Page 19 of Bittersweet

“Then something happened that changed things for me.” He paused. The memory was still upsetting nearly a decade later. “I went over to her house one day and found her in bed with one of our friends. At least I thought he was a friend. The guy was totally out of his mind high, and Naya … she was just lying there. I thought she was dead. She wasn’t moving. It didn’t seem like she was breathing. I called 911 and our friend bolted. The paramedics came, and we got her to the hospital just in time.”

“How old were you?”

“Sixteen.” He shook his head, remembering Naya’s lifeless, pale body and the fear that had nearly paralyzed him. It was the first time he understood how serious drugs were and what they could do to a person. “Naya ended up getting arrested for drug possession, and she tried to say I was there with her, that the drugs were mine. I saved her life, and she tried to take me down with her.”

“Oh my gosh.” Harper looked concerned. “Did you get arrested too?”

“I was questioned, but there was no proof to go along with her accusations, so nothing came of it. She ended up in juvie for a while, though. It was her second time there for drugs.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, that whole thing sobered me up real quick, and I knew it had to be over with her. I knew I needed to get away from that life and fast.”

“What did you do?”

“I was actually placed with new foster parents that very week, which looking back now, feels like a godsend. Growing up, my parents weren’t around. My dad ran off when I was twelve. I still have no idea where he is. My mom’s been serving time for this crime or that since I was in diapers, so I was always in the system. But Gary and Marsha were different than other foster parents I’d had. They were kind, amazing people, who actually seemed to care about me. They didn’t judge me for where I came from or what I’d done. They talked to me like I wasn’t just some dumb kid. And when I talked, they actually listened. They got me help to get off the drugs. And they told me all the time that Jesus loved me and that they loved me. I think they were the first people in my life who ever truly meant it.”

Harper reached over and gave his hand a soft squeeze.

He looked into her eyes and gave her a little smile as she let go and clasped her hands together again.

“I never really believed dreams could come true until I met Gary and Marsha. They were always telling me that if there was something I wanted out of this life, it was possible with hard work and determination. Their encouragement made me believe in myself, and I wouldn’t be who I am today without their influence on me. If it wasn’t for them, I might not have moved to Grand Rapids, and I might not have met you.”

“I wish you’d told me some of this before.” Harper’s voice cracked a little as she spoke.

Logan wanted to reach out and comfort her, but he fought to keep his hands to himself. “I was ashamed of where I had come from, and I did some really bad stuff. I wanted to protect you from all that.”

“I could’ve handled it.”

“I don’t doubt that, but I wasn’t ready to open up about it then, I guess.”

She looked at her hands again. “So, you moved to Grand Rapids and then what?”

“I worked for a couple years—odd jobs and such—then went to the community college for two years. After sophomore year, I decided to go home to visit Gary and Marsha for a couple weeks in the summer, and I ran into Naya. We hadn’t seen each other since all that stuff went down. She looked better—healthier—than the last time I’d seen her, and she told me she had gotten clean. I really wanted to believe she’d changed.

“We hung out and caught up. By the end of the night, we were back at her place, and one thing led to another.” He glanced over and noticed Harper scrunch up her nose. “Afterward, she got up and came back with some smack.”

Harper’s face screwed up with confusion. “Uh … I don’t know what that is.”

“Heroine.”

“Oh.”

“She wanted us to do it together, like old times.”

Harper blew out a slow breath.

“Yeah, I was out of there so fast. It was such a huge mistake, one I knew I would never make again. And when I walked out of her house that day, I thought I’d never see her again. I came back here and transferred to GVSU junior year, and that’s when I met you.”

He reached over and took her hand then. He couldn’t help himself.

Harper didn’t pull away, but she didn’t squeeze his hand either. She simply let him hold on.

“Once you came into my life, that was it for me. You were my everything, and I knew how darn lucky I was to have found you. I never thought about her again until I got that call from the prison.”

9

The person on the line told me Naya was nine months into serving a six year sentence for drug trafficking, and she was hours away from giving birth to a baby—my baby—in prison.”

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