back to the gym. Since I’ve been back, I’ve tried to ignore the way people have acted around me, but I can’t seem to let it go today. A man wearing a dark hoodie walks down the sidewalk and meets my eyes. He glares at me with intent right before his shoulder slams hard into my body. He mutters, “Murderer,” under his breath as he passes. I turn to look at him, but he keeps going.
My heart pounds, and I swallow hard. Though he’s taller than me, I'm five seconds from beating his ass. Instead, I inhale a deep breath and continue toward the gym. I don't need trouble finding me right now.
If that would’ve happened ten years ago, I probably wouldn’t have walked away. Prison changed me, and now I'm a different man who has a lot more to lose.
Was he a friend of Gabe’s?
I walk inside with a fake smile plastered on my face even though shit like this eats away at my conscience. As I cross the large open room, I try not to smash the cardboard with the force of my grip. Tyler notices, and I give him a smile and open the box.
“I brought donuts for everyone. Where's Gemma?” I glance around but don’t see her.
Tyler studies me before meeting my eyes. “She'll be here any minute.”
He continues staring, and I forgot he’s even more observant than my sister. “Everything okay?”
“Honestly, no,” I admit. After I get my thoughts together, I explain what happened at the bakery and with the guy on the street. “It makes me feel awkward in social situations. Like this town would be better off if I weren’t here.”
Tyler shakes his head and places his strong grip on my shoulder. “You know, when I returned, people whispered about me in the grocery store and everywhere else they’d see me. They'd call me a convict under their breaths. I didn't think I’d even be able to find work with my past. Thankfully, your dad took a chance and hired me. Otherwise, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”
He smiles, then continues. “After a while, they got over it. People stopped talking shit and moved on to the next big thing because you know it’s something different every week. The same will happen for you too. They'll get over it,” he says confidently. “Or I’ll kick their asses.”
I chuckle, but my blood starts pumping again as I think about all the unfairness he experienced.
“You didn't murder a family member. Or your best friend’s husband. Or a man who was about to be a father.” I sigh, brushing a hand through my hair because those aren’t easy things to admit aloud. “Our situations aren’t the same, Tyler. I know why you’re saying that and being encouraging, but I’m not convinced it’ll ever get easier for me. You were helping a friend and got framed. Every single day I sat behind bars, I knew I was paying for the consequences of my actions and wishing I could take it all back. I never wanted my cousin to die. I didn't want Katie's husband not to be there for her or their son. I stole that from them. Everyone in town knows it too.”
“It was an accident,” Tyler stresses. “Bad things happen to good people.”
“It doesn’t take away the fact that my aunt and uncle lost their only child and refuse to talk to my dad. You and Gemma won’t have them in your baby’s life because of me. People treat me like I'll break into their houses and kill their family. It makes me want to pack up my shit and leave, then start new where no one knows who I am.”
Tyler looks at me with pity, which I hate, but I just laid a bunch of shit on him. I take a bite of a donut as Tyler processes my words. “I understand where you're coming from, Noah, but leaving won’t fix you. The burden is carried inside wherever you go. You’ll still have to work through that. Being out of prison takes some getting used to, but I know you’ll eventually adjust. Things would be different if you went down to that bar that night with the intent to kill him. You just wanted him to go home to his pregnant wife. I know you’d take it back if you could, but you can't, so you need to work through that guilt. You deserve good things to happen to you, and you can't