Bailing Our Grandson Out of Jail by Sharon Waller Knutson

Hi, Grandpa, the voice on the speaker
phone says. I just got out of the hospital.
I was in a car wreck last night. It was
the pregnant lady’s fault, but they arrested
me. I couldn’t blow in the breathalyzer
because I had blood in my mouth.

Although he mumbles and moans,
I recognize the voice of our oldest grandson,
who works long days to feed his family
of seven in Utah and never drank a drop.

When he says, I love you both, my heart
breaks for our sensitive boy who still
sends us love notes in texts and emails.
I’m in the courthouse. I need bail money
or I’ll go to jail. His voice is shrill
and shreds my heart.

They couldn’t get him on a DUI
so they charged him with reckless
driving and failure to take a breathalyzer,
his attorney says. This young man
has a clean record. If he goes
to jail, he may lose his job and his family.

I am glad he has such a caring attorney.
We offer to pay by debit card or PayPal,
but he says we need to buy two blue dot
gift cards from Walgreens 30 miles away.

My husband shakes his head. Points
to the extreme heat warning. His father
and other grandparents are dead. He’s
counting on us, I say. So we fly down
the highway and call the attorney
from the gift cards section. A woman
wearing a name tag appears.
You’re being scammed, she says.
See he hung up. Call your grandson.

My husband and I stare speechless,
never dreaming that wasn’t our grandson
on the line. He dials and our grandson
answers. He sounds like the imposter,
but he is speaking clearly.
Where are you? I ask. He laughs.
At work. I tell him I’m glad he’s okay.
Your grandparents were scammed,
the Walgreen’s woman informs him
You’re the best grandparents, he texts.

We drive home feeling foolish
but now we understand
my in-laws weren’t senile,
but loving grandparents
when they sent money
to scammers to keep our son
out of jail in Mexico
when he was safe in West Virginia.



Sharon Waller Knutson is a retired journalist who lives in Arizona. She has published eleven poetry books, including My Grandmother Smokes Chesterfields (Flutter Press 2014), What the Clairvoyant Doesn’t Say (Kelsay Books 2021), Trials & Tribulations of Sports Bob (Kelsay Books 2021), Survivors, Saints and Sinners (Cyberwit 2022), Kiddos & Mamas Do the Darndest Things (Cyberwit 2022), The Vultures are Circling (Cyberwit 2023), and The Leading Ladies in My Life (Cyberwit 2023.) Sharon's twelfth collection, My Grandfather is a Cowboy, is also forthcoming from Cyberwit in January of 2024. Her work has appeared in more than 50 different journals and she is the editor of Storyteller Poetry Journal, which is an online publication dedicated to promoting narrative poetry.