43

I guess it was no surprise that everything fell apart. Our meeting did not go well. It was New Year’s Eve day and the office was half empty. The prosecutor, an older man who was all about winning, told Tillman and Dad that I’d become an unreliable witness and that too much was riding on me. He’d met with the judge and the defense. The defense let them know that, in no uncertain terms, they were going to expose me as unreliable, misleading, and someone who could be easily manipulated.

The prosecutor’s office was backing out.

When Tillman raised hell, Ms. Hallstrom reminded him that I was lucky not to be charged as an accessory, something that it was still possible. Maybe worse.

Dad’s shoulders slumped. “But you’ve left us exposed. They’ll come after her.”

She knew. “I have to deal with a city that’s crying out for justice. Trials are never that easy. We can get him tried as an adult, but there are things clouding the investigation. No one else is talking. Even Mr. Lee’s memory of previous incidents is cloudy at best. If we mounted a big trial and it goes bust, it’ll be twice as bad. We can’t go down that road again. I’m sorry.”

She got up to leave, but before she reached the door, she stopped. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She reached into her briefcase and produced my camera. “Just returning your property since . . . well, it’s no longer required for evidence. The guys managed to get it working, at least.”

She put it on the table and we all stared at it like it was a ticking bomb.

After the deal was officially declared dead, all the lawyers left my dad and me alone in the room. We were silent for a long time.

“What are we going to do, Dad?”

He stopped and turned to face me. “I’m going to undo the biggest mistake I ever made. I’m taking you and your mother back home. You’ll get back on track, go to your old school, graduate, then—”

“Then what?” I asked. I really didn’t know.

His eyes couldn’t hide the doubt. “Then . . . we’ll pretend this whole thing never happened.”

We waited for the elevator. I could see he didn’t believe his own words. I reached over and held his hand. He kept staring at the elevator door, but squeezed my hand back.

We had a family meeting. Actually, it was more like a fight, but after a while everyone calmed down. During a lull, I got a call from Destiny.

“They’re being released. I just got a text from Prince,” she said.

“That was fast.”

“What are you gonna do?” she asked.

I listened to my parents. “We’re fighting about it now.”

“We are not fighting,” said Dad. “We’re discussing.”

“Are we?” asked Mom.

I held up five fingers, asking for a break. They didn’t notice. I walked away to my room and closed the door. “We might be moving back to Little Rock.”

There was a long pause. “That would suck,” Destiny said. “For Little Rock, I mean.”

She still knew how to break the ice.

“There is one other option,” I said. “But my dad would kill me if he found out.”

“Like that’s better than Kalvin killing you?”

I shuddered. “I really don’t think Kalvin would do that. He’d be the first one the cops tracked down. Besides, I got him off, didn’t I?”

“Technically. I don’t think he’ll see it that way.”

She paused for a long time, weighing the options. “Do you need help?” I didn’t want her getting sucked into this. But I did need one thing.

“You can help me arrange a sit-down,” I asked.

“A sit-down? What’re you, a mafia guy?”

I shrugged. “Even the mafia knows you have to respect a sit-down, especially with your enemies.”

“You know you’re crazy, right? That’s just in the movies.”

“I know . . . but will you just . . . text him and ask? Somewhere public. For tonight? Before we move away?”

“It’s New Year’s Eve,” she sighed. She was thinking it over. “Fuck it. Might as well ring in the new year with a bang.”

I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

She called me back ten minutes later.

“Tonight,” she said. “Taco Bell on Grand. Ten o’ clock. But I’m coming with you. You’ll need backup.”

“Fine. I just have to sneak out. I’m pretty sure we’ll be on lockdown tonight. My mom might even stay home from work.”

“So how are you gonna pull that off?” she asked.

“Uh, I’ll think of something. Did you talk to Prince? What’re they doing?”

“Celebrating. You should see the TKO page. They talking shit like they’re political prisoners set free. Say they gonna sue the city and all that kind of stuff. K’s talking about how they’re the Trayvon Martins of St. Louis.”

“Jesus. I know he doesn’t believe that shit. He’s just saying whatever will get him on the news.”

“They’re already on the news. They’ve been the lead story today. You should check it out.”

I turned on my TV, flipped a few channels until I saw the news showing the crew emerge from juvie. Even their parents were out there cheering and high-fiving each other.

A reporter cornered Kalvin. “Of course, the case got thrown out,” he said. “They’re always trying to profile us, ’cause of the way we dress. Some people get attacked and who do they look for? Black teens.”

The reporter asked him what he felt about the victim. “I don’t hold no grudges. I feel sorry for Joe Lee and his wife. It’s sad. Whoever did this is messed up.”

So what were they were going to do now? He shrugged. “Celebrate. Be with my family and start the New Year free. Just be happy to be out. I’m going to Taco Bell first thing.”

He looked into the camera and winked. At me.