Packs of boys running together are not usually a good idea.  Boys who would never act on an idea alone are suddenly infused with bravery (or stupidity).  At the ages of 18, 19, 20 and sometimes longer - they are bulletproof.  Or so they believe.

And such it was on that fateful night when four boys decided to extract revenge on the family that dared to fire one of them from his job.  Did the family have cause for firing the young man?  Yes, but that was irrelevant to him and his three friends.  These people have money and a part of that money was rightfully his. And so they planned.

The plan was to ambush the woman as she came home, force her into the house, then coerce the combination from the safe from her.  Two of them would go in and be "the muscle".  Two would wait outside, watch, and have the getaway vehicle ready.  But one of the young men teetered on the brink of sanity and refused to go inside.  He said he would wait, but he wouldn't go in.  And so my young man, a faithful friend, stepped up.

They did as they planned.  They forced the woman into the house, duct taped her to a chair and threatened to kill her husband if she didn't turn over the combination.  The flaw in the plan was that she did not know the combination.  She said they would just have to kill him because she couldn't tell them what she did not know.  The larger young man went through the house looking for anything else that might be valuable.  My young man stayed behind and reassured the woman.  In the end, they left with nothing.  Nothing except guilty consciences.

They went their separate ways and began the agonizing process of waiting.  Waiting for what would happen next.  Waiting for friends, families, and the police to find out what they did.  What was supposed to be revenge and a payoff for the out-of-work friend had backfired and they were left with nothing.

My son came home that night and said, "I did something stupid, Mama."  But that's all he would say.  Stupid to a 19 year old can mean almost anything.  And so I was drawn into the waiting.  Waiting to see what stupid thing he had done.  Hoping it was something trivial.  But, my baby with a big heart who would do anything for a friend had crossed the line and our futures had been changed.  We just didn't know it yet.

To be continued...