The kid had also worked two jobs without his dad knowing, just to save up for the deposit and rent for a new place he was going to move his mom into. Once he’d done that, he planned to take all of the evidence to the police about his dad.
That night, he’d gotten drunk after his dad had beat him and his mom. He’d gotten into his car to go and pick Reid up to get some help to drop the first round of bags and boxes off at their new place because he couldn’t lift them on his own. Why he’d gotten drunk, I couldn’t say, but the brakes on his car had failed thanks to his dad tampering with them, and he’d hit Jolene’s car.
It was one colossal tragedy, and Ryanne, the girl whose future had been focused on ballet and dancing, had changed in the blink of an eye because her leg had been shattered. She’d only been in her friend’s car because some shit to do with her parents had come out that day, too, and she’d needed to get away from her home.
“A lot of time has passed, Reid,” I pointed out. “Ryanne might be a completely different person now.”
Blowing out a breath, he tried to get control over his emotions again. Fuck, I hated seeing him like this.
“Listen, I’ve struggled with this shit for years. Time might have passed, but I doubt she’ll be any different about it all. I was devastated over the loss of my best friend back then, but I was also shattered that he took the life of an innocent girl and almost killed the girl I’d had a crush on for years.
“Can you imagine how hard it was to see everyone so angry at Hank, blaming him like he was evil? He fucked up, there’s no doubt about that, but it wasn’t until his deepest, darkest secret came out—the shit his dad put him and his mom through—that people stopped cursing him.
“Yes, people’s perceptions of him have changed since, but that doesn’t erase what it was like at his funeral, with only our family and his mom there to say goodbye to him. He went from the star quarterback to a fucking selfish, murdering piece of shit. Then he became a victim, and I’m just expected to forget it all? I’m expected to be able to look Ryanne in the eye and pretend like shit’s okay when she gets here?”
This was a side of Reid no one would ever see outside of our family and was likely the reason why he’d struggled to find his path in life before joining P.V.P.D. In fact, I think this may have been the whole reason why he’d joined the police, to try and help anyone who might be in the same situation Hank had been in. The world saw the jokester and the relaxed Officer Klein, but we saw the heart of him. That was also why I understood Jacinda because she wasn’t unlike my brother in that respect.
“Reid, man, all I can say is that you don’t know what it’ll be like until she gets here. I know you’re still affected by what happened back then, and none of us blame you for it, but you’re punishing yourself emotionally.
“You got Hank justice, and by doing that, you actually got Ryanne and Jolene justice, too, because the real reason for the accident came out. I don’t know how much you know of how Ryanne feels about where she’s at in life, but you might find out that she loves her life, regardless of the fact that it’s not what she’d dreamed of doing.”
Reid’s head lifted, and he just stared at me as he thought over what I’d just said.
“I get what you’re saying. It’s just so fucking hard.”
“I can imagine it is, but you help out Eoghan, you help the residents of Piersville, you look after your family… You’re kind of shouldering everyone instead of putting yourself first.”
“I don’t think I know how to do that,” he admitted. “Mom and Dad were so worried when I couldn’t decide what career path I was going to take, but you’ve got no idea how worried I was about it. Then I spoke to DB about P.V.P.D., and something just clicked in me. I want to make a difference, Canon. I want to help people who are in the same situation Hank was in, and to help find answers for people who don’t have any after they’ve gone through a tragedy.”
“You can’t fix the world, man. You can only do what you can feasibly do. Just stop putting so much stress on your shoulders and live your life. Ryanne’s coming back, so maybe that’ll help you draw a line under what happened?”
Getting up and moving over to the door, he jerked his chin at me. “Maybe. I’ll catch you later, yeah?”