Page 31 of Justice for JoElla

“That you’re glad I’m enjoying it.”

That seemed like a weird question. “Well, of course. You’re enjoying it. Experiencing something new, having a good time, enjoying pleasant conversation, laughing, drinking this amazing gingerade?”

“Oh, it is amazing, by the way,” she said in agreement.

“Yeah, one of my favorite things. But don’t you think you deserve to have a time like this? A nice dinner, nice conversation, new experiences, fun?”

The expression on her face would’ve been appropriate if he’d just told her she was the ugliest idiot he’d ever met, and that made no sense until she spoke. “I don’t have fun. I wasn’t born to have fun. My life has never been fun.”

Something twisted inside Brandon. The woman across the table from him had been abused, neglected, and mistreated her entire life. She’d given that life to serve and protect, only to be exploited and then hung out to dry. JoElla was a good cop, a dedicated cop, and she’d been fucked over every way imaginable. It was time for that to end. “Do you want to change that?”

She shrugged again. “I don’t see how that can happen.”

“It can. If you want it to. Do you want it to happen?”

“Just to be disappointed again?”

“But what if you weren’t disappointed? What if it was a positive experience, a new way of living? Would you want that?” Brandon wasn’t sure where he was going with all of it, but he was willing to follow it and see what happened. If she said yes, he’d find a way to make it happen.

“If I wasn’t disappointed, and it was positive, and it let me have some fun and feel like I had a life worth living, then yeah. But that’ll never happen.”

Brandon had thought he’d never finish medical school. It seemed impossible. Then he thought he’d never make it to chief surgeon, but he did. He thought he’d never have a family, but he’d had one, even though he’d lost it. He thought he’d never get tossed out on his ass, but JoElla had said it?he’d managed to land on his feet. If he could do that for himself, could he help her find a new way to live that made everyday life more tolerable?

Always the golden child. Always the good son. Always the big man. Years earlier, he’d heard an old man in the community say something he’d never forget: “Look how the mighty have fallen.” Yeah, he knew it was a bastardization of a bible verse, but it still applied in his case. If anyone in the whole world had screwed up, it was him, and yet he was determined to fight his way back, even if it wasn’t in the way he’d thought.

JoElla had done the same, and he had immense respect for that.I can’t disappoint this woman. That’s all anybody has ever done to her, disappoint her and hurt her. He wasn’t going to be one of those people. Absolutely not. That pitiful apartment. Drab clothes. Drab life. “What do you do in your free time?”

“Sleep.”

“What else?”

“Laundry. And sleep.”

“Tomorrow is Saturday. We’re going to find something fun to do if it kills us. You with me?”

JoElla shook her head. “I can’t think of one damn thing that sounds fun.”

“Then we’ll invent something. Come on. At least give it a try!”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Well, what do I have to lose?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”Dear god, I’ve got to come up with something pretty quick, he told himself. Then he remembered something. “Do bugs freak you out?”

She sighed. “Nothing freaks me out.”

“Good. Because tomorrow we’re going to have some fun. You just wait and see.”They’d better be open or I’ll have to… I don’t know what. I’ll figure it out.But if they were open, and he could get her to go, she’d probably enjoy it.

Probably.

Her voice interrupted his thoughts. “Oh my god, this is delicious. It’s like a yummy crepe.”

“Want to taste this? It’s fish.” Brandon picked up a piece and put it on the edge of her bowl, then watched as she tasted it. “Well?”

“That’s amazing. This place is so good. Thank you for bringing me.”

“Hey, I was a little worried. I hadn’t been here and I was hoping it wasn’t a dud!”

“No. It’s not. We’ll have to come back sometime.”

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