Unleash The Island

Epilogue

Colleges were on winter break, so everybody was going home for the holidays after they finished taking their finals. Students were packing their cars, or taking Ubers to the airport nearby.

Gavin was already driving up the East coast, passing through New York State and

heading towards Connecticut, when he checked his phone and saw a text message from Leo.

Leo: I'm heading to the island to pick up EJ and bring her to Long Island. Let me know

when you get to the house.

Gavin started typing a message that he knew Leo would not like, so he deleted it and

restarted. He did not want Leo to worry, so he made up a lie.

Gavin: I'm still in North Carolina, so I'll let you know when I'm heading home.

To answer the question, no, Gavin was not heading home. He was heading to Massachusetts. The mailroom on campus was getting filled with letters from the correction center Wayne was in. He did not read a single one. Instead, he was going to set his father straight and tell him to cut it out. Part of him was anticipating the worst. The rest missed his father. Gavin knew he was a terrible person and deserved to be in prison, but the good memories deterred him from cutting his Wayne out completely. There was a small sliver left.

The officers at the gate had Gavin park in the visitor's section. Being there, knowing Wayne was somewhere behind those walls, made Gavin slightly uneasy. After locking the car, he made his way to the entrance. It was just him, so the process went very quickly. He placed his keys and phone into the bucket, then walked through the metal detector. The officer at the end patted him down, then gave him the okay to go. Gavin collected his things and walked down the hall. Another officer instructed him on how many minutes he had with his father and pointed to the room.

The room was unwelcoming. The walls were a mix of blue and gray. An officer twice the size of Gavin stood at the end with his arms crossed. There were two other people talking to their, assuming, loved ones. A woman gripped her phone with tears rolling down her cheeks as she talked to her husband. Their hands were against the glass. The other duo was a mother and her son, who did not look happy to be there. She was yelling at him with no care in the world.

"Here," the officer instructed. He pointed towards the chair in the middle.

He made his way towards his designated spot and plopped down into the chair. He placed his phone and keys in his pocket. It was only a matter of time before Wayne would be in front of him. It had only been in a few months. It was December. He was arrested in August.

The door on the other side of the glass opened and a cop walked in. He stood by the wall and there he was. The brawny, confident business man he once knew looked sickly. He had a scratch by his eyebrow, his hair was unkempt with a few gray strands, and bags under his eyes. It was horrifying to see his father in that state. Wayne's hands were cuffed and an officer brought him forwards. After he sat in the chair, his handcuffs were removed. Wayne's eyes met Gavin's and they both grabbed their phones.

"Gavin," Wayne said with a stern expression, "have you been getting my letters?"

"Yes, Dad," he answered.

"Have you been reading them?"

"No, and you need to stop sending them."

"Why?" Wayne creased his eyebrows together.

Gavin glanced at the officer. He was on his phone, not paying attention. His eyes trained on Wayne's again and said, "Everybody knows who you are at Chapel Hill, which means the people putting your letters in my P.O. box probably thinks I'm some crazy accomplice to your shit." Wayne let out a cackle while Gavin let out sharp breaths through his mouth. While his father found himself assumed by his son's distress, Gavin grew more furious. "What's so funny to you?"