Matthew 25:45-46: "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

He can't stop his knees from bouncing as he waits for his parents to join him, which will surely be any minute now.

Why did he agree to this again? And over the phone, no less. He is reminded again of the fact that he hasn't seen them in like, years, but still his heart won't quit punching his rib cage.

He brings a hand up to wipe at his forehead but the clinking of the handcuffs make him put them straight back down in his lap again.

There is the buzzing sound of the metal door to the outside world being opened, and there she is with her tight lipped smile as she gazes upon her incarcerated son.

As she settles at the table in the seat directly across from him, adjusting her skirt as she does, she lets out a tired sigh, as if this meeting with her kid has drained her of all her energy already when it has only just begun.

Jesse knows he shouldn't be feeling this way about his own flesh and blood, but he's so scared of saying the wrong thing that he can barely choke any words out of his godforsaken mouth.

"Yo, uh- hey, mum."

"Hello, dear."

It's an awkward introduction to say the least, and Jesse coughs just to distract himself from it.

"Where's Dad?"

"He was… Busy. You know how your father gets. Always some new project to be attempting."

"Yeah, yeah. Right. Cool."

He was about to ask about his little brother, who, damn, would be nearly fifteen by now, but his mum beat him to the chase. She sighed again, putting on her best fake smile as she folded her hands on the table in front of him.

"It's about Jake. He's been getting into trouble at school again and I was just wondering if you could talk to him. Tell him what it's like in here, you know? Help straighten him out."

His eyebrows go up, but not entirely in amusement. He feels a little sick.

"What, you want me to scare him? Into being what, a boy scout? Don't you think he's going to know what you're trying to do?"

She puts a hand to her forehead as if trying to deal with her son is the most tiring thing in the world.

"Yes, Jesse, if that's how you want to see it. I'm sure in a place like this, there are a lot of 'scary' stories to tell. Will you do it, or not?"

He sits back in his chair, licks his lips as he considers it.

"Yeah, whatever. I guess you've got him waiting outside or whatever, so go ahead and send him in."

His mum gives him another tight smile as she gets up to leave.

"Excellent. Thank you."

There's the buzzing again and it doesn't take long before his sibling is opposite from him, managing somehow to look like being here is the worst waste of his time that could possibly be achieved.

Jake gives his brother a bored look as he shifts to sit up straight in his seat, his continual good posture forever in contrast with Jesse's heavy slumping.

"Listen, I know what she's brought me here for and you don't have to-"

The older of the two moves his shackled hands onto the table with a solid thump, smiling as menacingly as he can.

"I know you do. You're smarter than I ever was, and it's not like it's a so completely subtle plan, anyway. I mean, visiting after this long? Bringing you along just for fun? Yeah right, give me a break."

A small moment of smug silence descends on the two as Jake decides what to do about this, never expecting his brother to be capable of such logic and reason. But before he can open his mouth, Jesse is talking again, almost like he enjoys interrupting the little twerp.

"That's why this doesn't make any sense. The weed you been smokin', it's never been that good, yo. Anybody knows that. You should be smart enough to know, that smoking it will never get you anywhere anyway, right?"

Jake is angered at the thought of being lectured about anything by this pathetic failure of a human being, but he does seem to be making more sense, which maybe angers the kid even more. But again, he is given no chance to respond, as Jesse leans in to whisper aggressively at him.

"So start selling, you moron. Do you know how much money there is in it? And I don't mean that skunk shit, either. Real stuff, yo. You feel me?"

Jake is somewhat shocked at the words that have fallen from his brothers obscene mouth.

"I'm not stupid."

"And I never said you were. I'm just saying, if you want to get into college, you gotta start planning now rather than later, right?"

"I could just get a real job, you know!"

"What, minimum wage, taking all your precious study time away?" He snorts as he leans back again in his seat. "Sure."

"Whatever. I could get a job way above mere minimum wage. I'm not going to end up like you, anyway, and mum didn't need to take me here to try and get me to decide that. You're a criminal, Jesse. How do you even sleep at night?"

He won't admit how hard the words hit him, but only because they remind him of worse things said to him by people he's trusted way more in the past. His chest feels tight. He runs his tongue over his teeth.

"Last time I checked, the pot isn't exactly legal now, is it? Don't act so high and mighty when you're just some bored kid who'll break rules when it suits him. Fuck off with that attitude, bitch."

He stands swiftly and jerks his head at the guard standing outside the door back into the prison to let them know that he's done here.

Waste of their time? Waste of his bloody time, if anything. Not that he didn't have enough left to serve as it was, but still.

'Let's bring the prodigal son to see how the devil child ended up to absolve him of his sinful ways'. He kicked at the wall near him as he was being escorted back to his cell. Fuck off. He had better things to do, even in a place like this.

AN: So I got inspired by a bible quote, although more in the sense of not that it being an objective truth, but being seen as one through the eyes of those who believe they are righteous (aka Jesse's mum and brother)

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