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OLD HECTOR sat lazily in the morning sun at the car show. Located right next to him, his friend Bill was sitting in his old green lawn chair. At first glance, they didn’t look like the two should be friends. Hector is a mustachioed, goatee-wearing Afro-American man who looks relaxed and impeccable as he sits in his wooden folding deck chair. The red and white plaid shirt that he wears is accented by a dapper tan vest. A pair of medium brown pants and ultra sharp crease gives muted testimony to his glossy dark brown wingtips, accented by spats. He looks royal in a flapper-era style, like a man that should own both a classic blues saxophone and the car that sparkled alongside him. Bill, on the other hand, sits crowned by a worn straw cowboy hat that looks as if it’d been stolen from the mouth of a quarter horse. A few holes in the hat lets the light morning breeze pass through. If asked about the holes, he shrugs and says they cool his bald spot. Obviously, Bill is not one who stands on being “fancy”. Yes, Bill’s jeans are faded and holed. His boots are crumpled and worn. And he occasionally stuffs an ugly morsel of chocolate chew in his left cheek. When asked about |
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Hector and Buick Bill... |
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“And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. (Revelation 21:10-11) |
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the chocolate, he tells that his daughter forced him to give up the more potent tobacco plug. A more unlikely pair of friends would be hard for anyone to find. Hector had been raised in a genteel household near Baltimore. His father was a personal attendant for a wealthy businessman who lived on a grand estate just outside the city. As Hector grew into his teens, and his predecessor father slowed in age, the younger man began to take over the chauffer’s tasks. Soon, he religiously drove his employer on commutes to the airport. Then after the wealthy business man died, Hector drove his employer’s wife, and finally the |
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“I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out upon you; and your sandals have not worn off your feet; you have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink; that you may know that I am the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 29:5-6) |
