A Second Chance

“Do you ever wish you could start over?” Her question startled me out of my thoughts. “Huh?” I asked her. “I said do you ever wish you could start over?” my best friend, Bailey, asked me again. I looked at her and really thought about it. Did I wish I could start over? With everything that has happened and is still going on, it didn’t sound like a bad idea. “I honestly don’t know, Bailey,” I replied. “There are days that I just want to throw in the towel. Sometimes it just seems like the whole world is against us." I sighed and threw myself on my bed. Bailey Janning had been my best friend since we were in diapers. Our parents were best friends, so we grew up together and it was inevitable for us to be BFF’s as well. She knew all my secrets, all my thoughts and feelings. She’d been by my side through everything. Bailey could understand what I was going through. “How’s Jonah holding up?” she asked me. I looked up from my pillow and shrugged my shoulders. “About as well as can be expected. The lawyer has a private investigator as well as an IT expert looking into the emails,” I told her. My fiancé, Jonah Ford, was dealing with some serious charges. He was arrested for armed robbery. We were on our way home from dinner one night when we were pulled over for not using a directional. When the police ran our names, Jonah had a warrant out for his arrest. Since it was a Saturday night, we had to wait until Monday morning for him to appear in court, where he was granted bail. I posted his bail immediately. I needed him home; I needed to know what happened. I had no idea why he had a warrant; no one would give me any information. When Jonah was finally released, his first step was hiring a lawyer. Jonah didn’t know much more than I did. His previous employer had been held up at gunpoint and robbed. For some reason, his name was implicated as an accomplice. He’d recently been let go due to suspicions of theft. He’d been working there for 15 years, the last 5 as a manager. He handled a lot of financial aspects, along with 2 other people. Recently, his boss discovered that funds had been slowly disappearing over the last couple of years. Not enough to trigger an alarm, but enough to build a steady fund. Jonah swore up and down that he had nothing to do with it. Why would he? He loved his job and he made enough money for us to be comfortable. Unfortunately, his boss would not listen. He said there was enough evidence to cause reasonable doubt, and even though it wasn’t enough to prove him guilty, they felt he could not be trusted. So he and another employee were both let go. After meeting with the lawyer, we were told that when the restaurant was robbed, there was obviously an investigation which uncovered emails between Jonah and the culprits. However, Jonah states he has never seen any of them before and that he had nothing to do with the robbery. Our lives have been in an uproar ever since. Jonah is currently unable to find employment due to the pending charges. However, he has been doing lots of side work to make some extra cash. I work 2 jobs to pay bills, feed the family and pay for Jonah’s lawyer. We had to sell our home and move into a smaller apartment. He has 2 children from a previous marriage and I have one son from my ex-boyfriend. Jaxson, Jonah’s 11 year old son, shared a room with my 13 year old son, Tristan. His daughter, Illianna, was almost 9 and had a room to herself. Bailey had come over earlier today to keep me company while Jonah was out helping his cousin with some lawn work. The kids were in school and it was a rare day off for me. We’d been discussing the case again. There hadn’t been any updates in a few weeks. “Oh?” she c****d her eyebrow at me. “Mr. Costa hired an investigator. We met with him and we discussed hiring an IT expert to trace the emails. If we can prove where they came from, we should be able to clear Jonah’s name,” I explained to Bailey. Her face cleared in understanding. “That makes sense,” she said, “can’t they trace the main thingy-?“ “You mean the IP address?” I asked her. She laughed. “Yeah, that.” “That’s what they’re trying to do. They want to compare the IP address of the emails with the IP addresses of emails to other people to see if it matches. If it doesn’t, they should realize that Jonah was set up and had nothing to do with the robbery.” Bailey put her hands together under her chin. “I pray your team will be able to clear his name,” she said. “You guys need a break!” I sat up. “Thanks, hun. We definitely do! It’s been almost a year of this crap. I just want it to be over already!” Bailey pulled me in and wrapped me in a tight hug. “It’s gonna be OK. You know Jonah and you know the type of person he is,” she said to me. I wrapped my arms around her. “Thank you so much Bailey! I know he is not capable of something like this. But knowing you have our backs means so much to me.” “Anytime my love!” she said. “You are more than my friend, you’re family. You’re like a sister to me and I will always have your back.” Hearing her say those words meant so much. I hugged her fiercely. “I love you too!” I cried. I couldn’t help it; I’d been holding back the tears for so long and hearing her affection for me just broke me. Like me, she’s not a very openly affectionate person, so when she states her feelings, they are real and pure and true, just like me. “Hey! Look at me. You guys will get through this. Have faith and be strong and remember, I’m always here if you need to talk, or cry,” she laughed. I smiled in return and hugged her again. Soon after, I walked her to the door and we said our good-byes and promised to chill again soon. It was still early. The kids wouldn’t be home for hours. Jonah wasn’t due home until dinner time. I decided to lie down for a while. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. I knew I had chores to do and errands to run, but I just needed to rest for a bit. I went to my bedroom and crawled into bed. I closed my eyes and was soon in a deep sleep. FLASHBACK I’m going through Stacy’s CD collection to find something to throw on while she’s talking on the phone. I find some Bone Thugz and throw it in her CD player. “STACY!!! GET YOUR A** IN THE KITCHEN AND DO THE DISHES!” her mom screams from her doorway. “Oh crap,” she says. “Jonah, I have to go wash dishes so I’m gonna have you talk to my friend Taliah, ok?” “Here, talk to my friend Jonah while I get the dishes done,” Stacy tosses me the phone, then turns and walks out of the room. I’m nervous because I don’t know this guy from a hole in the wall and I’m expected to have a whole conversation with him. “Hello…?” I say kinda like a question. “Hi!” he says. “I’m Jonah. I used to go to school with Stacy.” “Used to?” I ask. “Yea, I kinda left after a few years,” he replies, “they wanted to hold me back junior year and I wasn’t hearing it. So I said f*ck it and quit.” I laugh from his easy nature. “How did your parents take it?” I ask him. “Eh, they weren’t thrilled,” he says nonchalantly. “But what could they do? I refused to go back to school and they didn’t fight me on it.” “My mom tried to fight me on it. But her friend told her it was pointless. Plus I agreed to get my GED. I figured it was a fair trade,” I laugh. “What made you want to quit?” Jonah asks me. “Well, all through my childhood I was bullied. No matter where we were living. When we moved south, it was my Yankee accent. When we moved back north, it was my southern accent. Then when I readapted my Yankee accent, it was my clothes, or my attitude, or just general purposes apparently,” I shrug, although he can’t see me. “Some girls were just absolute bitches and didn’t like anyone. I even had a few fights with females over the years.” “OK, but what does that have to do with you quitting school?” he asks again. I chuckle. “I’m getting there. I went to a vocational high school in a different city, had to take a bus and everything. When I got there, it was like a whole new set of people who didn’t know me. It was like a chance to start over. Sure there were still people I knew, friends and foes. But not enough to make huge problems for me. So I started worrying more about my social life and I let my studies slip, along with my grades. By the beginning of my junior year, I was barely going to school. I missed the whole first week!” I exclaim. “Damn,” Jonah replies, “how did your mom take all that?” I sigh. “She really didn’t notice. She was going through her own issues with her boyfriend.” “Oh that sucks. So what happened?” “Well, one of my so-called ‘best friends’ decided she wanted my boyfriend. So she had him over one night, while her parents were out. She convinced him I was cheating on him with pictures of me hugging a guy friend. She then seduced him. He and I tried to work things out, but it just wasn’t happening. But on the bright side I did meet Stacy through him!” I laugh. He laughs as well. “I guess that’s a bonus.” “Sure,” I laugh. “Anyways, after he finally told me what happened, I confronted her at school. Blew up at her, called her out in front of everyone; all the dramatics. Then after Christmas break, I was just over it. But she decided to go around running her mouth. One day after school we got into a fight. After that, I was able to convince my mom to let me quit, which was only a few months ago,” I finish. “Wow,” he says. “That is quite a story.” “It is and it is all true. But please don’t make me elaborate. It still makes me sick to have been treated so harshly,” I tell him. He laughs. “No worries. I get it. Maybe one day you will elaborate as you say.” “Maybe,” I respond. “A-ny-ways,” I say, dragging the word out. Jonah laughs again. “How long have you known Stacy?” he asks me. I think for a minute. “About 5 or 6 months now.” “Uh huh,” he says. “I’ve known her since elementary school. She’s always been a bit bubbly.” I laugh. “That’s a good way to describe her.” “And what would be a good word to describe you?” he asks. “Strange, weird, abnormal…..take your pick.” “Oh good! Just the kind of people I like,” Jonah says and I can hear a smile in his voice. Not to mention I like the sound of his voice. It’s soothing, yet kinda sexy too. “What word would you say best describes you?” I ask him. “Awesome, fantabulous, unique, amazing…….the list goes on and on!” I laugh so hard I almost cry. Great voice and has a sense of humor. “I think you and I are gonna be great friends,” I say when I catch my breath. We continue to talk for a few more minutes. We exchange numbers so we can continue our conversation when I’m home; I can hear Stacy is done as she’s talking to her mom. “I hear Stacy coming and I’m sure she’s gonna want the phone back,” I say sadly. “Yea, she gets kinda jealous. She’s always had a crush on me. I’ve told her numerous times I’m not interested, but she still flirts heavily with me,” he says. Oh boy, I think to myself. To him, “Well it’s not like we are planning a whole life together.” He laughs. “She would probably think so.” “OK I’m back! What did I miss?”