Chapter 25
It was late by the time Silas took Alejandro to the county jail and booked him.
“Damn Silas, I can’t believe you made him clean up that mess,” Bridges laughed.
“Yeah, he didn’t either. I just figured it wasn’t right for Paul to have to clean it up, so I had Mr. Munez do it since he was their ringleader,” Silas chuckled.
Bridges shook his head as he slapped Silas on the shoulder. “Well, you will probably catch some flack over it from those media people who were standing around, but I think it was a great idea.”
Bridges had watched the news reports of the violence in other cities when people believed the authorities mistreated them, so he hoped those gathered today at the grocery store were the last to come to town.
“I didn’t recognize anyone in that group. They were all from out of town, weren’t they?” Silas already knew the answer, but he hoped that he was wrong.
“Yeah, all of them were from out of town. Most of them came from the Houston area. Apparently, they’re part of that LaRaza group over there,” Bridges sighed, knowing what that meant.
“Damn, I was worried about that. I’m sure these won’t be the only ones to show up here. We need to prepare for more trouble because these people will not stop.”
Over the years, Silas had watched the riots on the television whenever a special interest group wanted to make a point. He like so many other Americans had watched helplessly, as groups of people terrorized cities by destroying property and attacking innocent people.
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same thing. I heard that you chased several of those news reporters off Chuck’s property earlier. You know that’s not going to make you very popular with them, right?” Bridges chuckled at the image of Silas going in there and breaking up their attempt to get a story.
Silas looked at Bridges and smiled, “I’m sure you’re right, but, to be honest, I don’t give a rat’s ass. Most of them only seem to be here to see that Chuck is convicted of murder. Well, I’m not going to allow that. Chuck did nothing wrong. He was well within his rights to protect his property, but more importantly, he was within his rights to protect himself.”
Bridges said nothing but merely nodded his head in agreement.
Silas looked down at his watch, “Damn, I didn’t realize how late it was getting. I had planned to stop by the hospital, but it’s too late now. I guess I better head home before Jen sends out a search party for me.”
Both men exchanged their goodbyes and Silas went out to his truck. Once inside, he called Jen to let her know that he would be home soon.
The room was dark with only a small light above the bed shining down on the small, figure lying peacefully on the bed. It had been an exhausting day for Craig and Shelia. Shelby had not regained consciousness, and it appeared that she still had no feeling in her legs.
Craig had finally convinced Shelia to go home and get some rest. She had protested, but he told her that she had to take care of herself, or she would be of no use to Shelby once she awoke.
Craig was beside himself with worry. How could something like this happen to her? She was always so strong and healthy. He closed his eyes and the memory of the last time they had gone out for their special Daddy/Daughter date replayed in his mind.
It was a beautiful spring day. The leaves filled the trees after the barren days of winter and flower blooms filled the fields. When he had asked her what she wanted to do for their special day together, she had said that she wanted to go fishing. He had laughed when she went out to her mother’s garden and dug up some worms. As she put them in an old coffee can filled with dirt, she kept telling them that she was going to take them swimming.
When Craig asked her why she told the worms that she was taking them swimming, she looked at him with a serious look and said, “Daddy, I know it’s wrong to lie, but I can’t tell them the truth. How would you like to know that you were going to be someone’s lunch?”
He couldn’t help but agree with her logic, and that was one of the special things he loved about her.
The night nurse came in to check Shelby’s vitals and IV feed. She looked at Craig and slowly shook her head.
He could see the sadness in her eyes, but when she reached out and gently touched Shelby on the forehead, he saw the tears forming in her eyes.
“Thank you for your care,” Craig whispered, fighting back his own tears.
“Mr. Fletcher, your daughter is in my prayers as she is in so many others. I have faith that she will recover fully from this and will be home with you and your wife soon.”
“Thank you,” Craig whispered, as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
Once the nurse had left the room, Craig reached up and took Shelby’s small hand in his. “Come back to us, baby. Mommy and Daddy miss you.”
It was a restless night for Silas. The events from the day before kept replaying in his mind, and he felt helpless to keep things under control. Jen was already up and getting ready for the day when he got out of bed and went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.
“Good morning, sleepyhead. I was just about to come and make sure you were still breathing,” Jen chuckled, as he walked into the kitchen.
“Damn, you seem to be in a good mood this morning. What happened?” Silas groaned as he sat at the table. He reached out and firmly grasped his coffee cup.
“Nothing special, I just feel good this morning. I prayed for Shelby last night, and I believe that today the Lord will answer all of our prayers for her. What’s got you all grumpy this morning?” Jen filled her coffee cup and joined Silas at the table.
“I’m sorry for my foul mood. It’s just all the crap going on lately. Hell, I even had to break up a riot at the grocery store yesterday.”
“I heard something about that. Did those people actually come from out of town?”
Silas had taken a sip of his coffee before he spoke again, “Yes. They came from the Houston area. I guess they’re part of that LaRaza group. You should have seen the mess they made in the store.”
“No one got hurt did they?” Jen hated the idea of protesters coming to Sandley and causing trouble.
“No, but it could have grown into something like that in no time. They terrified poor Paul. When I got there, people were trashing the store and Paul was hiding in his office.”
Jen looked at Silas and smiled, “Is it true that you made one of them clean up the mess before taking him to jail?”
Silas reached for his cup then grinned, “I sure did.”
“I heard that you had, but I wasn’t sure if it was true,” Jen smiled then took another sip of her coffee.
“Yeah, I figured since he was the leader of the group then he should be the one to clean up their mess. I have Paul adding up the cost of the damaged and destroyed goods so it will be available to the Judge.”
“Well, at least, no one was hurt,” she paused a moment, trying to think of the best way to tell him her fear.
“Silas, I’m afraid this can grow into something bad. We’ve both seen how things can grow out of control with the right nudge from the wrong people.”
He could see the fear in her eyes and, to be honest, he was worried about the same thing.
“I know I’m concerned about that too. I only know that we need to stand together and not allow anyone to come here and try to destroy what we’ve all built. Sandley is a nice town with good people living here. We have never discouraged new people from coming to live here, but they handled this the wrong way. It was wrong of OUR government forcing us to accept people who are in this country illegally. I understand that someone would want a better life for their family, but damn it, you need to obey the law first. Then to bring in gang members along with those people and try to convince the American citizens they are only harmless teenagers is a dangerous lie.”
Silas looked down at his coffee cup, fighting the urge to throw it against the wall in frustratio
n.
“I was watching on the news earlier that our government is now prepared to bring thousands of refugees from the Middle East and settle them around the country as well. Silas, I know bad things are happening all over the world, but we can’t take everyone in and provide for them. Most of us are struggling now as it is. I’m scared that if this type of thing keeps happening, we will reach a tipping point. Look how difficult it’s been on us. Can you imagine if this sort of thing were to happen all over the country?”
Silas was at a loss for how to respond. He had not heard of the refugees yet, but it did not surprise him in the least.
“I don’t want to think about that at this time. I have more than enough on my plate for now,” he groaned.
He was about to take another sip of coffee when his cell phone began to ring.
He looked at Jen with a look of dread on his face, and then he answered the call, “Hello. Oh, that’s wonderful. Yes, we’ll be there soon.”
Jen looked at Silas, wondering what could have brought a smile to his face, “Who was that?”
“It was Craig. Shelby’s awake, and she wiggled her foot,” Silas felt tears of joy forming in the corners of his eyes.
“Oh Silas, that’s wonderful. Come on, let’s get to the hospital.” Jen jumped up from the table and rushed to put on her shoes.
Silas tucked the cell phone in his pocket and went out to start his truck.
“Hi, Uncle Silas,” Shelby softly said as he walked into her room.
“Hi there, cutie. It’s good to see you awake. I missed seeing your beautiful blue eyes,” he smiled when he saw the looks of pure joy on Craig and Sheila’s faces.
Jen walked over to the bed then leaned over the bed railing and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I’m so glad you’re doing better, Shelby. Everyone has been so worried about you.”
Shelby smiled.
“The doctor said she’s doing much better. In fact, he said her chances of a complete recovery are excellent,” Craig said with an enormous smile on his face.
Jen gently placed her hand on Sheila’s shoulder. “You look better today. You had me worried yesterday.”
“I feel better. Craig made me go home last night and get some rest. I guess I was more tired than I realized because I fell asleep around 7 o’clock and slept until 6 o’clock this morning. I can’t remember the last time I slept that long. I had just gotten out of the shower when Craig called with the good news,” Sheila looked back at Shelby and smiled.
“The Lord answered everyone’s prayers and for that, I will be eternally grateful,” Sheila gave Shelby’s hand a gentle squeeze as she looked up at Craig with tears in her eyes.
“Well, we better get out of here before the hospital staff chases us out of here,” Silas teased.
“You keep getting better, okay?” Jen said as she stood to leave.
“I will,” Shelby quietly said.
Silas and Jen walked to the door with Craig following them. Once in the hallway, Silas turned to Craig, “Do they believe that she will walk again?”
Craig glanced back inside the room at Sheila and Shelby. “They seem to think so, but they warned us that it might take some time. It will be difficult, but I’m holding out hope that she’ll have a complete recovery. I’m just hoping all this worry and stress won’t have an effect on Shelia and her recovery. She was supposed to go have another treatment this week, but she’s refusing until Shelby is stronger.”
“That’s not good. She needs to keep up with her treatments,” Jen said.
Craig shook his head, “I know, but we all know how stubborn she is when it comes to the kids. She looks so weak; I’m worried about her.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Jen glanced back in the room at Sheila and Shelby.
Craig looked at Jen with tears in his eyes, “Pray.”