As
I have written several times, my wife and I adopted Wil from Guatemala when he
was seven. We were living in California
at the time. I was a counselor, and Kim was a physical education and health
instructor. He went to two different elementary schools, and he did well. When
Wil was in fifth grade, he went to a large middle school, grades five through
eight. Not sure why they configured it that way, but that’s what the grades
were in the school. He was given the MVP of the track team as a fifth grader.
The coaches thought that highly of him. Truly, he could fly.
One
day, Wil came home and told us that kids were asking him what gang he was in.
Hmmm. Yes, he was a dark-skinned Latino kiddo. But that question alarmed us. We
lived in a nice area and the school was in a nice area. In the time we lived in
California, Kim had lost an uncle and I had lost two sisters, and we decided
that our kids were growing up not knowing their aunts and uncles, cousins and
grandparents. So, we moved back “home” to Wisconsin to be closer to family.
We
lived in a small resort town where I was a high school principal. When Wil was
in sixth or seventh grade, he told us a story that alarmed us. He was walking
home at night from the County Fair, only a few short blocks away. As he did, he
heard a couple of high school kids yell something about “mud people.” Wil was
street-smart enough to realize they were talking about him. The vehicle they
were in moved slowly behind him in the same direction he walked. He began to
run and made it home without incident. He was shaking when he got home. Like I
said, that alarmed us. It made both of us angry. Kim and I were on alert from
then on. Not just for Wil, but for Hannah and Emily, who were both quite a bit younger.
Then
came Wil’s death. Walking on the street from getting lunch and shopping for a
few things for his and his wife’s new apartment. Caught between two rival
gangs, one intent on killing the other. Wil was struck in the back and died on
the sidewalk that Saturday afternoon.
George
Floyd. Others.
That
video we saw and the narrative surrounding that video was sickening. It astounds
and astonishes me. Kim and I can barely watch it.
Our
youngest, Emily, and her boyfriend, Quaevon, celebrated their collegiate
graduation yesterday. All of us went to Richmond to Hannah’s and her fiancé’s
apartment to watch it. We took pictures, had a celebratory lunch. It was an
enjoyable occasion, a happy day that we got to spend together.
George
Floyd. Others.
Emily
has written and posted on Facebook her experience as Kim and I, Wil, Hannah and
Emily would go out to dinner, to the beach, shopping, wherever. The stares. The
whispers. She has told us that she and Q, as we call him- as everyone calls
him- get stares from people as they walk down the street, as they sit in a
restaurant, as they drive around town. Stares. Two young adults enjoying
themselves as many adults, young and old, do. Noticing stares. Noticing
whispers.
George
Floyd. Others.
I’m
sure that as a parent, any parent, you are sometimes frightened for your kids,
no matter how old they are, no matter where they are. Even as a non-parent, I
have to believe there is empathy towards what I and others feel about our kids.
We only want the best for them. To succeed better, reach farther, achieve more.
As parents or caring adults, we try to help them as best we can. We don’t want
to see them hurt. We don’t want to see them in pain. Their hurt, their pain doubles
if you are the parent or caring adult.
Yesterday
as we drove to see the house that Hannah and Alex bought, Kim and I talked with
Q and Emily about George Floyd. I mentioned that when I saw that video, I
immediately thought of Q. A gentle, thoughtful, kind young man who wouldn’t
hurt anyone intentionally. The first in his immediate family to graduate from
college. A young black man dating my daughter. I worry. Yes, I fear for his and
for Emily’s safety. I asked him to be careful. To stay safe. He told us he
would. I believe he’ll do his best, not only for his, but also for Emily’s
sake. Having gotten to know him as we do, he is now a part of our family and we
love him as if he were our own. We want . . . need . . . him safe. To be safe.
George
Floyd. Others.
Something
to think about . . .
Live
Your Life, and Make A Difference! (Please?)
To
My Readers:
My
new book, Betrayed, will debut Nov. 12, 2020! It is a
contemporary psychological thriller using some of the same characters from my
previous work. It takes place on the Navajo Nation Reservation in northeast
Arizona.
Below
is the book blurb. Pretty excited about it.
Integrity
is protecting someone who betrayed you. Courage is keeping a promise even
though it might mean death.
A
late-night phone call turns what was to be a fun hunting trip into a deadly
showdown. Fifteen-year-old brothers George Tokay, Brian Evans and Brett
McGovern face death on top of a mesa on the Navajo Nation Reservation in
Arizona. They have no idea why men are intent on killing them.
Betrayed
is a contemporary psychological thriller and an exploration of the heart and of
a blended family of adopted kids, their relationships to each other and their
parents woven into a tight thriller/mystery.
Tina
O’Hailey, author of When Darkness Begins wrote: “Adopted and bonding as a
family, with histories of death, destruction and for some...abuse, these boys
band together—ready to lay down their life for their new family—in order to
find a missing friend before dangerous gunmen find them.
A
whirlwind of adventure, relationships, protecting family, hair-raising
situations, and cold betrayal.”
Connect
with me on Social Media:
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
Spiral
Into Darkness:
Named
a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He
blends in. He is successful, intelligent and methodical. He has a list and has
murdered eight on it so far. There is no discernible pattern. There are no
clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go
on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send
a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and
damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, have no idea
they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local
law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm
Caught
in a Web:
A
PenCraft Literary Award Winner!
The
bodies of high school and middle school kids are found dead from an overdose of
heroin and fentanyl. The drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors and the
Milwaukee Metro area is controlled by MS-13, a violent gang originating from El
Salvador. Ricardo Fuentes is sent from Chicago to Waukesha to find out who is
cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has
an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had
killed his cousin the previous summer.
Detectives
Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the
drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else,
especially George or members of his family. The three detectives discover the
ring has its roots in a high school among the students and staff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
Caught
in a Web is now available in Audio format. You can find it at https://www.beaconaudiobooks.com/audiobookreleases/high-school-drug-rings-gangs-and-revenge-are-all-encompassing-in-caught-in-a-web-by-joseph-lewis
Book
One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:
Two
thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and
his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all
the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the
possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis
Book
Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
Six
men escaped and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity,
are in danger and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no
clues, no leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them.
http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Book
Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
A
14-year-old boy knows the end is coming. What he doesn’t know is when, where or
by whom. Without that knowledge, neither he nor the FBI can protect him or his
family. http://tinyurl.com/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis
The
Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI
Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of
six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they
don’t know one another, the lives of FBI Kelliher, 11-year-old Brett McGovern,
and 11-year-old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys
become interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand.
The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives
are in jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis
