CHAPTER ONE

Ray Griffin was a forty-year-old down-on-his-luck street musician who accepted whatever was offered to him: pennies, nickels, dimes, and, on a good day, quarters. He walked to a local fast-food restaurant with only a few pennies in his pocket and ordered a 99-cent chicken sandwich to satisfy his hunger. A group of thugs sprinting down the street bumped into him, and his coins fell to the ground and rolled into the gutter. Ray reached down with his arms to pick them up, but it was difficult to reach them. He sighed as he slumped on the sidewalk. How did his life spiral into one terrible break after another?

It wasn’t always like this throughout his life. True, he had really terrible luck, but there was a time when he had a brilliant career as a store manager at a home improvement store and could support his family. They lived in a nice three-bedroom house in Texas with a large backyard where his wife, Melinda, planted vegetables while he worked on fixing an old Chevy truck he bought from his boss. When he was alone on the terrace, he’d occasionally play his guitar. It was something he used to enjoy doing.

More blessings arrived when his wife became pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Everything was wonderful. They coexisted together until the company he worked for laid Ray off. They ran into financial difficulties, lost their home and automobile, and had to move to a smaller apartment. Ray took up the role of Mr. Mom while his wife worked as a receptionist at a law firm. To make matters worse, Melinda, who didn’t enjoy living in poverty, filed for divorce shortly after, and they agreed to a 50/50 time-sharing agreement with their daughter. However, as soon as the order was granted, his ex-wife fled town, taking their eight-year-old daughter, Sarah, with her. He searched for them for a long time, but it was difficult to find someone who didn’t want to be found. He subsequently learned that his wife had remarried to a pawnshop owner in Florida, four months after their divorce had been finalized. Even if he wanted to see his daughter, he didn’t have the resources to do it, but he told himself that if his luck changed someday, he would get his daughter back. He accepted the fact that he was alone and homeless, so he traveled wherever his feet carried him or where sleep found him. 

Ray was strolling down an alley one night when he noticed two teens running towards him. One of them accidentally dropped his wallet on the ground. Ray picked it up and yelled out to them, but they had already turned on to the next street. The teenagers had robbed a man in the parking lot of a convenience store and were fleeing the police. When the authorities arrived and surrounded the area, they noticed Ray holding the man’s wallet and assumed he was the perpetrator, so they detained him. He spent an unpleasant night in jail before proving he had nothing to do with it. Ray was clearly at the wrong place at the wrong time, since the man who was robbed described his assailants as a group of young kids. Ray felt it was time to move on and try his luck in another town after being released from jail. He was hitchhiking when a man in an old box truck, who appeared to be of mixed origins, noticed him and stopped.

“Where are you going?” Ray asked.

“Arizona,” the driver said.

“Me, too,” he said.

“Hop on in.”

Ray grinned as he slid his bag and guitar underneath the seat and settled in for the ride. Ray attempted to engage the driver in conversation as their journey progressed. “By the way, thank you for stopping.”

The driver gave him a quick glance. “No problem,” he said, his voice slightly tinged with a Mexican accent.

They had been traveling for a few hours when they noticed at least three border patrol vehicles stopped on the roadside ahead. Ray was perplexed as to why the old man took the next turn and a different route across the river. It was a bumpy ride, so they had to circle for many hours until their ride smoothed out and they could get back on the road. Ray wanted to ask the driver why they made such a lengthy journey, but he didn’t appear to be in the mood for a conversation. 

As they approached New Mexico, they noticed a huge backup of cars. A random check was taking place, and all traffic had to come to a halt. The border guard was going from car to car, asking people to open their trunks and make sure no migrants were being brought through. It surprised Ray when the old man banged on the roof of his truck and whispered something in Spanish. As soon as he shouted those words, the old man bolted towards the mountains, leaving Ray in the truck.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Ray asked the elderly man. “Where are you going?”

Ray was even more shocked when the back door of the box truck opened and at least twenty people dashed towards the mountain. The border patrol spotted them and chased them. One of the border patrol officials detained Ray. They patrolled the area until they captured everyone, and Ray was arrested once again, t

Ray Griffin was a forty-year-old down-on-his-luck street musician who accepted whatever was offered to him: pennies, nickels, dimes, and, on a good day, quarters. He walked to a local fast-food restaurant with only a few pennies in his pocket, and ordered a 99-cent chicken sandwich to satisfy his hunger. A group of thugs sprinting down the street bumped into him, and his remaining coins fell to the ground and rolled into the gutter. Ray reached down with his arms to pick them up, but it was difficult to reach them. He sighed as he slumped on the sidewalk. How did his life spiral into one terrible break after another?

It wasn’t always like this throughout his life. True, he had terrible luck, but there was a time when he had a brilliant career as a store manager at a home improvement store and could support his family. They lived in a nice three-bedroom house in Texas with a large backyard where his wife, Melinda, planted vegetables while he worked on fixing an old Chevy truck he bought from his boss. When he was alone on the terrace, he’d occasionally play his guitar. It was something he enjoyed doing.

More blessings arrived when his wife became pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Everything was wonderful. They coexisted until the company he worked for laid Ray off. They faced financial difficulties, lost their home and automobile, and had to move to a smaller apartment. Ray took up the role of Mr. Mom, while his wife worked as a receptionist at a law firm. To make matters worse, Melinda, who didn’t enjoy living in poverty, filed for divorce shortly after, and agreed to a 50/50 time-sharing agreement with their daughter. However, as soon as the order was granted, his ex-wife fled town, taking their eight-year-old daughter, Sarah, with her. He searched for them for a long time, but it was difficult to find someone who didn’t want to be found. He subsequently learned that his wife had remarried to a pawnshop owner in Florida, four months after their divorce was finalized. Even if he wanted to see his daughter, he didn’t have the resources to do it, but he told himself that if his luck changed someday, he would get his daughter back. He accepted he was alone and homeless, so he traveled wherever his feet carried him or where sleep found him.

Ray was strolling down an alley one night when he noticed two teens running towards him. One of them accidentally dropped his wallet on the ground. Ray picked it up and yelled out to them, but they had already turned onto the next street. The teenagers had robbed a man in the parking lot of a convenience store and were fleeing the police. When the authorities arrived and surrounded the area, they noticed Ray holding the man’s wallet and assumed he was the perpetrator, so they detained him. He spent an unpleasant night in jail, before proving he had nothing to do with it. Ray was clearly at the wrong place at the wrong time, since the man who was robbed described his assailants as a group of young kids. Ray felt it was time to move on and try his luck in another town after being released from jail. He was hitchhiking when a man in an old box truck, who appeared of mixed origins, noticed him and stopped.

“Where are you going?” Ray asked.

“Arizona,” the driver said.

“Me, too,” he said.

“Hop on in.”

Ray grinned as he slid his bag and guitar underneath the seat and settled in for the ride. Ray attempted to engage the driver in conversation as their journey progressed.

“By the way, thank you for stopping,” he said.

The driver gave him a quick glance. “No problem,” he said. His voice slightly tinged with a Mexican accent.

They had been traveling for a few hours when they noticed at least three border patrol vehicles stopped on the roadside ahead. Ray was perplexed why the old man took the next turn and a different route across the river. It was a bumpy ride, so they had to circle for many hours until their ride smoothed out and they could get back on the road. Ray wanted to ask the driver why they made such a lengthy journey, but he didn’t appear in the mood for a conversation.

As they approached New Mexico, they noticed a huge backup of cars. A random check was taking place, and all traffic had to come to a halt. The border guard was going from car to car, asking people to open their trunks and make sure no migrants were being brought through. It surprised Ray when the old man banged on the roof of his truck and whispered something in Spanish. As soon as he shouted those words, the old man bolted towards the mountains, leaving Ray in the truck.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Ray asked the elderly man. “Where are you going?”

Ray was even more shocked when the back door of the box truck opened and at least twenty people dashed towards the mountain. The border patrol spotted them and chased them. One of the border patrol officials detained Ray. They patrolled the area until they captured everyone, and Ray was arrested again, this time for smuggling illegal aliens into the country. They found him not guilty because there was insufficient evidence to prove he committed a crime, but not before he spent a week in jail before being freed.

TO CONTINUE READING, YOU CAN PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE.