for those who havent seen my project here it is
It' s a cold and wet night. Jesse is in a doorway trying to get out of
the bitter cold. He has been on the streets for close to a month. His
clothes are soaking wet and starting to come apart. He has no home to go
to. He has no family and no friends. He is at the point where he is going
to have to do something drastic that he hates. Not a happy story for this
14 -year- old.
A few blocks away a young man a year older than Jesse is arguing with a
man on the street corner. The man, David, is saying, "Dang it, Ryan, why
are you back doing what you know you shouldn't be doing? You broke your
promise here at the Mission and went back to hustling , doing drugs, and
so many other things. You get one more shot at this. Quit the sex for
money, the drugs, all of it, and come back to the home. Do you even
remember that not too long ago you asked Jesus into your heart? How do you
think He feels about you doing what you are doing?"
Ryan just makes a obscene gesture and walks away.The fix he desperately
needs is more than his need of help.
Jesse: " God , I don't want to do this, but I am so hungry and I am so
tired of sleeping in alleys and on park benches and I am so cold I am so
scared I wont wake up." He sees a woman going by, purse loosely hanging
on her shoulder. He waits till the area has little foot traffic and he
starts running at her. He knocks her down and takes her purse , and he
starts running for his life in the process losing the woman and some who
came to her aid. Now in a alley he goes thru her purse. "10 dollars and a
roll of lifesavers! God, I risked JDC for 10 bucks and candy." Hethrows
the purse into the garbage. He hears people looking for him so he gets
jittery and accidentally drops the woman's credit cards. Seeing a set of
stairs heading up to the top of a parking garage, He quietly and quickly
goes up to the roof, while thinking, "What have I become? A thief and a
bad one, at that." He eats the lifesavers and stands at the roof's,
edge looking down.
About to jump he hears another teen's voice. "Not a good place to jump.
Could damage some cars right down there on the street."
He turns to see a kid about a year older than he is. Kid says, "Name's
Ryan. Things going that bad, huh?"
Jesse nods his head, not moving away from the edge. "Name's Jesse. Now
just go and let me do this. I've been on the streets a week and I am at the
end of my rope. I see no hope and I have no future so yeah, I'm going to
jump."
Before Ryan speaks he goes through a coughing jag. As soon as its over
he smiles and says, " So purse-snatching isn't your occupation. Yeah I saw
what you did and what you got for your troubles. If you come with me I can
help you, but jumping isn't going to help. I'm cold and at the end of my
generosity. so let's get this over with. Either move away from the ledge
and come with me, or jump already."
Jesse steps down away from the edge onto the roof and collapses. Later that
night, he finds himself waking up in a warm cot in a run-down room. He
wonders where in the world he is and how did he get here.
Jesse gets up and goes out of the room. He sees that he is in a
delapadated old building. He sees Ryan sitting on a couch in front of a
fire in a fireplace.
"Glad too see you up, my friend," Ryan says to him. "Did you sleep well?
You were out for close to 24 hours. Me and the other residents here kept
looking in on you to make sure you were still alive."
Jesse asks, "What is this place? How did you get me back here?"
Ryan: " Couple of your new housemates came and carried you back here.
This is our
space. We find a home that is abandoned. We have been here about a year."
Jesse: "How do you survive out here?"
Ryan : "It's almost night time. I will show you my way, and if you don't
like that, Tony is into B and E, so if you don't like my way, Tony will
teach you his way. There are 4 ways to survive here on the street.
Hustling, stealing, selling d rugs or panhandling. Drugs are not sold
here. If I or the others find out you are dealing drugs, you are gone!
No second chances, nothing. Kid, you got to learn how to survive out
here in the streets if you are going to make it. I wish I could wave a
magic wand and all would be nice , and you would live happily ever after ,
but that never works."
Jesse: "What do you do?"
Ryan hands him some clean blue jeans and a black tee shirt. "Here," he
says. This belongs to one of our guys who got nicked a couple of weeks
back for burglary. These are close to your size. What I do is have men
pay me for sex with them."
Jesse is shocked. "That's disgusting. I'm not gay. I would never do
such a thing."
Ryan laughs. "I said that exact same thing, but if you get hungry
enough, and you are. You will do anything to survive." He hands Jesse a
bottle of alcohol. "Here, drink this. At least it will kill the pain,
and you wont feel what these sickos do to you."
As Jesse hustles, Ryan goes with him, staying aways off to keep Jesse
safe and not harmed in case of some freaks try to do something bad to him.
"Seen too many guys dead, faced down with a knife in them or something. Not
going to let that happen to the kid."
Months have now gone by, and Jesse goes past a place called the Mission. A
man outside says, "Hey, you hungry? We are almost done feeding, but I
think there is some food left, if you are interested."
Jesse is a little wary. "What do you want from me in return?"
The man, David, laughs. "Not a thing. Just a chance to talk to you.
See if you need any help. We are a ministry for male prostitutes. We have a
place for eating, cleaning clothes, getting new clothes that we have,
and other things, if you are interested."
Jesse goes in and talks to David after he eats. But he isn't ready to
change and with that he gets up to leave.
David: "When you are ready, we will be here to help. No matter what you
do wrong, always remember, God loves you and wants you to be in His
Kingdom."
Ryan comes out of the shadows and says to David, "I was really hoping
that would have worked. He really needs to get off the streets while he
still can."
David, treading carefully, says, "Did you ever go see the doctor
after your exam right before you left the house? He did tell you he was
worried about those lymph nodes on your neck. Did you ever go back to find
out what was wrong?" But Ryan is gone, never saying a word.
David thinks, "You're dying, my friend, and that is why you set this
up. You don't want Jesse to end up like you."
Jesse goes back to the house and tells Ryan about the Mission, as Ryan is
in the bathroom again for what seems like the tenth time today. "Man, Ryan,
the runs are really hitting you hard this month. What is going on? You've lost 20 pounds, at least. What is going on, Ryan?"
Ryan: "Yes , I know all about them. Good group if you want to get out of
this. I just couldn't handle all the rules and I blew it. Of course David
wanted to 'save me,' and I knew then it was a lost cause." He looks Jesse
in the eye and says, " Listen, my brother, there is a day coming and it
will be soon where you are going to need help, and David will be there for
you. I think its time you got off the streets and tried to be a normal kid
again."
Jesse: Come with me . We can both get help."
Ryan starts coughing and sweating profusely, burning up. "I screwed up
my life too much . There is no hope for me. David hates me and wouldn't
help me anyways, since I disappointed him so many, many times."
Jesse: "If you won't try, then I won't try."
Ryan is starting to run a high fever and is delirious. Jesse is scared.
He thinks, "I need money to get Ryan to a doctor." He goes in the middle
of the night to the Mission. The place is closed up. He breaks a window
and sneaks in, and as he is rummaging around, looking for something to
steal and sell so he can take Ryan to the ER, he comes face to face with
David , who is angry. He slams Jesse to the floor. Jesse starts to talk,
but David wont have any of it. He grabs the phone to call the police.
David: "What do you think you are doing? Breaking in here to steal!!!!
What, your drug habit is getting so hard that you can't continue at your
level on what you make hustling?!!! I don't know how many places you've
robbed, but this stops here. You are going to Juvenile Detention Center
for this one."
Jesse, crying: "No, man, it's Ryan, my best friend. He's sick. I
think he's dying. I was desperate and came in here to find something to
steal to sell and take him to the doctor. We had no one or nowhere else
to turn to. If you want to arrest me fine, but please help Ryan."
David softens. "Oh my, I'm so sorry. Take me to him. I can help."
He goes into the house with Jesse. Jesse, who can barely do anything, gets
upset. "Please, David, don't be angry." He looks into David's face and
sees tears coming down from this tough, hard man. "Ryan, I was never angry
with you. I care about you, like I care about all of you. I am so sorry."
He carries Ryan out of the house and to the emergency room, and he and
Jesse sit down and wait.
Jesse, outside Ryan's room in the hospital, is waiting for the doctor's
evaluation.
The doctor tells David and Jesse that Ryan has full blown AIDS and has
only weeks left.
David takes Jesse back to the Mission to rest and sleep
for a time. Ryan collapses in David's arms, crying.
Later, Jesse is in the hospital room with Ryan, who is in a semi comatose
state.
David makes Jesse go at the end of the night and eat at the Mission. The
pastor talks about the Prodigal Son and how his dad was always outside on
the road close to home, wondering, " Is this the day my son comes home?"
Jesse is back in the hospital and he leans over to Ryan. " Heard a message
today at Emmaus. God wanted me to tell you about the Prodigal Son who was
away, and his dad was out on the road by the home, wondering, 'Is this
the day my son comes home.' " Jesse is crying, "Ryan, the Father God is
at the road, saying, 'Is this the day my son Ryan comes home? I love
him and I do not hate him for what he did in the past. IT IS IN THE PAST. "
Jesse: "If not for you, I'd be dead. You pushed me at the end to go
back
to David and get help. I am moving into the Mission and getting
back my life. If not for you... I love you, my friend. The battle is over.
Go be with Jesus. No more pain, no more hunger, no more sorrow, no more
tears."
Ryan, semi -comatose in a great deal of pain, hears Jesse and
wants so desperately to tell him he is going to be okay. Then, all of a
sudden, the pain is gone. He feels totally well and whole, and he swears he
feels arms holding him in love. Not sexual love but pure, complete love, and
he opens his eyes and finds that he is in the arms of Jesus. Jesus with
tears in his eyes says, "Welcome home, My son. A place has been prepared
for you. There will be no more pain, no more tears, no more illness, no
more struggles. You've come home."
Ryan flatlines. Jesse puts his head on Ryan's chest and just cries
and cries.
We see David helping Jesse move what little stuff he has into the
Mission.
Jesse meets with the house staff and residents. "My name is Jesse and
I need help."
Months later Jesse is back in high school and has a life. Jesse is
applying for Bible colleges, looking to become a minister just like
David, and help men everywhere find the hope that he has. He knows that
one day soon, Jesse will see Ryan again, and both will be in the arms of
Jesus, as He says, "Welcome home, My son. There is a place prepared
for you."
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