09-15-2014, 02:21 PM
The boy eventually brought his head up, and Jared knew he was getting somewhere. He was at least listening and had calmed down a bit. The boy wondered if he was scared and Jared nodded at the question.
Jared saw the boy's eyes light up at the offered snack, but the boy continued talking - saying he did bad things and he had left Kofi at the hospital.
Damn...Jared didn't know the fate of Kofi, and didn't know if the boy did either, but the way the boy became suddenly silent led Jared to believe that he did. Another reason the boy was upset - another reason that Jared was angry at the situation.
After the boy introduced himself - Jared definitely knew he was reaching Ekene now - Jared leaned down and gave him a quick side-hug. "I'm Jared. Nice to meet you Ekene. We all do bad things - what's important is to make it right if we can. If we can't then, we have to continue moving. Either way, we learn from it. But I can tell you don't want to talk about that right now, and that's okay. I want you to know though that if you want to, I'll listen and I won't judge."
Jared shifted away a little bit and unwrapped the snack. "It's snack time now anyways. Let's just enjoy our snack for awhile."
Jared broke the bar into two pieces - one about an inch long and the other maybe three inches. He had the smaller piece in his right hand and the larger in his left.
Jared lifted the smaller piece - "This one is for me."
He lifted the other piece. "And this one is for you. They look about even right?"
Jared gave Ekene an encouraging smile. It wasn't about fairness - Jared just wanted to see Ekene smile.
Jared saw the boy's eyes light up at the offered snack, but the boy continued talking - saying he did bad things and he had left Kofi at the hospital.
Damn...Jared didn't know the fate of Kofi, and didn't know if the boy did either, but the way the boy became suddenly silent led Jared to believe that he did. Another reason the boy was upset - another reason that Jared was angry at the situation.
After the boy introduced himself - Jared definitely knew he was reaching Ekene now - Jared leaned down and gave him a quick side-hug. "I'm Jared. Nice to meet you Ekene. We all do bad things - what's important is to make it right if we can. If we can't then, we have to continue moving. Either way, we learn from it. But I can tell you don't want to talk about that right now, and that's okay. I want you to know though that if you want to, I'll listen and I won't judge."
Jared shifted away a little bit and unwrapped the snack. "It's snack time now anyways. Let's just enjoy our snack for awhile."
Jared broke the bar into two pieces - one about an inch long and the other maybe three inches. He had the smaller piece in his right hand and the larger in his left.
Jared lifted the smaller piece - "This one is for me."
He lifted the other piece. "And this one is for you. They look about even right?"
Jared gave Ekene an encouraging smile. It wasn't about fairness - Jared just wanted to see Ekene smile.