Not dramatically.
Enough.
Marcus considered that success.
Four years passed.
Cody grew.
At eighteen, he returned to Willow Crest.
Marcus barely recognized him.
Taller.
Hair shorter.
No Spider-Man shorts.
Thankfully.
He knocked on Marcus’s front door.
Marcus opened.
“Cody.”
“Mr. Hale.”
“Marcus.”
The young man held an envelope.
“What’s this?”
“College acceptance.”
Marcus blinked.
“Okay.”
Cody laughed nervously.
“That sounded weird.”
“Yes.”
“I got into Georgia State.”
“Congratulations.”
“Criminal justice.”
Marcus stared.
Cody immediately said:
“I know.”
Marcus laughed.
“You enjoy irony.”
“Apparently.”
“Why criminal justice?”
Cody looked toward the street.
“Because I spent years thinking rules were whatever the person in charge said.”
Marcus waited.
“I want to understand what they actually are.”
That answer was better than expected.
Marcus opened the door wider.
“Want coffee?”
“I don’t drink coffee.”
“Then you’re too young for criminal justice.”
Cody laughed.
They sat at the kitchen table.
Cody eventually asked:
“Did you hate my mom?”
Marcus thought.
“No.”
“Really?”
“I was furious.”
“That’s not the same.”
“No.”
“What about now?”
Marcus looked toward the backyard.
“I think she became convinced that losing control meant losing worth.”
Cody looked down.
“She still thinks you ruined her life.”
Marcus nodded.
“I know.”
“Does that make you angry?”
“Sometimes.”
“Do you want me to tell her—”
“No.”
Cody looked up.
“Why?”
“Your relationship with your mother belongs to you.”
“But she’s wrong.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t care?”
“I care.”
Marcus continued.
“But I’m not using you to win an argument with her.”
Cody became very quiet.
He understood exactly what that meant.
His mother had used him that way.
Marcus saw it land.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Cody eventually graduated.
Did not become a deputy.
Marcus was relieved.
Not because he doubted him.
Because life did not need symmetry.
Cody became a compliance investigator for a state agency.
When Marcus heard, he laughed for a full minute.
Cody sent him a text:
I know.
Marcus responded:
Wear boring swim trunks.
Cody sent three laughing emojis.
Valerie never reconciled with Marcus.
That remained true.
Not every story ended with everyone understanding each other.
She moved to Florida.
Joined no HOA board, according to Cody.
Probably wise.
Years later, Marcus retired as sheriff.
His final day involved too many speeches.
He hated all of them.
Andre, now sheriff, gave the worst.