One More Sunrise

One More Sunrise

         The two cops opened the door leading out onto the roof. "There he is." The jumper was standing near the edge looking at the sky where it was starting to get light. The morning star hung just above the dirty haze of the city. The jumper was young, maybe in his teens.

         The older cop had been through this before, more times than he wanted to count. The aim was to get the jumper down, save a life. "Don't startle him!."

         "Why do they do it?" the younger cop asked.

         "Don’t know, different reasons. Something in his life went bad and he thinks it's the only answer. Maybe he's depressed."

         "If he wants to do it, he will."

         "I know. But not on my watch."

         The jumper spotted them. "Keep away."

         The older cop said. "My name is David. What's yours?

         The jumper didn't answer.

         Dave said, "If you're going to die this morning, don't you at least want to say your name one more time?"
`
         "Terry, my name is Terry."

         Dave was edging around a little closer to him. "How old are you, Terry?"

         "Seventeen."

         "Why do you want to leave this world, when you practically just got here?"

         "The world stinks."

         "You got that right, Terry, and you don't know the half of it yet. But it's the only world we have. Where do you live?"

         "Here, this building."

         "Where are your folks?"

         "My mom went to work. The old man walked out. I just have my mom."

         Ah, there was the hook, the thing he could use to talk him down. "So that means you're all she has."

         Terry paused in his pacing, and Dave knew he'd made contact. "It stinks that your father walked out on her. That made her life really bad didn't it?"

         "Yeah."

         "And I guess you're pretty pissed at him for doing it?"

         "Yeah."

         "So why are you doing the same thing? This world is hard for a woman alone, you know. She's been abandoned once and you're going to do it to her
again."

         Terry hesitated. "Stay away," he warned.

         "She needs you. You're a man, Terry. She needs you. She took care of you didn't she? Now it's your turn. Are you going to be a man or are you going to book like your father?"

         "You don't know anything about it."

         "I don't? You try being a cop in this city for twenty years and see if you know anything about it!"

         "What does it matter to you?"

         "Plenty, but nothing like the difference it will make to you and your mom."

         "What difference?"

         "Well, if you give up the idea for now you have a life ahead of you. You'll get help and you'll finish growing up and you have no idea what you can do. Jump this morning and that's it, you'll never know what you threw away. Come here. Terry, come over here out of the wind." Dave held out his arms. "Come here, Terry."

         The sun was coming up a bright edge of it starting to show over the hills on the other side of the river. Dave stood there his arms reaching toward the boy. Terry stood facing him then began walking toward him. As the sunlight hit the roof, the boy was sobbing in his arms. Dave held him and looked up at the morning sky. Sometimes you win one.