It was about mid-November. The sky was dark and the air was cold. It was a sad day for old Jack. Not because the weather was gloomy, but because the love of his life, the only desire from eight grade to senior year to yesterday.
She was one for the books. Honor grad in high school, just about every scholarship, and top three in grads collage. Now today she has been a very powerful and successful Lawyer. Yet she was under the impression that Jack was a truck driver who drives around a lot. Needless to say, this wasn’t true. Jack was a very bad person. A thug. His boss sent him to all corners of the state to “take care” of people. That’s why his cover story worked so well, because he really would drive and be away for a long time. Just not driving the big semi. He still had one though, and his boss played along to make her believe he was a trucker. Him and jenny, his beloved, owned a mansion. They had all the cool cars and just about anything you could think of. They had the good life.
Things were going so well, he felt on top of the world and nothing could stop him from being so happy. But that gloomy, leaf drenched fall morning, he just walked and walked, with his face hung over. Jenny was at home, gathering her things, and getting ready to leave to stay with her sister and her husband.

***


Meanwhile, in South Baron Middle School, Bryant was busy counting the seconds left until they were dismissed to recess. Mrs. Barton sat at her desk, hands holding her face in place, and her bright red glasses sinking down to her mouth, staring intently at the clock waiting to get out of the dreaded classroom and into the staff room. Finally, in what seemed like the longest four seconds in history, the bell finally rang. The door flooded like a title wave out into the hallway.


Outside, in the recess yard, Bryant sat waiting for his beloved. Finally, she came from the flood. She was very short, long brown hair, brown eyes, dark blue jeans and blue aeropostle sweater. She walked with a smile and her hands in her pocket so her thumbs stick out. She sat right next to him, leaning against his shoulder. Eventually he gets an arm around her waist as the always have done at recess.


They talked and talked, until she lay in his lap. Out in the field not far from them, the other boys were playing catch with the football. Then one of them had thrown it way over this receiver’s head, heading right for them. In an instant, Mary’s face became very red, and looked to Bryant for comfort. He only laughed as she glared and go up to walk away. Bryant became confused at how fast it happened.

Across the street, in plain sight of the students at recess, he quickly understood the incident. He became very angry at the girl and felt sorry for Bryant. He thought she should be lucky to have him like his ex was lucky to have him. She felt his gun as he walked up to the school. Taking aim, he took on last breathe before pulling the trigger. Bryant caught a glimpse before he took action. He tackled her to the ground, throwing her and himself to the ground. She was confused and trying to break free of his grip, but it was no use. One shot rang, sending everyone in shock. One single shot into the leg made Bryant loose his strength and everything went black for him. He had just saved her life.


Years later, after this incident, Bryant moved on to be very successful, having Mary at his side. After a while, jack was able to befriend his victim, learning a lot from him. The moral of this story is to value your friends while you still have them, in bad times or good, because you may need them in the future.