never did he put up a fuss
Now today let's worship him
for what he went through for us all
let not our memories be so dim
wake up now before we fall
Have A Happy and meaningful Easter
God bless us all!
"Oh Ronny!", the Mother stands up and hugs him, "I am so proud of you, I would like
for everyone in the Church to hear these poems!", she exclaims as she eases back into her
chair and smiles at him.
"Those poems were very good Son, I am proud of you! Now do you see why we taught
you the true meaning of Christmas?" his dad asks with A smile.
"Yes sir, I sure do, and I am glad you did! It does not seem right for all of those Parents
to lie to their Children about Santa Clause!, it isn't fair to Jesus, or the kids!" Ronny
exclaims as he puts his poems back in the Binder.
"What about me Mommy?", little Karen asks as she reaches for Ronny's binder "Ronny
helped me write A poem too!", she exclaims graciously.
"Well of course we want to hear it dear!", the Mother replies with A smile, but after this
one you Children need to go get ready for bed.
"Ahhh, Maaa!", Ronny cries as he takes the poem he and his sister wrote out of his
binder and hands it to little Karen to read.
Karen takes the poem and reads it out loud.
WHY DID GOD PUT THORNS ON ROSES ?
Why did God put thorns on Roses?
I think not to poke our noses
maybe the earth's beauty he wanted to preserve
he figured those who destroy it the poke they deserve
thorns to preserve beauty you might ask
yet this was Gods simplest task
he made trees for shade and to filter the air
yet we cut them down like we don't care
he put needles on porcupines for protection
to keep them from harm I'd say from recollection
he gave animals sharp teeth and claws
he gave the alligators their mighty jaws
he made the human body all so perfect
he gave us special organs to filter defect
God gave all living things its own defense
so lets help protect it, it's common sense!
"That was cute honey!, how did you ever think of that one?", the Mother asks as she
stands up and hugs her. "Well," Karen replies, "we have to write an essay on nature to
read in School tomorrow, so Ronny helped me!".
The Dad says, "That was A very good poem honey, however I am not so sure that your
teacher will accept it as an essay".
"Oh she will, Mrs. William's is really nice!" she exclaims with A smile as she kisses her
Dad good night, and then her Mother, and leaves the room.
Ronny says "Hey, aren't we going to finish our game?"
"No son, it's about your bedtime, besides, I think we would all agree that you won!" his
dad replies with A smile.
Ronny hugs his Dad, and says, "I tried to tell her that was A poem not an essay, but after
reading my poems she was all excited, and I couldn't tell her no".
Ronny then hugs his Mother next, and then starts picking up the game pieces.
"That's all right son, we'll get it, Thanks anyway!" his dad exclaims with A smile.
"Are you sure that you do not mind dad?", Ronny asks.
"Not at all son, you must be tired after writing all of those poems!, you go on and get ready
for bed, besides, you were winning, and the winner never puts the game away!" his Dad
replies as he whisks his hand through Ronny's hair.
Ronny smiles, and leaves the room, then the Mother looks at the Dad and says, "I just do
not understand what is wrong with Scott lately, I mean we have always spent alot of time
with our Children, and listened to anything that they have to say!, I really do think that we
spend alot of quality time with our kids!, like today we played Monopoly with them, and
listened to the poetry.
My Parents never gave me the time of day!".
"Ronnie's Dad gets up out of his chair, walks over to his Wife, and hugs her, then replies
"It's probably just A phase that he is going through honey!, so don't worry yourself to
death, we are good Parents", he kisses her and then says with a smile, "and besides, I am
going to go upstairs and talk to him while you put the Monopoly game away!".
The Mother slaps him lightly on the shoulder, and replies with A smile, "Oh Youuuu, go
on before I change my mind and make you put it away!".
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