3

The next morning she got up like usual and began her day. She could hear her mother piddling around in the kitchen. She had most likely just gotten in from work. She could hear other voices laughing and joking with her too so she crept up the stairs to see if she would recognize the voices she heard.

"Nancy why do you keep this door pad locked?" She heard a male voice ask.

"Oh, it's nothing, baby. I have a temporary tenant down stairs. They come in and out through the basement entrance. It helps us stay separate."

"Oh, how long have you had a renter?" He asked, teasingly. "I hope Jan and I don't disturb them at night. We're only going to be here a couple of days, but we get a little rowdy when we're in the mood."

She heard her mother chuckle, softly. "I doubt it, baby. It's just one woman and she's gone most of the time and when she is here she never comes out anyway. She has all kinds of computer crap down there and I'm sure she has her head phones in most of the time because I never hear a peep."

"You sure Jeff didn't sound proof the basement before he left us?" The man asked, and she realized that her mother was talking to her Uncle Kevin. Her father's youngest brother.

"No, he didn't want it sound proofed." She said, "It was supposed to be for Katie when she graduated high school. He wanted her to feel like a grown up when she came home from college."

"It's sad how she turned out, baby." He said. "After all you and Jeff did to raise her right. She turned out to be such a bad seed. And she hid it so well!"

"I know, baby," Her mother sighed. "I never would have thought my child would turn out so awful. What's worse is she has never admitted guilt, and she never apologized for what she did. She still insists that she was set up."

"You've spoken to her then?" He sounded curious.

It was silent for a moment. "She got out of prison last May. She's on parole." Her mother admitted. "She was released to me as a temporary guardian and Chad Morgan as her parole officer."

"Are you telling me that the woman down there is my niece?" He said, shock in his tone.

"Yes. Kaitlynn is down in the basement." She admitted. "She's at school Monday through Thursday from abut seven until about ten-thirty and down there in the basement all day on Fridays and Saturdays. I usually don't see her until church time on Sunday morning but that's ended now. Pastor Todd came to me last week and expressed his concern about her being there. Some of the mothers in the church don't feel comfortable with her around the kids. And before you ask, no, she hasn't said or done anything to make them feel like that. She goes to church, she sits quietly in the back and listens or sings along with the congregation, she pays her tithes, and then she gets a ride home with her parole officer because I usually stay behind for auxiliary meetings. She doesn't try to integrate with the others and she's kind when the small children come and sit near her. It's their parents that lose their minds and come snatching their kids away."

"Unlock the door." Her uncle said, "I want to see her."

Katie walked back down the stairs to her desk. That thing with Pastor Todd was new to her but, the behavior of the women in the church wasn't. They had been giving her the evil eye since day one. She doubted that her mother would agree to it. She put the head phones back in and retrained her focus to her job. It didn't take her long to get lost in her research as she took notes and documented her findings to report back to the company, while drowning out her surroundings with music from her iPod. It was strapped to her upper arm as if she were going to go for a run. She had gotten up that morning and stretched, ate some grilled cheese and drank some juice before showering again and dressing in a fresh pair of leggings, a tank top and an oversized shirt.

Four hours later, she got up and stretched. Her body was stiff from sitting for so long. When she turned around she screamed. She wasn't expecting to find her uncle sitting at the bottom of the steps watching her. Her heart was racing in her chest as she gripped it and plopped down on her bed to get herself together.

She popped an ear bud out and ran a hand across her face.

"Sorry, Baby Girl." He said, slowly, as he approached her. "I didn't mean to startle you. I've been sitting here watching you for hours. You never even looked up."

"I-I d-don't g-get v-visitors." She stammered, still trying to calm her heart rate. She looked down at her hands and knees. She could see him approach by his sneakers.

"What? No hug for your uncle?" He laughed, nervously. "It's been nearly sixteen years...your father's funeral."

She nodded but didn't look at him. She stood to hug him and he reached and pulled her into his arms and held her tight.

"It's so good to see you, sweetie." He said, as he pulled away. "Your momma says you got out last May. What have you been doing since you came home?"

"I go to school and I work for an online research company...no one else will hire me...you know, being an ex-con." She said, softly. "How have you and Auntie Jan been doing?"

"Good... We came home for the family reunion this weekend." He said, "You should join us. I'm sure the rest of your cousins and aunts and uncles would love to see you."

She shook her head. "I tried to contact most of them when I got out. Most of them told me not to call them or try to contact them anymore."

"You didn't try me?" He sounded offended.

She reached into her drawer and pulled out a note from him and Jan.

Dear Kaitlynn,

I am glad to hear you have returned home and accept your note of appreciation for the gift we sent you. You are very welcome. However, under the circumstances, we don't feel that it is appropriate for you to be in touch with us. It is best that this be your last communication with us. Wishing you the best.

K & J

"I sent out thank you notes and e-mails to everyone once I got home." She stated, "Most everybody said the same thing. Momma won't let me get mail here. All my stuff goes to my parole officer first and he brings it to me."

"I love you, Katie. No matter what you may or may not have done." He said, anger lighting his eyes as he read and reread the note. "I never would have written or agreed to write this note. You're all I have left of my big brother."

She smiled, sitting back down on her bed and pulling her knees to her chest. "Momma's going to want me gone sooner, now that you know I'm here. I need to call Officer Morgan."

He looked at her surprised. "You mean Chad? And why would you say that?"

"She didn't want to assume responsibility for me at all. She's expecting him to have found me a suitable place by the end of this semester but, I don't even think he's looking."

KATIE: I need a place to live ASAP.

OFC MORGAN: What happened?

KATIE: My Uncle Kevin and his wife Jan are here and they know I'm down here now.

OFC MORGAN: Okay, I'll see what I can arrange.

She showed her uncle the text messages. "See, he was hoping Momma would come around." She tucked her phone away again and glanced back to the computer. "I have to get back to work. Friday and Saturdays are my best days."

"What do you do on Sundays?" He asked, "Jan and I will be at the meet and greet tonight and the family excursion all day tomorrow. Sunday is family church day your Momma will be coming for all that too."

"Oh. She told me she wasn't going this Sunday. She had something else to do." She frowned. "I thought she had picked up an extra shift or something."

Her uncle looked surprised. "No, she's off all weekend. She's going with us tonight and she'll be with us tomorrow too."

Before she could respond there was a knock on the outer door and she frowned. She opened it to find Chad dressed in jeans and a tee shirt.

"Katie, I—oh! Hey, Mr. Quinn." Chad blushed. The pinkening of his skin made his emerald colored eyes and red hair stand out more.

"Hey there Chad." Her uncle greeted him with a hand shake. "You taking good care of my girl?"

"Trying to sir." He chuckled, nervously. "Uh, I found a place but, it will be the end of June before you can move in."

"Is it a safe neighborhood?" Kevin asked, frowning. "I don't want my niece in some disreputable place."

"Mason Heights Apartments, just down the street from the school." He nodded. "$300 a month but you have to get your own cable, internet, phone, and utilities."

"I'll help you with that, Baby Girl." Her uncle said, smiling. "No problem. You need internet and phone to do your work and homework right?"

She nodded, unsure if she could trust him to keep his word. She knew there were some relatives trying to support her financially while she was locked up but, she wasn't sure who. When she had gotten out she had gone to the bank to get printouts for her account. She discovered, after the initial deposit of about a thousand dollars in graduation monies and savings from birthdays and holiday, she had various family members depositing one hundred and fifty dollars or more into her account once a month through a family Pay Pal account which sent the money straight through without holding it like normal. She had roughly forty thousand dollars in her bank account and had used most of that to pay for health insurance, the balance on her tuition and get what she needed for school and her place. She still had a few thousand tucked away though. She would need it for furniture. She was sure her mom wasn't going to let her take her stuff from the basement. Chad had driven her around to get all of that taken care of. Her mother refused to do more than let her live in the basement and use the laundry room off the patio after dark. She managed to get a full Pell Grant given that her incarceration wasn't drug related and she had no income or previous work experience. Most of the monies had come from random cousins with messages to keep her head up. Some of the aunts and uncles had put a few dollars here and there in her prison account. She didn't know who though. The warden never told her.

"I don't necessarily have to have cable." She said, "I don't get much time to watch anything."

"You don't need it. It's ridiculously expensive any way." Chad said, "Get you an Amazon Prime account or Netflix and watch it on your computer. Buy DVDs and join free movie sites. You can catch the news on antenna. I pay twenty-five bucks a month for a local cable app, ten for Netflix and twelve for Amazon Prime bought a smart tv and downloaded all the apps that I didn't have preprogrammed. I got a phone and internet bundle through the cable company for fifty bucks too. Satellite and cable by themselves would run you a hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars a month. I think my total phone, internet and tv costs a month is a hundred and twelve dollars flat."

"Kevin!" She heard, a woman call. "Kevin, where are you?"

"In the basement, Jan!" He called back. They could all hear her laugh as she came down in a bath robe and hair in a towel. Her uncle's wife was biracial and had never much cared for Katie because her husband tended to favor her over his own daughters sometimes. "Baby, what are you doing down—Oh my Lord!" She shrieked, staring at Katie surprised. "Kaitlynn?"

Katie simply nodded. She knew the woman wasn't happy to see her. Jan hated her and always had.

"Anyway, the place won't be ready for a few more weeks but, we've already secured it for you." Chad finished.

"Thanks." She said, "I had better get back to work. If I don't maintain my schedule my qualifications get terminated. I can't afford that."

"Ok then," Chad stated, looking from one person to the other and realizing that there was mounting tension between the three of them. "I'll check in on you in a few hours...to make sure you're okay."

Katie offered a rare smile to him. "Thank you, Officer Morgan." He flinched at the name. If it were any other parolee he would expect it but, he and Katie had been best friends since Kindergarten.

He blew out an exasperated breath and nodded his good byes before leaving.