Odd One

Ch 16

The next morning got really uncomfortable when Hector Whitman showed up with a briefcase, dressed in a nice grey suit. He didn't sound pleased, explaining all of the details of the charges against Zack. Jason listened from his bunk, blinking away sleep.

"This isn't just about you, Zack. Your friends were involved, and it was in my apartment that the girl was manhandled in. Do you have any damn idea what this could do to my career?" Hector demanded.

"Are you going to get me out of this or not?" Zack asked. "Either you are, or you're going to let me rot. I know you could call in a few favors or something."

"You think I would waste them on you, boy? This isn't the first stupid thing you've ever done, but it's by far the stupidest. I'm tired of getting you out of trouble over and over. It reflects badly on me as a lawyer," Hector informed Zack. "Colleagues are beginning to wonder if you're just a loser, or if it runs in our family."

Ouch. That's really harsh. I don't think I'm supposed to be hearing this, Jason thought, feeling restless and uncomfortable. Sounds like Davis was right on the mark in his observations.

"So leave me here to rot. I don't fucking care. Not like you were ever there when I really needed you, dad. You never watched me win any soccer games, you weren't there when I graduated, and I had nobody to talk to when mom left. Where the hell were you? I was so unimportant to you?"

"Don't be so bloody ungrateful! I was working to make sure you had the best of everything! But you threw that back in my face with all the trouble you got into, didn't you? I don't know why I didn't send you to live with your tramp of a mother, so I wouldn't have to admit that you were my son!"

Zack let out a pitiful little cry and started sobbing, and Jason felt a sudden need to be protective of him. No wonder Zack does anything and everything to get attention. The one person who is supposed to love him unconditionally, neglected him the most. I always had a mother who was there for me no matter what.

"Hey, asshole!" he shouted through the bars, furious. "Maybe if you paid some attention to your kid he wouldn't be so messed up now! He didn't need the best of everything, he needed his father's love and approval. He used to beat me up sometimes after he'd won the soccer game and I could never understand why. It was because you felt worthless and forgotten, wasn't it, Zack? He never came to watch you, so you took it out on me, figuring I was the one person who would never forget about you...and I don't think I ever will," Jason admitted. "This is the monster you created, Mr Whitman."

He couldn't see what was going on, but he could tell that the lawyer was uncomfortable, clearing his throat nervously and closing the briefcase.

"I'll get someone else from the firm to represent you in court," the man said quietly, and left the jail area with Constable Parker.

Jason listened to the silence. "Zack...are you okay?" he asked cautiously.

"You stuck up for me," he whimpered in a choked voice. "I felt so helpless. How did you know?"

"I've felt helpless before because of you, so I knew."

"So why would you want to stick up for me?" he asked.

Jason shrugged. "There's two sides to every coin. I've never seen your side before, and now everything makes sense. You were an outcast all along and you did everything you could to pretend you weren't. Davis is right. We could have been friends once."

"I guess it's too late now," Zack figured.

"Yeah," Jason agreed softly. "It's too late. But I'll never forget you," he promised.

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Rosie won the trial. The evidence was enough to put Zack and Davis away for four years, and the two of them pointed the finger at Toby and got him sentenced with the same.