Guardian Angels

Guardian Angels 

Based on a true story

Humidity hung in the air like heavy curtains. Heat shimmered off parked cars in waves. The asphalt was sticky beneath her tennis shoes. Little droplets of sweat beaded her nose. She glanced ahead, and her heart sank. He was there. Again. Waiting.

He'd been there every day now since mid-September. He never spoke to her, just stood there, face shadowed by the hood of a too-large jacket, leaning against the building as she passed by. "Who even wears a jacket year-round?" she wondered. In spite of the Florida heat, she shivered. Her pace quickened a bit. She just wanted to get this over with. As she walked past, he glided away from the wall and fell in step just a few paces behind her. 

It was the early 2000's, and Candy was only seventeen. Shy, quiet, and petite, she had been plagued by various illnesses throughout her short life. Every day she left the public high school she attended and walked to her job washing dishes at a nearby restaurant. And every day he followed her. Not just after school, but throughout the day as well. She would find him lurking by her locker or turning up at the lunch table next to hers. She was almost certain he had called her home one evening, but when her mom handed her the phone, all she heard was breathing. She found herself becoming more nervous and jumpy as time passed. With a sense of relief she reached the back door of the restaurant and entered, closing it securely behind her.

She tried to ignore it because she didn't know what else to do, but it was getting worse. Last night, for example, she was sure it had been him, waiting in the shadows when she clocked out, the only indication of his presence the glow of a cigarette that went out suddenly. It was the first time he'd been waiting for her after work. Tonight, he was waiting again. She nearly ran toward her mother's car that sat idling in the parking lot. Twisting in her seat to look behind, Candy saw the bulky shape slip around the side of the building. Sleep came with difficulty that night. What if he followed her home? What if he was lurking outside right now? Were her curtains closed all the way? She'd heard his name once or twice, but she couldn't remember it-- though she knew it had been in connection with some strange, creepy stories. She tossed and turned, feeling trapped in her terror. Tomorrow was coming, and she knew with dreadful certainty that he would be there.

It happened during math class. Candy was trying to find her homework pages in her backpack when Will Johnson took the seat next to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Joe Willard take a seat on the opposite side of her. What was going on? Will and Joe were both linebackers on the football team. They were huge. Candy felt more tiny and timid than ever sitting between them. And they were black. Not that she was racist, but it was strange. Why would these two hugely popular football players sandwich this little white girl who had never even spoken to them like this? "You'll be OK," Will muttered under his breath.

After class in the hall it happened again. This time Corey Fells, the star running back, joined the group. They escorted her to her literature class, waited until she entered, then disappeared down the hall. She wasn't sure what to think. Racial tensions still burbled up occasionally in this part of the country. And it was so strange, this behavior. The guys weren't really making conversation with her, it was more like they were guarding her. Lunch rolled around. She sat at her normal table. Joe, Will, Corey, and several more of the football players surrounded her. It felt like sitting in a fenced in area. The guys laughed and joked among themselves, never really paying her much mind, though if they did speak to her, it was always in respectful tones. She couldn't figure out for the life of her what was going on.

It was as she left school to walk to work that it hit her. The football players had provided her, an unpopular white girl, with a protective wall all day. The creepy guy in the over-sized jacket hadn't come near her at all. But he was waiting for her now in the same place as always, leaning against the wall. She felt her stomach tense up. Suddenly a shadow loomed up, and Will Johnson joined her. They walked together, never a word passing between them. They came to the spot where he was waiting. Will paused. He stepped over within a couple feet of the slouching figure. He just stood there, hands on hips, not saying a word, for probably thirty seconds. Candy watched, hardly breathing. Then Will spoke: "Yo, leave her alone, ya hear?" He stared down steadily until the hood nodded, then joined Candy again. "C'mon, let's go," he said.

For the rest of high school, nearly two years, the football players made themselves Candy's personal body guards. Wherever she went, one or two of them were there too. Today, Candy calls them her guardian angels. Out of all the people that knew of the situation-- friends, teachers, principals-- no one did a thing to help her. Instead, it was some of the most popular guys in school, ones of a different race, that stepped in to save her. The football players had no reason to take action. They weren't her friends, hardly knew her name, and were definitely not in the same social groups, but they saw a job to do and they did it.

Candy learned something about social responsibility in high school that we all need to learn at some point. We see situations every day of people that need help. Some are our friends that need meals cooked or houses cleaned. Others are complete strangers, perhaps leaning on a shelf in Wal-Mart with tears running down their faces or sitting beneath an overpass holding a sign that says "Please Help." Are we willing to step up and do what we can to help? Not all guardian angels are heavenly beings. Some are ordinary people like you and me.