Pay It Forward

A Speeding Ticket

PROLOGUE

Shaun MacGregor could not believe his luck. All he'd done was broke a few laws. Speeding should have warranted him a few hefty fines but no, he ended up with Judge Sandra Munoz, the one judge that he hated the most. Her decision to throw out his violations surprised him, and then she added her conditions. He had to do six months of community service. Judge Munoz was piloting a mentoring service for wayward youth. She needed prominent members of the community to serve as mentors. As much as she hated to admit it, Shaun MacGregor was a perfect guy to mentor disadvantaged kids.



Shaun didn't have time for that. He had a multibillion dollar business to run. However, the idea of being a mentor intrigued him. So, he had to make a choice. Either he did the community service, or have a black mark on his record. If he mentored the youth, Judge Munoz would expunge the traffic violations from his record, and he'd start over with a clean slate. It didn't really matter to him. He could just as easily pay the fine, but this program peaked his interest.

Curiosity won and Shaun MacGregor became a mentor. How hard could it be? Reporting to the judge's chamber, Shaun was given his assignment. He was to mentor three of the toughest young men in the county for at least six months. He was told by the judge to report to the Warren County Detention Center on Monday morning where the youth waited to meet him.

He arrived Monday morning deciding to meet the young men, give them some money, boost their self-confidence, and then he'd return to his life. He did not expect to find three young men that would change his life and give him a chance to really make a difference.

Shaun MacGregor arrived at the center and was greeted by a bedraggled supervisor, Mr. Kersh.

"Look, these boys are a lost cause. I don't know what that judge is thinking. In all honesty, Mr. MacGregor, you won't be able to help them. They are considered delinquents. Some of the things they've done... Let's go to my office and look at their files." Kersh suggested impatiently, as is he wanted MacGregor to just go.

However, Shaun had a reason for being there, and this man's actions incited his desire to stay even longer. They arrived at Kersh's cluttered office. Files, boxes, and reports littered the small space. Clearing a chair, MacGregor sat at a small table while Kersh presented him with three overstuffed files. For a moment he wondered, What am I letting myself in for?

Kersh stopped talking and let him peruse the documents. Kersh hated when bureacratrs did things like this. They'd come in trying to do good, but in the end the boys suffered. These kids had gone through enough, but he didn't have the authority to stop the do-gooders that had no idea what these kids went through.

Deciding to ignore Kersh's glare, Shaun started reading about his charges. See, what most people didn't realize is that he wasn't born rich. He'd worked his way to where he was. Even though his wife had money, Shaun earned his own. He never took a handout, never begged, and worked for everything he ever needed or wanted. His father-in-law forced him to take a job in Lang Corp, because he threatened to disinherit his wife, leaving her penniless. Shaun still refused, because he worked and could support his family. He gave in when the old man promised him that the company would go to the children born into the family and that his wife would never want for anything.

He had been on his own since he was fifteen years old. So if anyone understood these young men, he believed he did. He knew what it was to fight for everything. He was not a stranger to hard times and struggles. So despite what Kersh thought, Shaun knew he was what these boys needed.