Page 94 of Ranger's Wildflower
Not empty.
Focused.
“She was driving,” I continued. “She’d been drinking. More than me. When we went off the road… she was scared. She knew she wasn’t going to make it.”
My chest tightened, but I kept going.
“She made me promise to say I was driving. She didn’t want her parents to know she’d been drinking.”
Sarah didn’t interrupt.
Didn’t soften.
Just listened.
“And you kept that promise,” she said.
“Yes.”
“Even after you were arrested.”
“I told them,” I said quickly. “Not at first—but after. I told the police. I told the lawyer. I told the district attorney that she was driving and that I lied because she asked me to.”
Her pen stilled again.
“And what happened?”
“They said I was changing my story,” I said. “That I was trying to shift blame onto someone who couldn’t defend herself.”
My voice didn’t shake.
Not this time.
“They didn’t believe me.”
“And your family?” she asked.
That one hit.
Harder than I expected.
“My mom didn’t believe me either,” I said.
The words came out flat.
Not emotional.
Not anymore.
“She said I was trying to avoid responsibility. That I’d already confessed.”
Sarah watched me carefully.
“You tried to tell her the truth.”
“Yes.”
“And she chose not to believe it.”
