Chapter 10 - A New Beginning
Six months later.
I had a small apartment on the other side of town.
Two bedrooms.
A tiny kitchen.
A balcony where Tyler kept his soccer ball.
I had gotten a job at the pediatrician’s office.
Emily had pulled some strings with one of her professors.
It didn’t pay much.
But it was enough.
Enough for rent.
Enough for groceries.
Enough for Tyler’s new soccer uniform.
Enough that I didn’t have to ask anyone for anything.
Tyler was doing well.
He had passed the second grade.
He had made the travel soccer team.
He still had nightmares sometimes.
He still flinched when someone raised their hand too fast.
But he was laughing again.
He was being a kid again.
Emily came over every Sunday.
She brought her laundry.
She brought her textbooks.
She and Tyler would bake cookies that never came out right.
They would play video games until midnight.
She was the big sister every little boy dreamed of.
Dad wasn’t in our lives.
Not really.
He sent birthday cards.
He sent Christmas presents.
He left envelopes of cash in my mailbox with no note.
I never cashed the checks.
I never opened the cards.
I couldn’t.
Every time I thought of him, I thought of those forty-one minutes.
Of him sitting in the car.
Listening.
Counting.
Waiting for me to be broken enough.
Lena called me in October.
"Michael is appealing," she said.
My heart stopped.
"On what grounds?" "He says his lawyer was ineffective.
That he pressured him into taking the plea.
That the twenty-year sentence is cruel and unusual.
The court of appeals has agreed to hear it." "Can he win?" "Unlikely.
But possible.
If he wins, he gets a new trial.
And if he gets a new trial… there’s always a chance he walks." I sat down on the couch.
Tyler was outside playing with the neighbor’s kids.
I could hear him laughing.
"Sarah?" Lena said.
"Are you still there?" "Yeah," I said.
"I’m here." "I’m sorry.
I know this is the last thing you wanted to hear.
But I wanted you to hear it from me first.
May you like
We’ll fight it.
We have a strong case."
