A woman named Stacy laughed at a man for being black, but just an hour later, Stacy bitterly regretted their actions. Frederick breathed in the cool summer breeze as he stretched on the bench in the park. It was a lovely sunny afternoon.
He smiled as he watched children run around in the park, playing with careless joy without any worries in the world. That was one attribute Frederick admired so much about kids. There were excited screams and shouts here and there, kids playing and screaming in excitement, and parents shouting for their kids to be careful. It was just the perfect scenery that Frederick loved to relax in.
As Frederick glanced around the park, he noticed a young woman seated at the far end of the bench. She had a serious look on her face and was engrossed with her phone. On her lap was a little boy of not more than 2 years old. He looked miserably thin and somewhat malnourished. The little boy was clearly tired of sitting with his mother and was struggling to join the other kids. After much struggle, his mom finally released him.
“Don’t stroll too far away, Jared,” she said nonchalantly as the giggling boy ran away excitedly, finally free from his human prison. Frederick watched in shock as little Jared ran towards the crowd of children playing. Taking a glance at the woman, he was irritated that she wasn’t keeping an eye on her boy. The lady didn’t even look to see the direction her baby boy had gone in. She was so engrossed in her phone that one would think her life depended on it.
Frederick knew that if the world came to an end at that moment, the lady wouldn’t even notice. He itched to walk across to her and give her a piece of his mind. She needed to know that children should not be left unattended to; there were a thousand and one dangers they could easily get into out there in public. But on second thought, Frederick decided to shove his opinion down his throat. After all, the lady certainly didn’t look like someone who would be kind with words.
Taking a sip of his warm coffee, Frederick chose to divert his attention somewhere else. Thankfully, there were lots of things to keep him distracted until his work break was over. Barely 10 minutes later, Frederick decided to take a stroll around the park. It was almost time to get back to work, so he needed to stretch his legs for a while.
As Frederick walked past the swimming pool, he thought he heard some splatter. The pool was only half filled with some teenage kids who were cooling off from the afternoon heat. As he was almost past the pool, he heard some screams coming from the direction he had just left. With his panic instincts activated, Frederick immediately rushed in the direction of the screams. It was from the pool.
The sight that greeted him sent a chill down his spine. The teenagers were trying to pull a little boy out of the pool. As Frederick got closer, he realized it was no other person than Jared. Jared had jumped into the pool when no one was looking. It was only when he started splashing sporadically that people noticed he had fallen in. When they managed to get him out, Jared was already unconscious. Frederick quickly carried the baby from the kids and placed his palm on his heart. To his relief, Jared had a faint heartbeat.
Frederick resolved that Jared had taken too much water from the pool while he was splashing. Quickly, he administered CPR on the boy, and a few minutes later, Jared was coughing out water. Frederick heaved a sigh of relief as he covered Jared with his jacket. A small crowd had already gathered at the scene, and they all applauded as Frederick hugged him close to his chest.
As Frederick made his way through the crowd, he wondered if Jared’s mom hadn’t noticed her son’s absence. Was she even aware that her son had almost drowned? Frederick thought as he got to where he had first seen her. Frederick’s mouth flew open in utter shock as he found Jared’s supposed mother excitedly jesting with a female friend. He turned red with indignation as he stomped towards her. He had never seen such a degree of negligence exhibited by a parent all his life.
As soon as Stacy saw her baby Jared snuggle to a tall and broad black guy, she abruptly ended her discussion and walked towards them. She was already irritated that a black man was carrying her son when she noticed that they were both dripping with water. Once they were within each other’s space, Frederick didn’t hesitate to let her have a full dose of his anger. He berated her for being so absent-minded that she didn’t even know she almost lost her son.
“I have never seen a mother so carefree as you!” Frederick shouted. “Your level of negligence is palpable. Here you are, absently chatting away as your child almost drowned in a pool!” Stacy’s eyes widened in shock at the accusations. Nevertheless, she wouldn’t let this black man talk to her in that manner.
“And what would you know about taking care of a child?” she asked derisively. “You blacks are always claiming to be what you’re not, and this will be the last time I’ll see you in close proximity to my son. Nobody knows what you black guys are up to these days,” Stacy spat.
And with that, Stacy grabbed Jared off Frederick’s arms. Her friend, who had been watching the whole scene, burst into laughter, and Stacy quickly joined her as they both walked away. Frederick stood transfixed to the spot. He had never been so humiliated all his life. He didn’t expect to get such ill treatment in exchange for saving a kid’s life. He waved his head in disappointment, feeling sorry for little Jared. Frederick couldn’t bring himself to imagine a child being raised by such an incompetent mother.
Realizing that his time had far gone, Frederick decided to head back to work. He had clearly overstayed his welcome. He had come to the park to ease off stress from work and lighten his mood, but instead, he was leaving with annoyance and a heavy heart. Frederick couldn’t remember the last time anyone mocked him for being black. He didn’t think that racism was still a thing. But now he had received a full dose of it.
Grabbing his already wet jacket, Frederick headed back to his workplace. Stacy was still visibly shaken by her encounter with the black man. Though she felt guilty for not watching Jared, a shiver ran down her spine at the thought of losing her precious boy to drowning. Yet she wasn’t ready to give Frederick the satisfaction of saving her boy.
Letting out an unsteady sigh, Stacy stared at Jared, who was looking right back at her. She gave him a weak smile, and he smiled right back. Jared didn’t seem like he had almost drowned. The summer sun had taken the liberty to dry his wet clothes, and he was already jittery to go play again. Stacy imagined what her life would have been without Jared. Her love for him was an obsessive kind, and she would fight tooth and nail with anyone or anything that would take Jared away from her.
Stacy closed her eyes and traveled down memory lane to what her life used to be. Stacy had lived a rough life, like a prodigal child. She had moved out of her parents’ house after she dropped out of college. Stacy was only 27 when she moved in to live with her boyfriend Mike, who happened to be her college sweetheart. Mike came from a wealthy home, so he was able to take care of himself and Stacy. He had a two-bedroom apartment, which he had gotten 2 years prior on his 25th birthday. A few months after Stacy moved in with him, they got married.
Mike was so in love with Stacy that he didn’t want to waste time. They were already living together, so it was only right that they made their relationship formal and legal by getting married. A year later, Stacy gave birth to Jared. For the first time, Mike experienced the joy of being a father. He loved Jared more than life itself. Unfortunately, as his love for his baby increased, the one he had for Stacy diminished.
After Jared’s birth, Mike’s marriage with Stacy turned sour. No day passed without the couple having a series of heated quarrels and fights. Soon enough, their lovely home turned into a battlefield. Mike would go to work and wouldn’t get back until late at night. And when he did, he would stagger into the house reeking of alcohol. Of course, Stacy wasn’t one to let him off the hook easily. Once she had put Jared to bed, she would stay up and wait for him, totally prepared for battle. And as usual, the night would end with screams and shouts from the bitter couple.
On several occasions, the couple would have concerned neighbors knocking at their door late at night to separate a fight between them. The violence got so bad that the neighbors feared for their little boy. But despite the bitterness Mike had towards Stacy, it never affected his love for Jared. He would take him out during the weekends to amusement parks to make up for the times he was absent from home.
After much mediation between the couple and some elderly neighbors, they decided it was best to go their separate ways. Unfortunately for Stacy, the divorce went in Mike’s favor. The court granted Mike total custody of Jared, seeing that he was more capable of taking care of the child. Mike had a house and a steady source of income, while Stacy had nothing to fall back on. As soon as the verdict came in, Mike, being considerate, gave Stacy a timeline of 2 weeks to stay in the house, at least until she found somewhere to stay.
Regardless, Stacy showed no signs of gratitude. Rather, she blamed Mike for being the source of her current predicament. Stacy swore she wouldn’t surrender without a fight. She couldn’t bear to leave Jared with Mike, though Mike had promised he would allow her to visit and spend some time with their son anytime she wanted. It wasn’t enough for Stacy. It was she who had given birth to Jared; she should have gotten custody rights instead of Mike. What did Mike know about raising a child, anyway? Stacy thought as she fumed.
And so, Stacy began to hatch an evil plan. She understood that her period of grace had almost ended, and Mike would ask her out of the house any time. Stacy knew she had to act fast and smart with whatever plan she had come up with. At last, the time finally came on a sunny afternoon. Mike had gone to work, leaving Jared with Stacy in the house. He had planned to get a housekeeper and nanny to watch Jared whenever he left for work, but he hadn’t rushed into it since Stacy was still with them.
It was a perfect opportunity for Stacy to hatch her evil plan. Packing some of her stuff and Jared’s, Stacy disappeared with her boy. Poor Mike came home after work that day to find the house completely empty. Stacy was gone, and Jared was nowhere to be found. Mike went crazy. He made calls and interrogated the whole neighborhood. Unfortunately, some of the neighbors had seen Stacy leave with Jared, but they had not bothered to ask where she was going. It had seemed like a normal occurrence for a mother to step out with her son.
Mike combed the whole town searching for them, but Stacy was long gone. To ensure Mike wouldn’t ever trace them, Stacy moved to another city and rented a rundown one-bedroom apartment. After that, she single-handedly raised and cared for Jared, who was already 2 years old then. Life was really difficult for Stacy when she lived with Mike. She didn’t have to worry about anything; money could buy. Mike was the sole provider in the house, and he did a very good job.
Stacy had not seen the need to get a job, as Mike was already catering to her needs. At this point, it dawned on her that life wasn’t really a bed of roses like she used to think. She had a 2-year-old to feed and take care of, and she didn’t even know where to begin. Though Stacy didn’t do a perfect job, she applauded herself for at least keeping the both of them alive up until that very moment.
Stacy smiled to herself as she began to pack her bags, preparing to leave the park. “Already quite a long journey down memory lane,” she just had, Stacy thought as she giggled quietly. She almost had a wonderful day at the park, except for the incident where the black man ruined her good mood. She didn’t completely believe that Frederick had saved her little boy.
Speaking of Jared, Stacy looked around, and Jared was nowhere to be found. “Oh no, not again,” Stacy muttered under her breath. She quickly cast a glance around, but her boy was not anywhere within her eyeshot. It was getting late, and the crowd at the park was already thinning. Stacy was almost about screaming Jared’s name when she heard a screeching sound accompanied by screams.
Without hesitation, she quickly ran to the direction of the noise. Stacy was baffled to see Jared in the arms of a woman, unsupervised. Jared had stepped into the streets, heading to wherever his tiny feet took him, when he was almost hit by an incoming vehicle. The woman driving the vehicle narrowly avoided hitting him but was fortunate and skilled enough to slam on the brakes as soon as she saw Jared’s small figure. She was most annoyed that Jared’s mother was not watching over her son when that happened.
She proceeded to say that the mother of the baby boy should be prosecuted for negligence for neglecting her child. Not being one to cower in the face of brewing insults and quarrels, Stacy stepped forward and retrieved Jared from the woman’s arms. “You can’t tell me how to raise my child,” Stacy retorted. The two women engaged in a heated argument before bystanders separated the duo. Stacy wanted to leave the scene before the situation got out of hand.
A small crowd had already begun to gather as they raised their voices. Though Stacy knew she almost lost Jared again, she wasn’t about to admit that to a bunch of strangers. With Jared safely tucked between her arms, Stacy quickly left the scene and went home. Besides, Jared had experienced enough near-death encounters for a day. Getting into her car, Stacy zoomed off. But then, the lady who had almost hit Jared was not going to let the matter die so easily.
She was appalled that a woman so incompetent was allowed to raise a child. She needed to do something about it. She was smart enough to take a picture of the plate number on Stacy’s car as she zoomed off. Not wasting time, she placed a call to Child Services, reporting the incidents. She also sent them Stacy’s plate number so that she could be traced easily.
Stacy had not been home for more than 30 minutes when she heard someone knock on her door. The house was in a mess, but she didn’t have time to fix it yet. “Who is it?” she screamed. “Child Services,” a male voice replied. Stacy’s heart somersaulted a thousand times. Moving quickly to the door, she unlatched it and froze almost immediately as she saw the figure standing before her.
It was no other person than Frederick. Frederick was equally surprised to see Stacy. Who would have thought that they would meet again after their toxic encounter at the park? With the way she had treated him at the park, Frederick needed no surer to tell him that Stacy was unfit to raise a child. And he was glad that someone else had proved that without being sentimental.
Frederick briefed Stacy on his mission. He showed her his ID card and warrant to search her house. And true to his suspicions, Stacy didn’t have the facility to care for a child. The house was unkempt, her hygiene was bad, and the kitchen was empty. That explained Jared’s malnourished looks. What was more shocking was that while there was scarcely any food in the house, Stacy had a huge stack of cigarettes. It seemed someone had made cigarettes a priority over good food, Frederick thought.
Having seen enough, Frederick informed Stacy that he would get back to her on the case. But he didn’t fail to voice his disappointment. Stacy, knowing she was done for, proceeded to plead with Frederick. But it was like pouring water on a rock. Stacy was filled with regrets. If only she had not been so rude to him at the park, maybe things would have turned out differently. She bitterly regretted actions at the park.
Frederick left the house, but he wasn’t done with his investigations. As someone who took his job ever so seriously, Frederick was bent on getting to the root of the cause. He involved the cops, and they did a background check on Stacy, retrieving information that she had purposely hidden from her public database. Frederick was taken aback by his findings.
There and then, they discovered how she had kidnapped Jared from his more responsible father and absconded with him. What was more shocking was that she also did hard drugs. With all those discoveries, it was obvious beyond reasonable doubts that Stacy was quite unfit to raise a child. With the law on their side, Frederick and his team swooped into action. Jared was taken away from Stacy to a home that would love and care for him.
Mike, the man, was elated to be reunited with his son. All of Stacy’s pleas for a second chance fell on deaf ears. She was arrested and charged for possession of illegal drugs. Stacy never recovered from the shock of losing her baby and ended up in jail. Filled with regret, she wished she could turn back the hands of time. Then she would be a better person, a better wife, and a better mother.
Which lessons did you learn from this captivating story? Feel free to share your comments with us in the comment section.
