Excerpt 1:
"It was hot, definitely. I'm sure, at the time, sweat poured down his face, but I don't think that was first in his mind. When you come to this part of Desert County Prison, this is your last stop. There's nothing left, no time served, no good behavior, no parole, no appeals, nothing.
This jailhouse had a façade. It was almost like the
steeple of a country church. Now, that can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. I can't say what he thought then, as he and his two escorts climbed the four uneven, and newly poured, concrete stairs with rattling chains and heavy footsteps. Then they had to open the big, black doors so he could see his new home. ..."
I was recently made aware of the story of Mario Rocha who, as a teenager in LA, was falsely accused, arrested, and tried & convicted. There's a great documentary on DVD called Mario's Story about the struggle to vacate his conviction. I identified with the story particularly because Mario is a writer. It's hard for me to believe the things through which he persevered. But I think we all can identify with feelings of imprisonment. The main character of my story experiences it a little differently than the innocent Mario.
Excerpt 2:
... I turned to leave, but he breathed a breath that told me he was about to say something important.
"I deserve to die for my crimes."
Only the truth of this hit me.
So I said, "Yes you do." ...
