Joseph saw him carrying a final bag to the garage.
He didn’t go over and offer congratulations.
He didn’t need to.
At some point, a young man has to learn that doing a decent thing can be the whole reward.
Chapter Fifteen: The Apology That Didn’t Fix Everything
The first time Trent and Joseph spoke alone after Labor Day, they were standing outside the Oak Creek community center in November.
Andrea had arranged the meeting at Trent’s request, and both sides had agreed that it would be brief. Neither brought a camera. Trent’s mother waited inside. Joseph’s lawyer sat in her car in the parking lot, drinking terrible vending-machine coffee and keeping an eye on the building.
Trent looked different. Not physically. He was still tall, athletic, and young enough that the world offered him more second chances than he could understand. But he had stopped moving as though every room was an opponent he needed to dominate.
“I wanted to say this without a microphone,” he began.
Joseph waited.
“I’m sorry I threw the bottle. I’m sorry I hit you. I’m sorry I kept pretending you attacked me. And I’m sorry I scared Khloe.”
He swallowed.
“My dad told me to make you mad. I did what he said, and I liked the attention until it turned against me. That’s on me.”
Joseph nodded.
“Thank you for saying it plainly.”
Trent glanced toward the doors. “I don’t expect you to forgive me.”
“Good. Because I don’t know you well enough to make promises about how I’ll feel.”
The answer surprised him.
Joseph continued. “I don’t hate you, Trent. But my daughter was afraid in her own neighborhood. I was worried about whether my job would still be there on Monday. People sent threats to my house because of the story your family spread. Those things don’t disappear because we stand here and say the right words.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Trent looked at the pavement.
“I’m starting to.”
A car passed on the road beyond the parking lot. A woman came out of the community center carrying a box of canned goods. Neither man spoke until she had reached her trunk.
