Reid Wilson
Mrs. Wilson
English IV Bell 5
22 October 2015
I was alone and I didn’t know
why. All 6 members of the “Savage” group chat were gone without an explanation.
Charlie left the group message. Sai left the group message. Paraj left the
group message. The chat that had been buzzing the entire summer was dead. I
felt something was off about the whole situation, but I ignored it. Half the
day went by without any messages from the other guys as to why they left. As I
got to the lunchroom, I made eye contact with Charlie and I knew something was
really wrong. Charlie said, “Oscar got arrested last night and we are in some
serious trouble.”
My best friend was
arrested for an inappropriate text message. I started to panic. Was I an accomplice?
Was I going to be arrested too? I knew eventually I would have to talk to a
principal, but what should I say? Should I tell the truth? Before I knew it I
was sitting in a conference room face-to-face with three administrators. I
could tell by the looks in their eyes that no matter what I said or showed
them, nothing was going change. Oscar was going to jail and I might be next.
Since I was one of
the few people who saw the text messages, I had incriminating evidence. If I
kept it secret I would for sure be considered an accomplice, but if I turned it
in, I would betray my best friend since 8th grade. I knew eventually
the school would find out about the text messages since high school
administrators have become Internet watchdogs, waiting in the dark to bust kids
for a joke made in anger or sarcasm, even if it is harmless. The very next day
I went to the principal’s office to turn in the texts I had, but before I gave
them up, I made one thing clear.
“He’s a good kid Mr. Rice, he
didn’t mean anything he said and I hope this doesn’t get him into any more
trouble than he already is.”
The principal
merely nod at me, solidifying the idea that no matter what I said, nothing was
going to change. I tried and tried to convince him that Oscar was joking, but since
I was a student and his best friend, they weren’t going to believe me.
As I walked into
the courtroom I could feel the tension in the air. I had never been inside of
the gigantic brick building that they call the Lebanon Courthouse. Dressed in
my brand new khakis and my J. Crew button up, I made my way through the metal
detectors and into my seat in the main courtroom. As everyone began to sit
down, the door on the opposite side of the room opened. Two police officers
filed out behind Oscar who was dressed for the occasion. He began shuffling
towards his seat in front of the judge, chains around his ankles and dressed
head to toe in a bright orange jumpsuit that read Warren County Juvenile
Detention Center. I couldn’t believe how skinny he was and how tall his hair
had grown. He looked like he hadn’t eaten in a few weeks and it was obvious
that they don’t offer haircuts in jail. The judge began talking but I wasn’t
listening. All I could focus on was the chains around his ankles, chained like
an animal, which he was not. Two testimonies and a lot of tears later, a
decision was made on whether or not to let me out of jail and put him on house
arrest. The judge ruled that he wouldn’t be released because of the risk he was
to the public, meaning my best friend was locked in his cage for another few
weeks and I had no idea when I would be able to see him again.
It had been over
40 days since I last saw Oscar and I couldn’t wait to see him, but technically
he wasn’t allowed to have visitors, so I had to stay outside or else police
would rush to his house and put him back in jail for a year; no exceptions. It
was a huge risk for both of us but we didn’t care. Nothing was going to stop us
from seeing each other. As I pulled up and he walked out onto his front porch I
noticed something different about him. He was way skinner than when he went to
jail and had a large black ankle bracelet strapped to his leg. If he stepped of
the porch, the ankle bracelet would go off and he would be taken away again. It
was going to be a long time before things were going to be normal again but we
didn’t care. I finally had my best friend back and I couldn’t be happier.
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