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LIFE CONTINUED TO GET BETTER in California. He fell in love with the city of San Francisco, if one could possibly fall in love with a city. Doing something about his education made him realize how important self-esteem was to any young man. Perhaps he was worthy of a life with Peggy after all. He just wished he could have Peggy with him but that would mean a whole lot of explaining and he wasn’t at the bridge just yet. He began to think maybe he could go back to Georgia and continue his education there. He then remembered the news-stand where he found the city maps his second day in San Francisco had also carried the Atlanta Journal He slipped on his jacket and caught a cable car to get one. He was excited just thinking about returning to Georgia, so much so he could hardly stand it. It was the first week in June and late spring was always so beautiful in the mountains.
At the newsstand, he couldn’t find the Atlanta paper. Disappointed, he asked the attendant if they had a copy.
“Yeah, look under the Wall Street Journal.”
He moved the stack of papers and sure enough there was what he was looking for. He paid the attendant and began the trek back to his room. He planed to read it from cover to cover. There must be as many opportunities in Atlanta as there were in San Francisco.
As soon as he returned to the room he reordered his thinking and got himself a beer and began to read. He had not noticed before that a picture of a woman took up one-fourth of the front page. The headlines read: Pregnant Woman To Be Put On Death Row...
Miss Margaret Taylor was convicted for the first-degree murders of her father and brother. The shooting took place on the lawn of the family home in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Witness testimony placed her at the scene on the night of the murders. The disclosure at the trial that police had recovered the murder weapon and spent shells inside the car of the accused assured the prosecution of a quick victory. Jurors returned with a guilty verdict after only thirty minutes of deliberation.
Jim stopped reading. He was in shock. What had he done? Could this be his Peggy he was reading about? It couldn’t be. Could it? The paper said she was the daughter and sister. Then a cold chill came over him. She’s pregnant. Could it be his child?
He was paralyzed for a moment. He could only look at the picture and read the headline. He knew he had to do something, but he had no clue what it should be. He tried to relax and get control of himself. The more he thought of the situation he had created, the more he felt panic taking control.
He had once read that if you are in a panic situation just do something, even if it amounts to just peeing in your pants. Well, he wasn’t going to do that, but he did start making a list. The more he wrote the more rational he found himself becoming. He tried to stay away from areas that he couldn’t control. The area that caused him the most feelings of panic was when he thought of Peggy. How was he going to fix this mess?
He made a mental note that he would list the things he could control. He knew he must return to Blue Ridge That was a given. What needed to be done before he left? As his list grew, the more control he had. He actually began to relax. One thing at a time, one day at a time and one solution at a time was what he kept repeating in his head.
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