50. I’m Warning You

“Y’all got a minute?” Quinn asked me as we rode the elevator together.  He told me about his past, how he and his mother had been addicted to Valium when he was born.  She had gotten clean, but relapsed when his father was killed in combat.  Quinn’s mother switched to heroin.  He told me about years of abuse he suffered from the revolving door of men in his mother’s life.

“When I was fifteen we joined this cult in Oregon,” Quinn said.  “Bad times.  Here’s my point, and thank you for listening all the while, Austin’s brother has joined a cult.  Maybe he don’t know it yet, and Austin surely don’t, but it’s a cult.”

“Did you talk to him about it?” I asked.

“I tried to warn Austin, but he just laughed.  Said I was paranoid.  Showed me a letter his brother wrote saying how happy he was and how Austin should come up to Canada to see for himself. ”

“Sometimes warning someone is all you can do,” I said, thinking there must be more.

Today I’ll accept sometimes warning someone may be all I can do.

Time for a Change ©2017 by Ken Montrose

Time for a Change is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com