Quan shakes his head.

   Shenanigans.

       Justyce would use that word. What’s the other one Doc taught him? Understatement? Like “Somebody findin’ out _______ actually pulled the trigger would be bad.”

              Shenanigans.

     Bad.

     Understatements.

   “I can’t do it, man. I can’t have nobody goin’ after my crew because of me—”

   “No one else would be implicated, man. You have my word on that. Based solely on what you’ve told me so far, there should be enough evidence to get you acquitted.”

   Quan bites the inside of his cheek. The choice between an acquittal and a decade in prison is obviously a no-brainer…but there’s still a chance he’ll be convicted. Especially with his prior record. Walking away from the deal means walking away from the lesser charge. And being convicted of murder? Especially one he really didn’t commit?

   “I just—” (There Justyce goes, peeping over his shoulders all suspiciously again.)

   “You gotta stop doing that, man,” Quan says. “Glancing around like you tryna hide something. That’ll get both of us in trouble up in here.”

   “Oh.”

   “Go ahead and say what you gotta say. Without looking like a stage four creep, please.”

   Justyce laughs a little. “You right, man. My bad. I’m just nervous is all.”

       Which makes Quan nervous.

   And Quan hates being nervous. “About?”

   “Well, I need you to tell me more about…something.”

   “So spit it out, fool!”

        (Now Quan’s tempted to peep over his own shoulder.)

   Justyce sighs. “I need you to tell me about your confession, man.”

   Oh.

   “What about it?” Quan can feel what Tay calls his barriers beginning to rise.

   “Like…how it happened. When it happened. Did they show up on the scene and you stepped forward?”

   Quan shakes his head, tense about reliving the whole thing. His palms have gone slicker than the game he’s seen Trey spit at the girls up the block. “Nah. They didn’t come and arrest me until a few days after…everything happened.”

   “You mentioned an interrogation in one of your letters…Did you confess before they took you?”

   “Nope.” Quan tries to relax his jaw. “They had a warrant.”

   “So what the hell happened, man?”

   There’s a sour taste in Quan’s mouth now, and what he really wants to do is wave Brown Bowling Ball over to strike on through this visit and escort him back to his gutter-esque cellblock. Which oddly seems safer than this open room with Justyce asking him these questions. But looking at his boy—in the flesh—and seeing how much dude cares…well, that’s not something Quan was distinctly prepared for.

       So he takes yet another deep breath and drops himself back into the night he more or less ruined his own life.

First time they questioned me, I ain’t really say nothin’. I do know my rights—that was one thing Martel was real big on—so once they had me in the room at the precinct and started asking questions, I told them I was choosing to remain silent, and left it at that.

   They left me in the room by myself at that point, and I don’t know how long I sat in that hard-ass chair with my hands cuffed behind me, but I started to fall asleep. It was like ten-something at night when they initially picked me up, so I knew it was getting late, and I was tired. I also hadn’t eaten in a while. Appetite was real spotty during them days after The Occurrence. That’s what Tay’s been having me call it.

   Anyway, eventually somebody else came in and they took me to a cell. I really wanted to just go to sleep—it was a couple other dudes in there knocked out—so I sat down and leaned my head against the bars. But it seemed like every time I was almost asleep, there would be a noise or a laugh or something that would wake my ass right up.

   A bunch more time passed, and a new officer came and got me. Female this time.

       I said the same shit I said the first time.

   They left me alone again. Then back to the holding cell I went.

   More of the same: almost falling asleep, but not being able to. Getting more and more hungry. That second time in the holding cell is when I could feel myself starting to crack a little bit. I was tired. Cold. Needed to pee. Scared of what was gonna happen.

   Third time they pulled me into the room started out like the other two. I told them I ain’t have nothing to say, but that time, they wouldn’t leave me alone. It was the same dude from the first time. I guess enough time had passed for him to be on the clock again. He kept pushin’. Come on, kid. We know you did it. Might as well just say so…shit like that.

   When he said You know if we get one of your little buddies in here, we can get ’em talkin’. You should just save ’em the trouble, that’s when I broke. Just said

        Fine, man. I did it. You happy now?

   When Quan looks up—swiping at his eyes (he’s never told anybody the story of what happened that night and this is exactly why)—Justyce has a thinky face on: eyebrows all scrunched up, jaw tight, gaze on Quan but not on Quan. “And you said you told them the same thing each time they questioned you?”

   “Yeah. Basically.”

       “Even the third time, you said I’m choosing to remain silent?”

   That query makes Quan itchy for some reason. “I mean, I don’t remember if I said exactly that, but it was clear I ain’t wanna talk.”

   “Okay,” Justyce says with a finality that lets Quan know he can shut the door on that night again.

   (Though he’s definitely gonna have to talk to Tay about it now. After opening that vault, he knows he’s gonna have nightmares.)

   “Cut that sorry excuse you have for a lawyer loose, and let’s get things headed in a more favorable direction,” Justyce says.

   Quan sighs and rubs his eyes. He wishes he could just…sleep. Indefinitely. All this shit is too much. “I don’t know, man. That’s a tall order. I haven’t even met this replacement you tryna give me.”

   “You gotta trust me, Quan,” Justyce presses. “She’s a really great attorney. And you wouldn’t lose your plea offer.”

   Now Quan’s ears perk up. “I wouldn’t?”