Page 48 of Meant to Be

I lie back on my bed while I wait to be called back upstairs.

I don’t have to wait long though… ten minutes later I hear the jangle of the keys as the officer opens the door for me.

The officer leads me back into the dock, and we wait for the judge to take his seat.

“Young man, you could have hurt a lot of people with your stupidity. I’ve heard all the evidence though, and the fact that you’ve pleaded guilty goes in your favour. I understand there’s been a lot of factors in your behaviour, which makes me feel like I need to be a little lenient, but I also need to show that I’m taking this kind of behaviour seriously. I’m passing sentence of fourteen months to run concurrently with the charges and three years driving suspension. Do you have anything to say?”

“I’m sorry to the people I’ve hurt.”

“Take him down.”

The officer leads me from the dock. I look back to see the sad face of H. I take one last look around, and I see her. Shelby is in the doorway with tears streaming down her cheeks. A tear finds its way into the well of my eye, but I hold it back. I hold her gaze for as long as I can. Harry takes her into his arms, my eyes shutting, the realisation that I’m not going to see her for so long is crucifying me.

All I can think about as I leave the court in the meat waggon is her face, her tears, how I wanted to hold her and make it all better.

I know it’s never going to happen. She’ll be better off without me.

Shelby

“Oh my goodness, Harry. He looks so sad.”

“I don’t think he was expecting you here. Out of our family, there’s only me here. That says a lot, doesn’t it?”

“I have to go and explain all this shit to my dad now.”

“You haven’t told him?”

“Nope. I promised if he brought me here today, I’d explain everything after. He’s got his own story to tell though – like why he abandoned me, but when I got there last night, he invited me in with open arms; something tells me it has to do with my mother. After all this, it wouldn’t surprise me.”

Harry pulls me into a hug after walking out of the court. “Are you coming to school?”

“I’ll have to, and I’m not that far away - I’ll work it out.”

“He loves you, you know that, don’t you?”

Nodding profusely, “I love him, a lot; he’s my world.”

“When I’ve got the details of where he is, I’ll send them to you, so you can write to him if you want.”

“Thank you, Harry, for everything.”

“Hey, always.” I kiss his cheek, “Tell him Shelb.” Harry calls out, and I go back to my dad waiting patiently in his car.

The ride back to Dad's house feels longer than it should considering it’s only twenty minutes away from the court. I spend the whole drive not speaking while looking out of the window.

“Are you alright?” I nod my answer but still don’t speak. “You have to speak to me, Shelby. We need to sort this out.”

I sigh. “I know.”

“Come on, let’s go inside and we can have a chat, yeah?”

Nodding again, I get out of the car and head inside.

I sit on the corner of the couch looking around the room, it’s so lovely in here. It’s relaxing. I didn’t see much when I came in last night, I was way too upset. The room is decorated in beige and browns, and there’s a large houseplant in the corner by the open staircase.

“So care to start?” My dad breaks my musings.

“If I tell you everything, you have to promise you won't shout at me and also, you have to tell me why I haven’t seen you in all these years.”

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