Methamphetamine

As you check your mail, you notice a letter that makes you stop in your tracks.

As you read it over all the blood drains from your face.

What the-

To say you're shocked is an understatement. The shock pulses through your entire body only to be replaced by fear.

White-hot fear. 

You stand there in front of your mailbox, in your pearl white pyjamas and the blue bathrobe you bought far, far expensive than it was.

Your nerves on the edge your head shot up to see a teenage boy, sixteen or seventeen eyeing you weirdly.

"Scram," you tell him and he laughs and drives up the street.

He laughed you think, why did he laugh?

The fact that a twenty-five-year-old woman in 2020 telling a kid to 'scram' would be hilarious escaped you and instead you walk back to your house slowly.

Eyes scouring every word of the letter that had sent you into a spiral of paranoia and fear. After the first hour and noticing multiple local teenagers do regular teenage stuff you chalk the letter up to a prank.

A not so harmless prank.

So imagine your surprise when the police show up at your door a week later telling you its time to go testify in court.

"What?" you say dumbfoundedly to the tall men at your door.

"Testify ma'am," the blond one says before his eyebrows knit together in confusion, "Didn't you receive a letter,"

You look over your shoulder to the fireplace where the only remnants of the letter you'd received a week ago from the police department are its ashes.

You look back at the man who looks at you like you've gone insane.

"I thought it was a prank," you offer pathetically.

His poker face is enough to send you scurrying to your room to change.

Apparently, according to the police, your best friend Natalie was caught manufacturing and distributing, guess this, Meth.

Meth as in the Blue Methamphetamine.

The Blue Methamphetamine.

You'd known Natalie since you two were in High School and it was safe to say she was no Drug Manufacturer, please. If it weren't for you she would've flunked Chemistry.

And Physics.

And Maths.

Distribution on the other hand. 

She had been pretty bomb in her sales internship.

The courtroom was filled, they'd been waiting for you. You swallowed thickly and scoured the crowd looking for a familiar face to offer you some comfort.

Your eyes landed on Natalie. Sitting next to who you assumed was her lawyer. She looked at you apologetically.

As you were shown to a seat close yet far to her she kept staring at you hoping for some solace in your face. 

She received you trying to killing her with looks.

You imagined peeling her skin layer by layer and finally disturbed enough she turned the other way around.

Why were you here?

You hadn't done anything wrong, maybe a whizz or two of Pot. But hey, who didn't smoke weed nowadays?

You were 25.

Meth, on the other hand, no Blue Meth.

Heroin? No.

Cocaine? for a little while in college.

But no Methamphetamine.

The case against Natalie was... not weak.

It was strong. And it scared you.

As the evidence piled up against Natalie your faith remained strong that something would slip and reveal her innocence.

You focused your eyes on her back as her fingerprints were announced on a 4-pound bag of meth.

She seemed tense and your insides coiled in anger and fear.

Was she going to be okay?

The way this was going you were worried.

You didn't believe her to be a manufacturer for a second but the evidence was piling up and soon she'd be arrested and sent to prison where she'd-

"Stop it." You told yourself. She was going to be fine.

She had to be?

Right?

Natalie was called and her stride was more than enough to show how scared she was. You were sure the jury saw it.

She took a seat in the witness chair and you saw her swallow thickly.

As the attorney asked her questions and she answered you8 knew this was going to go well.

Poor Natalie. Your heart went out to her. All of a sudden you understood why she disliked the police so much.

You weren't very fond of them yourself but Natalie despised them. With the racism, and the brutality.

One time they'd stripped and patted down a Muslim girl in public.

A fourteen year old Muslim girl in public.

You shivered thinking of it.

When it was finally your turn to go up. You were hesitant. Her lawyer hadn't talked to you but then again his priority was keeping Natalie safe.

When yours and Natalie's eyes met you offered her a small smile but she looked down. 

Utterly hopeless.

It angered you. You looked at the plaintiff sitting across you nearly fifteen feet away.

"Eleanor," the plaintiff's lawyer said, "Or Elle?"

You looked the man up and down, "Ms. Emmens," you corrected him bitterly, your face a stone mask.

He was taken aback.

He nodded and swallowed, "Ms. Emmens. My apologies I simply-"

"Get to it Bench-man," You hissed.

The attorney's face was plastered on every bench in a fifty-mile radius.

That angered him and he dropped the friendly lawyer act. Good.

You couldn't wait for the stupid face he'd make when he realized the truth.

He asked you of Natalie's whereabouts on certain dates and you told him you didn't know. He asked you about Natalie's jobs and you told him you didn't know.

"Ms. Emmens," The attorney said, his exasperation radiating off of him in waves, "Is there anything you know about your friend, Natalie?"

"Nope," You said, popping the 'p' sound. 

"Why ever not?"

"I haven't seen her in a year,"

You rested your chin in your hands and the attorney's eyes narrowed.

"You seem very," he frowned, "relaxed," 

"I am,"

He bit back a laugh, "Why?"

You smiled, "Because," you said, dragging out the word so it had multiple syllables, "Natalie didn't do any of the things you have accused her of,"

The attorney's eyes widened and he pointed to the stack of evidence behind him, "All that," he said, "It makes you think that she's innocent,"

"That's what I said,"

"How do you know?"

"She was framed,"

He laughed, "Framed, huh?" he looked at the judge and shrugged, "How do you know that?"

You looked at Natalie. Lovely Natalie who you'd cut off a year ago. You'd been so busy with the new business that you two just cancelled out.

And you felt awful. The business had boomed in the first half but now it was collapsing quickly because of this trial.

You'd been so scared that you'd caused all this to happen and now it was time for justice.

You regretted nothing. Nothing at all.

Only including Natalie in this mess sent sharp blows of regret to your gut.

"Ms. Emmens," the Bench attorney said, "How do you know she was framed,"

You shrugged, "Because I was the one who framed her."