“Every detail?”
“Every detail!”
I wiped my face with my hands and thought back to the first time I met Mrs. Smith. It was with Karrie. I started from that day and spared that little Christian man nothing as I went into every detail of our relationship. He probably had a little stiffy under the table, not that I really wanted to know.
I even told him things that I hadn’t told anyone else. I told him about Alex and how she had showed me the pictures of me with both Mrs. Smith and her stepmother. He shook his head in disgust while I talked, but I kept on explaining anyway. I had one good shot at finding a way to clear my name. I couldn’t hold anything back.
When I got up to present day, I unfolded my hands and placed them flat on the table. “I’m in this mess because I tried to do the right thing and end the affair. Somehow, that meeting with Mrs. Smith is the reason that I’m here right now. I’m telling you Mr. Watkins, I didn’t commit this crime. I know the other things I did are frowned upon, but I have never hurt another human being. You have to believe me.”
“Son, it doesn’t matter if I believe you. This is going to get a lot of attention. I’m afraid if it goes to trial, you may have to face a jury. It’s going to take a heck of a lot to convince those individuals that someone willing to sleep around with married women couldn’t also be capable of having a secret violent streak. The prosecution will have a field day if we can come up with some type of evidence to exonerate you. Now, I’m going to have some people I know look into this Alex girl. She obviously knows something. Even if she was trying to prove her stepmother’s infidelities, it doesn’t give her reason to kill her neighbor. Aside from living next door, in the
preliminary reports she stated that she barely knew the deceased. Listen, I’m going to do everything I can for you. You must have faith in the lord, son. I will pray for you while this is all going on. I need you to hang in there while all of this is playing out. It’s probably going to get ugly before it gets better.”
“So what am I supposed to do? I can’t go to jail. Have you seen the type of people that are in jail? I’m not like them. You know me, Mr. Watkins. You know I wouldn’t do this. I have no reason to hurt that woman. My girlfriend and I just reconciled and I told her everything. I wasn’t keeping it a secret.”
“If this goes to trial, we may be able to call your girlfriend to the stand to testify that she knew about the affair before the murder occurred. I don’t know how much it will help, but we need to look into every option possible. It’s my job to find a way out of this. Try not to worry right now. We will
get through your arraignment and then I will get to work on finding you a way out of this. Have faith, son.”
Have faith? I’m sitting in handcuffs and you want me to have faith? I don’t have shit!
His words didn’t make me feel better. Sure, I wanted him to find out what the hell Alex was up to, but somehow she had managed to keep herself out of the spotlight. There was something going on and I needed to find out what it was immediately.
Chapter 21
I should have known that things weren't going to look up for me. I spent my first night in a community type jail cell surrounded by all types of criminals. Luckily, there was this old drunk guy who wouldn't let anyone bother me. I was afraid he was going to be released before I could be moved, but it never happened.
On television you never really see what being in jail sounds like. Criminals and crazy people make all sorts of sounds. Grown men talk to themselves like they are two people having a conversation. Then there were the smells. I could best describe it by saying that it’s like the monkey house at the zoo. It's not a distinct smell of urine or feces, but you can tell it’s around. I felt scared, disgusted and overwhelmed. If this was the easiest part of jail, my pussy ass was never going to survive. I'd be ass fucked within the first week.
I thought a lot about the negatives in everything that was going on. Facing a jail sentence for something I didn't do was a horrible fate. My life seemed so much better when I was just a pothead who didn't give a damn about his future.
My arraignment was a fucking joke. I pled not guilty and got the dirtiest look from the judge. For all I knew, he probably played golf with Mr. Smith. I was ordered to be held in a Baltimore Corrections Facility until my trial. Bail was denied. Once I was transported to my cell later in the day, I literally cried myself to sleep. I know I was supposed to be tough and stay strong, but I was losing hope quickly. My cell was disgusting and even taking a piss was hard to do without gagging. I'd lived with nasty dirtballs, but nothing compared to this.
My first two days were the worst of my life. I sat by myself during meals. I have no idea what I was even eating, but it tasted like shit. Visitation day was a little better for me. I was allowed in a public area where families could visit in a
large room. My parents, my lawyer and Karrie sat at a table waiting for me. I was only able to hug them for a second before the guards ordered me to sit down and keep my distance. I tried not to get emotional, but it was obvious that I was beyond being concerned what anyone thought of me. My parents tried to reassure me to hold out hope, while my lawyer talked about things he was going to look into, including character witnesses. This was all so surreal and as much as I needed to be listening to him, I found myself watching Karrie. I could tell that this had been hard for her. I wanted her to be happy, even if it wasn’t with me. It wasn't fair for her to wait for me when there was a good chance I would never get out of this mess.
Once my parents left the room and I said goodbye to the lawyer, Karrie stayed behind. I reached my hands over and held hers. "I miss you so much. Please tell me you went home and went back to work. I can't have you waiting for me, babe."
She immediately started to cry. "Don't talk like that, Bastian. We're going to get you out. Please don't give up hope."
"I'm sorry, it's just a little hard when you have nothing in your favor. Kar, there's no hope for me. They are never going to be able to exonerate me, not with the evidence they have. My god, I set myself up for this. The more they dig the worse it gets for me. I'm begging you to forget about me and get on with your life. If I have to live the rest of my life in here, I at least want to know that you are out there having a good life and pursuing your dreams. Please give me that to be happy about."
She shook her head and continued to cry. "No! I won't give up on you. You're scared and you're trying to push me away. I'm not going to let you do that. You need me and I'm going to be here."
I covered my face with my hands. "You just don't get it. I'm doomed, babe. I'm facing murder charges. I'm not walking out of here. Please. If you love me, you will do what I ask."
She pointed at me. "Don't you dare play that card with me. That shit isn’t going to work. I'm not going anywhere and there’s nothing you can do about it. I love you and I believe that you’re going get out of here."
"That makes one of us." My optimism had left the building.
I grabbed her hands and kissed them. I'd tried to spare her my tears, but as they filled my eyes, I looked right into her own tear filled eyes. "I will always love you, Kar." I pulled her hands up and kissed them, right before I stood up and walked out of the room. Yes, I left her sitting there in tears, but if I didn't walk away at that very minute, I wasn't sure I would’ve even been able to control my feelings. Once again, I stayed in my bed for the remainder of the day.
I spoke to no one and kept to myself whenever I had to be out of my cell. Since I hadn't been convicted, I wasn't in a rough part of the jail. I hadn't witnessed any crazy fights or violence at all. The guards were cordial, but not exactly friendly. As long as you followed directions, they didn't give you any trouble.
I spent twenty-six days in jail waiting to have my trial. Day by day my hope had failed me. I stopped shaving and let myself go. I didn't have a scale, but was sure I was down about twenty pounds. It didn't help that the food tasted like liquid ass.
Mr. Watkins, my lawyer, visited every weekend, but brought little information to make me optimistic that I would ever see freedom. I'll never forget the day before I was due in court, the guards came and got me and took me to my lawyer, who was sitting in a room with a big smile on his face. "Do you believe in God, son?"
I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."
"You better." He pulled out a envelope and handed it to me. "That girlfriend of yours is in the wrong line of work, if you ask me."
I started opening the envelope. "Why would you say that?"
He pointed to what was in my hand. "That there is your freedom and you can thank her for getting it. She said she wasn't going to give up. I just didn't believe her until I saw it for myself."
I pulled the pictures out slowly, noticing that I was not in any of them. In fact, the only person I recognized was Alex. She was hanging all over this older man. In the other pictures, they were in bed and in one they were leaving a hotel room together. I looked up at Mr. Watkins. "I don't get how this is going to save me."
"Do you recognize the man in these photos, son?"
I shook my head and took another look. "I don't think so. Why? Who is he?"
"That is Mrs. Smith's loving husband. This proves that he would have motive to have his wife out of the picture."
"But he was on a plane when she was killed." I argued.
He pointed to Alex. "She wasn't and with her stepmother’s cooperation, we can not only prove that they were having a heated affair, but also that her daughter was trying to blackmail you. When you refused to help her, she killed Mrs. Smith herself and used the blackmail evidence to make it look like you did it."
"It’s all speculation. Even I know that."
He shook his head again. “It was all speculation until her stepmother wore a wire and got the whole confession recorded. I just left the office of the district attorney. We should have you out of this place by morning."
I'm not going to say that I wasn't completely ecstatic, because I definitely was. My tears now were from relief. I was going to have a chance to have a real life. It was very hard to
believe considering all of the nights I had spent locked up, but it was really happening. "I don't know what to say."
He leaned over and shook my hand. "The pleasure is all mine. I have to say, I'm sorry for doubting you, Bastian. I admire your courage through all of this. I can’t imagine what it's been like for you. I have to go get all of this paperwork in before the day is over. You hang tight and keep your chin up. This is all going to be over within the next day."
"Wait! What's going to happen to Alex?"
"She was arrested this morning. When confronted, Mr. Smith through her under the truck. He told the police how she insisted that they needed to get rid of his wife so that she wouldn't get any of his money if they divorced. He’s been charged with conspiring to commit murder. His fancy lawyers will probably get him off, but Alex is going away for a very long time."
That little bitch was getting exactly what she deserved. It made my release feel even better.
I watched Mr. Watkins walk out of the room. The guard approached me and smiled. "Congratulations. I guess you were telling the truth after all."
"Yeah, I tried to tell everyone that."
It was unfortunate, but I had to spend one more night locked up in a cell. I skipped dinner, keeping my stomach empty for that big ass burger I was going to devour once I was freed. It took me the longest time to get to sleep. I had no idea who was going to pick me up, and it didn't even matter, as long as I was going home. In the few weeks that I had been locked up, my family and friends had done so much to help me. I had a feeling I owed the most thanks to Karrie and Mrs. Jones. I owed them my freedom and I would be forever grateful. Even though I knew I would never have anything physical with Mrs. Jones again, I did at least owe her a thank you.
I wasn't released until around ten the next morning. The governor sent me a memo on letterhead apologizing for the small matter of having been arrested and locked up without bail for a crime that I didn't commit. I crumpled it up and tossed it in the trashcan. Sure, I understood why they suspected me, but how many other innocent people were locked away for crimes they didn't commit? It was horrible to think about.
I was escorted out of the gates by my lawyer, but as we approached the parking lot there was only one person I saw waiting for me.
Karrie was leaning against my Jeep. She had her arms crossed and was watching me approach her. As soon as we made it through the last security gate, she ran and jumped into my arms. "I told you not to give up."
I kissed her over and over. "It's so good to feel you like this."
She pulled away and waved to Mr. Watkins, who was already climbing into his car. "Let's get you home. Your parents are there waiting for us."
We both climbed in the Jeep. I was quiet at first, almost like I didn't believe this was really happening. "It's really over isn't it?"