Out of the Shadows Ch. 01

"Dawn, just give Derrick some time,he loves you and will come to you when he's ready. Just be there and remember, my new grandson is in here and I don't want you upsetting him.

The same goes for you, Sierra, I want my grandson to stay healthy." Marvin concluded

"Daddy, how did you know? We haven't told anyone? Sierra said shocked. "You gotta ask your Mom and Jasmine about that they told me." Then he kissed her forehead. '

Then Marvin looked at the other older people in the room and nodded,all four silently agreeing to be there to support their children.

Meanwhile, Darius was trying make two of the most important people in his life understand this choice.

"But I don't just need you to understand Derrick." He looked at his best friend, his other brother, "Cam I need you too." Darius whispered to him.

"Darius, I'm with you man. I'm proud of you." Cameron quickly embraced his buddy.

Derrick had gained some composure and he saw Dawn approaching. "Look, we'll look out for the girls, but you'd better not get yourself killed, alright" then he hugged his brother tightly.

Dawn was worried about her husband, so she carefully approached. "Baby are you alright?"

Derrick quickly embraced his wife and inhaled her scent. He needed her strength. "I'll be fine."

Meanwhile, inside the house where everyone was waiting, Deidre was sitting, and not saying a thing. Jasmine, concerned for her daughter walked over to check on her.

"Deidre, honey, are you alright?" Jasmine asked. Deidre sobbing loudly leaned into her Mom's arms. Jasmine held her daughter. She knew she hated the fact that she'd hurt him and would blame herself for this decision.

"Deidre, Darius is a grown man. He made this choice and you had nothing to do with it." Jasmine comforted her daughter.

"Jasmine is right sweetheart, he's been thinking about this for a while. It's nothing that you did." Marvin told the distraught young woman.

His revelation drew Marge's attention. When did he talk to their son about this? She wondered.

Marvin walked over to her, kissed her hand and whispered, "I'll tell you about it later."

At this point everyone had reentered and saw the condition Deidre was in. Darius walked over to her immediately and embraced her. "Dee, I love you and our girls more than my own life. But you were right, I am too needy and I've got to grow up. I need to become a man so I can be a better father. I will be fine and who knows; maybe I can give old Jason a run for his money and win you back." He chuckled.

Deidre looked at the man she'd loved for so long, the father of her girls and she asked for one thing. "Promise me that you will come back home. Don't get yourself hurt or killed alright." Then they embraced once more.

Soon everyone headed home as Marvin sat and stared at his son.

"Dad, I don't know, maybe I should not have-" Marvin stopped him.

"Darius, I am so proud of you son. You will make a fine soldier and serve this country well." Then he patted him on the shoulder and headed to bed.

Darius waited a few days then he reported back to Sergeant Jameson's office. The two men talked and in two hours Darius Granger was a new enlisted soldier in the United States Army.

The remainder of his sentence would be commuted over to the time he served in the military and at the end of his first five years of service, it would be removed from his records.

Darius spent extra time with his girls for the rest of the week. Then, he decided to talk to Jason before he left. So he called and invited the other man to lunch. Jason talked it over with Deidre and reluctantly agreed to meet him.

Being friends for years, the two men talked. Darius explained to Jason his plans and Jason promised to take care of his girls, but he reminded him that he was their father and he needed to make sure he came back home.

The day came for Darius to depart. Everyone wanted to go with him, but Darius simply wanted his dad to go with him. He loved his family, but he felt that if everyone came, he might not be able to go through with it. He didn't know if he could have gotten on that bus.

His Dad stood, stoically watching, as he boarded a bus with twenty-four more young men and women. Then he watched as bus drove off.

Over the next ten weeks, Darius Granger would change and emerge from this venture a better man.

When the bus pulled off, their new drill sergeant stood to inform them that they were no longer civilians, now they were the property of the United States Army.

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