CHAPTER 8
1295 Words
The police station smelled like stale coffee and desperation.
Hope sat in a hard plastic chair, her hands wrapped around a paper cup she hadn't touched. The USB drive was gone. She'd handed it over. She'd told them everything. The names. The dates. The deals. The body.
And now she was waiting.
Waiting for them to decide if they believed her.
Waiting for them to decide if David was worth saving.
Waiting for them to decide if she'd just signed his death warrant.
A door opened. A detective walked out — a woman in her forties with tired eyes and a no-nonsense expression. She sat down across from Hope.
"We've verified the evidence," she said. "It's legitimate."
Hope felt her heart c***k open. "So you believe me?"
"We believe the evidence. But we need to know if David Jones is willing to cooperate."
"He is. I know he is."
"He told you that?"
"He told me he was planning to get out. He said he wanted to testify. He said he wanted to disappear. He didn't want to be that person anymore."
The detective studied her. "You care about him."
Hope didn't deny it. "He saved my life. He gave up the evidence to protect me. He's not a bad person. He just made bad choices."
"Bad choices that got people killed."
Hope felt her stomach drop. "I know. But he's trying to make it right. Doesn't that count for something?"
The detective was quiet for a long moment.
Then she said, "We're going to arrest him. We have a team en route to the apartment. If he cooperates, we'll recommend reduced charges. But he's going to prison, Hope. That's not negotiable."
Hope nodded. She'd known that. She'd always known that.
But hearing it out loud made it real.
"Can I see him?" she asked. "Before you take him in?"
The detective considered this. "I'll see what I can do."
---
They brought him in two hours later.
Hope was still sitting in the same plastic chair, the same untouched coffee in her hands.
David walked in flanked by two officers. His hands were cuffed behind his back. His face was pale. His eyes were tired.
But when he saw her, he smiled.
It was a broken, hopeless smile. The kind of smile that said he'd known this was coming.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," she whispered.
They sat down across from each other. A table between them. A lifetime of distance.
"You came," he said.
"I had to."
"You didn't have to do anything. You could have walked away."
"I couldn't." She reached across the table. Touched his hand. "I couldn't let you die."
He looked at her hand on his. Then he looked up at her.
"I told you to leave," he said. "I told you to forget about me."
"I know."
"And you didn't listen."
"No." She smiled. "I didn't."
He laughed. It was a real laugh. Warm.
"You're the most stubborn person I've ever met."
"I learned from the best."
They sat in silence for a moment. Then David said, "I'm going to prison."
"I know."
"It's going to be a long time."
"I know."
"You're going to forget about me."
She squeezed his hand. "No. I'm not."
"Hope—"
"I'm not going to forget about you. I'm not going to move on. I'm going to be here when you get out."
He stared at her. "You don't know that."
"I know that I love you."
The words hung in the air between them.
David didn't say anything. He just looked at her. And then he smiled.
"I love you too," he said. "I think I loved you the first time I saw you in the back of that room."
"The first time?"
"You were singing along. I couldn't see your face. But I could see you. And I thought, 'That's the kind of person I want to be.'"
She started to cry.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."
"You did save me." He reached across the table and wiped a tear from her cheek. "You saved me from becoming the person I was going to be. You reminded me that I could be something else."
"But you're going to prison."
"Because of you?" He laughed. "Because you made me want to be better. Because you made me want to do the right thing." He squeezed her hand. "That's not a punishment. That's a gift."
She didn't know what to say.
So she just sat there, holding his hand, crying, laughing, breaking.
And then the officers came to take him away.
"I'll write to you," she said. "I'll visit. I'll be here when you get out."
"I know you will." He smiled. "That's why I love you."
He stood up. The officers took his arm. He walked toward the door.
And then he turned around.
"Hope," he said.
"Yeah?"
"Don't wait for me."
Her heart cracked. "What?"
"Don't wait for me. Live your life. Take care of your siblings. Be happy."
"I can't be happy without you."
"Yes, you can. You were happy before you met me. You'll be happy after."
"That's not true."
"It is true. You just don't believe it yet." He smiled. "But you will."
Then he walked out the door.
And Hope was alone.
---
She stayed in the plastic chair for a long time.
She thought about the first time she'd seen him. The video. The song. The way his fingers moved across the keys.
She thought about the coffee shop. The way he'd held the door. The way he'd said her name.
She thought about The Lantern. The way he'd played her song. The way he'd looked at her like she was a song he was trying to remember.
She thought about his childhood home. The photo album. The broken boy who'd lost everything.
She thought about the man who'd saved her life. The man who'd given up everything to protect her.
She thought about the man who'd just walked out of her life.
She put her head in her hands and cried.
---
She went home.
She didn't know how she got there. She just walked, one foot in front of the other, until she was standing in front of her apartment.
Elijah was waiting for her. So were Victory and King.
King ran to her. "Hope! Are you okay? Where did you go? Elijah wouldn't tell us anything."
Hope knelt down and hugged him. "I'm okay, sweetie. I'm okay."
Victory stood in the corner, her arms crossed. "Elijah told us everything."
"Everything?"
"About David. About the drugs. About the police." Victory's voice was shaking. "He said you almost got killed."
Hope stood up. "I didn't get killed. I'm fine."
"You could have died."
"But I didn't."
"That's not the point." Victory crossed the room and pulled Hope into a hug. "You're the only parent we have, Hope. If something happened to you—"
"Nothing happened to me. I'm here."
Victory pulled back. "Did you love him?"
Hope was quiet for a moment.
"Yes," she said. "I loved him."
"And now he's in prison."
"Yes."
"Are you going to wait for him?"
Hope thought about what David had said. "Don't wait for me. Live your life."
"I don't know," she said honestly. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
Victory looked at her. Then she nodded.
"Whatever you decide, we'll be here. That's what family does."
Hope smiled through her tears. "Thank you."
She sat down on the couch. King curled up beside her. Victory sat on the other side. Elijah stood in the doorway, watching them.
They were her family.
They were everything.
She'd chosen them.
And she'd chosen David.
She just hoped it wasn't too late.
- Writer
