Unlike You

Two

The late afternoon sun beats down on the pavement of the center's basketball court, heating it up to unbearable temperatures. Surprisingly, the basketballs and other inmates who are playing with them, haven't melted yet. These jumpsuits aren't doing us any justice either.

Gosh, I hate puns.

Dana stands next to me, her arms crossed, trying to take in what little shade this cover has to offer. She has looked miserable since we came out here and I can't blame her. The edges of her cornrows and forehead are saturated with sweat, but she makes no attempt to wipe it away as it is pretty much useless.

The meeting with Raymond has me completely disoriented. His words haunt my thoughts like a ghost, making it harder and harder to focus on anything else.

Keep on lying, yeah?

What does he mean by that? Lie to the police again if the chance presents itself? Why would I want to do that? I would just end up in here for an even longer time than I have now. My sentence was originally five years, but it got shortened to a year for good behavior, I guess, and the fine my parents paid off helped a lot as well. They weren't really happy about either, but I was convincing enough for them. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have done what I did that day. If I could go back in time, I would have just told the truth.

You can't change the past. I realize that now. But how awesome would it be if we could?

"What're you thinking about?" Dana's words break through my thoughts like a freight train barreling through a town.

"Oh, uh, n-nothing."

"One-on-one?" Dana offers, holding a basketball in her hands.

I shrug and throw her a quick nod. The other inmates who were previously playing are now on the side lines, chatting and wiping away sweat from their foreheads. The guards watch us intently as we step onto the court. Pebbles crunch and crackle beneath my white tennis shoes as I make my way over to Dana who is casually dribbling the ball, watching me with a cocked eyebrow.

She passes the basketball to me, and I catch it with ease.

"Get out of your thoughts, Ser," Dana teases.

"Whatever." I laugh and throw the ball back to her so we can start the round.

~*~

Hours pass before we are back in our cells, ready for sleep. Except, I can't. I lay in the pitch black darkness waiting for Sharon to tell us to get up. How could I sleep when I have to face my family for the first time in months tomorrow?

I think about my family. I really think about them for the first time in a long time. I think about my mom. How she would wake up at the crack of dawn to make gingerbread cookies on Christmas morning. Or how she would sing my sister and I to sleep with songs by The Beatles. My mom was a great woman. No one can deny that.

I think about my dad. His rough cheeks covered with stubble and sleep. I think about the barbecues he would throw for the whole neighborhood. I remember when I was younger, he brought me to the park before my sister was born. The park was old and worn down, sat in the middle of the woods. Not many people went, so it was perfect for me to run around on and have fun. I would swing really high on the swing set then jump off.

It was like I was flying.

My dad would always tell me to be careful. I was. Except for one day when I was about five, I was running around on the old, rickety jungle gym doing whatever a five year old does, when I tripped and fell over a broken piece of metal. I cut a two inch gash in my knee. I was rushed to the emergency room to get ten stitches. I remember my dad was there the entire time, holding my hand to get me through it.