My
friends were part of me, and it
was natural for me to
stick up for them. No matter what, I was going to defend them,
because I knew who we really were. Blue was not a criminal. Neither
was Tre, or Kevin, or Chris. Or me.
We
were supernatural. We
were invincible.
With
this realization, the
back of my neck burned, and
I started reading the actual words on the sheet.
Sure
enough, they
were building a case against my crew for multiple counts of identity
theft and robbery.
Charlie’s
brother had
definitely
spied on them and taken their photos. The center of my world sharpened.
Like
a pencil point,
I was focused on everything around me, and I sat
there, keeping
a straight face. There was no point in giving Charlie the slightest
satisfaction of thinking he had a case, because
he didn't. I knew the truth, and there was no accusation in the world
that could
shake me down.
“Is
that all?”
He
studied me with
a squint in his eye, as though calculating my tension level.
Which
was zero to none.
“You're
calling
these
people
your
friends.
But
really,
they're
crooks. It's
simple.
Either
they're
hiding
the truth from you.” He sounded like
he’d spent most
of him
time imagining
they
were guilty.
“Or
you're in on it.” He smiled, fully
assured he was right.
He'd
given me a mouthful of something he didn't completely understand.
As
I
put
the folder down, I
was ready
to enlighten
him; to give
him an honest piece of my mind, so he could remember this conversation for the rest of his life.
In
a low soft voice, I finally replied, “You're
wrong.”
Keeping
my voice low was important, because I was absolutely right about his
wrongness. Nothing in this folder could shame or take away the true
spirit of who these people were. “This is crazy talk. Complete
rubbish. I don't believe you would bring me here and accuse my
friends, and myself, of being crooks. It's not true.”
