The Unintended Consequences - 1. The Unintended Consequences

The Unintended Consequences

By W.L

Do actions have consequences? Or do consequences have actions? One man’s desire for power, another’s desire for peace, and their actions lead to bitter consequence.

It was your average mid-summer upper-90’s day in a certain city in the state of Georgia. The city dwellers were used to the heat; they’ve grown accustomed to it. Children were busy with their horseplay and summer activities, while their parents were attending to the drudgery of the daily grind. Travelers gawked at the historic sites and took pictures of every confederate flag they could find. They laughed occasionally due to jokes about social practices and perceptions of “backwardness” that they try to perceive, while ignoring the fact that they shared the same characteristics.

Outside a modest office building, a business man in his care was preparing to enter for a busy work day of sales reports and regional director evaluations. He had in his mind several items to bring up including problems with supply chain slowdowns due to the recent chicken scare and the public scrutiny over his company’s activities.

Unbeknownst to him, another man, far younger than him, had followed him with far mundane thoughts. He was drawn to action in his mind that cannot be reversed and it cannot be avoided. If a weed is not plucked from the garden the other flowers shall eventually be strangled to death. At this moment, second thoughts came and his conscience took hold.

“Stop!” his conscience told him. He thought about his actions and what he was preparing to do. He had debated this in his mind, what was there left to do? He had no other choice, except for one. He had already made certain arrangements and took the cause into his own hands. There was no going back, no retreat, nor surrender.

As the business man left his car, the man breathed heavily as he began to leave his own vehicle. Every step he took felt like an eternity, every pace an infinite regression of doubts, and every look daggers of suspicion on what he was preparing to do.

The businessman having deep intuition felt the man approaching him. He looked to his office building and winked for a guard to come outside. He could have ran, but he felt he was safe enough as the guard had drawn his weapon. Thus, he turned to face his pursuer.

The businessman glared at the spectacle before him, an average young man in his late teens with a faded polo shirt and dark blue jeans. He looked like many other young people that he had seen in the past with a slight difference, he looked desperate. There was a desperation in his eyes like that of a cornered animal waiting to pounce on its attacker one last time before the end.

The young man went down on his knees in a position reminiscent of prayer, “Please stop! Please stop hurting them! We mean you no harm; my people just want to live our lives in peace. We have no great agenda or desire of destructive purpose.”

The businessman eyes were fixed, “Child, I have harmed no one that the lord hath blessed. If you seek absolution, then merely give up your lifestyle and ask the lord to grant you peace.”

The young man shook his head and replied loudly for all around to hear, “I am not here to seek absolution from your words, I am here to seek peace and that you may leave my people be for we have done you no harm.”

The businessman frowning, “You’re very existence is an abomination according to the Lord. Now I ask you to leave” as he said those words the security guard approached the young man in the supplicating position.

The young man replied quickly and loudly before falling to the ground prostrating, “I have taken poison, Sir. If you desire my death, here and now, I shall give my life to you. I wish only to exchange my life for the lives of all those that shall follow. Stop your cruel acts and end the harmful hate.”

When the guard came to remove the young man on the ground, the businessman winced trying to determine if he should believe in his words. He did not want to believe that a sinner could be willing to give up his own life for others, nor could he fathom this being more than a publicity stunt.

The businessman ordered the guard, “Throw this trash out.”

The guard did as he was ordered and the young man barely giving a reaction of pain before he landed on the sidewalk out the office building. The travelers laughed at the sight, again complaining of the backwardness of the inhabitants, while doing nothing to help the young man, who they also thought would not have taken such extremes as he returned to his supplicating position outside the office building. The children passing by began calling him names that were chanted up and down the street for all to hear, but they did not pay him any heed or believed in his message of death. The adults were curious with the strange young man, some spitefully ridiculing him for perceived faults and others hurling their garbage of used napkins, plastic bottles, and other refuse at him.

Several hours went by much the same with the queer young man in his supplicating position covered in garbage with a stench that made it unbearable. The police came to the scene and told by onlookers of what had transpired. The police yelled at the young man, but he gave no reaction. They checked his pulse and realized that he was dead.

Frantic calls for ambulances and medical attention came too late. People languished over their actions that day, wishing they had taunted less. The businessman, seeing the turbulent turn this may take on his business, went to the funeral of the young man. At the funeral, his family was weeping, his friends were in somber spirits, and there were many reporters with smiles on their face.

One of the young man’s friends screamed, “Murderer!” at the sight of the businessman.

Another screamed, “You could have saved him if you gave a damn!”

The businessman went through the crowd with a swagger to him of absolute resolve that none could dismiss. He was unafraid of the young people’s snarling at him with curses and speech against his actions leading up to the death. No, he didn’t need to think about those young people as he directed his gaze towards the older members in the crowd, who appeared apathetic to him at first, waiting for him to speak.

The businessman looked upon the elder members of the crowd and delivered, “Look at me, am I a murder? Did I thrust the poison into the poor child’s mouth? Those are words spread by the same evil that caused this young man to die. This death could have been prevented if we merely eliminated the evil that held this young man’s soul. This evil drove him to take his own life, which belonged to God. He could have been a great man filled with years of experiences, hopes, and even a family with a loving wife and kids of his own. Yet, the abomination that has taken hold of our society has carried him into death. No, we cannot allow this any longer. I shall make it my mission to prevent such tragedies from ever happening again, for every dollar spent at my establishments or on my products, I shall give back a ten cnets to people and groups, who could’ve helped this young man “cure” the evil. I will give money to lawmakers, who wish to make laws to forbid the root of this evil’s influence. In the end, all this money will be for the children. Remember the children are our future, if we should fail them now, what future will we create? Look at the hate that they spew now, were we like that in our youths? No, it is due to this evil that they speak so. Let us end this evil today, tomorrow, and forever in a final solution for the future of God’s people.”

A loud clatter of applause and cheers drowns out the voices of reason in the assembled group among friends, who knew the young man well. The family grew feverish with the words spoken by the businessman, wishing such things could have been said years earlier to prevent their child from walking down a path to his own death.

What none of them knew was that the businessman had figured out how to make his lost profits from the chicken scare, he would use this death to shore up sales after his business had raised the prices. He would also gain political and social clout with his pledge and influence gained from this young man’s death to fulfill ambitions far beyond this city or state. He could broker the election of leaders, affect the price of crops, and in the end become a king among men. While there may be detractors, his loyal following would turn their attacks against him into call to arms with one death serving as a warning of what this lifestyle is creating.

Hours after the funeral procession had left, a solitary figure appeared in front of the gravestone with a flower in his hands. A blue rose, which the young man had loved in his life. The solitary figure was around the same age as the young man, who had died, wearing an orange shirt and jean.

He lingered over the grave, after a time, he began to speak, “I know what you wanted to do. You were a fool, do you honestly believe your death can sway the masses? Do you really believe a man with such unscrupulous morals would help you after you told him that you poisoned yourself? Did you believe that people would be swayed into being gentler and more understanding simply due to your supplication and desires for peaceful conclusion? No, all your deeds in life, all your hopes in death, and all your sacrifices in between have been in vain. Those that say they follow God today ignore the stories of old about fairness and understanding. If Queen Esther were to reveal her truth today, she would be arrested for treason and placed on trial in front of a military tribunal with her guilt already certain for death. Still, I love you for trying. I love you for wanting to show the world that we may be better than we are. I love you for wishing to see a day, when we may live and love for one another beyond reliance on tradition and custom. Finally, I love you without regret.”

The End