a/n: i know nothing about law or how court systems work so sorry if any of this is incorrect or something. it’s fiction after all.
jasper’s p.o.v.
nonstop questioning. nonstop looks. nonstop thoughts.
“what did this man look like?” the investigator asked, adjusting the sleeves on his suit. i stared straight ahead and i bit my lip.
“long, black hair,” i mutter quietly. “he’s not that tall, maybe 5’9.”
“go on,” he encouraged, writing down on a notepad that made me just want to run away.
“he, uh… brown eyes, a scar under his eye… um…”
“face shape?” he asked. i looked at him and looked away due to his heavy stare of concentration.
“oval,” i say, closing my eyes.
“how did you know of gregory baldwin, mr. evans?”
i breathe slowly in and i open my eyes as the sound of a tape recorder clicked on.
“through my cousin—“
“was your cousin’s name jared?”
i nodded and cracked my knuckles, trying to release some of the tension. “yeah. his name was jared.”
“it says here that he was killed just about three and a half years ago. did mr. baldwin have anything to do with this?”
i shook my head. “no.”
he flips through some pages and examines something closely. “was it you, mr. evans? were you associated with the death of jared?”
i gulped and my heart started to beat faster and faster and louder and louder. i could hear it in my ears. “yes,” i whispered. the investigator hurriedly wrote something down and the scribbles were all too much and i felt like punching something, anything.
“care to explain?” he asks, putting down his pen and looking at me.
i shrugged and looked down at my lap, avoiding eye contact at all possible costs. i cleared my throat and sighed as distant nightmares were coming back. they were haunting me and just in a matter of seconds, the ghosts of the memories in my mind will be released and my palms start to sweat. “it was late at night,” i start. “it was snowing and probably way too much, but we didn’t know how bad it was. jared… he, um… we went to a party and he let me come with him. i was fifteen, so i thought that was the coolest thing in the world, going to a party with tons of other people, i mean. so… i went.”
“was there alcohol involved in this party?”
i nodded. “i didn’t drink, though. jared did. it was around one in the morning and jared was completely wasted and he started to walk out. i grabbed his sleeve and told him he couldn’t drive in the condition he was. he put up a fight and i just remember grabbing the keys from him and helping him into the passenger side. so, i decided to drive us home.”
“did you have your permit or license at this time it occurred?”
“i had a permit,” i said quietly. i blew out a shaky breath before continuing. “it was dark and before i knew it, i was driving his stick-shift pickup truck. jared kept mumbling nonsense so i turned up the radio. i wasn’t really that nervous driving because i kind of knew how before… i practiced driving, i mean.”
he picked up his pen and started to write again. i looked away and out towards a window. the sky was grey and light blue. tree leaves were falling and tiny flakes of snow were falling to the ground. “i didn’t know what to do when it came to slippery ice in the road.”
