Gary's Redemption

By Michael Hodo

Second series of Samuel: A story about finding redemption through adversity.

It was a month since Katherine had seen Samuel. After their last encounter, they decided to just be friends. Regardless of their circumstances, both understood they had some wonderful times together and that was all it was going to be between them. She was very disappointed—but knew it was for the best; they needed to figure out God's plan for their lives. She wanted to continue her ministry at the local Methodist church helping the less fortunate, while Samuel pursued a partnership position on Wall Street. As she meditated on Amos 3:3: Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? She knew she'd made the right decision.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Hodo
• Release date: Nov 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781641361460

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 Prologue

It was a month since Katherine had seen Samuel. After their last encounter, they decided to just be friends. Regardless of their circumstances, both understood they had some wonderful times together and that was all it was going to be between them. She was very disappointed—but knew it was for the best; they needed to figure out God's plan for their lives. She wanted to continue her ministry at the local Methodist church helping the less fortunate, while Samuel pursued a partnership position on Wall Street. As she meditated on Amos 3:3: Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? She knew she'd made the right decision.

Katherine stood by the kitchen sink, putting plates into the dishwasher, and thinking about the last time she saw Samuel. Looking out her kitchen window, she noticed Gary walking down the street puffing on a cigarette with headphones on rapping to hip-hop music. She could hear him shouting and using profanity. It was a too early to be so loud, she thought. She found this disturbing—but not surprising. She knew he was rough around the edges but had a good heart.

Katherine remembered the long talks with Gary on her front porch sitting on the wooden swing chair. She felt she really understood him after he shared his failures and insecurities with her. His mom abandoned him and his older brother Marvin at a young age, and their dad was killed in a car accident on a New Year's Eve. He had a difficult time dealing with his father's death and being parentless—until his aunt took them in.

She promised their dad, during his various combat tours of duty, she would take care of them if anything happened to him.

It was unbelievable to the family that a drunk driver killed him and not the war, knowing the dangerous situations he was in as an infantryman in a combat zone.

Growing up as military brats, Katherine and Gary understood loss. It was the war that bound them together. They both were raised on military installations during wartime and endured the rigors of moving from base to base.

Katherine's father served three tours in Vietnam as a Green Beret and was wounded a couple of times. He never talked about his combat experiences with her mom. He learned to compartmentalize tragedy and draw on his faith and family. Katherine found this amazing—seeing his interaction with family and friends. Everyone thought he was the kindest guy on earth. Gary, compared to her dad, was the opposite. He wasn't able to put his combat past behind him and seemed aloof and unsympathetic when relating to people.

While her eyes continued to follow Gary's movements, he walked up to her next-door neighbor's house and began knocking loudly on their front door. Katherine watched him until her cell phone alarm suddenly began beeping and realized it was time for her to leave for school. This was the day students had midterm exams, and she had to be there on-time. She didn't have time to dwell on Gary's shenanigans. After what he did to Samuel (blackmailing him over a drug video), she wanted nothing to do with him. She knew he was a troubled young man who wasted his God-given talents. He always associated with the wrong crowd and got into trouble. This was evident when he served five years in the state penitentiary for armed robbery and auto theft.

The second Katherine finished putting plates in the dishwasher, she said good-bye to her mom, and hurried out the front door