Dead Apples

13- Third Tries

The jail has really strict dress codes.

That, plus the painful cut on my leg, makes it pretty hard to get dressed when I'm preparing to go visit Robby in the jail. I've resorted to buying a maxi skirt because it's not revealing (against my personal dress code and the jail's) and it's loose against my thighs. I'm also not allowed to show any chest, back, or midriff... not that I'd want to anyway. I'm wearing a white t-shirt that I tie at the bottom so that it looks okay with the skirt.

They also don't allow any open-toed shoes, so I have to wear these black ballet flats that I rarely ever wear. All in all, I guess that it's a cute outfit but I look a bit too fancy to be visiting a jail.

My father gets a ride to work so that I can take the car to make the half an hour drive to get to the jail that Robby is in to sit in on this meeting with his lawyer and the district attorney. I'm not sure if they're going to offer a deal or just talk about how trial is going to work, so I'm feeling pretty nervous.

Once at the jail, I go through the same process that I went through the last time that I was here. I have to sign in, go through the scanner, and then put away my stuff in a locker before the officer takes me into the private room where Robby is already sitting with a younger man.

"There she is," Robby offers me a wide smile. I was expecting him to still be angry at me for trying to give back the money that he stole but he doesn't look upset about that anymore at all.

"Hey, Robby," I hug him and then sit down beside him at the table. There are more chairs in this room than the other room that we had met in before.

"You look dressed up," He notices. "Anyway, this is my lawyer from the public defense office."

"James Holland," The lawyer extends his hand for me to shake, which I do. I immediately notice how young he looks which is a bit unsettling. He doesn't even look like he's out of high school, let alone old enough to have graduated law school. "And you're Mr. Clarke's sister?"

"Yes," I agree with a nod. "How long have you been a lawyer?"

"I know that I look young," He catches on to my suspicions because I know that by that question, I wasn't exactly trying to hide it. "But I know what I'm doing. We are going to get the best deal possible for your brother."

"No. I just said that I don't want a deal," Robby reminds him.

"Robby, let's at least just see what happens, alright?" I try to ease him into the idea of plea deal. "Don't be so close minded."

"I agree with Miss Clarke, the evidence they have against you is pretty convincing," The lawyer confirms as he's flipping through a few pages of what I assume are case files. "A plea deal is probably the best option. I think that we can keep the sentence in the single digits if you give up some names of your accomplices."

"Well, I'm not doing that," Robby crosses his arms over his chest.

"Robby," I say his name again. "Just tell them who you were with. I know that it makes you a snitch or whatever but it's your best bet."

"I'm not a snitch," He shakes his head at both of us.

Before we can continue our conversation, the door opens again behind me and I assume it to be the district attorney because that's the only other person that is supposed to be in this meeting. When I turn around though, I'm completely caught off guard by the familiar face that I see coming into the room.

Gabriella, or Gabby, Briggs. Dex's second girlfriend, or his hookup, or whatever it is that she is to him. We make eye contact before I can turn back around but she doesn't seem to recognize me. Either from the park or the gas station, she doesn't say anything to me.