Blinding Illumination

Schrade felt the gentle yet insistent tugging on his sleeve, instinctively glancing down he could discern the faint fuzzy outlines of a small child standing next to his hospital bed.

'Mister, would you like a piece of candy?'

Smiling gently Schrade answered 'No , But thank you very much for asking'

The young boy replied 'Your welcome. I hope you feel better soon'

The nurse standing nearby spoke up. 'you need to get back to your bed. Jimmy'

Another voice in the background apologized for her son's behavior.

Schrade could only reply 'No problem' and laid back onto his pillow.

Semi-blinded when a brick was tossed of an highway overpass, The shards of glass had pierced both eyes upon impact of the trucks windshield.

The emergency room doctor had flushed the blood and debris from his eyes and applied a topical solution. 'Your very fortunate, the retina and corneas have sustained minor lacerations, you won't be able to see very well if at all for the next few days...but there should be no lasting effects beyond that'.

Arrangements to stay at a local hotel to recover for a few days had been made and Schrade was discharged via cab to the location.

Rarely leaving the confines of his darkened room Schrade only ventured outside in the evenings low light to sit and relax outside his door for a smoke.

Avoiding any sort of brightness had been prescribed, considering the stakes of permanent loss of eyesight Schrade thought it prudent to follow the rules at least just in this instance.

Shapes and shadows had slowly began to coalesce and vision was returning, although hazy around the edges, he could at least ascertain familiar shapes.

Hearing several pairs of boots crossing the walkway in front of his room Schrade looked up and saw a group of bikers walking toward their motorcycles parked nearby. among the group a small voice spoke up, 'I hope your feeling better, Mister'

Recognizing the voice to be that of the little boy from the emergency room. Schrade answered 'I'm just fine Jimmy, thank you'

Schrade noticed that the group had instantly closed around the boy and quickened their step away from him.

One member stopped and giving Schrade a thorough look walked back toward where Schrade was sitting.

Standing silently keeping an eye on Schrade he waited till all the Bikers had mounted, fired up and rode off with the child safely perched on the back of one.

Pointing a meaty black gloved finger at Schrade he said in statement more so than question 'Your a Biker?'

Schrade looking up from his sitting position towards the hulking man gesturing at him.

glanced back own at his chest to see if with his fuzzy eyesight he had put on a Harley shirt that day. he just shrugged and replied 'Well, I've been called worse'

'How is it you know Jimmy?' the tone the man used told Schrade that his usual smart assed quip would likely not serve him well today.

'I don't really, he said hi to me when I was brought to the emergency room. I heard someone call him Jimmy when they administered to him.'

Softening his stance the biker motioned as if to ask to sit down in the chair nearby.

'Sorry Brother,I had to ask'

Waving him over to sit down Schrade asked 'What the hell's me being a biker got to do with anything..and why the inquisition?.

Pointing to a circular patch on his vest's backside he replied 'Read it. I'm a member of B.A.C.A.

Bikers against Child abuse, They call me Pirate'

Looking it over Schrade replied 'Who isn't against abuse..and what the hell's that got to do with me?'

'That boy who you just saw is one of our kids. were here to protect him, and yes most are against it...but few ever really try to do anything about it'. replied Pirate.

Schrade pondered the man's words for a moment drawing a slow careful breath he responded 'I'm not really sure why you think I needed to know this?'

Pirate looked over at Schrade and asked 'Do you have any kid's?'

'Yes I have four,back home with their grandparents

'I see your a long distance trucker' motioning to the rig parked at the rear of the motel parking lot.

'Yes'

Are they safe?

Schrade didn't like the tone this conversation seemed to be taking, leaned forward in his chair and fixing a hard stare at Pirate replied 'Yes, very much so'

'How very fortunate for them and you....not all children are that lucky'...But what if you could help the ones that are not?.

Schrade giving Pirate an incredulous look simply stated 'I'm one man..what the hell can I do to even begin to prevent abuse.

Pirate reached into his inner-vest pocket, retrieved a pamphlet. handing it to Schrade replied 'Alone...probably not a whole lot...but together with other like minded people, You can make a hell of a difference.'

'Like the boy I just saw? What happened to him?

'I could never discuss details of a particular child with you, only to say he is safe to tell his story now without fear.

'How so?'

We have therapist's on hand and we work with local CPS agent's to verify that's a legitimate case.

We will escort him to court safely and protect him from any reprisals for the suspected perp or his family'

'His family?...why would they want to hurt him?'

Pirate took a slow drag of his smoke leaned back and stated.' a lot of families feel betrayed when this is discovered within their family... sometimes even without realizing it, they tend to ostracize the child. We in effect, become the child's family.We don't pass judgement.That's for the courts to decide..we simply empower the child to speak his/her piece.'

What about divorces,marital custody battles,jealous spouse's how do you know your no just being called in to settle someones vendetta? Are you trying to tell people how to raise their kids?'

'No, we believe in discipline, but a stern caring parent and a abuser are two very different things.

That's why we only take documented case that are already in the system. We get our cases from CPS to help prevent such scenarios'.

Shrade looked at Pirate for a few silent minutes and reach over and shook his hand.

Thanks for the info...I'll look into it.

Pirate stood up smiled 'I have been always a fairly good judge of the measure of a man...I'll be seeing you around'.

Schrade Awakened the next morning with a mental clarity..some way, some how it was time to give up the long haul trucking and get back to a local route, He had a mission in mind. He was going to find a chapter of B.A.C.A nearby his hometown and get involved.

Opening the front door into the sunlight he could again see crystal clear...near and distant.

His minds eye had been clearly illuminated .