The Thief Redeemer (27 page)
Read The Thief Redeemer Online
Authors: Leigh Clary Abdou
I haven’t said a word because I’m letting her do all the
talking. I’ve said everything I need to say in the letters. Today I need to
hear what she has to say.
“And then I met with my dad and he brought it all into
prospective for me. So, I had to make a decision. Was I going to be all in or
out for good?” She looks up at me with those blue eyes, and I’m lost again. How
does she have this power over me?
“What happened with Nathan?” I hate to bring his name up in
our moment, but I need to know.
“We broke it off. It wasn’t serious, but he figured out I
was still in love with you.”
My heart stops beating but I try my damnedest not to display
my emotions. “You’re still in love with me?”
She slowly nods her head. “If you’ll take me back, Brandon,
I promise to be there for you. I know this has got to be hard on you, too, and
I lost sight of
us
. I was only focused on me. I’m sorry.”
I grab her into my arms and bury my face into her neck. She
smells just like I remember. I try not to suffocate her with my embrace. I’m
just too excited that she’s back. I hear her start to cry and notice a few
tears of my own. I smell her hair and run my hands down her back. I’m trying
not to hurt her, but I don’t think I can keep my hands off her body. Not in a
sexual way, but in a way like she’s my air to breathe.
Claire has returned to me.
“Claire. Do not apologize. We had a crazy start. We are both
to blame and commend in this relationship. I’m just glad you’re back. Please
tell me you’re back for good.”
She starts to run her fingers in my hair and kisses my
forehead. “Brandon, we will need to take things slow and start over. Do you
think you can do that?”
“We’ll do whatever you need, Claire. I’ll take you on dates,
and we can learn about each other. Neither of us will be a prisoner this time
around. We’ll be side by side in this relationship. We can start over. I can be
a good boyfriend, Claire. I swear I can. I love you, too, Claire. It was love
at first sight.”
She giggles and I see that light I love return to her eyes.
I lean in for another embrace and slightly kiss her neck. She lifts her chin to
widen the access as I bury my nose into her hair. Oh, how I’ve missed her
scent.
“Brandon.” She whispers my name and I pull back to look in
her eyes. “Do you regret anything between us? I know we started off on the
wrong foot and it’s been a rollercoaster ride ever since, but do you have any
regrets?”
I think for a minute before deciding to pour out my heart.
This time it will be different between us. I can feel the change circling
around in the atmosphere. This time around, we will be partners, and this time
around, I can be the man she deserves. This time around, I will be the good
guy.
“I don’t regret anything, Claire. If I had to do it all over
again, I would. Maybe a different way would have been more ideal, but we can’t
look back and re-wish the past. I want to focus on the future…and you are my
future. I’ll give you everything I have, Claire. This isn’t saying much, but
I’m a changed man. I’m a changed man because of you and because of your love.
Your compassion is the reason I’m standing here today and not dead.”
I see her eyes glisten with water while strong emotions
overtake my body. She’s really here. She’s chosen me, and I’m allowed to be
part of her life. I’m the luckiest man alive.
“Brandon?”
“Yeah.”
“Kiss me,” she whispers.
She doesn’t have to ask me twice.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON IS upon us. I stand
dutifully at Marcus’s grave. I wipe my tears away and take a deep breath. What
an emotional weekend. I can’t believe Claire gave him a proper burial…for me.
This girl has done more for me than anyone else ever has. I’m more in love with
her today than I ever was when we first met. I’m a believer that Claire’s “love
at first sight” definition is true.
Time grows love.
I wonder what Marcus would think of me now? I smile at the
thought because I’m sure he wouldn’t recognize me. Jail will do that to you.
I’m a different man today, but I’m a
good
different. I’m a matured man
with a controlled temper and a reasonable head on my shoulders. These past five
years have been a learning experience. I’m a secure man with renewed priorities
and a new lease on life.
I glance once more at Marcus’ headstone and tightly squeeze
the hand of the woman standing next to me. She is beauty and she is light.
I’ve fought like hell for her. I wrote poems, letters, and
everything else you could imagine to display my love. I thought I might have
lost her for a while, but I never lost hope. Today, as I stand with her and my
brothers, I know it was all more than worth the effort.
I look inward at myself to see a man in his thirties with
years beyond his age. A beautiful angel stands firmly beside me. I also see
twenty-three year old twins with college degrees and solid jobs. I’m so proud
of my brothers for all they’ve done and accomplished. Our parents would be
beside themselves if they saw us today.
Words can’t describe the feeling of family. There’s no
definition that does it justice.
The past fifteen years of my life have been a rollercoaster
of love, loss, and pain. Yet, I’m always assured of love’s existence and second
chances.
People can be redeemed. All it takes is love and encouragement
from the right person. Because I made the right decision, I will finally be
able to fulfill all her dreams…as well as my own. It’s ironic that a life full
of wrong decisions and wrong turns can be redeemed by one right decision. She
saved me from myself.
She is the redeemer of thieves. I turn to her and pull out a
piece of paper that I wrote a poem on last night. My brothers have walked away,
giving Claire and I the space we need.
“Can I read you something?”
“Of course.”
I open the paper and stare at what I’ve written. It’s
amazing how you can sum up your life inside the words of one poem. While
writing to Claire, I discovered the hidden mystery of script. I discovered how
words and emotions I couldn’t express through speech could be formulated directly
into poems and lyrics. If my life could be understood in seven short
paragraphs, this is what it would be.
It has taken me thirty-three years to arrive at this moment,
but today I stand here in a place of peace. I will no longer live an angry life
full of unforgiveness and hate.
Over the past five years, I have finally made my peace with
God.
“Claire, I’m in love with you. You showed me the light. You
gave me a second chance when nobody else would. You believed in me.”
I struggle to start, but relax as the words take on a life
of their own.
“I
survey
the man as he hangs from the tree-
I see he’s a criminal, just like me.
Should I ask him to show me the way?
My life is a mist, ticking away.
I
question
the man as he hangs from the tree-
“Who is to blame for this decree?”
I don’t like his answer, he’s made a mistake!
So, I act on my own, giving others my fate.
I
scream
at the man as he hangs from the tree-
Where lies his compassion, does he even see me?
I hurl at him insults and more, as I swear.
His response is to bow his head in prayer.
I
ignore
the man as he hangs from the tree-
I fight for survival; I can never be free!
He seems not to care of my life’s decrease-
And yet he continues to offer me peace.
I
stare
at the man as he hangs from the tree-
His answer
was
right…my sin is of me.
I’ve wasted so long passing the blame-
Maybe
I
do hold the key to my shame.
I
gaze
at the man as he hangs from the tree-
Faith, hope and love, in a beautiful sea.
Peace is delivered in the form of a dove-
But he reminds me, the greatest is love.
I
accept
the man as he hangs from the tree-
Second chances exist amongst misery.
I’m starting to think, life is not what it seemed.
The irony’s not lost, a thief can be redeemed.”
I turn to face Claire, placing a kiss her on her forehead.
Five years ago when I turned myself in, I was wrong.
Today
starts the beginning of the rest of my life.
LEIGH CLARY ABDOU is a graduate from
the University of Georgia and wrote her first book in the third grade. That
story, along with a collection of poems and other books, can still be found in
their original location - a purple Trapper Keeper.
When Leigh isn’t writing, she’s reading or watching reruns
of
Friends
and
Sex and the City
.
She considers being a wife and mother her life’s greatest
accomplishments.
The Thief Redeemer is her debut novel.
Leigh
loves to connect with her readers!