266 False Dawn

And then it dawned on him.

How he had wasted his life, selling drugs. Getting busted. Pleading guilty for a reduced 5-year sentence. Incarceration. Five years of waste.

And then it dawned on him. The bad choices. Screwing up. How he should lick his wounds, do his time, then go straight and fly right.

And then it dawned on him. How he let Geneva down. How she was saddled with the house, kids, bills, and trying to make it work without him. It dawned on him: he was a piece of shit.

What was his real purpose in life? What was his end-point? How would he be remembered? How should his wife and children think of him?

It dawned on him. How dangerous selling drugs was, on both ends of the spectrum, the criminal and the law enforcement ends. He could get killed either way.

And then it dawned on him. How he got caught. What a stupid criminal he was. How could he expect to get away with what he was doing? No one does. That dawned on him.

As he rode the bus from the federal prison camp to his "job" cutting grass as part of his incarceration obligations, for eight hours, only to be brought back to the camp with the other convicted felons, it dawned on him: someone had ratted him out. He didn't know who; his plea deal eliminated the need for a trial. And testimony.

All this dawned on him.

Five years. Not so bad. Because that's how you must think to get through it.

His fellow rider, a hedge fund manager now hedge-trimmer, leaned over. "So, Braniac, how'd you get caught?"

And it dawned on him.

Marty. Fucking Marty.

He had sold fentanyl to an undercover cop, breaking his rule to never sell to anyone new. He had enough repeat business. And it dawned on him how that stupid mistake is what had made him a stupid criminal.

"Five years ain't so bad," he answered. "I'm young. I could even do another five. But not me," he affirmed. "I've learned," he continued, because what dawned on him was, "I know the mistake I made. I won't get caught again."

_________

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

For Sunday, September 22, Day 266 of the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge

366 WORDS (without A/N)

Accompaniment photo was AI derived, but the time was not.

THIS CHALLENGE CONTINUES, 366 WAKE-UPS AT A TIME.

There are currently three free, unencumbered, unincarcerated, guiltless, avian Vocal writers still not caught in the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge:

• L.C. Schäfer (Jailbird)

• Rachel Deeming (Stool-pigeon)

• Gerard DiLeo (Illegal sleeper, well past dawn)