Candy watched Mario read Haley her rights and then put her into the backseat of the SUV. Brad sadly had to sit in thebackseat with her. “Ms. Baker, I'll need you to testify,” Mario informed Candy.
“I will do what's needed,” Candy promised. “But, please, don't send her to prison. Give her one more chance.”
“To come back and hurt you? Are you crazy? You heard her,” Mario told Candy.
“Give Haley one more chance to go west. Please,” Candy pleaded.
“Ms. Baker, you have a heart full of mercy, but I have my limits. I'm sorry.” Mario looked at Candy with sorrowful eyes. “I have a job to do.” With those words spoken, Mario climbed into the driver's seat of the SUV and drove away.
Candy watched the SUV vanish down the street and then bowed her head. “Dear God, that woman needs a miracle. Please help her.”
A miracle did happen. Mario did give Haley a second chance in the end. Haley drove west. A year later, she was hit by a drunk driver and ended up paralyzed from the neck down. One year after that, she became a changed woman. She called Candy and begged for forgiveness. Everyone forgave her—including Ralphie.
Candy personally flew to California and brought Haley home. Haley ended up becoming a wonderful reporter and an inspiration to everyone who met her.
Yes. The bag full of miracles God was holding was very, very full.
Chapter 4
“Ayo,” Ralphie spoke into a squeaky microphone, “my name is Ralphie. You can call me theCalzone.”
“The Calzone?” Bob roared. “What are you, a slice of pizza?”
“Ayo, watch it, old man!” Ralphie snapped.
“What will you do, boy? Put concrete shoes on me?” Bob asked and then broke out laughing. “You look about as scary as my wife did on our wedding day!”
“Your wife should have slapped you—”
“Uh, Ralphie...no...” Peppermint was sitting in the front row. He quickly shook his head at Ralphie.
“Look, I'm here to tell you people that I ain't got nothing to do with the mafia. As a matter of fact, I left Brooklyn because I wanted to become more than just some street guy.” Ralphie plowed forward. “I know I don't look like much, and I ain't much, but Candy believes in me, and I ain't gonna let her down. I'll make the best toys in the world if I can, and well, maybe in time, I'll even learn how to be nice to a bunch of snot-nosed kids who will probably put their grimy little hands all over a bunch of clean windows.”
Sandy was sitting next to Peppermint. She listened to Ralphie talk, but as she did, instead of hearing an annoying twerp from Brooklyn; for the first time, she truly heard Ralphie speaking from his heart. Something slowly began to change inside of Sandy. She felt her heart actually reach out for Ralphie. “You tell them,” she whispered. “Go, Ralphie.”
“Look, people,” Ralphie continued. “I know what you've been told, but what you've been told was a lie. I ain't no criminal and neither are my friends. We're what you callvictims of circumstance. Isn't that what you said, Betty?”
Betty was sitting next to Sandy. Marty was sitting next to her. Chris was standing in the back of the room keeping an eye on things. “That's right, honey.” Betty nodded.
“That's a bunch of hooey,” Bob yelled. “I'm an old man. In my day, a man stood up and accepted his fate. He didn't hide behind a wall of lies!”
“I ain't hiding nowhere!” Ralphie yelled. Everyone covered their ears. “Ayo, someone needs to fix this microphone, but I'm gonna speak my peace.” Ralphie pointed at Bob. “I come from a bad place in Brooklyn, old man. My parents cared about me about as much as they cared about a piece of burned bacon. I was raised by an old woman who had a real mean fist and a hard mouth. I got bullied and I can't tell you how many times I got the cat snot beat out of me. A wall of lies? I wish I had a wall of lies to hide behind. I don't!”
“I didn't mean—” Bob began to defend himself.
“I know what you meant, old man. You're just like everybody else. You like to judge before you know the facts. You like to feel all superior because I’m different than you. I'm used to that. What? Do you think I've never been talked down to before? I used to work in a pizza shop in Brooklyn, old man. All the guys who came in there always talked down to me. Some of them even came back to the kitchen and hit me.”
“Well, yes, maybe we should get on—” Phillip coughed in a way to urge Ralphie to change the subject.
“I ain't finished, Mr. Mayor,” Ralphie snapped. “You folks are gonna see me for who I am. I ain't much, and I didn't come from much, but I ain't no criminal. I don't know how me and my friends all ended up connected. Candy said God is working in a mysterious way to perform a miracle. Maybe she's right. All I do know is that I saw a job in a travel magazine and called Candy to ask about the job...and bada bing, here I am. That's the truth.”
“The same, like, goes for all of us!” Sandy stood up. “Me, Ralphie, Marty...we just wanted jobs. Peppermint was already on the island. Like, that's the truth...totally. We're not criminals. If we were, like, do you think we'd be at this meeting?”
Marty stood up. “Your local reporter told you a bunch of half-truths that she twisted into a knot of lies. Why? Because she hates Candy Baker. That's the truth,” he stressed. “What happened is no different than a bratty kid in school telling lies to a teacher about an innocent student who was caught in a bad situation but had no connection to the situation.”
“And,” Betty quickly stood up, “you all know Candy Baker. Do you really think that this woman is a criminal? She can't even step on an ant for crying out loud. Anyone who thinks Candy is a criminal needs to have his or her head examined!”
“That's what I've been saying,” Amy called out. “My husband needs a job and Mr. Carols, if he's successful, will bring many jobs to Pine Snow. That's all I care about.”
