“I know. Thank God for them.” Jake felt a surge of love for his family, and Pam squeezed his hand.
Detective Zwerling straightened up, as if he were becoming official again. “The D.A. will be in to see you, later today. He’ll tell you that you’ll be charged with leaving the scene of an accident and failing to give information. Those are misdemeanors in the first degree, or M1s. They involve fines and such, but no prison time.”
“I’ll take whatever punishment I have coming. But what about Ryan?”
“The D.A. exercised his discretion not to charge Ryan as an adult, in view of your efforts in the case. He’ll be charged with the same offenses as you, but as a juvenile. He’ll get probation and have to perform community service. He’ll have no criminal record when he comes of age.”
“Thank you, that’s wonderful. We’re very grateful.” Jake felt relief wash over him, momentarily forgetting about his pain.
Ryan said, “Yes, Detective Zwerling, thank you again.”
Pam looked from Ryan to Jake with a worried frown. “Even so, there’s going to be other repercussions, for all of us. I’m stepping down from the bench.”
“Babe, really?” Jake sighed. He could tell from Ryan’s resigned expression that it wasn’t news to him. “Do you really have to?”
“Yes, of course. My oath is to uphold and defend the Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth, yet I chose to hide illegality. It’s misconduct, and if I stayed, it would damage the reputation of the Court.” Pam pursed her lips, but she didn’t seem angry at Jake, just regretful. “I already emailed the Chief Judge and my colleagues, so they won’t find out from the newspaper. The D.A. plans to hold a press conference at one o’clock. The reporters are already swarming in front of the hospital.”
“I’m sorry,” Jake told her, meaning it.
“Thanks, but it’s not on you, honey.” Pam smiled at him, sadly. “It’s on me. I made my choice, and I’ll take my lumps.”
“So you won’t be a judge anymore?” Jake felt terrible for her.
“That might be a good thing, huh?” Pam winked, with a crooked smile. “No more Judge Mom.”
“But what will you do?”
“I’m not sure yet. Let’s not talk about it now.” Pam shrugged it off. “Nobody’s getting off scot-free. I’m embarrassed and ashamed, so are we all. There’ll be gossip and headlines. It won’t be easy.”
“I know.” Ryan nodded, his lips flattened to a grim line. “People are already posting about it on Facebook. I’ll lose a lot of friends, I know. Everybody will be talking about it. The big-time recruiters and programs will bounce. Bye-bye, Division I.”
“That might be right.” Jake appreciated that Ryan was being so realistic. “I guess I’ll lose clients. Plus Amy and my employees are going to be disillusioned. But I can deal.”
Pam eyed him, her anxiety plain. “What will happen to Gardenia? Do you lose your certification over this?”
“I don’t think so. Amy will stay, and I have enough cushion to float the payroll for a while. It’s Ryan I’m worried about.” Jake turned to his son. “Buddy, can you take the heat?”
“Totally. We both can. Don’t worry about it, Dad. We’ve been through worse, haven’t we?” Ryan looked down at Jake, his gaze grown-up. “Here’s what I think. It’s awful that Kathleen died, the way she died, but I didn’t kill her. I didn’t kill anybody. I don’t have that on my conscience anymore. I don’t have to lie to anybody or hide anything. I feel, like, so grateful and free. Do you see, Dad? I’m good again.”
Pam’s eyes glistened, but she didn’t say anything, letting Ryan and Jake have their moment.
“Ryan, you always were good,” Jake said, hoarsely, his entire body flooding with peace.
“We’ll get through this together.”
“Yes, we will.” Jake reached for Ryan’s hand, and Ryan reached back, and Jake could feel the warmth, strength, and power that flowed between them, palpable in the clasp of their hands, which were large and so much alike.
“I love you, Dad,” Ryan said, with feeling.
“I love you, too, boy,” Jake told him, and at long last, he could feel the beginning of a reconnection between them, one that had less to do with superficial things like cars and girls, and more to do with something important, natural, and even eternal.
Flesh, and blood.
Epilogue
Six months later, Jake and Pam were sitting on the bleachers at a packed basketball game, watching Ryan. The gym thundered with the clamoring of parents, siblings, and students. Kids ran up and down the aisles. Moms cheered, dads clapped, and Jake felt as if everything was the same as before—except that everything was also different.
The gym was smaller and shabbier, in a tougher part of town. Ryan wasn’t playing, but assistant-coaching, and none of the players was very tall, because they were eight-year-old girls. Their ponytails bounced in their matching scrunchies, their purple T-shirts hung to their knobby knees, and their wide-leg shorts flapped when they ran. Jake took a special interest in the kids’ gear because he had bought it all. The team was the Gardenia Guardians, named for what was left of his company.
He nudged Pam, pleased. “They look good, huh?”
“What?” Pam kept watching the game, craning her neck.
“They look good!” Jake said, louder, and Pam looked at him like he was crazy, her blue eyes amused behind her glasses.
“What are you talking about? They’re losing by seven points.”
“The uniforms, I mean.”
Pam rolled her eyes. “It still bugs me they’re purple. Gardenias aren’t purple.”
“White is boring, honey.”
“Gardenias aren’t white, they’re ivory, which is a lovely color.”
“Kids don’t want lovely. They want cool, and purple is cool.”
“Oh, hush! Watch the game.” Pam turned to the court.
Jake half-watched the game, contentedly. Bottom line, he was happy to be alive. His stomach still hurt from time to time, but he’d even started running with Ryan. In fact, he’d already lost two pounds. Well, it was a start.
Jake sensed the worst was over. Dr. Dave had pleaded guilty to both murders and was sentenced to life without parole, thus avoiding the death penalty. The media had moved on almost instantly, though the gossip lingered in their development, at school, in social media, and in the financial-services community. They would forever be the family who had left the scene of a hit-and-run, but they tried to hold their heads high. Jake hadn’t lost his certification, and Amy and almost all of his employees stayed with him. His remaining clients were making money, so he hoped that word-of-mouth would attract new ones. If it didn’t, he’d stay small or start over. He’d learned there were worse things in life than losing your job.
Pam nudged him, pointing to the court. “Honey, look. Tiffany’s going to shoot.”
“She’ll miss.”
“Don’t be that way.”
“Please. They always miss. The final scores are, like, three to two.”
Pam hit his leg playfully. “Aw, but she’s so cute. I love that little girl.”
“That’s true. She’s adorable.” Jake watched Tiffany shove the basketball two-handed into the air, then it fell to the court, bouncing away.
“Oh well.” Pam chuckled, shaking her head. Both teams raced after the ball, tumbling over one another, a rolling mob of flailing arms and outstretched fingers.