AllFreeNovel
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A week later, I had my hearing, and I waited like a kid on Christmas to hear the news.
Two months after that, the board made the decision to release me back into the world, and two more months went by before I was receiving fist bumps, handshakes, and even hugs from the friends I'd made inside. I promised to write them letters, and I made them promise to comeseeme if and when they got out themselves.
And then, there at the end of the line, on his day off, was Harry.
In an instant, a flash of memory came rushing in from nearly ten years ago. I had been much younger and scrawnier and way, way, way more scared then but just as tall when I walked through those gates and made reluctant eye contact with this same man before he ushered me through to Receiving and Discharge. I had noted then that, while the rest of the guards manhandled us and spoke in condescending tones, Harry never did. And although I never thought of the others as bad men for looking down on us, I always considered Harry better because he never did.
Now, I stood before him—not in prison garb, but jeans and a plain black sweatshirt—and for the first time, we felt like equals even if Harry never treated me as anything but.
“I'm not saying goodbye to you,” I warned him, defiant as I hoisted the duffel bag higher on my shoulder.
He scoffed despite the heavy swallow of his throat. “I'm not saying goodbye to you either,” he insisted, grinning before pulling me in for a tight bear hug. “It's been a pleasure getting to know you, son. You're a good man.”
“And you're the best.”
He released me from his hold and patted my shoulder. “I'mgonnamiss you.”
I couldn't say the words back, not without choking up, but I nodded. Because I was going to miss him too. More than he could possibly know.
I was getting really fucking tired of missing people.
“Oh, hold on a sec.” He held up a finger and dug a hand into the bag he'd brought with him. He pulled out a wrapped box a bit smaller than my hand and gave it to me. “Merry Christmas, Soldier.”
“Harry, what the fuck?” I turned the box over in my hands. “You're not supposed to get me shit.”
He shrugged casually. “You're a free man now. I can do whatever the hell I want. But, hey, don't open it now, okay? Wait until you're in the car or home or whatever.”
Home. Fuck, I couldn’t believe I wasactually goinghome.
I hated the way my limbs and hands shook as I pulled the duffel bag off my shoulder and put the present inside. Harry didn't get it … or, hell, maybe he did—what the hell did I know? But the thing was, I hadn't received a present—a real, honest-to-Godpresent, all wrapped up and shit—since I had been twelve years old. Mom hadn’t given enough of a shit to get us a tree, let alone buy me a present and wrap it up. With this thing in my bag, I hardly knew what to do with my emotions as I pulled the duffel back up my shoulder and bit at my inner cheek until the urge to cry or jump around like a little kid subsided.
I cleared my throat and glanced toward the door. The car was here and waiting, sitting idle in the parking lot.
Harry followed my gaze and pulled in a deep breath before saying, “Anyway, I'll see you around, okay?”
I nodded, not knowing if I’d ever see him again. Not knowing what I was going to do without him. “Yeah.”
“I'm proud of you, son,” he said as another officer told me what we already knew—that the cab had arrived to pick me up. “You have a good life, okay?”
I reached out to grip his arm, squeezing to ensure he knew I meant it when I said, “Thank you, Harry.”
Then, because I wasn't going to say another goodbye, not to him, I turned and walked through the doors and gates and everything that had kept me separated from the outside world for nearly ten years. I got into a car for the first time since I had been a much younger man and gave the driver the address to the shitty apartmentbuildingI had once lived in with my mother.
I watched Wayward Correctional Facilitydisappear from view, and as the distance grew, a strange, crushing sense of homesickness settled deep into my gut. I knew I should've been happy to be out, to be driving away, and I guessed, in a way, I was. But I couldn’t help that I was also sad and more than a little scared of what I'd face on the outside. The world had never been very kind to me, and I didn't expect it was about to start now. Especially when I had a big, fat sign taped to my back that readCONVICTED FELONin bold red font.
But I wasn't going to think about that now. Not when I had a present in mybagand I was too excitedto notopen it.
So, I tore away the paper to find a small envelope taped to a white box. When I pulled the envelope away, I gasped to see I was holding the box for afreakin’ iPhone—something I’d never held in my hand before, let alone owned.
“What the fuck, Harry?” I muttered, furrowing my brow as I opened the envelope with hands that hadn't shaken this much since the first time a guard had told me to bend over and spread ‘em.
Soldier,
So, before you start thinking that this is way too extravagant of a gift for me to be giving you, let me remind you that you're afree mannow and I can give you whatever the hell I want. So, accept it and move on.
Also, it's activated and paid for. So, don't worry about that either.
My number is the only one currently on it. Use it. I told you I wasn't saying goodbye, and I meant it. Whenever you need me, I'm there, day or night—don't hesitate.
