Page 77 of Indescribable
Drug searching with my ex-father-in-law and ex-uncle-in-law and my oldest friend who I’m hoping is becoming more than just a friend. What could be more exciting than that?
A car door slams shut and I move to the door, opening it for Charlie.
“We have to quit meeting like this,” he jokes.
“Good plan. Need a water?”
“Sure, thanks.”
Brock hands him a bottle and they shake hands, saying hello and nice to see you again, it’s been a while, all the standard greetings.
“It’s back in the guest room,” I tell him bluntly. I’m so nervous my hands are shaking and I’m starting to sweat. “I wasn’t sure what to do so I’m sorry I didn’t call you first thing but I swear to you it’s not mine and I actually panicked thinking that you’d think it was. I had this vision of a S.W.A.T. team storming into my house and throwing me down on the ground before getting thrown in the slammer. I know I should have called you but honestly, do you blame me? I’ve never been around drugs before so this is all new to me. I didn’t touch it. You can check it for fingerprints. I told the others not to touch it either. We thought about just flushing it – or I did, anyway – but Dale said we needed to call you. See? I’m even being honest about what I was thinking I would do! That’s why I wouldn’t let anyone touch it. I figured we’d look guilty even if we aren’t. I know you can test things for fingerprints and I didn’t want any of us to look guilty. I really had no idea he was doing drugs in the first place, let alone stashing them in my home! None of us did. I swear. You could give me one of those lie detector tests and I know I’d pass. Well, maybe not right now because I’m way too nervous and might pee myself. Seriously, though, I promise, Charlie. I had nothing to do with this.”
“Breathe, sweetheart, breathe,” Brock encourages, stopping me from continuing to ramble. His shoulders are shaking and when I look at the other three men, they’re staring at me with slack jaws and wide eyes.
Charlie blinks several times. “Good of you to be careful,” he mutters. “How about you show me what you found?”
I nod and he follows me back to the bedroom where I point behind the dresser but don’t step close. It’s like I’m showing him where a mouse is hiding and I don’t want to get close in case it darts out and runs at me.
Out of his pocket he pulls out a pair of gloves and I hit Brock in the stomach. “See? I told you we had to be careful for fingerprints.”
Charlie shoots me an amused look and removes the baggie of cocaine from behind the dresser.
Wow.
That really just happened.
“Doesn’t look like much,” he remarks. “No real way for us to say this belonged to Wyatt, though, I’m sure it did.”
“If you can’t be sure it’s Wyatt’s, does that mean you think it’s mine?”
“No, Naomi, I know it’s not yours. Your… statement earlier revealed that much to me.”
Brock snorts out a laugh.
“What’s this mean for my boy, Charlie?”
“Like I said, even if we are able to prove this belonged to Wyatt, which would be a long shot, it doesn’t amount to much. I don’t think this will change anything for him.”
Dale blows out a breath. “I can’t decide if that’s a good or a bad thing.”
“He’s sitting behind bars right now probably still crying and apologizing so I think he’s already learning from it. I’ve seen enough people behind bars to recognize who’s going to be out there doing it all over again and who’s going to try to change.”
“And you think he’s going to change?” Duke asks, doubt laced in his tone.
“Unless he’s a real good actor, I do.”
I think back to all those nights where he lied to me about where he’d been and how long I believed him and fear that Duke’s doubts are pretty well-founded but I don’t say that. It’s for Wyatt to prove whether or not he’s ready to learn from this.
Charlie writes a few things down in his notebook then steps outside to place a phone call. Brock looks around the guest room a little more, making sure he doesn’t find anything else, which he thankfully doesn’t.
I hear yet another car pull up and walk to the door to see a cop car pull up, Charlie greeting the policeman at the driver’s door and talking with them a bit. It looks like he hands them the baggie but I can’t be sure.
I’m sure my neighbors are sitting by their front windows with big bowls of popcorn watching all this go down. I would be, if it were happening to someone else.
Once the car pulls away, Charlie returns to the house. “We’ll call you if we have any more questions.”
“That’s it?”