A young man down and out on his luck helps a young woman who is being harassed by dead-beats. His good deed comes back to haunt him when the police show up at his door.
“Stop it!” Trevor heard a woman’s voice cry. “Let me go, or I’ll call the police!” He looked over. On the other side of the street, under a street lamp, a young woman was backing away from three disreputable-looking men.
Trevor drew his coat closer around himself and tucked his chin down. It was none of his business. Didn’t he already have enough troubles of his own? Surely the woman had a cell phone; she could call the police, right?
“No,” said a quiet voice in Trevor’s mind. “It’s NOT right. A good man doesn’t walk away from someone in danger.” The voice sounded just like Trevor’s late dad, a kind, gentle man he’d idolized.
“Dad would never get into a fight!” Trevor tried to reason with his conscience. “He never raised his hand in anger.”
But his conscience shot right back: “No, but he’d raise his hands to protect the innocent!”
When things are at their worse, life has a way of sending unexpected opportunities.
Trevor sighed and turned back. The girl was still backing away from the men, and Trevor saw that they were herding her into a dark alley, away from the lights and out of view from the cars passing on the street.
As he came closer, he saw that the three were very young, maybe in their late teens, and wearing dark hoodies and the ragged jeans that seemed to be the hoodlum uniform.
One of them was fingering the girl’s long dark hair. “Don’t you want to party, pretty mamma? We’ll show you a good time…”
Trevor stepped between the man and the girl. “Move on,” he said. “She’s not interested.”
The guy looked belligerent. “Get out of the way, or you’ll get hurt,” he snarled.
Trevor looked him in the eye and smiled. “You are making a mistake,” he said softly. “You don’t want trouble.”
The other two guys stepped up beside their friend, but when they saw Trevor wasn’t backing down, they hesitated. “Last warning!” the leader screamed.
Trevor replied calmly: “Whenever you’re ready…”
The three men looked at each other and started backing away. Finally, they broke into a run and left, but the leader turned back and screamed: “This isn’t over!”
The young woman took Trevor’s hand. “Thank you!” she said. “I don’t know what would have happened…You saved me, but I’m afraid you might have trouble with those men…”
Trevor grinned and shook his head. How could he explain to this pretty, well-dressed girl that the hoodlums could add little to his misery? In the last six months, his entire life had fallen apart.
His wife of three years had asked for a divorce after he discovered she was cheating, and he’d had to move back in with his mother. His mother had started showing up at his work inebriated, making scenes.
Trevor’s boss had been sympathetic the first three times, but when Trevor’s mother insulted a customer, he was fired. So now he was alone, living with a harridan and unemployed.
What more could three hooligans take from him? So Trevor smiled and said: “Don’t worry, let me walk you home!”
The next morning he discovered the threats were not in vain. His mother burst into his room screaming. “What have you done?”
Trevor jumped out of bed. “Mom? What’s going on?”
“The police are here,” she screeched. “The police are in MY house, and they are looking for you!”
Trevor dressed quickly and walked into the sitting room where the policemen were waiting. “You’ve been accused of assault by three youths…”
The officer recited three names Trevor had never heard before. “They have witnesses, sir. You are under arrest.”
The policemen slapped handcuffs on Trevor and took him to the station. The three hoodlums were there, one of them had a black eye, and the other two sported bruises.
“That’s him, officer!” cried the leader. “He did it, and my mother and my sister saw it!”
“I didn’t lay a hand on these men,” Trevor protested. “They were harassing a young woman…”
“Who is this woman?” asked the officer.
Trevor blushed. “I don’t know, but I know where she lives. I walked her home.”
At that moment, another officer walked in and whispered to Trevor’s interrogator. The man put down his pen. “It looks like you are free to go!”
“I am?” asked Trevor, stunned.
“Yes,” the officer said. “Apparently, a witness has come forward and confirmed your story!”
When Trevor walked out of the police station, he saw the pretty young woman he’d rescued the night before standing in front of a limousine with a tall, well-dressed man.
“Daddy,” she said. “This is the man who rescued me!”
Trevor smiled. “It’s you! You are the witness!”
“Yes,” she said. “You saved me, and I couldn’t let you get arrested for being a hero! I’m Monica, and this is my father.”
“I’m Trevor. Nice to meet you!”
The man stepped forward and shook Trevor’s hand. “Thank you, Trevor,” he said. “I owe you! My silly daughter decided to walk instead of calling AAA when her car broke down. God knows what might have happened if you hadn’t jumped in!”
“It was my pleasure, sir,” Trevor said. “My father told me to stand up in the defense of the innocent, and that’s what I did.”
“So what do you do?” asked Monica’s dad.
“I’m unemployed,” sighed Trevor. “Looking for a job.”
“Maybe I can help you!” Monica’s dad said with a smile.
Two weeks later, Trevor started working for Monica’s dad, around the same time he started dating Monica. Three months later, he got his own apartment, and two years after that, he and Monica were married. Trevor’s entire life was transformed by one act of bravery.
