The Family Photo That Didn't Have Me In It novel · Chapter 20 of 24
Chapter 20: The Trial
Snow landed on the envelope between us and stayed there.
Across the street, Bo's mother came out onto the fuel dock in her bathrobe and folded her arms.
Bo was behind her in the bait shop window. I'd asked him to stay inside, and he hated it, and he stayed.
I took the letter and read it standing on the platform.
I, Emery Tilden, had been drinking on Thanksgiving night, and my memory of the evening is not reliable.
I do not wish my sister to go to prison. I ask the court to show her mercy.
My name sat typed at the bottom, with a line above it for a signature.
It was the driver's seat. Somebody had just printed it out on good paper.
"Her lawyer says one letter could change everything," Mom said. "You wouldn't have to say you drove. Only that you're not sure."
"I blew zeros, Mom."
"You don't have to be sure about the zeros either."
She said it gently, in her kitchen voice, the one for scraped knees.
"Where's Dad?" I asked.
Her face moved.
"He sleeps at the lot most nights. People stopped coming in after the news. He used to hand every kid a lollipop at the door."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Family Photo That Didn't Have Me In It are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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