5

The next morning, she was up bright and early for her morning meditations and exercise at five---and a couple hours of work. She shook up a premade oatmeal smoothie at six thirty and sat down to work for the next four hours. Chad would be there at ten-thirty to take her on her errands. In addition to the trip to the bank and the homeless shelter, she had to go grocery and supply shopping, as well as clothes shopping. Some of her favorite spring and summer pieces were worn and threadbare and couldn't be repurposed. Promptly at ten-thirty she received a text that he was out front. So, she grabbed her premade protein shake and a bottle of water and tossed them into her back pack before grabbing her keys and heading out the door.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Chad asked, nervously. "I mean, they'll remember you, Baby girl."

"I'm sure. I made Mr. Callum a promise and I intend to keep it." She mumbled as a response to everything he was implying. She had been up all night remembering and crying. "I promised him I would do this when I got out of college...so, when I got out of prison I decided I would still honor his request. I just didn't have the courage right away."

She had the feeling he wanted to comment on that but, suspected he was afraid he would offend her in some way. He had already offended her in the greatest way possible. He had stopped believing in her.

"I know... you used to talk to him and he would give you advice about things..." He stated but, he was really asking her a question. How could she kill someone who took that kind of time with her? Homeless or not?

"Yeah...I would bring Dad's clothes he bagged up for me to take to the thrift store and let him get first pick. He would talk to me about life and the mistakes that had brought him to the place he was in. He would tell me to avoid those pitfalls and grow up to be better than him. I promised him I would do that too. He and I talked about doing for others being as important to survival as human kind and I agreed to do something to give someone else merit when I finished school and became a 'big wig' as he called it." She chuckled as she remembered their talks. "He had a family once. His wife left him for his business partner and took their children out west when he went bankrupt out here. He found out later that she and his partner had planned it. I tried reaching out to his sons and daughters for him but, they refused to have anything to do with him and didn't appreciate me contacting them. After they were informed that I had murdered their father, his daughter came to visit me in prison. I listened to her yell and scream at me in a tear-filled rage and I waited as she and her siblings tried to get my sentence changed to death. I wasn't upset or angry at her reaction. I figured it was her guilt and attempt at justification of abandoning her father. When she was done I calmly said, 'Your father was a great man. I miss his advice and encouragement. I miss his laughter and simply his presence. I know that I was found guilty for his murder but, I assure you that I did not and would not ever have killed him. I don't expect you or anyone else to believe me but, I know the truth, the sick, twisted souls that did kill him know the truth, and he knew the truth. Like him, I have been abandoned at my greatest time of need by all of those who claimed to love me, and like him I will probably die that way, especially if you and your brothers and sisters get your way to appease your conscious. "They protested the day of my release and are still trying to find a way to get me thrown back in prison for a life term."

Chad knew all about the old man's family. They were the reason that he had begun to doubt her innocence...well, one of his daughters was anyway. They were dating. She had not been pleased to find out he was Katie's parole officer.

When they entered the shelter, Katie was surprised to find that five of the very people that she had taken the fall for were now working at the shelter. Casey Brandt, Nicole Leeks, Emma Pierce, Joshua Madison and Elliott Rand worked for Adult Social Services which had taken over the directorship of the shelter after she went to prison. Casey and Joshua were the director and assistant director while Nicole, Emma, and Elliott were social workers or counselors. They were all stunned to see her too but, she checked her surprise and pretended not to know them.

"I'm here to make a donation in honor of Edgar Callum I." She said to Casey who was frozen in her chair on the other side of the partition.

"Uh, sure. What kind? Clothing, food, or money?" She asked, getting up from her chair and hitting a button on the side of her desk as she walked up to the counter. Katie assumed it was to notify someone of her presence.

Chad stood behind her in full officer garb, silently watching as she made the transaction. "Money." She stated as she pulled out the bank cashier's check of five thousand dollars made out to the shelter in his honor.

Casey's eyebrows went up as Joshua stepped into the office. "Everything alright out here—oh! Kaitlynn Quinn? What are you doing here?" He asked, silently watching as she made the transaction.

"Money." She stated again, as she completed the donation form that Casey had handed her and slid it back to her.

"I thought you were barred from homeless shelters after your prison time." He laughed hatefully, until Chad cleared his throat. "Officer Morgan! Didn't realize you escorted your parolees on their errands but then, you always had a soft spot for this one, didn't you?"

"No more than I expected to find all of you working as social services employees in a homeless shelter." Katie returned without malice. She had caught Chad's uncomfortable shuffling from one foot to the other out of the corner of her eye.

Casey had gone from pale with shock to red from embarrassment. "Um, Ms. Quinn is here to make a donation in honor of Edgar Callum I." She showed Joshua the check for five thousand dollars, as she slid Katie the computer-generated invoice. "Thank you for your generous support, Ms. Quinn. Our little shelter here could definitely use the help."

Katie cocked her head to the side with arched brows and studied her for a moment before saying. "No need for thanks. I'm just keeping a promise I made to him. Despite what the community believes about me, I loved Mr. Callum. He was my friend and confidante. He would probably be upset to know what became of me but, it's all done now, and it can't be reversed. No amount of retribution can restore my stolen years...or his life. I can only pay homage to him and honor him by keeping the promise he had me make to him. Do something good for someone who can't do anything for you." She offered them a small smiled and folded her receipt and put it in her back pack. "You have a blessed day, now." Then, she turned nodded to Chad and they left the building.

After they were back in Chad's truck he said, "They never expected to see you."

"Why am I on parole?" She asked, all of a sudden. "I completed the full sentence for second degree murder. So why am I on parole?"

Chad looked surprised. "You know why. Same reason you were allowed to come and stay with your mom instead of a half-way house after... that first week you were out. You were barely eighteen when you went to prison. You spent the entire fifteen years of your sentence cut off from society...in solitary confinement with no visitors except Amanda Callum. It's to make sure you have an easier and successful transition into a drastically changed society." He excused, quoting the lawyer and judge. He had been dating Amanda since they met outside the prison that day. He had never made it in to see Katie but, she had heard about it from him once she was released.