Short Story

I had my whole life ahead of me.  I was a head executive at a technology company.  I married the love of my life, and we had a six year old daughter, and seven year old son.  Then one night, my life as I knew it changed before me.

I was walking through the downpour to my car.  Behind me, in the dark alleyway I had just passed, I heard what I thought was gunshots.  Rushing into the alley to see what was up, a man wearing all black clothes and a red baseball cap brushed up against me. I rushed over to the man I saw laying on the ground.  His eyes were still open when I reached him, but I could see them slowly fogging over.  Giving the man another quick glance over, I realized that he was the CEO of my tech company, visiting from New York for a few weeks to check up on the Chicago branch of the company.

I began hearing the resonance of sirens a few blocks away.  I decided to wait for the police to arrive, and explain to them what had happened.  A police cruiser pulled up and blocked one end of the alley, with two officers stepping out of it, slowly approaching with weapons drawn. Another cruiser pulled up on the other end of the alley, with another two officers approaching me from that direction.

“What happened here?” asked one of the officers.

“I was walking down the street when I heard a couple of gunshots,” I quickly responded.

“Do you mind if we search you?” asked one of the other officers.

“Go right ahead,” I said.

The officer proceeded to pat me down, and then reaching inside of my coat, he pulled out a gun. The realization that the man wearing the baseball cap must have passed me his pistol suddenly hit me.  Before I knew it, the police officer had pulled my hands behind my back, locked them in a pair of handcuffs, and shoved me towards the ground on my knees.

“How did this weapon get into your pocket?” asked the officer.  “Did it just magically appear in your pocket?”

“No, no,” I said.  “A man wearing black clothes and a red baseball cap must have slipped it into my coat as he ran past me.”

“What man? You never said anything about this man when we first approached you.  How tall was he? How old? What did his hair look like? What color was the hair?”

“You never gave me a chance to explain further what happened. And I didn’t get a good look at the man when he ran past. The cap covered most of his face and hair, but he looked about my height.”

“Right…,” the officer said.  I could tell that he clearly did not believe what I told him. The officer then read me my Miranda Rights. After, two of the officers grabbed me on my shoulders and slowly walked me back to one of their cruisers.

“After you,” they said as they laughed and pushed me into the car.  The two officers then got into the car, and drove me to the county jail.

After a few weeks of sitting behind bars in the Cook County jail, I was taken to my court hearing.  With no evidence supporting my claim that I was not the killer, the hearing went relatively quickly.  My fingerprints had ended up on the gun somehow, and with no witnesses other than myself, the entire hearing was one sided.  As the jury returned after discussing, I knew my fate was sealed.

“We have come to a decision on this matter,” said the jury to the judge.  All eyes turned to the jury, anxiously awaiting what was about to be said.

“We find the defendant guilty on charges of murder,” said the jury.  Turning to the judge, I waited for the inevitable.

“The guilty party is to serve fifteen years in prison, with no appeals or parole,” said the judge.

After hearing the decision, worry was the first thing to rush to my mind.  How would my family support itself? What would happen to the children? How will my wife manage without me?

Two court officers arrived promptly at my side to escort me to the van that would take me to prison.  Walking past my family, I could not bring myself to acknowledge them. I had failed them as a provider and a protector.

The county officer guarding the door to the outdoors swiftly opened it as we approached.  By now, I was counting the number of steps it would take to get to the van.  These would be my last few moments in the free world.    I began dragging my feet, not wanting to get in the van.  The officers shoved me forward, and I was within a few feet of the van.  Glancing over my shoulder, I saw a bird fly overhead, seemingly mocking the loss of my freedom.  

The two officers pushed me into the van, and then followed me inside, closing the van doors behind them.  The driver revved the engine, and a few seconds later we were on the move.

That drive turned out to be the longest of my life.  Walls surrounded us on all sides as we pulled into Oak River Penitentiary.  Life seemed to be squeezed out of everything within the facility.  The walls were a dusty gray color, with all of the fences turned a rustic orange from years of age and wear from the weather.  Even the sky about the penitentiary seemed to have the life sucked out of it.  No birds could be seen flying overhead.  There was no sign of life surrounding the penitentiary either.  All trees looked as if they were dead, or were going to die in the near future.

I grimaced as I saw the inmates, in their drab orange prison uniforms, grouping up in the outdoor recreation area.  I knew that this was going to be a long  fifteen years.