Page 101 of Behind the Bars

Butstill…

If I had a daughter, I’d at least want to know she wassafe.

If I had a daughter, I’d do better thanMama.

“Jasmine.”

My eyes shot open at the sound of my name, and when I saw Elliott standing in front of me, my gut tightened. “What are you doing here? Oh my gosh, is it TJ? Is he all right?” I asked, hopping off thedumpster.

“He’s fine. I had my mom stop by to stay with him for the night. He told me you come here after you’re done at work. I just…” His eyes shifted around in the alleyway, and his hands were infists.

Oh myGod…

“Eli, is this where it happened…?” Iwhispered.

He shut his eyes for a second and nodded. “Yes.”

“Have you been heresince?”

“No.”

“What are you doing here? Are you okay? What’s going on?” I asked, rambling off questions, seeing the intensity of the moment for him. Sweat lined his forehead, and hegrimaced.

“I need yourhelp.”

“Anything,” I told him. “Anything youneed.”

“TJ’s lost, and I want to help him. He had a b-bad night tonight, and I need to do something. I can’t keep watching him be sobroken.”

“You came here…into this alleyway…because you’re worried about him?” I asked. He nodded. “Eli…why would you do that? I can only imagine how hard it is for you to behere.”

“When we had no one, he stepped up. When we had nothing, he saved us.” His voice shook. “My father walked out, and TJ stepped in without q-question. When Katie…” He paused and swallowed hard. “When Katie died, TJ stayed and helped my mom when I ran away. He always saved us, and now he’s broken, and I want to helphim.”

“How can we do that? How can wehelp?”

“H-he thinks his music died. We just need to prove to him that itdidn’t.”

“How?”

He began to tell me his plan of action, and every word he spoke made my heart do cartwheels. Every idea he tossed out was perfect. In that moment, he was the sweet boy who stood up for me, for his sister, for his mother. Elliott was exactly what he’d always been—caring.

“Do you think it will help?” heasked.

“I think itwill.”

“Good,” he muttered. “Good, good. Okay, well, goodbye.” He started off, and my heart was in mythroat.

“Elliott,wait!”

He turned around to face me. “What isit?”

My mind blanked. There was a slight tremble in my body, and I rubbed my hand up and down my arm. “Never mind. Go ahead. Goodnight.”

“What is it?” he asked again. I stepped forward and then back. My body was battling my mind, and he saw the struggle I was dealing with. He walked closer to me. “Jasmine?”

In a flash, I leaped toward him and wrapped my arms around his body. I pulled him into a hug, and I was certain he’d push me away. I was invading his space, and everything I’d learned about him lately told me he wouldn’t appreciate it, but I couldn’t help it. Knowing where he was standing, knowing how hard it must’ve been for him to come back to that alleyway…I couldn’t not hold him. I couldn’t just let him walk away and feel alone. My hug was a reminder that he wasn’t alone out there. My hug was a safety net just in case he needed tofall.

He didn’t push me away, but he didn’t hug me back. I could feel his sadness, his pain, his heart. I could only imagine how long he’d been drowning in hissadness.

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