Renewal 7 - When the Student Is Ready by Jf Perkins Page B

theirs, we’ve learned about the terrible injustices going on down here in Manchester. That is my fault. I’m the one who takes responsibility for making sure that law and order and justice rule in our fine state, and for you good people, I have failed. I’d like to fix my mistake, starting today.”
    The crowd listened politely. Charlie was thankful no one was shooting or throwing garbage. “It’s been a long hard road to recovery, not just here, or even in all of Tennessee, but everywhere that we have seen. Some folks have it bad. Some folks have it worse, and I’m sure there are places we know nothing about who have it worse than we can imagine. I’m not saying it’s been easy for you, or anybody, but I do say that every day I wake up and count every blessing I can name. Today, I’d like to say a public thank you to my friends in Coffee County. I’ll start right here with Terry Shelton, the youngest Reclamation Engineer in the entire state, and a key member of the team that not only rescued seventeen state police officers from the grip of some very bad men, but managed to capture their leader. He’s a purely evil man known as the Grand Dragon. He burned two good men to death. Seth Aker... Wave to the nice people, Big Man. Seth was part of the same team. I’ve heard it said that when the fight was over, Seth was the very man who tied the Dragon to the top of that truck over there,” Charlie said, getting into the rhythm now, “And drove him back into the arms of our state police where he awaits a public hanging in Murfreesboro.”
    Terry caught the hitch in Charlie’s delivery at that point, and wondered what it meant. The crowd was finally starting to respond with a few cheers scattered across the square. They had never seen the Dragon or suffered his deeds, but the idea of capturing bad guys was good enough for some.
    “Dusty Baer! Where are you? I see you hiding in the shade. Dusty is the senior Reclamation Engineer in this part of the state, and while he’s not known for killing bad men, he should be known for all his other good deeds. He’s an important man in two roles. I can see some nodding heads out there. I’ve been watching Dusty’s work for a long time, and I know he helps everyone he can. Dusty has another life, one you probably don’t know about. In that life, he is every bit as responsible for bringing the bad men of the world to justice as anyone.”
    The cheering rose into real excitement through Dusty’s portion of Charlie’s speech. Terry was surprised. He had no idea that Dusty was so popular. Apparently Bill Carter did know. He gave Dusty the assignment of rallying the town for good reason.
    “Which brings me to Jerry... Doan... Jenkins,” Charlie reported dramatically, with a look of disgust. “I don’t need to tell any of you who the Judge is. He is, in a nutshell, the man who has worked his entire life to keep you down, and to lift himself up by standing on you good people.”
    The square was filled with booing and hissing.
    “When the Judge was taken to be held accountable for all his crimes against the people of Coffee County, Dusty was there...” The boos shifted to cheers again. “Terry was there, and Big Seth was there.”
    Charlie paused to let the noise fade, and gave Terry a nod to say it was ok to step down.
    “Now, behind these good men, there is another good man, and a whole community of hardworking people under the leadership of this man. You probably don’t know him, but he knows you, and he’s been fighting for you for most of his life. His name is Bill Carter, and whether you believe it or not, he holds the key to your prosperity in his hands.”
    Dead silence from the crowd.
    “The Jenkins and the other families organized early after the Breakdown. That gave them a big advantage over the rest of us, who fought and scraped and starved in the beginning. They used that advantage to take the power over your lives, to stand on your backs and get richer