Will God let me live another day?

Ik post niet vaak in het Engels maar dit is zo mooi.


David Flores


e claimed to be. He told me he had used nearly every type of drug he could get his hands on since he was 10. You couldn't guess by looking at him though. He seemed rather clean cut and if you put a suit on him you could easily mistake him for a lawyer or business man. He stayed in the county jail for almost 7 months awaiting trial.

During all that time in jail I got to work the section David was in several times. He was very talkative and I enjoyed listening to whatever he had to say. He always had a big smile on his face. He said he had 2 older brothers and one half-sister. He talked about how he started sniffing aerosol paint at the age of 10. He and his older brothers friends would drive around in a car each with an empty soft drink can in their hands. In it they would spray whatever aerosol paint they had. They would then inhale the paint and get high. He said he still remembers how funny it was because when they would see a cop car go by they would all bring the can up to their mouths to pretend they were drinking Coke. By the time they all got home they were all high but also had paint all over their nose and lips. David said gold paint was the best. After paint came whiteout, freon, gasoline, and finally cocaine and heroin. David did not graduate high school.

David said he was sexually abused by his father since he was 5 years old. His brothers were also abused. He said one time his father made him and one of his brothers have sex together. It was so strange to hear him say this because he said it with no emotion. He would just slightly smile with embarrassment when you would make eye contact with him.

So many things happened to David that if he had stayed another 6 months in jail and I saw him every day he still would not be able to tell me everything. But the things that happened to him did not bother him any more. It was the things that he did that haunted him. At the age of 12 he stabbed another boy. He was never caught. He said the boy looked at him like if he wanted to have sex with him so he stabbed him. When he was 14 he beat his mother until both her eyes were shut and she never reported that either. He robbed a store when he was 18 and he beat the clerk with a bat. He never got caught. He introduced his younger half sister to drugs and she became a drug addict. One time when they were both doing cocaine and drinking they got so high and drunk that they had sex together. His sister hung herself 2 weeks later. David believes his sister never got over what they did.

After every talk we had David would tell me that he knew God was going to punish him soon for what he did. He was convinced that he would never stop what he was doing, so Godneeded to kill him. Every time he walked away from he would say "you think God will let me live another day?" I would always tell him " Whatever God does with you is between you and him. As long as it doesn't happen on my shift." He would laugh and walk away. But not before trying to convince me to give him 5 cold tablets so he could go to sleep.

The last month David was in the jail he stabbed another inmate. He was charged additionally with aggravated assault and his two charges were combined and he was sentenced to 3 years in TDC. I happened to be working in the property room the day David was sent up to prison and got to talk to him for a bit. He was crying and told me thanks for treating him okay. When he walked out he looked back and said "you think God will let me live another day?" I said "Sure he will. Nothing evil ever dies." He laughed and walked off and got on the white bus.

Five years later I walked into the local Peter Piper Pizza. I was there attending a kids party with my family. There were several kids parties going on at the same time. One of the parties started singing happy birthday to the birthday boy and I looked over to their table and I saw David. He was sitting at one of the tables smiling and singing happy birthday. He was in a suit and a tie. He looked real happy and he honestly looked like some business man just sitting there. After the song was over he looked over and saw me. He recognized me right away. I got up and walked over to his table and walked right up to him. His eyes started to tear. I put out my hand for him to shake it and he didn't raise his hand. That's when I noticed he was in a wheel chair. He was a quadriplegic. All he could do is move his head a bit and talk. Nothing else. I asked him what happened? He said "He let me live". I knew what he meant. "So what happened?" I asked. Shortly after David left the Hidalgo County Jail he got sick. He developed some type of degenerative disease that quickly took over his body. Within a year of prison time he could not walk and started losing use of his hands. He was paroled from prison after 1 year. He had been out ever since. He now is employed by an organization that helps kids stay out of trouble.

David knew that he was given a second chance. He had done so much good in the last 3 years that he could hardly explain it all to me. His nurse that is with him 24 hours a day had to slow him down or else he couldn't catch his breath. He had helped so many kids and even got his brothers involved in his program. He had talked to his father and forgave him for what he did. He had asked for forgiveness from his mother and she forgave him. He was now living with her. He had helped raise over 10,000 dollars for different charities.

After a while we both had to leave and we exchanged phone numbers. I asked him if he would want his arms and legs back if he could get them back. He said "Hell no. I don't need them. I needed to lose them to find me. I don't want them". As I walked away David asked me "You think God will let me live another day?". I said, "Hell no. The good guys always die young." He laughed as his nurse rolled him away.

I called him two months later to see how he was doing. His mother told me that David had died in his sleep one month before. She asked who I was. I just told her I was a friend and hung up. When I think of David I always wonder...will God let melive another day? Will he let you?

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