Homegrown

The contents of this work, including, but not limited to, the accuracy of events, people, and places depicted; opinions expressed; permission to use previously published materials included; and any advice given or actions advocated are solely the responsibility of the author, who assumes all liability for said work and indemnifies the publisher against any claims stemming from publication of the work.

All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2023 by Tim Bookman

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, downloaded, distributed, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without permission in writing from the publisher.

Dorrance Publishing Co

585 Alpha Drive

Pittsburgh, PA 15238

Visit our website at www.dorrancebookstore.com

ISBN: 979-8-88925-100-2

eISBN: 979-8-88925-600-7

Prologue

May 9, 2027

Dan McCarthy (Director of Homeland Security, Washington Division) arrived at his office and said hi to all his office staff. While holding his Starbucks coffee, he went immediately to his office to open his computer and sift through the latest emails while making notes. Once that was completed, he went through the pile of mail in the stack. He noticed one of the letters was handwritten. Instead of following protocol and sending the letter to security, for some reason he opened it. It had a heading on the letter that read You Made Me. Puzzling, he thought. Then he read the rest.

On May 11, 2027, at 9:00 A.M., the great country of the United States will start a journey that will put it on its knees and shake the country as it never could believe would happen. The event you will witness will be duplicated in severity, precisely thirty days apart, until the American people fully, 100%, acknowledge the suffering and abuse they have continued to inflict on all minority races living in our great country. They must also change and reverse all pollution leading to global warming. I do not expect this warning to be heeded until you have suffered. So suffer you shall. But please remember, thirty days. There is no need for discussion. The choice is clear. Only deeds will reverse the events that are going to unfold.  

Dan chuckled. He thought, WOW! This one really got creative! But how did this land in my inbox? These usually get intercepted before they hit my desk. I always read these being posted on the bulletin board.

Cindy! Dan called out.

In came his secretary, a tall brunette in her late 40s. Yes, sir. May I help you?

Dan asked her to read the message and see how it made it to his desk.

Hit ‘copy’ if you would, sir, and I’ll ask around. This should have never made it to your desk. Cindy took the message from the copier and handed it to Inspector Marshall to find out how it made it so far.

John Marshall read the message and stated, Wow! Good read! This will be fun! Might make the bulletin board for a whole week! It may be a record holder!

As he passed it around, everyone chuckled as they stated the message should not have hit Dan’s desk.

Chapter I

It was a warm summer evening in June 1996. DeShawn, a thin five-year-old boy, sat nervously awaiting his stepfather’s arrival from work. This had become a nightly tradition for several months. DeShawn never knew what mood his stepfather would come home in.

Months before, his father Tim (an over-the-road truck driver) was in a wreck that totaled his big rig. He received a DUI, lost his license and thus his income. Now Tim was faced with the reality that truck driving was no longer an option. Each passing week, paying the bills was getting to the point where keeping the home he worked so hard for was being a passing fantasy. With each new job Tim tried and failed at, he grew ever more agitated at the world around him. Each passing night, DeShawn sat and waited to see what man would come through the door.

Today, Tim started a new job as a janitor at the FedEx Building in Pittsburgh. Halfway through his shift, his foreman walked up to him and started calling him an idiot. Tim had used the surface cleaner to clean the glass. Tim had had enough! Instead of correcting the issue, Tim turned. He was shooting bullets out of his eyes! Tim looked at his boss of one day and, with not saying a word, threw the hardest punch he could muster! It was so hard that his foreman was knocked unconscious immediately! Blood spilled against the bathroom wall and over the floor.

Outside the bathroom, another janitor saw what was happening and ran in. What did you do? He pulled his phone out and called 911.

Within moments, EMS and police arrived. Despite Tim’s pleads to not be arrested, he was sent to jail for assault and battery (a felony).

At home, 4:30 P.M. came. As every night, Jill (DeShawn’s mom) walked through the door. Jill worked every day as a receptionist for a local dentist. She was a tall lady of 35 with a soft manner about her. She looked at DeShawn and asked where Tim was. DeShawn, worried about what this late arrival might mean, shrugged and told his mother he had no idea. Jill said it was odd, especially since dinner was expected to be served at 5:15 P.M. each evening. What could this mean?

At the police station, they gave Tim permission to make a phone call.

Jill, I won’t be home tonight.

Jill asked, Why? What’s wrong?

Tim replied, Don’t you mind. I will tell you when and if I come home.

Jill hung up the phone while her mind was racing. What was this all about? This had never happened, except when he was in the wreck that destroyed their lives.

The next morning, Tim was in Municipal Court facing a felonious assault charge, a 4th-degree felony. His court-appointed lawyer instructed Tim to plead not guilty. He explained, with the passing of time there was a great chance of the charges being reduced. The arraignment went exactly that way and since Tim was a family man with only a DUI on his record, he was released on his own recognizance bond. Trial was set for the following month.

Instead of calling anyone, Tim sat outside the courthouse thinking. Thinking about how everyone looked at him now, thinking about how in two short months he could go from a hard-working, respected individual to become one of the poor dregs on humanity looked down on by most of his friends and neighbors.

Several hours went by. Now with noon approaching, Tim decided to return to the FedEx Building to retrieve his car. With no money even for a bus ride, he was faced with a three-mile hike. Walking along the street, it appeared everyone was staring at him. This made him more and more agitated with each step he took. How could his whole life be turned upside down just by a couple of little slipups? How could the world be so judgmental? Yet look at all these people looking down their noses at him!

Back at home, Jill and DeShawn had a restless night. What could possibly be going on? What was going on with Tim? Jill decided to call off work the next day because she couldn’t possibly concentrate on work. DeShawn was so nervous. What man would walk through the door tonight? Deep inside, he knew what it would bring.

Tim finally arrived back at his car, only to find his passenger rear tire was flat. Staring at his car, he knew someone did this to him. Storming to the entrance door, he was met by two security guards who appeared to have been waiting for this moment. They stopped him short of the entrance. As he approached the two men, he recognized them from the day he had applied for the job. The taller of the guards told Tim he might as well turn around and exit the property. Not only was he not welcome there but they also had the police on the phone. He would be arrested for trespassing.

Now, as his boiling point was nearing super volcano, Tim started shouting, Who flattened my tire? How am I supposed to leave?

The tall security guard, trying to calm the enraged man he only knew of as the man who assaulted a worker in the building, decided to diffuse the situation by helping get him off the property. Look, bud. I will pull my truck around. I have a portable air compressor. If I do that, will you leave peacefully?

Tim glared for a second at the security guard, then just spat out, Yes.

The tall security guard told his partner to watch the man until he was able to pull his truck around. Minutes later, he brought the truck beside Tim’s car and began airing the tire. The tire took air but he noticed that he could hear air leaking from the tire.

You’d better get this to a gas station quickly. I can hear you have a leak.

Tim kicked the tire and got into the car. He had no plans of going to any place to fix the tire. By now, his anger was so intense that