A young boy’s Father was murdered when he was only six years old.

Before his murder, it was only the boy & his father for as the mother decided to venture into another relationship & leave her family behind.

The boy was forcefully placed in foster care when nobody could get in contact with his mother, or anybody else in the family.

He was there for four years, going through hell with other dysfunctional children as well as having troubling times in school & realizing his father would never return to him destroyed his happiness.

Until one day, a married couple, who viewed him as a diamond in the rough, adopted him. They took him to their beautiful home & kept him under their wings.

Each birthday he had & birthday his father would have had from then on, he would visit his grave & speak about his journeys through life as if somewhere above he were listening every time. Crying out how much he misses him & how he will one day see him soon.

But every year that passed, deep in his heart was a growing desire for vengeance against the man responsible for his death, having him go through those hellish years in foster care, & going through the rest of his life without the man that swore to protect him until his last breath. The man that gave him life & was always there for him.

The boy believed the man responsible was still out there. And he would wish the absolute worst of things to happen to him should he still be alive.

The pureness in his heart, however, would always prevent him from making irrational decisions. Almost as if it would be the presence of his father to stop him.

On his twenty-first birthday, he visits his father’s grave yet again…..

“Look at me pop. I’m a grown man now. See these muscles? Yeah I’ve been working out too. I’m almost done college pop. I thought it would be hard like everyone says, but that’s only if you don’t pay attention & study. The parties do be tempting, but ya boy knows how to avoid all that nonsense. I know you’d expect better from me. But pop, I been saying that I’m going to avenge you. And I will. I’m going to find the man that took you from me pop. I’m going to find him & end him like he ended you. I’m going to make him pay for what he did to us. I will do whatever it takes now pop. I’m not a child anymore. I can make it happen. And when I do, you will be proud of me.”

A man was standing a few tombstones down behind the boy & his father’s.

“I didn’t want this.” He speaks

He jumps up & turns immediately. Startled by his presence.

“But I had no choice.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your name is Victor….right?”

He gives the man a frightening look. “How…how do you know my name? Who are you?”

The man then got on his knees & took a deep breath:

“My son was dying. I lost my job. We couldn’t afford taking him to the hospital. We were about to be evicted from our home. I….I was so scared of losing him. I would go out & ask or help from anyone I seen. But nobody would help. Every minute that passed my son was getting worser & worser. It drove me crazy. I grew tired of people telling me no. So I….started taking things. I walked around with a gun demanding cash. And your father…..was one of those people.”

Victor feels his heart drop. The vengeance he carries deep within begins to overflow his brain. He slowly clenches his fist as if he was preparing to attack.

“He gave what he could. But I was desperate for more. I tried to get more from him & then he fought back. He knocked the gun out of my hand & we fought. He had a gun tucked away & when he tried to pull it out…..I quickly grabbed mine & fired. I was shaking so much. I heard him gasping for air, & then he said to me:

“Tell my son….I’m sorry.”

“I realized I made a terrible mistake. I didn’t want to kill anyone. All I wanted was help for my son & my family. I ran back home to find my son lying in his bed….gone. Gone from me. I had failed him. And after that, I turned myself in to the police for what I had done.”

Victor loosens his fist & slowly falls to his knees with tears rushing down his face.

“I served my dreadful years in prison. I was haunted every night for what I did. I was wrong for the choices I made trying to save my son. It had been my desire to atone for my sins ever since. I knew that not only did I take another man’s life, but I took away a father from his son. And the price I paid was losing my son. After I was released, I found out where my son was buried, which was here. And then I saw the name of your father & knew it was you. I did a terrible thing to you & constantly wished I could take it all back. I’m not asking you to forgive me. I just want you to understand….”

Victor wipes his tears & looks at the man. “My whole life…..I wished death on you. I wanted you to suffer. I wanted you to burn in hell. You made my childhood complete disaster. You took the only person that was their in my family away from me. You are the reason why my father cannot see me grow up. You said that you didn’t have a choice…..but we always have a choice. You had a choice before you approached him, before anyone. You had a choice before you threatened his life. And you had a choice before you pulled the trigger. But….you also had a choice to save your son or do nothing. You would have done anything to save him….just as my pop would for me.”

The man begins to shed his tears. “I didn’t choose to become a killer. The only thing that is left in me now, is the will to atone for the deadly sins I committed.” He drops his head in shame.

Victor stands up & slowly walks over to the man, clenching his fist again wishing he had a weapon or gun to avenge his father. But then he opens his hand & reaches out to him. “We aren’t perfect. But we are human. We make terrible mistakes in life. At least some people….understand their mistakes. I…..forgive you.”

The man looks up, feeling surprised yet relieved to hear those words from Victor. He wipes his tears & takes Victor’s hand to shake cleansing the hate Victor had for him murdering his father as well as the taint upon the man’s soul for his sin.

He stands up. “Thank you.” He says. Then he turns around & walks away from Victor.

As he was of a distance from Victor, a voice spoke through the wind to Victor.

“I’m proud of you….son.”

– Absolution