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Capt. Ludlow refrained from both putting his head in his hands and also from telling the children to mind their business about how a man not handling his trash had led him and others to prison. He recognized the children were in the world and would have to make their way in it just like he had to. He just took a moment to breathe and pray before answering.
“Although it is common in the United States for people in powerful positions to treat those they think of beneath them as trash,” he said, “people are not trash. People, of every background, race, and creed, are people, coming from Adam, Whom God made in His image. No matter who you are and what you have done or may do, you always will be human, and you should not be treated like a candy wrapper.”
Capt. Ludlow fought choking up, realizing how far he had come in his life to be able to say that with conviction – and why he and neighbor Sgt. Trent and old Sgt. Lee had spared the lives of the men they had helped capture, and given them life-saving medical attention before the EMTs had arrived.
“Now, prison – that's quite complicated, and you do not need to know much more about it at your ages but to prepare yourselves for a life that has you coming nowhere near it but perhaps to minister to the people there if you should be called to that. Suffice it to say that Andrew is more or less correct: prison is where people are put away after doing so much harm that they cannot be allowed to be free to harm again for a long time … but in prison, people are people. Some will choose to change their ways, and others will not … but that's just people, everywhere.”
“Is this why some states want to get the death penalty back again?” Velma said, “because some people won't change and will do bad again?”
“Yes,” Capt. Ludlow said. “The problem is that there is unfairness in the system, and one has to be very careful in taking life. More about that I will not say, except to remind you all that your knowledge of prison merely needs to be how to avoid it, and your adults are guiding you in the right direction.”
“Have you ever been to prison?” Grayson asked.
“I was put in the stockade once while in the Army,” Capt. Ludlow said, “because I made someone very angry, but he came and got me out himself, because I was right, and saved his life.”
“The first part is the not fair part,” Grayson said.
“And the second part is the grace of God,” Capt. Ludlow said.
“But also, the unfairness, because my dad is Black and that might not have gone so well for him,” Velma said.
“Yes,” Capt. Ludlow said. “This is true, Velma. This is also the reason that the death penalty is hard to apply. We know there is unfairness in how it is applied. But this is why we have to help each other avoid doing anything that would put us in the way of going to prison.”
“Just like I should probably go tell George not to put food coloring down the water hose so we can make rainbows in the garden – be right back,” Grayson said.
“It's amazing what you can learn because someone messed up their trash pick up,” Velma said. “Now we can all help each other, because I know Milton [her nine-year-old brother and George's best friend] is probably involved and I can go pull him out before he is covered in a rainbow of evidence!”
“Keeping folks from being grounded and learning how to stay out of prison – this is a great day and thank you, Papa!” Andrew said.
“We knew you had the answer!” Eleanor said.
And they all scattered, leaving Capt. Ludlow to sit in his porch chair and deal with the way the whole conversation had made his head spin.
Sgt. Trent came out on the porch about ten minutes later.
“Er, sir?” he said, “I am in here listening to my middle daughter explain to my younger son about how participating in other people's bad ideas is how folks end up in prison, and how your grandson George needed to have the food coloring bottles slapped out of his hands by Grayson and Lil' Robert to keep him from going there.”
Capt. Ludlow explained, and then added, “I did the best I could with that topic, Sergeant. Apparently they know much more about yesterday than we thought.”
“Apparently,” Sgt. Trent said. “This is why public school fails so many … you can't send kids who are allowed to really think to prison quite so easily.”
“Agreed, Sergeant,” Capt. Ludlow said. “Perhaps we all need to adjust our thinking … perhaps Covid-19, and the fact that this county has no plans to re-open schools in September, has a blessing in disguise, for us, and for others.”
“I think so,” Sgt. Trent said. “I think so.”