Page 41 of Made For Me

“That would be great,” Stuart replies. “Come with me.” He motions with his head and I look at Derrick and Wayne for permission of sorts. They just nod their heads at me.

I follow Stuart to the door that says room one. He opens the door and waits for me to step in, and closes it after me. “Have a seat.” He points at one of the two chairs that are tucked into a brown table in the middle of the room.

I pull out the metal chair and sit down, my hands starting to shake. “Julia, my name is Stuart and I’ve been hired by Mr. Grant.” I look down at the brown table, the stinging in my eyes starts for a second before the tears run down my face.

“I didn’t do anything,” I say softly.

“I know you didn’t.” His voice goes softer than before.

“What’s going to happen to me?” The question has been going around and around in my head the whole ride here.

“I’m going to try to get you out on bail today,” he says, folding his hands on the table. “But with it being almost the end of the day, I don’t know how realistic that is.” My heart picks up speed at the same time I feel bile crawl up my throat. “Bail is going to be set and you are going to be bonded out.”

“But I’ve never been in trouble before,” I say, trying to grasp at everything he is saying. “Like, I work for the state.”

He’s about to say something when there is a knock on the door and someone comes in. “Sorry to interrupt,” the man says to us. “I heard you were looking for me.”

“Phillip,” Stuart says his name, then looks at me. “This is the prosecutor. How fast can we get her out?”

“Tomorrow morning,” he replies, looking at Stuart and then at me. “Everything is shut down for the night.” My head wraps around the fact that I’m going to spend the night in jail. “We are going to have to fingerprint her.” It’s at that point I don’t listen to the rest. I can’t, the buzzing in my ears is so loud I can only see his lips move. I snap out of it when I hear, “Seventy-five thousand dollars.”

“Seventy-five thousand dollars,” I repeat. “I don’t have seventy-five thousand dollars.”

“You just need to come up with ten percent,” Stuart explains to me. “Is there no way we can get her out today?” Stuart asks him and the prosecutor shakes his head, turning and walking from the room.

“What is going to happen?” I ask Stuart. “Will I stay here?”

He takes a big inhale. “They are going to fingerprint you and then take your mug shot.” My head hangs down, even if I don’t want it to. “Then they are going to place you in a holding cell. My guess is you’ll be alone because they know you.”

“And then what?” I ask him. “What happens tomorrow?” I don’t even bother asking him what happens the day after that and next week.

“Tomorrow we will appear in front of the judge and you will have an arraignment hearing. The judge will read the nature of the charges against you, and you will be formally asked to enter a plea. I will speak on your behalf and we will be entering a plea of not guilty. I will have the documents ready for your bail, and once they are signed by the judge and filed, you will be free to go. I will need you to schedule an appointment with me next week so we can discuss the case.”

“How much do you charge?” I ask him and he just smirks at me.

“Let’s just say that it’s taken care of,” he assures me, getting up and I follow his move.

We walk out of the room and back to the chair where I was placed. This time Colin is the one sitting there. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Stuart says. I just nod at him, watching him walk out and inwardly begging him to take me with him.

“How are you doing?” Colin asks. “I’m so fucking sorry, Julia.”

“It is what it is,” I reply, my body going numb.

“Let’s get all the paperwork out of the way,” he suggests as he gets up. “Follow me.” For the next three hours I am patted down, fingerprinted, and they take my mug shot. When he walks down the stairs, I can see the bars of the cell getting bigger and bigger with each step I take.

In each corner of the room are cells with a desk in the middle of them. “Hey,” Colin says to the guy sitting behind it. “Do we have an open cell?” he asks the man, and he points at the right. “She’s to stay solo.” The man just looks at me and then back at Colin. “This is Jeff,” he says of the man. “If you need anything, just ask him.”

“This isn’t the Ritz,” he mumbles, and Colin ignores him as he walks to the cell that Jeff pointed at.

“I’m going to go get you something to eat,” he says, and I don’t even bother answering him. I walk into the cell and look around; a metal bench is pushed against the wall. A sink is stuck randomly on the wall with the toilet stuck to it. The sound of the cell door clicking into place has me jumping. “I’ll be back soon,” he reassures me, and all I can do is walk over to the bench and sit down before my legs give out on me.

I put my head against the concrete wall, pulling my legs up to my chest. Closing my eyes, I let the tears come because at this point, who the fuck cares. I can’t even imagine what people are going to think of me, let alone how my life is going to change now.

All I can see in my head is my mother crying. She probably has to put her house up for my bail and just the thought of it makes my eyes fly open. I look around, seeing no one here but me and the guy behind the desk.

Colin comes back to bring me food, but I don’t touch it. He tries to sit with me to pass the time, but he’s called out as soon as he sits down. I don’t even know what time it is or even how fast time is going. All I know is I sit here in this cold holding cell, my eyes never closing. My body goes numb. I force myself not to have to pee, but finally I give up and walk to the toilet. There is nothing that shields what I’m doing, there is no privacy, it’s for everyone to see.

I sit in the same position all night until someone comes into the room. He stops at the desk officer, who has been replaced by someone else, but I have no idea who the guy is because no one has come to talk to me. The guy points behind his neck and the man walks to my cell. “Julia Williams,” he says when he stops in front of the cell door. “Time to go.”

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