7

Chad hadn't said a word since they were in the car together, which was making her a little nervous.

"I'm gonna head out." He said after a few more minutes of just standing there watching her. "I have a date with Mandy."

"You two have been dating for about as long as I was in prison." She said, forgetting herself again, "Isn't it about time to tie the knot?" When she realized what she had said, she said quickly, "Forget I said that. Not my business."

"No.... you're right...She's told me 'no' six times." He said, with a sigh. "I don't know what else to do. Whenever I ask, she says 'no' and demands 'space'. The first time we got together, she knew who I was when we met as I was coming to visit you. She had just left you and was upset about something you had said to her. So, I talked to her for a few minutes and by the time I realized it, visiting hours were over. So, I asked her out. I told her about the 'Katie' I knew. She hated me too at first but, eventually began texting and calling and we began meeting up for coffee and we stopped talking about you altogether. She knew I believed you were innocent and I know she believes you aren't. After we had dated for a year, I asked her to marry me but she declined saying she wasn't ready and if I was we needed to take a break for a while. It's been like that all six times. We would be broken up for a couple of months and then she starts calling again and we start all over. The last time I asked was right before your release last year. She knew I was being assigned to you and protested it. I think it was more like punishment because I wouldn't' refuse the assignment. How could I refuse an assignment that I engineered?"

"She either has commitment issues or she won't commit to you because of your history with me." Katie said, "If it's the first one...move on. If it's the second one tell her you can't change the past but, we're not friends now, and you don't believe like you used to. I'm just a job to you and when the parole is over I won't even be that."

"If I told her that I would be lying, Katie." He sighed, "I'll admit I was beginning to have my doubts while you were away but, since you've been out... you just don't fit the profile of a murderer premeditated or otherwise. The psychologists that have been monitoring you the last few years have all refuted your ability to commit a crime that heinous based on their observations and conversations with you. Even the people you were allowed to interact with at the prison doubted your guilt! How many opportunities were you given to attack someone and attempt to escape?"

She frowned. "None that I'm aware of."

"Wrong! Hundreds! It never occurred to you to hurt anyone. In fact, you were helpful most of the time." He began to fume. "You should have been allowed out on good behavior after five years. You would have had to be on parole for ten but, at least you would be out and you would have been free now."

She sighed and shrugged. "It's all for the good. It can't be undone." He shook his head in disbelief at her attitude about it.

"Don't you want restitution? Don't you want revenge?" He asked incredulously.

She looked at him perplexed. "What good would it do? The persons that committed the crime now serve at the homeless shelter that Edgar frequented, and I volunteered in. They were supposed to be big time athletes and coaches by now making millions of dollars and putting our little city on the map but, instead, they are all still here working as civil servants for the dozens of people in our city that are just like the man they killed. From what I understand, they all suffered physical damage at various points in their college careers that ended their potential athletic careers before they even got started. I'm sure it was their guilt and cluelessness about what it is they really wanted to do that drove them to be social services social workers. I may have been in a maximum security isolation cell for fifteen years but, what about them? They have had to live with the fear that someone would find out the truth, that couldn't be bought off, for the last fifteen years. They have had to live with the guilt of killing a man and blaming someone else for it too. They probably don't trust anyone other than each other."

Chad was pacing her floor angrily now. "How is it that you aren't angry about all this, Katie?"

"Pointless. I can't get that night back. I can't get the last seventeen years back either. Money might be helpful but it won't bring Edgar back. It won't bring my father back. It won't take away all the pain we all went through. I lost everything. My scholarships, my family, my friends...but nothing they can give me will get me any of those things back. I'll be thirty-four in a couple of months, Officer Morgan—"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!!! I'M CHAD! I'VE BEEN YOUR BEST FRIEND SINCE PRE-K!!! I LOVE YOU! YOU'RE LIKE A SISTER TO ME!!!" He yelled face beet red with anger and pain.

She stopped and stared at him. "OOOOOOOkaaaaaaaaayyyy...uh, Chad. Like I was saying... I'll be thirty four in a couple of months. That makes almost eighteen years of this drama. How do you make up for a year of public humiliation for a crime you didn't commit followed by a fifteen years of isolation in prison, and another year out in a world you barely recognize because of all of that? How do you make up for the judicial system purposely turning a blind eye to the evidence because it would blemish reputations of five prominent families and the possible future tourism revenue of the city? My mother hates me, as do most of my family. It killed my father who died believing his only child was a murderer. This can't be made up for, Chad. It can't be apologized for. Being angry and seeking restitution and revenge isn't going to make up for it. It won't make me feel better either. Nothing will. They can't give me what I want back. I want to be the salutatorian for my high school graduating class. I want go to Harvard on the full scholarship I received. I want to go to Princeton for my masters and Cornell for my doctorate. I want to travel the world with the Peace Corps doing charity work between school terms. I want to become CEO of a nonprofit organization to help the homeless and the hungry and the sick. But I can't because I am a girl who was framed for the murder of one of the people she was going to school to get an education for so she could come back and help them and now all of that time is gone. That future was stolen from me and it cannot be gotten back."

Chad slumped against the kitchenette counter. He ran his burly hand through his bright red hair. "Katie...I don't know what to say. I guess I was thinking monetary compensation would get you through school and help you get on your feet now that you're out....exoneration will make things easier for you here...your family will at least accept you again..."

"Why would I want to be accepted by people that were so quick to assume and believe I was guilty?" She smiled sadly. "No one stood with me except you and Mrs. Kingston. Once it was over I didn't see or hear from even the two of you. I was angry at first. Then I was scared and hurt. I had been abandoned and after a while, I thought I was forgotten. I had people, relatives, I assumed, put money on my books so I could get my personal needs met and some sent money to my PayPal account every month but I never knew who so I don't know who to thank. They didn't want anyone to know who it was sending the money. No one wants to be known as a person that supports a murderer."

Chad's phone began to buzz and a picture of a pretty blonde woman that she knew to be Amanda Callum flashed on the screen. "Shit! I'm late." He muttered as he answered. "Hey Babe. I'm on my way... I'm at Katie's. It was her errand day." He started getting redder and redder and she shouted at him over the phone.

Katie stepped away so she didn't hear what the other woman was saying but, she had already heard part of it. Amanda was angry that he was driving Katie around on her errand day. She was angry that he was assigned to her as parole officer. She accused him of purposely doing it just to spend time with Katie. Well, 'that murdering nigger' is what she said.

"You know what Amanda." Chad said calmly. "Katie is my best friend. Yes, I purposely fixed it so I would be her parole officer when she got out because I knew how hard it would be for her. I don't believe for a second that she killed your father and if you got your head out of your ass for two seconds and stopped basing your beliefs on your family's ridiculous bigotry and racial prejudice because she's a black woman you would take a closer look at the facts and realize that she didn't kill him yourself. I'm sick of all of this bull shit with you. I've asked you six times to marry me, and six times you have declined and asked for space. I should have let you go the first time you said no. You can have all the space from me that you want from now until hell freezes over if you want. I don't want a life with a person like you and I definitely don't want to raise a family with you. Goodbye."

Chad plopped down on her couch and buried his face in his hands. He looked exhausted and stressed out. He had been on this roller coaster of emotional chaos with Mandy from the day they had met and it had taken its toll. He blew out a breath. "Can I order us some pizza and we just kick back and watch Netflix or something? I have an account. I can give you your own sign in info?"

Katie chuckled and shook her head at him. "Sure, Chad. Just like old times."

They hung out all night talking, eating pizza, drinking beer—Chad did that—and watching some of the movies she had missed out on in prison. She caught up with her friend and learned that he scrapped his doctor dreams in favor of finding a way to help her when she got out of prison but, he was thinking about going on to get his PHD now. He had double majored in criminal just and psychology. He had even gotten his masters in both fields but, he stayed where he was because he wanted to be available to help her when she got out.

"You should go for it." She encouraged. "I've done some research on online programs. Once I'm done here, I can get my Master's at Harvard online. The first semester, I'll still be on parole but, the second semester I could go to Cambridge and do the on campus final requirement...and maybe stay there and work."

Chad stopped smiling. "You want to leave?"

"Staying here isn't good for me. I expect the next four years to be just as difficult as this last one. It's better for me to go somewhere no one knows me. Where I have no family."

He blew out a breath and nodded his understanding. "Well, then, I'm going to bite the bullet too then. I'm going to enroll in graduate school as soon as your parole is done. We can move to Cambridge together. I've spent the last sixteen years without my best friend and the last year trying to get us back to where we were before. Now that everything is lining up, I'm not going to lose you again."