FEARLESS

Chapter 7

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Mark 8:36

Chapter 7

"So, has Olen walked you through the ceremony?" Dustin asks as we wait for the celebration to begin.

"Yes." I reply, my voice void of emotion.

"Good" he says nodding but not really paying attention.

We are standing in a tunnel that leads into the celebration hall. Once everyone is gathered there Dustin will enter.

Dustin has arranged for Olen to walk in from the other side as he walks in from ours. Dustin will give some sort of speech about how proud he is of his son then Olen will give a similar speech in which he is expected to say what a great father Dustin is to him. Then he is to express his excitement on this new step he will be taking and my entrance will be announced.  I will walk in from the other side of the stage and from there I have been given no details besides the fact I will be expected to speak. No script or outline just the memory of Dustin gazing at the picture of his son. Whatever I do I must not put my closest friend in jeopardy.

"Well, see you on stage." Dustin says after an awkward silence.

"Yeah, you too." I say trying hard not to spit it out as harsh as I feel like doing.

Surprisingly I don't find myself to be nervous. I have never been put in the spotlight and Dustin seems to think I should be nervous but I can't make myself be. I keep thinking that I don't even know the people, why should I care what they think of me? Other than that the only two words running through my brain are Olen, Matthew, Olen, Matthew. I have no one but those two. They truly are the world to me and I am being threatened with losing both of them.

If I get traded to the O's with Matthew, being the male he will probably be made the example and me being the “weaker sex” will just be tortured threatened and 'housed'.

If I go without him I will have no idea of how Dustin is treating him here.

If I'm traded alone I will still worry about him and I will worry about Olen, scared of how Dustin will treat them.

No matter what situation I imagine myself placed in I will be hurt because I have ties to two young men who I know would both do anything they can to help me. Olen is my main concern though because it is his own father.

How that must hurt to have his father do things like this to him. How can he stand it? What will he do?

Those two thoughts worry me greatly. Matthew he is strong. He will manage. Olen though, he is a new Christian. He doesn't have years of faith, trials, and perseverance. How will he hold up against everything?

The lights go dim. There must be at least two hundred people sitting at the tables. All dressed in either drab gray or bright white uniforms.

"Hello everyone" booms Dustin into an amplifying device. "Thank you for gathering here tonight."

Like they had a choice. I think.

"You all know why we're here right?" He asks.

"Yes!" says everyone excitedly. No say I to myself.

"To celebrate a job well done by my son!"

His declaration is accepted with a round of applause.

"Thank you. Now I'd like to tell you all a little bit about Olen. He has been the best son anyone could ask for. He is loyal to the cause. He is in good standing with all the counselors here. He has always focused on the one goal. The goal of bettering himself so that he may make you just as good a Dustin as I have someday.