Never Too Late

Forgiveness

Redd placed a damp rag on Nook's forehead as the old raccoon laid motionless on the couch. He had been unconscious for over four hours, and Redd was starting to think he would never wake up. 

"Shit," Redd mumbled under his breath. He couldn't help but feel like this was all his fault. And maybe deep down he knew that it was. But he was in no way going to admit that. Redd stayed in the old musty room and locked the door praying that no one else would come in. The place eventually fell silent. It was either that everyone had left or everyone was passed out drunk. Either way, Redd was just relieved to be alone and away from everyone else. 

The fox let out a sigh and rummaged through his pockets to see how many bells he had. He had a bit over a thousand, and he knew that he would be able to give more to Tom as soon as they got back home. It wasn't often Redd gave money away. But considering everything he just put Nook through, he would be lying if he said that he didn't feel a bit guilty. 

Redd was caught off guard when he heard Tom start to groan. His ears perked up and he quickly ran over toward the unconscious raccoon.

"Tom. Psst, Tom. Are you awake?" Redd asked, poking his paw against Tom's cheek. Tom groaned and swatted Redd's arm away. "Come on. Wake up." Redd was starting to get annoyed but he didn't say anything else. He just watched in silence as the raccoon slowly sat up on the couch and rubbed the back of his head. 

"H-how do you feel?" Redd asked nervously. Tom looked over at Redd, confused. He then looked around the room and down at himself before he finally understood what had just happened. He groaned and lied back down, turning away from Redd. His body ached, and he had a sheering pain in the back of his head. He just wanted to go home, that's all he wanted. 

"Look, I'm sorry," said Redd, "I didn't mean for you to get hurt. But I'll make it up to you, I promise. Here." Redd got up and handed Tom the two thousand bells he had. "I can get you another ten when we get back." 

Tom looked down at the money but didn't take it. "I don't want it," He muttered. Redd seemed surprised by that. He could have sworn that Tom would gladly accept any money he offered to him. 

"Let me get this straight," Redd stated, "You're turning down twelve thousand bells? I swore all you ever cared about is money." Redd joked. Tom lied there in silence processing what Redd had just said, wondering if he had heard him right. And when he found out that he did hear him correctly, Tom slammed his paws on the couch as he sat up and gave Redd a deathly stare. 

"I am not turning down the money! I am turning down you!" Tom shouted. Redd frowned, his ears dropping as Tom continued, "Do you think I've just completely forgotten everything you have done to me? Do you think I'm just going to forget it and forgive you?"

Redd looked down at the floor, thinking back to the past he had wished he could change. 

"No..." Redd said softly. 

"You have taken everything from me. I lost my best friend because of you. Do you get that?" Tom's voice had softened and tears started to fill his eyes threatening to fall. Redd stood there silently, his voice caught in his throat. "No," Tom continued, "Why would you get it? What does it matter to you? What matters is that you get what you want right? Doesn't matter who you hurt, doesn't matter what crime you have to commit, you'll do it as long as it benefits you." 

The whole room fell silent besides the loud music coming from outside. Tom stared at Redds face. The fox looked as if he was trying his best not to cry. Nook sighed and fell back on the couch, feeling awful. It was as if he had been meaning to tell Redd those words for so long, yet he never had the chance to. So he didn't understand why he felt bad. He thought that shouting at Redd, calling him out would make him feel better, but it didn't. If anything, it made him feel worse.