Then Again: Part I
A Supernatural Reverse Age Gap Story
“Full service is extra, but I’ll drop the charge. It’s been slow today.”
The gavel rocked her, but she prepared herself for the sound long before it filled the room with its hollow wooden echoes. Her daughter. Prison. Five years. She looked across the courtroom at the girl she used to know.
Victoria. Vicky. The prisoner. With a trembling smile, she blew her mother a kiss as the bailiff escorted her out. The orange jumpsuit swallowing her.
“Ms. Colston, this wasn’t your fault. It was the drugs. Don’t blame yourself. Vicky loved you.”
Her daughter’s boyfriend. He shared her tears, but not her pain. “Matt, call me Barbara. Ms. Colston makes me sound like a mom and I’m not. Moms don’t let their little girls go to prison.” She stood to leave as others filed out of the courtroom. When he followed, she turned to him.
“Matt, all my daughter did was steal from you. Go home. Grab a bus ticket and get back to Kentucky. There’s nothing here for you. We’re getting evicted this week, so run and don’t look back. Don’t visit her. Don’t visit me. Just go.” She left him and pushed through the doors into the crowded hall before he grabbed her arm. Not hard…
