Free Audacious by Gabrielle Prendergast Page B

room table
    Across from Genie
    And her dad.

GENIE’S LAST STAND
    She denies everything
    And claims I faked my evidence
    Her journal entries
    And her loopy handwriting
    Mean nothing to her.
    I can see her father
    Losing patience
    And I get the feeling
    This is not the first time
    Genie has been caught in a lie.
    But we get nowhere
    She refuses to confess
    And I adamantly defend Samir
    And our long-suffering parents
    Sigh and press their lips together.
    Finally I ask to speak to Genie alone
    I don’t have time for this, I say
    I’m going to court tomorrow
    For something I know I did do
    I might end up in jail
    So let’s get this out in the open
    You have a score to settle with Samir?
    Here, talk to him
    I dial and hand her my phone
    And then I go back to bed.

FACEBOOK PRIVATE MESSAGES
    From Genie
    I told sarah. she called david’s dad and told him. he’s dropping
    the case. happy? i’ve lost my bff thanks to u. u and samir
    deserve each other.
    if u tell anyone else i’ll kill u. BTW i’ve changed ALL my
    passwords.
    -g
    UNFRIEND
    To Samir
    How did you get her to change her mind about telling
    the truth?
    -r
    From Samir
    Don’t be mad, but you’re not the only one who’s taken a
    naked picture. Good thing I saved the ones she sent to me.
    I love you
    -sam
    To Samir
    You saved them? Why did you save them?
    -r
    From Samir
    Is there any answer that will make me NOT seem like a total
    dick?
    Still love you
    -sam

REASON
    There is some reason left in the world
    Apparently
    The judge rules that my art is just that.
    Art , she says
    Must be taken in context.
    Since I was not the one
    Who sent the image as a text
    And when she is about to reveal
    Who actually did
    David’s father objects!
    The judge glares at him but says
    Sustained
    What a seriously screwed-up system.
    As for the “hate crime”
    The laptop and Freckle
    None of that is mentioned.
    I leave the courthouse
    Not a criminal
    Not a sex offender
    Just me
    A misfit troublemaker
    In mismatched shoes.

I HATE HOSPITALS
    The smell, I think
    Disinfectant on vinyl
    Latex and bleach
    And mashed potatoes
    In neonatal
    All of this is covered
    With a cloud of baby poo
    Spit-up, anxiety and grief
    Hala watches her tiny son
    Through the incubator plastic
    Her hand resting beside him
    His spidery fingers around her thumb.
    I leave her Arab canvas, wrapped
    And look for Mom to leave
    But she’s sitting next to Hala
    Samir appears in the doorway
    What is his name?
    Mom asks, and Hala clears her throat
    Jibreel, it is an angel’s name
    The same as the English Gabriel
    Mom catches her breath
    And takes Hala’s other hand
    A moment passes so full
    I think I hear the walls creak
    Expanding to fit
    The weight of heartbreak and hope
    Samir and I lock eyes, knowing
    We have just witnessed a miracle, of sorts.

THE END
    Are you coming back to school?
    Do you want me to?
    I don’t know…my…
    You’re breaking up with me, aren’t you?
    I’m so sorry
I still love you
    What difference does that make?
    It should make a difference
But I don’t think I can be with you
Without becoming someone else.
Someone who I don’t want to be
Who I can’t be
And still be me.
    Innocent and free. No parents, no school
    No religion
    No you, no me.
    I meant those things when I said them
But things have changed
    They haven’t changed for me
    I love YOU
    Not what you believe
    I am what I believe
Because I believe
Jibreel is going to live, Inšh All h
    I know what that means
    â€œIf God wills it”
    If that is who your god is
    I don’t like Him.
    You don’t understand
    No, I don’t.
    We’re too different.
    I’m an adult
    And you are a child.

MEMORY
    That stung him
    And the memory of his face
    His pain
    Sustains me.
    Later
    The memory of his hands
    And lips and tongue
    Derails me.
    The pink dress hangs
    In a dry-cleaning bag
    In my closet
    I lay it on the bed
    Can I have