A Girl Named Callie

<Callie> A Girl Who Wants Her Forever

Chapter 41

<Callie Stevens>

I'm sitting at a metal table, much like the one I used to meet with Julio at, waiting for my new client. I look around and rub my shoulder nervously, praying Jasper won't enter the visitation room at the same time as me. My prison and Jasper's prison have intersected and in the last two months, I still haven't prepared myself for the possibility that I will have to see him.

I can't bring myself to visit him, to confront the reality that he has turned into anything other than the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy I fell in love with all those years ago. I've heard secondhand rumors from my mom about how Jasper is faring in prison. The thought of seeing him bruised and blackened, seeing the empty look in his eye, watching him pretend everything is okay just breaks my heart. Everyone I've mentioned this to understands, but they always have an undertone, it's in the way they avert their eyes after reassuring me. They think I'm unfairly punishing him. Julio is the only one who truly understands why I can't go because it was the same reason his mother and Vanessa couldn't visit him for the first month of his sentence.

I look up when someone slides into the seat across from me, their chains clanging as the set them on the table. A man with greasy red hair laces his fingers together and stares at me. He smiles at me, waiting for me to respond. His smile is missing a few teeth but is oddly comforting. I feel my coursing blood calm down as I pull out my Bible and notes.

"My name is Callie, I work with Hope Restoration ministries."

"My name is Mel. I'm three years from parole for meth possession and distribution." Mel smiles and leans back in his chair. "I thought it was about time I got right with Lord."

"Well, you're taking a good first step." I say and open my Bible to the first passage. "I think the best place to start is the beginning."

"Seems logical," Mel chuckles as I begin to read from Genesis 1.

~~~~~

"I'm so sorry I'm not there to comfort you, baby. I can't imagine how hard it must be to go into the prison every day and have to think about watching Jasper get arrested." Andrew says in his soothing voice, the phone crackling from the bad reception on the base.

"I've had so many nightmares about what's happening to him in prison. I've had to start taking sleep aid just to sleep through the night." I admit as I pull out of the prison parking lot and head back towards my apartment.

"Do you think seeing him would ease those nightmares?" Andrew asks, his question hanging in the air.

"I think him not being in prison would ease those nightmares." I sigh and focus on the road ahead of me. "I wouldn't know what to say to him, Andrew. I haven't known what to say to him in almost six years. He's not the person I used to know."

"Nobody stays the same, Callie, maybe it's worth trying to get to know the new Jasper."

I ponder Andrew's words as I pull onto the highway.

"I want it to be that easy but there's too much between us. Too much unspoken, too much tension. Things already kind of blew up at the wedding. He knows I can't look at him the same way."

"And he shouldn't expect you to. He knows he has changed, but he could still use someone like you to guide him."

"Why does everyone think it's my job to fix him? I can't fix people. I can talk and talk and talk to them and maybe they still won't change. I don't have magic powers."

"I know, Callie, but I know you and I know you want to help him. I could see it in your eyes the first day you heard about his overdose. He needs you. You don't have to visit him every day, you don't even have to stay for that long. I think it'll be enough for him just to know that you still care for him. You can build up to the lessons and whatever, but just be there for him first."