65 Ryan
“Mr. Lett? We’re ready for you.”
I stand and turn back to Jamie. He’s still seated on the narrow wooden bench outside the courtroom, shoulders tight, knees bouncing just a little. We’re both scheduled to testify, but as witnesses we’re barred from being inside, so we’ve been camped out here for hours.
Frankie insisted we both wear suits and ties. Fine by me-I wear a tie most days anyway. Jamie, on the other hand, looks like he’s being slowly strangled by his collar. But she declared he looked “delicious and extremely credible,” and that ended the discussion.
The prosecution is laying this out chronologically. Yesterday, Jamie’s mom testified- years of abuse, neglect, control. She talked about his illegal operations, the violence, the fear. She set the stage, made it clear to the jury exactly who Jamie’s father is.
Then came one of the guys Jamie worked with for years. He’s still in custody on a laundry list of charges. He testified this morning. In exchange, he gets time served and walks.
It’s not lost on me that Jamie probably did plenty of the same shit not too long ago.
Seeing that guy pass Jamie in the hallway was… tense. Two men who spent years committing crimes together, now both testifying against the same person- who also happens to be one of their fathers. I don’t envy Jamie at this moment. Not even a little.
I’m up next. Jamie will follow. After that, three separate witnesses will testify about statements made in the county jail- confessions, details, bragging.
Then will come the parade of police officers, detectives, crime analysts and finally the medical examiner.
So many people, such a production. All over Gary…
But one person probably isn’t going to testify. Jamie’s dad. He hasn’t said a word.
You’d think a parent would do anything to protect their kid. Even confess to a crime they didn’t commit. In this instance, Jamie’s dad won’t confess to a crime he did commit and tried to have Jamie on the hook for it.
Unbelievable.
I give Jamie a look before following the bailiff. He lifts his chin, jaw tight, and nods once.
Frankie and Christian are seated in the front row, right behind the prosecutor, next to David.
We fought like hell to make sure Frankie didn’t have to testify.
There’s still a slim chance she could be called in rebuttal- whatever that means- but for now she’s been in the courtroom every day, bearing witness to all of it.
God, she’s incredible.
Over the last year and a half, she’s bloomed in ways that still catch me off guard. Turns out, she’s a great student when she isn’t exhausted from abuse and trauma. She and Jamie both earned their GEDs in well under a year. Christian and I even threw them a little graduation ceremony.
That night ended with Frankie wearing nothing but that ridiculous little graduation hat.
She enrolled in the local college soon after. She’s not entirely sure yet, but she thinks she wants to be a teacher. She sits beside me while I grade papers or write lesson plans, reads the books I assign my students, challenges my talking points.
Sometimes I let myself imagine a morning where we all wake up together, have breakfast, then split off into our days- Frankie and I riding to the same school where we both teach, Jamie and Christian heading to the garage, where Jamie works on cars and Christian runs his various business enterprises out of the office.
It’s a fantasy, sure. But it’s closer than you might think.
Six months ago, we opened Jamie’s garage. Christian’s been there every step of the way, handling all the “money shit,” as Jamie calls it. And it’s doing great. Turns out, people really like an honest mechanic.
And Jamie is honest. Truly.
Sure, he wasn’t for most of his life- but that was survival, not character. He’s a good man. Kind. Generous. Honest. He just needed a safe place to become himself.
We gave him that.
I’m thinking about all of that- about the hell of Jamie’s childhood- when I take the stand.
I don’t look at his father.
I do see my mom, seated beside Frankie, visibly shaken as the prosecutor asks about the fight, the body, watching Gary die in front of me.
But I’m not shaken.
It’s over.
And in a way I never thought I’d admit, Jamie’s father did us a favor, taking Gary out.
Frankie has never been lighter. Happier. Like she’s finally breathing without waiting for the next disaster to hit.
Jamie is happy too- really happy. Maybe for the first time in his life.
I couldn’t save either of them from what happened to them. I couldn’t undo everything that came before. But Christian and I helped build something different- we gave them a place and a life where they’re safe, where the people we love can finally exhale.
So I sit in the witness stand, tell the truth, and help close this chapter.
Because unlike those years filled with fear and waiting for the next thing to go wrong, I know our future is going to be good.