"When do you think Vance is coming back?" He was sent to jail after the incident. We've received numerous letters from him, talking about how bad it is there and how he wishes he was back home with us. Strangely, he's never written that he's angry at us. "I don't know. I mean, he had a weapon on him that he wasn't supposed to have," Matthias pauses, thinking. "We can go to the library. They have computers there and we can look it up." He suggests.
At the library, there's already someone using the computer. Damian. I groan. "Let's just go home," "Why, though? That kid is almost done," Matthias asks. "I know him. He creeps me out." Matthias says, "Why? What'd he do?" I lead Matthias away from Damian, into the rows of books so we can have some privacy to talk. As soon as I'm not sure that Damian's listening, I tell him everything.
"So you're saying that this kid has been stalking us for the past few months?" I nod. Matthias laughs. "He's got guts, I'll give him that." Damian pops out of nowhere, smiling at Matthias. "So am I in?" He asks. "In what?" Matthias says. Damian responds, "Your ga—" "Shush! We're in public. If anyone asks, there is no…y'know…gang." "Okay!" Damian nods his head. "We would have to ask Vance if you can hang with us," I tell Matthias. "He's not usually that good with new people." Damian stares at me. "Who's Vance?" He asks. "A friend of ours," Matthias responds. "I'd introduce you, but he's doing time in jail right now. We came here to research how long it'd be until he gets out," "Oh, okay! I'm done with the computer. You guys can use it," Damian tells us.
"So he'll be gone for about a year?" Matthias asks me, trying to confirm what we've researched. "Yep, looks like it. Could be sooner, though," I tell him. He sighs. "Maybe we can visit," Matthias suggests. "Yeah. We should do that soon," I agree with him. "Let's write to him now. We haven't done that in, like, a week," Matthias suggests. He puts his head in his hands, looking more dejected than I've ever seen him. Vance must have been a real friend to him. "Anything to make the time go by faster."