Brighter Than the Sun - Darynda Jones Page 0,29

did it. Who killed the monster. Not that I give a shit.

I am in jail for a week before Amador comes to see me. He brings Kim and I almost pass out, I’m so relieved.

Good girl. She did as I told her.

They are both worried. I feel tension pulled tight in Amador’s gut. Kim’s lids are almost swollen shut from crying. That, combined with the blue under her eyes from lack of sleep, makes her look like a victim of physical abuse. The guard on duty eyes Amador, wondering if he’s been beating her.

She puts one hand on the glass as she holds the phone with the other. I do the same. Tears fall freely down her face.

“I didn’t do it.”

She scoffs and does her best glare. It’s not that great a glare. “I know, shithead. You have to tell them.”

“The detective on the case knows, but the evidence says otherwise. There’s nothing he can do.”

Her heart speeds up. “What do you mean?”

“Kim, they don’t know about you. They don’t know I have a sister. They asked about my family. About any other children. I told them it was just Earl and me, so Sarah must not have said anything about you. And you can’t tell them. You can’t come back here.”

“What? No. No.”

“Give the phone to Amador, sweetheart.”

“No!” she yells. She is coming unglued. It’s unusual for her. She is always so quiet. So painfully shy. “Reyes!” she says as Amador wraps an arm around her shoulders. Not to comfort her, but to hold her down. To keep her from getting them kicked out.

He pries the phone out of her hand. She immediately grabs the counter in front of her, her knuckles as white as the Formica covering the surface. Amador knows the score. We’ve talked about it.

“Give her everything,” I say to him.

He nods. “The place is already set up. She’ll be fine.”

Again, I’m flooded with such a sense of relief, I almost lose my composure. I’m shaking and cursing myself for it. I don’t want Kim to see the emotion running rampant through me.

We don’t have much to discuss. With Amador’s help, I’d been planning to get Kim away from Earl for weeks, so everything has already been set up. She will be with a good family. She will go back to school. And somehow I’ll figure out how to get her some money.

“Okay, give her the phone again, and then you know what to do.”

“I do.”

“Ammo, I don’t know how to—”

“Don’t even think about pulling that emotional crap on me.” His eyes are flooding with tears and he fights them tooth and nail. “I have your back. You know that.”

I nod. “I’d kiss you if I could. Full on. Tongue and everything.”

He laughs, and the movement causes a tear to escape. “Now you tell me. We could have been happy together, pendejo.”

I realize my face is wet. “I love you, man.”

“I love you, too. Just get out.”

“I’ll try,” I lie. There’s no getting out. I won’t admit to something I didn’t do just to get a lesser sentence, but there’s no way I don’t go to prison.

He passes the phone back to Kim. She doesn’t say anything. Her face is so pale, she almost looks like one of the departed.

“You don’t know me. When you leave here today, don’t you ever come back.” I want to add the rest. I want to tell her that no one will ever hurt her because of me again. Not ever. But I can’t get the words past the lump in my throat.

She is completely silent. Her jaw is trembling. I’m not sure she could talk if she wanted to.

“I love you,” I say.

It is the final crack that breaks the dam. She bursts into tears again, and Amador has to carry her out. Literally. But she’ll listen to me. She knows not to get in touch with me. She’s so much stronger than she thinks.

It’s the last glimpse of her I get for a very, very long time.

16

I spend months in jail awaiting trial. They say I’m incarcerated. I say I’m free at last.

Detective Bob interrogates me several times. Practically begs for me to give him something. He knows I’m innocent. I’m not sure how, but he does. I’ll give him that. I don’t say much. I never say much. What could I say that would contradict the evidence against me.

He tries, but his hands are as tied as mine. He gives up about two months in.

The trial doesn’t