Another Lifetime

Chapter 20

DeAnna Kastell

Jessie and I walked to Harry's, and we were meeting X at the makeshift cinema after he'd met with his parole officer about something.

"You two got snacks?" Harry asked us as he walked down the drive with a big backpack that looked fairly stuffed.

"Jessie has snacks, I have blankets and my usual art supplies," I told him, "and X is bringing more supplies when he's done," I added as we started walking again. We'd all gone for comfort clothes today since we were in for the long haul.

Harry had gone for sweats and his JSHS soccer team training jersey, pairing it with some classy adidas neos in school colours. "I'm loving the colour coding," I told him and he took my bag from me then Jessie's from her like a pack mule.

"I'm hanging out with you two, gotta dress to impress," Harry said confidently and Jessie just laughed at him. She was slightly more colour clashing in her orange zip up hoodie and her holey pulp fiction t-shirt matched with turquoise VSX sweats and her red Nike Janoskis.

"We're only stylish when it matters and hanging around other geeks all day does not qualify as a need to dress up," I explained to him, "which is why I'm wearing my boyfriend's oversized holey hoodie and she looks like the Pantone colour wheel vomited on her," I justified and pulled up the hood.

"Do you know what his parole officer wanted to talk to him about?" Harry asked me, concerned about the man fast becoming his best friend and I knew X felt the same about Harry being his best friend.

"He told me that it wasn't a violation from Friday night, and he was going to ask if staying overnight at mine was okay as long as it was from seven to seven," I told him and he looked relieved, which was how I felt after he assured me it wasn't about me hacking his GPS.

"Is it like before?" Jessie asked me, "being with Griffin," she added and it wasn't so far but I didn't expect it to be.

"Our relationship was forged in fire, prison forces you to face up with all the mistakes you've made in life and I couldn't handle it, being left with the ghosts of my hacking and my drug problem, which just made it worse," I told her and jammed my hands into my pocket.

"He was this light in my darkness, this one good thing in this hellhole I'd made for myself," I said and kicked at the pavement.

"I'm not struggling with my addiction anymore and he's not this feared gang lieutenant who can't let people into his life just to see them hurt," I told her, "things are different but things are also the same," I said and looked at my good friends.

"What's the same?" Harry asked me.

"That I love him, and that he loves me, and that he hasn't changed, he's just more open now but he's still got his secrets," I answered him and my phone started ringing loudly.

"Friend or foe?" Jessie asked me as I pulled it out.

"Worse - Family," I told her and picked up.

"Ciao Papà," I said to him, and slowed down slightly so Harry and Jessie wouldn't try to listen to my conversation.

"You used your hacking computer," he said and I didn't know how he knew that, "I put a trace on your 'rig' as you so delightfully call it," he told me and I was going to put an end to that when I got home after NA.

"You know I'm going to override the trace right?" I checked with him and he made the noise I made when someone asked me a rhetorical question.

"That's where I got that noise from," I said and I tucked my hair back behind my ear.