For a few minutes, the only sounds were knives and forks on plates. Gavin got up to get more orange juice, and Ian saw him nudge Scotty’s shoulder as he passed, then jerk his head. It seemed Scotty had something to say, and Gavin wanted him to say it.
“Yeah,” Scotty muttered, as Gavin sat again. He waited until Ian and Sofia had finished, their knives and forks down. “Mr. Campbell, Ms. Popov…” Scotty pushed his own plate away. He’d only picked at his breakfast, although he usually had a good appetite. A teen appetite, Sofia called it.
“What, Scotty?” Sofia asked, her voice warm and encouraging.
Ian bet that was how she sounded in the classroom, reaching out to include even the shyest kids, getting them all to offer contributions. Maybe Scotty connected with that, remembering Sofia as his teacher.
“It’s been two weeks since I talked to the police and the DA and…” Scotty’s words came out in a rush. “…and today’s the day. I’m— Would…would you take me there, to the office?”
“Of course,” Ian assured him, relief flooding him. “You’re doing the right thing.”
Sofia nodded at his side. “We’re proud of you, Scotty,” she told him.
“And I want to thank you again, for the plan. If it hadn’t been for you, I would have been facing hard time.” Scotty looked down at his plate.
“It was the DA’s plan,” Ian reminded him.
He’d pled Scotty’s case, and after an agonizing wait, the DA had mandated that if Scotty didn’t want to go to prison, he had to show them he could be a responsible, useful member of society.
“Yeah. ‘Two weeks to enlist, and that’s that,’” Scotty quoted. “And I am. Ooof. Feels weird to say it out loud.”
“You just made bad choices,” Gavin told him, sounding very adult all of a sudden. “You can make things right, can’t he, Dad?”
Ian nodded. He wished Scotty had had it easier, but since graduation, his mom, a lone parent since his deadbeat dad had walked out on them when Scotty was a toddler, had come down hard on him about freeloading off her, “Just like him,” she’d scorned, comparing him to his absentee father, and belittled him.
Scotty hadn’t gone into too much detail about that, but the upshot was that now he was an adult and done with school, he could pay half the rent and bills, or she’d kick him out.
Tears had run down Scotty’s face when he’d gotten to that part of his statement to the police. Just hearing it had Ian angry with the woman. What a way to treat her own kid.
“And Mateo asked his pushers to spread the drugs as far into San Diego as they could?” Danton had asked, confirming his information.
“Yeah, and he wanted to start with the high school because it’s the easiest, most influential market,” Scotty had replied. “I was already dealing weed from junior year, but I didn’t hook up with the cartel until after graduation.”
The information he provided to the police and the Drug Enforcement Agency, along with his owning of his past mistakes and his longing for a second chance, had pleaded Scotty’s case for him. Sofia had provided a written character reference too. Ian had barely managed to stop her forcing her way into a hearing, to deliver her views in person. His Sofia was a pistol all right.
She’d been together with him, in a private meeting with the DA’s office, and clutched his hand tightly at their final assessment, one Ian was still thankful for and wholeheartedly agreed with: Scott Wagner was not violent, nor was he likely to commit other crimes. That hurdle cleared, Scotty had two weeks to face the next and much bigger one.
“It would be my pleasure to take you,” he assured Scotty, more pleased than he could say that the teenager was making an effort to turn his life around.
“And not just so that way you see the back of me?” Scotty smiled as he asked, making it a joke, but the insecurity behind it was evident.
“You’ve always got a room here,” Ian said. Sofia, her hand in his, nodded.
“With cooking like that? Duh!” she agreed.
* * *
Gavin said his goodbye to Scotty at home, and Ian and Sofia took him to the enlistment office. The warm weather made the drive feel innocuous, pleasant, and yet it was momentous, a chance to save a future.
“What branch of the armed services are you thinking of?” Sofia asked him.
“I think…the Navy.” Scotty caught Ian’s eye in the rearview mirror and grinned. “But SEALs? I don’t know, man. That training is insane! Oh, no offense.”
“None taken. You can decide that later. And I think the Navy is a great choice,” Ian answered.
They arrived and he snagged a parking spot not far from the enlistment office.
“I’m nervous,” Scotty blurted out as they walked. “Really nervous,” he added when they reached the door. “But I’ve got it from here.”