Sunkissed Serendipity

Chapter 20

Isla

The both of us have been silent for a long time. As I listened to his story about his dad, I tried to rack my brain around how this tragedy could have happened to them. It wasn't fair for Julian's life to get uprooted so much in the span of a night. The night that changed everything for him and changed his father. I felt so bad for him, and it was hard not to feel part of how he is feeling right now.

I keep my voice soft. "So your dad is building a case against the man?"

"Yes," Julian answers. "He knew that the accident wasn't just an accident and that it had to be something bigger. I mean, the car came out of nowhere and completely smashed right into him. It left injuries all over his body, some more than others. He knew that this couldn't be an accident, so he tried and tired to get justice for himself."

"I would too."

"I know," Julian says, but then lets out a harsh chuckle. "You would think everyone would feel sorry for my dad and root for him to win the case too, right? But no, most of everyone around us is antagonistic toward the fact that my dad is building a case. They are, wierdly, angry at him for making a, as they call it, "big deal", out of this."

But I don't understand anything he is saying. What does he mean, and how would anyone be angry at the fact that someone was getting justice for themselves?

"How?" I ask out loud. "Why would they be angry about your dad trying to get the justice he deserves?"

"They think that it was an accident," Julian says, looking out the window. "They don't believe that my dad was targeted. They think my dad is playing the victim card, and when it first aired on television and gained attention, they thought he was doing it for fame and the money that was being donated to him. It was all taken the wrong way, and unfortunately, just after a week of my dad being back, everyone was shaming him."

I cannot seem to wrap my head around this situation. How did anyone think someone would be victimizing themselves if it wasn't true? This was wrong, and it also angered me. I felt my blood boil at the fact that people would shame someone who had been through all of that.

Julian speaks up again: "And I think that most of it revolves around the fact that, aside from this, our town has been considered a "safe" place. But as soon as my dad spoke up, it made it be seen as something different, and most of the people here are hellbent on trying to keep its image up."

"But," I say, keeping my voice soft, "that's so dumb."

Julian gives me a look of shock at my words, but then lets out a laugh. Taking his hand away from mine, he wipes at it on his pant leg and then says, "Don't I know it?"

"It's actually so stupid," I say, looking down at my food and deciding to finish it. As I finish eating, something from earlier comes to mind, now making me rethink it. I glance at him and say, "Today, I asked Jack if he wanted to go outside and skate. He asked me if we could ask his friend to play."

"Did all you go together?" Julian asks, and I shake my head, causing his attention to go to me. I swallow, confused myself, and wondered if I'm reaching as I said, "No. We went and asked Jack's friend's mom, and she said no."

"Oh."

"No," I say because he was thinking it was causal. "She shot down his offer before he even finished. And then she told him that she had refused his offer a lot over the course of the weeks, and it seemed so harsh. She was short-tempered, and she was—"

"She doesn't want her kid to hang out with someone many people don't like." Julian finishes for me, and hearing it from his mouth made it so much more sad. This was a mother not letting her young son play outside with a child just because the town doesn't like his parents. That seemed so stupid because playing with someone shouldn't be discontinued just because of some conflict with parents. It's all wrong.