INVINCIBLE

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.”