You
make mistakes you hope will not ruin your future. You wish for
forgiveness.
However,
it appears you may have to pay the price for your misdeeds. When your world seems
to be falling apart, in walks . . .
Ms. Fix-it
Dark,
gray clouds blanketed the sky. The early morning temperature dropped below 40°F.
Six “criminals” sat in a row in a bleak room facing an empty chair—the chair of
the person who would straighten out their lives.
Quivering,
they awaited the presence of the “Goddess” who would help them make amends for
the crimes they’d perpetrated and be free again to enter a world of their
dreams. They’d never planned to be caught, but they were.
Meesha
gazed at the ceiling, with tears in her eyes, for she had committed “murder”—killing
a creature who’d brought joy to others. “I’ll never do it again,” she moaned.
“I promise.” But could she be trusted?
Alexander
focused his attention on the ceiling light blowing in the wind coming into the
room from an open window, providing a chill that caused him to pray, for he had
preyed upon others who didn’t deserve it. “Oh, Lord, forgive me for my sins,
for I stole from the poor to fulfill my own desires. Please, God, listen to
me.”
Justin
held his head in his hands. He hadn’t planned on committing a crime. He never
thought he would leave the scene of an accident, which was his fault. His
vehicle smashed into a car parked in the parking lot. And he raced away. Moving
his head back and forth in his hands, he muttered, “I should’ve stayed there.
Or at least reported it. But I needed to get out of there—be free. However,
there were cameras in the parking lot and . . .”
Diana held her breath, hoping to make what
she expected to happen disappear. She’d hurt a friend, a very close friend. She
hated social media, but Lucy had pissed her off and she had to get back at
her—make her pay for her sins. So she did. She posted words that would change
Lucy’s life in the meanest of ways. She wrote, “Lucy, you are a witch who needs
to be cursed and destroyed. Nobody should ever think you’re good again, for you
embarrassed me and, in return, I’m taking away your perfect life.”
Sammy
sat silently and stared off into space. A quiet guy, he murmured, “Not me. I
didn’t do it. At least not on purpose. They shouldn’t have left the door open.
Maybe I shouldn’t have gone in, but I did. I didn’t know she’d be naked. I
didn’t know.”
Sweet
Kennedy smiled, for she felt she’d get away with just a slap on the hand. She
could handle that. She’d just borrowed the key to the storeroom. Curiosity got
the best of her, and she went in and walked out with something that intrigued
her. But the security guard was standing outside the door when she exited. “I’m
going to put it back. I’m going to put it back. Just give me a chance,” she shrieked.
However, he didn’t listen.
What
they were facing they didn’t know. Would they just get released on their own
recognizance? Or would they pay for their misbehavior with a punishment they
believed they didn’t deserve. And they thought, Why are six of us here
together. We have nothing to do with each other—absolutely nothing.
“How
long do we have to stay here?” Alexander asked.
“Who
knows?” Meesha responded.
“Let’s
just leave,” Justin stated emphatically.
“If
we do, they’ll come after us and bring us back, won’t they?” Diana asked,
frustrated.
Sweet
Kennedy smiled. “I have a plan,” she whispered.
“That’s
going to get us into more trouble than we’re already in,” Sammy whined.
“Well,
what’d you do, Sammy?” Meesha asked.
“It’s
none of your business.”
“Maybe
it is. If I knew, perhaps I could help.”
“No
way, lady, am I going to share anything with you,” Sammy stated, with anger in
his voice. Being someone who kept to himself, this was out of character.
If
somebody doesn’t come in soon to start this party, I want to make my call,”
Justin shouted.
“We
haven’t been arrested, have we?” Diana queried.
“We
might as well have been. We’ve been here for over two hours,” Meesha chanted.
“Is
the security guard still at the door?” Sweet Kennedy questioned.
“Yeah,
I think so. I see a shadow in the door
window,” Alexander answered.
“I
hear voices in the hallway,” Justin said, with some concern.
“Can
anyone make out what they’re saying?” Meesha inquired.
“No,
they’re talking very softly,” Diana stated.
Then
there was silence. Nobody moved. They sat and waited for someone to enter the
room. It seemed like hours had passed, and then the door began to squeak.
The
crew of six, seated rigidly in their seats, focused their eyes in the direction
of the door. It slid open and Ms. Delaney sauntered in, accompanied by the
security guard. The guard moved to the rear of the room and stood there poised
to act, if needed.
“Let
me have your attention, please,” Ms. Delaney stated.
With
their eyes focused on the front of the room, all six “criminals” listened
anxiously for what was coming next. They had no idea what to expect.
“Hello.
I’m not sure any of you know why you had to be here today. And I’m sorry you
had to wait so long. But my previous meeting ran longer than expected.”
“We
all did something wrong. Didn’t we?” Sweet Kennedy asked.
“What
are you talking about?” Ms. Delaney responded.
“Didn’t
you arrest us?” Sammy queried. “The security guard brought us here.”
“Well,
yes, I asked him to. But arrested, no. I need your help.”
“With
what? And why us?” all six inquired in unison.
“Your
teachers nominated you to be on our new student futuristic council.”
“New
what?” Alexander yelled.
“A
leadership council to help fix what is broken at our school. Not things, but
rules and regulations that may not be working as well as they should be. I did
this a number of years ago and it made things a lot better. That’s how I became
‘Ms. Fix-it.’ Now times have changed and we have to see what needs to be done
to make our school better, as we move into the future.”
What
had just happened rattled the minds of the six students in ways they didn’t
expect. And . . .
Meesha
thought, but I killed that beautiful frog in biology class. She admitted
this and felt better.
Alexander mumbled, “I
did take that dollar bill I found on the street that was meant for the hobo asking
for money.” He went back to the same street and placed three dollars in a poor
man’s hand.
Justin
believed, my bicycle did scratch that car in the school parking lot. I was
wrong to leave without reporting it. Finding the car, he left a note on the
windshield with his phone number.
Diana
murmured, “What can I do to make Lucy feel better?” She called and apologized.
Sammy
admitted he was wrong to have walked through that open door, but he mumbled,
“Then I discovered the naked woman on the other side was a stripper.”
And
Sweet Kennedy did put back what she had taken from the storeroom.
Therefore,
none of the six would serve time in prison. Being on the council the following
year made each of them responsible for making their school a better place. And they
all graduated, went on to college, and never committed another “crime.”
Copyright © 2025 Alan Lowe. All
rights reserved.
