Page 66 of Right Place, Right Time (Second Chances)
“He wanted to…but Jay had let him down so much before. Their parents were bad news and weren’t around much, so Jay was a wild child. Anyway, the whole thing really put a strain on their relationship for a while. It took Jay a long time to get past the anger of his brother arresting him and not believing him, but eventually he got over it.”
“His brother is the one who arrested him?”
“Yeah. His friend was arrested for armed robbery, and Jay was arrested as an accessory.”
“Wow, that’s pretty rough.”
“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he just hadn’t stopped for gas or not given his friend that ride, things could have turned out so different.”
“If his friend hadn’t robbed someone…”
“Yeah, there’s that,” I agree with a frown. “So, Jay spent over three years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit or didn’t mean to commit, I guess. We wrote each other letters for a little while. I looked him up at the Department of Corrections website after I’d found out he went to prison,” I admit bashfully, feeling like a total stalker. Though he did come to California for me, so I guess we’re sort of even now.
“Wait a minute,” Casey’s eyes dart to mine, suddenly realizing something. “You told me you met him at the restaurant.”
I look down at my hands in my lap, feeling incredibly guilty for lying to my friend. I should have known she wouldn’t judge Jay, especially once she knew the whole story. I should have just told her the truth back then.
This is exactly one of the things Jay had been afraid of…that I would have to hide our history because I was ashamed of him. But that’s not the case at all. I’m not ashamed of him. I just don’t want to deal with the attitudes of people who would judge him without knowing him…without knowing the truth. People love jumping to conclusions. That’s what I’ve been afraid of. I’ve never been ashamed of him. I never would be.
More tears drip down my cheeks, and Casey pulls me into a hug. I take my friend’s consolation, careful of the stitches on her chest.
“I’m sorry I lied to you. I was just afraid of what you might think if you knew he’d been in jail, and I didn’t want to get mad at you for making a snap judgement.”
“I understand,” she says. “If I were in your shoes, I’d probably be apprehensive about telling people as well.”
“But you’re my best friend, I should have trusted that you would hear me out.”
Casey shrugs. “It’s not a big deal. You would have told me eventually. Youdidtell me eventually. That’s what’s important.”
“I guess so.”
“So tell me…how did you meet?”
I smile at the memory. “It was kismet, I swear.” Casey squeezes my hand and gives me an encouraging smile. “You know I did a lot of volunteer work in high school. I’d gone to Greenville for the day to help at an event for a free health clinic. Turns out the event was canceled, but no one told me. So I turned around and drove home. I was on I-26 when my car broke down. I had been out there, baking in the sun on the side of the road, when he showed up like a mirage.”
I tell Casey all about the short time I’d spent with Jay four years earlier. How he’d helped me on the side of the road, and how we’d met again by chance in the coffee shop and spent hours talking about everything and nothing. Then how he’d stood me up for our dinner date…because he’d been arrested.
That night, when I’d seen his picture on TV, it was because he’d been arrested for armed robbery. The local news had all sorts of foul things to say about him and his “friend.” But I swore that wasn’t the Jay I’d met. I hadn’t spent more than a few hours with him, but I just knew.
