They don’t need to; the pity in their eyes speaks for them.
A guard steps forward. “Two minutes, inmate.”
Time is the cruelest bastard alive.
I stand slowly, pain ricocheting through my ribs.
“I’m sorry. For everything. But especially for missing your wedding.”
Eddie’s brows pull together.
“You say it like you’re saying goodbye.”
I shrug.
“Maybe it is in a way. Once I get out of here, I plan to be a different man. This isn’t goodbye per se. This is a culling of bad habits and rotten decisions.”
Eddie’s jaw tightens.
“You better not fucking die in there, Wesley. You fucking beat the shit out of any motherfucker who dares to look at your ass wrong.”
I nod my head hesitantly.
“Don’t let this be the last time I see you. I can’t get through this without the two of you.”
Rich leans forward immediately.
“We got your back, Brother. Stay strong.”
I nod again, stepping backward toward the steel door.
“I’ll be fine. Just get our friend down that damn aisle so he can finally marry his girl. Don’t you guys put your lives on hold for me.”
I really hope they’re buying this bullshit I’m feeding them. They don’t need to feel my misery on top of everything else, not when Eddie is supposed to get married in a few weeks. “See you guys on the outside.”
The door shuts behind me.
And just like that, they’re gone, leaving me alone with the silence and the unbearable weight my future sentence will bring me.
When I get my second visitor later that day, I thought it would be my dad coming to tell me how disappointed he truly was with me. But it’s not him.
It’s someone I never expected.Poppy.
She gasps when I come into view; the tiny screen of the TV doesn’t hide the misery in her eyes, or the weight of everything sitting on her shoulders. Something’s up. That haunted look is back to torment her, and those dark circles she tries to hide behind foundation but fails.
She hesitates picking up the phone, worrying her lip with her teeth.
Indicating to the phone, I pick it up, waiting for her to make a move. Everything in me relaxes when her hand fits around the receiver and she pulls it up to her ear.
Awkward silence passes between us for far too long.
“You’re the last person I thought I’d see on the other side of this screen,” I finally mumble.
She lifts her head, the guilt hiding behind her unshed tears. “I just wanted to see how you are.”
“Living the dream,” I say, my tone more than a little irritated. It’s her fault that I’m even in here.
“I’m sorry, Wesley.”
