Part 2 of my short story Did What I Had To. Enjoy! -JM :)
Date: October 10th, 2033.
10 years. After 10 years, Colby was finally free, sort of. He was out on parole for good behavior. Colby felt like he had woken up to a post-apocalyptic world. He knew getting back to normal life would be an adjustment. The guards led him out of the prison, he had nothing on but a hoodie, some sweatpants and shoes. He walked up to the car that was waiting for him. Big J was leaning against the car. He smiled at Colby and gave him a big hug.
" Look at you," said Big J. "Not so little anymore are you, little man."
Big J was right. Colby was 35 now. It never occurred to him how different he must look.
"Thank you for coming," said Colby.
" Anytime," said Big J. " You don't know the strings I had to pull to be able to be your parole officer. Anyway, we should go."
The car ride back to Big J's LA safehouse was a quiet one. Big J glanced over to the brunette, whose hair had grown super long in his time in prison.
" I think we need to get you a haircut," said Big J.
" That's probably a good idea," said Colby.
" Look man," started Big J. " I know it's been a while. But I want you to know, I never stopped believing you were innocent. You wanna tell me what really happened 10 years ago? I might be able to work some magic if you can just tell me the truth."
" There's nothing else to tell," said Colby. " I killed him, that's it."
" Nah, I know you, you didn't kill him," said Big J. " Not willingly anyway."
Colby gulped and fell silent as Big J kept glancing over him. Big J pulled over, stopping the car and looking at Colby.
" You can trust me," said Big J. " Please. Whoever was harassing you, they're long gone, they won't hurt you. I got you."
Tears began to stream down Colby's face as he recounted the story to Big J. He remembered it like it was yesterday. The pain he felt when he saw the look of hatred and betrayal in Sam's eyes. That image had been pierced into his brain for the 10 years he had been incarcerated.
"That was the last time I ever heard from the person," explained Colby. " After I was convicted, the letters and everything stopped. Haven't heard from them since."
" Damn," said Big J.
" I know it's a lot," said Colby.
" I'm guessing you never told Sam the truth," said Big J.
" I couldn't," said Colby. " And I haven't seen him since the day we cut ties. I just hope he's okay."
" He's better than okay," said Big J.
Colby looked at Big J curiously. " You spoke to him?" asked Colby.
" We've been talking a lot since he joined the police force," said Big J. " The kid's a natural."
Colby smiled. " Did he ever...you know?" asked Colby.
" Not since it happened," said Big J. " He tried to avoid any and all conversations about you."
" Do you know where he is?" asked Colby.
" He lives here in LA," said Big J. " If you want to see him, I suggest you take it slow, take a careful approach. A lot has changed since you've been in there."
Colby was silent the rest of the car ride. Once they pulled up to Big J's LA safehouse, he told Colby to make himself at home.
I need to go take care of some things," said Big J. "Take this." Big J handed Colby an envelope. It was 500 dollars. "It's not much, but it's all I could get for now."
