Jordan/Jordy's Point of View
Today was the day and I was feeling energized and thrilled. I was unable to contain my happiness. Even my wife noticed my joyous mood at breakfast. I haven't been this happy in our home in a long time. Our marriage wasn't what it used to be. We fell in love in college and got married right after school. To be honest I couldn't tell you exactly what happened between us. One day we were a happy young couple and the next we were barely conversing with each other.
It wasn't a secret that she was cheating on me because I have caught her numerous times. Finally, I found the courage to confront her. Of course, she blamed everything on me. According to her, I wasn't emotionally available, and she was bored. The sex wasn't satisfactory to both of us and lately, it was non-existent in our marriage. It wasn't entirely my fault. My job was very demanding as a young Owner and CEO of a tech company who was barely at home for that matter, so I allowed it. She promised she was being discreet about it and I accepted it. Maybe I need to work on my self-esteem.
"That's new. At least something in this house still excites you." My wife sneered sitting across from me on the dining table.
"Darryl is being released today." The excitement was busting out of me. I have been dreaming about this day for ages. My best friend was about to be part of my life again.
"I hope you're not planning on bringing him here to our home. Jordan, he can't live with us. What will the neighbors think when they find out that we're living with a convict?" She sternly warned me. As if I didn't know about that already. My wife never liked Darryl. Upon everything that man has done for me, she should be happy to host him till he could stand on his own two feet again.
"Shay, he's being released from prison and doesn't have anywhere to go. Plus, he's my best friend." I tried to reason with her. I couldn't for the life of me understand why she couldn't stand him. Over the years I had to lie to her whenever I visited him. She didn't want me to have anything to do with my past including Darryl.
"I don't want him in this house!" She left no room for argument and went upstairs to get ready for work. Her bad attitude towards Darryl couldn't change my attitude. I was finally getting my childhood friend back so nothing could bring me down, not today.
******
Darryl saved my life. Most people might never know it, but he's the reason why I was able to follow my dreams and be such a successful man. We both fucked up as kids. We were caught selling drugs and Jordan took the fall for me with the excuse that I was the smarter one. I remember that day like it was yesterday. We were with our state-appointed attorney. He didn't give a fuck about us. All he wanted was to make a deal with the DA to end this quickly.
"Listen to me, Jordy. I told them it was all me. You had no idea I was selling that shit. You were just hanging out with a friend till they busted us." He looked serious. Gone was his jovial and carefree attitude.
"What? No! I can't let you do this for me. I should face the consequences too." I didn't understand why he wanted to do this. We both knew what we were doing.
"Stop talking! Maybe when I'm not there, you might be able to concentrate on school and make something out of yourself. You're smart, Jordan. School is not for me. Make something out of yourself." I have never seen Darryl this serious and calling me Jordan instead of Jordy proved that he was really going through with it. I felt so bad for letting them punish him alone.
"I'll miss you." The tears I was trying to hold in started falling freely from my eyes. I was losing my best friend.
For as long as I could remember Jordan and I have been inseparable. We did everything together. We both came from broken homes in the hood, so we had each other to rely on. How was I supposed to live life without him?
What Jordan did for me helped me push myself in school. I didn't want his sacrifice to be in vain, so I worked harder. I went to college and got a degree. I wanted to make him proud of me and make sure he never lacked for anything whether inside or released outside.
***********
I leaned on my black Mercedes Maybach S650 packed outside the prison and waited for Jordan to come out. As Darryl glided with his athletic grace out of the Prison gates without missing a beat, I was dumbstruck. I haven't seen him in almost a year and yet he looked so different. Darryl had manly, spartan physic and he was now taller and bigger than me. The tight white T-Shirt accentuated his chest, muscles and contrasted beautifully with his dark skin. The tattoos that run down his arms gave him a dangerous edge, warning you not to mess with him. The tight black jeans showed off his long, strong legs paired with black combat boots. The black sunglasses made it looked like a GQ model in a tv commercial, you wouldn't even know that this man has spent eight years behind bars.
"You're ridding fancy Jordy boy. Life has been really good to you I see." Darryl brought me out of my thoughts.
"And you're looking damn good. You're going to get all the ladies." I remarked before we embraced each other tightly.
"I have a lot to catch up to, but don't worry. I'll leave some for you." He whispered in my ears and then winked at me while pulling away from the embrace and getting in the car. We rode in silence for a while before Darryl started a conversation.
"So, how's wifey doing?" He asked whiles looking out of the window. He must have known that she probably didn't like him as she has never come with me to visit Darryl before.
"She's fine" I answered curtly. Talking about her wasn't something I wanted to do right now. It always brought my mood down.
"Are you hiding your kids from me too?" Darryl questioned, and I didn't know how to answer him. There was bitterness laced in his voice. Maybe because he didn't get a chance to be my best man. We promised to be each other best men and I broke that promise.
"I'm sorry you couldn't be part of my wedding. Let alone be my best man." I sort of dodged his earlier question.
"It's all good Jordy boy. We cool." He smiled at me then averted his eyes back to the window.
"Shay is focused on her career at the moment, so we still don't have kids yet," I explained, and he nodded without saying a thing.
We rode the rest of the way in silence till we stopped at the upscale apartment complex. After parking the car, Darryl followed me inside. We rode the elevator to the third floor. Inside the three-bedroom apartment, I showed him everything whiles he quietly followed me around till the end of the tour.