The Exodus Strategy: The Only Way Out

That day, however, he was feeling more lonely and discouraged than since he'd started Witness Protection. His situation was eating at him, and he was wondering if it would ever work out. He stood off to one side, waiting to redeem his bottles, while three Hispanic girls ran a large bag of cans through the machine. There were three machines, and two had "out of order" signs on them. But he was enjoying watching the girls, so it wasn't a total loss. They were pretty, young women, doing what femininity will do, and that helped to get his mind off his problems. One girl in particular, probably the oldest of three sisters, was especially attractive to him. They were about half way through with their bottles and cans when four men and a woman walked into the center. They were a rough-looking homeless people, just off the bike path. The men wore heavy, grungy coats and had full beards and scraggly hair. The woman was in her thirties, with a bruised cheek and stringy, unkempt hair. Two of them had bikes with trailers with black plastic garbage bags lashed to them, crammed full of bottles and cans. It was a big event for them, they were there to cash in several days worth of roadside collection and celebrate with some 7-11 junkfood. Sizing up the three girls, the broken machines and the amount of cans the girls had left, the biggest of them, who seemed to be the leader, swung into action. "Hey, you Mexican's don't even belong in this country! Get your crap outta here!" With the others standing behind him in threatening agreement, the girls looked up startled, and started backing away from the machine. But Terry saw the whole thing and was instantly on his feet, jumping into the middle of it. "Hey!" He placed his imposing frame between the girls and the troublemakers. "The girls were here! Back off and let them finish their bottles! And besides, I'm behind them, and you're gonna wait for me after they're done!" He had just broken one of the cardinal rules of Witness Protection, avoid controversy or public confrontation at all costs. He was also risking his newly formed nose, which the doctor told him to be careful with for a few months. But he couldn't sit and watch the men bully the women. The leader of the homeless people faced off with him, wondering if all of them could take him on. His hand reached into his pocket, feeling for his knife. But when he saw the look in Terry's eyes, he took his hand back out. This guy would not be easy to handle, and he would probably be the first to get hammered. "Hey Man, we didn't mean nothin by it. We thought they were mostly done anyway. We don't want no trouble Man." "Well maybe you just better get out of here and come back another time then." The homeless guy took a step backward. One of the ones in back of him spoke up. "Hey Man, this is our place, we come here all the time. We got rights!" The leader spoke to him. "Shuddup! Unless you wanna fight him. Come on, lets get outta here." They turned their bikes around and left. The girls snickered hardily after they went out. They were amazed by the justice they had just witnessed. The girls thanked him. Terry stood guard and made sure they finished checking their cans and received their redemption slip. After they finished, he went ahead and started checking his own bottles.