Thank you for reading and responding.

I guess you didn’t see the fiction tag.
I wrote the italicized part that follows the separator first then realized I was not getting at the emotional intensity I wanted, so I wrote that little story. In the story, I am Carl.
I do have a brother who went to prison and who I alone visited. He has repeatedly expressed that if I ever need help I should apply to him. That's the reality that the story expands upon.
Helpful hint: any time I write fiction, if there's a character named Carl, that's me.