Free An Absence of Principal by Jimmy Patterson

never be a shortage of the wrong crowd, even in Midland, believe it or not. I got hung up on crack for a couple years, smoked some dope, drank a lotta juice. But I found the Lord about five years ago and my life turned around overnight.”
    Alex and Garrison studied the notes they’d taken and looked at each other.
    “Tony, with all due respect, I have to toss this out for discussion,” Alex began. “Juries have a built-in skepticism meter. They will doubt you when you bring God into the conversation unless they can completely believe in you and your profession of faith. A lot of people claim they find the Lord even when they don’t have the first clue about where to even begin to look for him.”
    Garrison sat back and half smiled. He knew Alex didn’t know of the stories Tony had in him of the good things he had done, random acts of kindness galore. But he never shared those. Garrison knew Tony lived by the Scriptures, especially the one that advises you not to go shouting from the rooftops or with trumpets blaring about all the good you’ve done. Only God needs to know. Garrison was pretty certain he didn’t know half the good Tony had brought in his years since he found God.
    “I’m sorry. Miss Wallace, I don’t go tooting my own horn much,” Tony said. “God said you can receive your reward here or you can receive it in heaven. I’m saving mine for a better day.”
    “You’ll need to toot a little more about yourself if we’re to convince the jury of all this goodness of yours,” Alex said.
    “How ‘bout I fill you in over lunch today?” Garrison asked Alex. “Tony has some work to do for me on the case and should probably get started. I’ll fill you in on all you need to know.”
    “Thank you for agreeing to help me,” Tony said before leaving. “And for letting me help you out a little to pay back the bail money you fronted me.”
    “You’re welcome, my friend. Now … get to work,” Garrison said, smiling and shaking Tony’s hand.
    Garrison turned to Alex.
    “You want to grab a bite?”

“Tony’s a good guy,” Garrison would later tell Alex at lunch. “I know in reality we’re all capable of violence. But I think there’s also an exception to every rule. Tony’s that exception. I’ve seen him up and down. He’s a textbook case of missed opportunity, but he’s also a perfect example of how you make the most out of what you have even if you don’t have a lot. Tony lost everything when his daddy died without a will. He took it hard for awhile, got messed up in the Odessa drug scene, but when he pulled himself out of it, he’s been good ever since. We’re all entitled to at least one big screw up in life, especially if we learn from it and make something of it. Tony did that.”
     
     
     
    Alex was listening to Garrison’s convincing argument.
    “I’d like to believe you,” she said.
    “Well, if you’re going to work for me on this case, you really have no other choice,” Garrison said.
    He studied her for a moment and noticed something was bothering her.
    “What is it?” Garrison asked.
    “If you worked where I worked, had been to the places I’ve been and seen what I’ve seen, you hear everything. People can look you straight in the eye and deny. But you believe them — or want to. Deep down you don’t but you still try to convince yourself they’re good people. I’ve seen ‘bad’ too many times. I’m not sure who or what to believe any more, so often I choose to not believe anyone. It’s what happens when you go down the road I’ve been down.”
    It was the first time Garrison had seen this side of his new employee and he knew when he saw it that it was going to be a hard hurdle to clear.
    “When Maria and her boys died I went into hiding for a while,” Alex recalled. “My superiors at DEA advised me to. I drove to a larger city in Argentina and stayed there, like I was told to. Two weeks later I got a call. A Latino male told me there was an SUV