CHAPTER 15: THE CONFRONTATION WITH JACOB
I tracked Jacob down two weeks later.
He was living in a small apartment on the outskirts of town, trying to stay off the grid. I don't know how he thought he could hide forever. The police were looking for him. The district attorney wanted to question him about the embezzlement. But he had always been good at running away.
I knocked on his door. He opened it, and his face went pale.
"Bella," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"We need to talk."
"I don't have anything to say to you."
"Too bad. I have a lot to say to you."
He let me in. The apartment was sparse and messy. Clothes were piled on the furniture. Dishes sat in the sink. It was the apartment of someone who had stopped caring.
"Jacob, I know about the secret account," I said. "I know about the money."
He didn't deny it. He just sat down heavily on the couch.
"She was going to give it to me," he said. "After she got out."
"I know. But she's not getting out for a long time."
"And I'm stuck here. Waiting. Hiding."
"You should turn yourself in."
"No."
"Jacob, if you turn yourself in, you might get a lighter sentence. If they catch you, it'll be worse."
He looked at me. For the first time, I saw something in his eyes that I had never seen before.
Fear.
"I can't go to prison, Bella. I can't."
"Then you should have thought about that before you let Mom steal for you."
"Let her steal? She did it on her own."
"She did it for you. She did everything for you. And you let her take the fall."
"I didn't ask her to."
"You didn't stop her either."
He was silent.
I stood up. "I'm not going to turn you in, Jacob. But I'm not going to help you either. You made your choices. Now you have to live with them."
I walked out of the apartment.
I didn't look back.
May you like
And I didn't feel guilty.
Because I had finally stopped taking responsibility for other people's mistakes.
