Redemption Read online

  Redemption

  by

  Phil M. Williams

  © 2021 by Phil M. Williams

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in the United States of America.

  First Printing, 2021.

  Phil W Books.

  www.PhilWBooks.com

  ISBN: 978-1-943894-75-8

  Table of Contents

  A Note from Phil

  PART I: Michelle Chapter 1: Y2K

  Chapter 2: Girl Meets Boy

  Chapter 3: El Diablo

  Chapter 4: Christmas Eve

  Chapter 5: Bad Boys and Bad Girls

  Chapter 6: Frenemy

  Chapter 7: The Stain

  Chapter 8: Baby Fever

  Chapter 9: The Nightmare Begins

  Chapter 10: Doth Protest Too Much

  Chapter 11: Suspicious

  Chapter 12: From Bad to Worse

  Chapter 13: DNA

  Chapter 14: Objects in Motion

  Chapter 15: The Defense Attorney

  Chapter 16: Arraignment

  Chapter 17: Loyalty

  Chapter 18: Theories

  Chapter 19: Choose

  Chapter 20: Concession

  Chapter 21: The Preliminary Hearing

  Chapter 22: It’s a New Day

  Chapter 23: Fifty Percent of Marriages …

  Chapter 24: Making Amends

  Chapter 25: Leave

  Chapter 26: Blast from the Past

  Chapter 27: Second Chances

  Chapter 28: Surprise

  Chapter 29: The Big Lie

  Chapter 30: The Announcement

  Chapter 31: The Crib

  Chapter 32: The Question

  Chapter 33: Opening Statements

  Chapter 34: The Prosecution’s Case

  Chapter 35: The Defense’s Case

  Chapter 36: Closing Arguments

  Chapter 37: The Verdict

  PART II: Jason Chapter 38: Chomo

  Chapter 39: Cellmates

  Chapter 40: The Resource Center

  Chapter 41: Unwritten Rules

  Chapter 42: Safety in Gangs

  Chapter 43: The Alchemist

  Chapter 44: The Visitor

  Chapter 45: Commissary Day

  Chapter 46: Last-Ditch Effort

  Chapter 47: The Most Hated Man in Cell Block C

  Chapter 48: My Struggle

  Chapter 49: Regret

  Chapter 50: Running with the Devil

  Chapter 51: Settlement

  Chapter 52: Gold Tooth and Face Tatt

  Chapter 53: Down but Not Out

  Chapter 54: To Snitch or Not to Snitch

  Chapter 55: Back to the Jungle

  Chapter 56: The Prison Psychologist

  Chapter 57: One Month Later …

  Chapter 58: Worthless

  Chapter 59: Imminent Danger

  Chapter 60: Real Friends Are Rare

  Chapter 61: Reckoning

  Chapter 62: Déjà Vu

  Chapter 63: On Your Own

  Chapter 64: Can I Babysit?

  Chapter 65: Seg

  Chapter 66: Back to Gen Pop

  Chapter 67: No Escape

  Chapter 68: The Civil Trial

  Chapter 69: Smack

  Chapter 70: The Inevitable

  Chapter 71: Sentencing

  PART III: April Chapter 72: He’s Back

  Chapter 73: Too Many Questions

  Chapter 74: The Party

  Chapter 75: The Morning After

  Chapter 76: Creep

  Chapter 77: More to the Story

  Chapter 78: Faded Memories

  Chapter 79: The Dirty Secret of the Legal System

  Chapter 80: Everyone’s Hiding Something

  Chapter 81: Family

  Chapter 82: Fishing for Information

  Chapter 83: So It Begins

  Chapter 84: Second Chances

  Chapter 85: COVID Karen and Broken Becky

  Chapter 86: Men at Work

  Chapter 87: Facing the Music

  Chapter 88: Who’s Your Daddy

  Chapter 89: The Townhomes at Mountain Manor

  Chapter 90: Cody’s House

  Chapter 91: Self-Destruction

  Chapter 92: Princess-Not-So-Perfect

  Chapter 93: Sometimes Lies Are Easier to Live With

  Chapter 94: The Test

  Chapter 95: Home

  Chapter 96: Nine Months Later

  Chapter 97: Clean

  Chapter 98: No More Secrets

  Chapter 99: Dirty Money

  Chapter 100: Redemption

  Chapter 101: The Cover-Up

  Chapter 102: Dangerous Evidence

  Chapter 103: In Over Her Head

  Chapter 104: Making Amends

  Chapter 105: The Van

  PART IV: Jason Chapter 106: Intent

  Chapter 107: Heroes

  Chapter 108: Twenty-One Years Too Late

  If you enjoyed this novel, … you’ll love Cesspool.

  For the Reader

  Gratitude

  A Note from Phil

  Dear Reader,

  If you’re interested in receiving my novel Against the Grain for free and/or reading many of my other titles for free or discounted, go to the following link: http://www.PhilWBooks.com.

  You’re probably thinking, What’s the catch? There is no catch.

  Sincerely,

  Phil M. Williams

  PART I: Michelle

  We convince ourselves that we know the other person well, but do we really know anything important about anyone?

  —Haruki Murakami

  Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.

  —Henry David Thoreau

  Chapter 1: Y2K

  Michelle fast-walked down the hallway, nearly breaking the no-running rule. The hallway was decorated with holiday paraphernalia. Excited little voices and holiday music filtered into the hallway from the classrooms. Michelle typically taught a class for gifted and talented students at that time, but her principal had let her leave a few hours early.

  Mrs. Levitt walked toward Michelle, coming from the teacher’s bathroom. The old teacher gave Michelle the evil eye and glanced at her watch as their paths crossed, but Michelle didn’t acknowledge her existence. The rumor was that Mrs. Levitt was jealous of Michelle’s beauty, wealth, and connection with the kids.

  Michelle never thought of herself as beautiful. Her brown hair was too straight, and her breasts were too small. She did have large blue eyes, a symmetrical heart-shaped face, and an athletic build. It was more than enough to win a hypothetical beauty pageant among the Radnor Elementary School staff.

  Mrs. Levitt made Michelle pay for her good fortune by scheduling recess during gifted support time, forcing Michelle to explain to the kids why they couldn’t go to recess. And Mrs. Levitt wasn’t the only one. A gaggle of the old guard secretly wished for Michelle’s demise.

  Michelle stepped outside, the cold air nipping her nose. The wind whipped her dress around her legs, as she hurried to her car. She pressed her key fob, her 1999 BMW flashing in response. Her new car did nothing to quell the jealousy.

  One teacher had been bold enough to say, “Must be nice to have a rich husband.”

  Another had asked, “Why do you even work?”

  She drove from Radnor Elementary School to her neighborhood in Villanova, Pennsylvania, less than three miles away. It was a dream commute, one that saved her from being late each morning. She drove into her exclusive neighborhood of mansions on two-acre lots. The trees were barren, yet not a leaf cove
red the dormant lawns. The landscapers had removed every last leaf in the neighborhood in preparation for Christmas.

  Her house was faced with stone and stucco, with multiple peaks, multiple chimneys, and a four-car garage. Michelle parked her BMW inside. She sighed and thought, I should’ve known. Her husband’s M3 wasn’t in the garage. Michelle went inside, tapping the beeping keypad, disarming the alarm. She walked past the laundry room, into the open-plan kitchen, with a center island, commercial grade appliances, and hardwood floors. She set her keys and her purse on the granite countertop, grabbing the cordless phone from the receiver. She called Jason at work. His administrative assistant, Tori, put her through to his desk.

  “I’m sorry,” Jason said in lieu of a greeting.

  “Does that mean you won’t be home soon?” Michelle asked.

  “I’m swamped. I have clients freaking out about Y2K. They should be freaking out about the tech crash that’s coming.”

  “I’ll be freaking out if you’re not home soon. We’ll be stuck in holiday traffic.”

  “Would it be okay if we left tomorrow morning?”

  Michelle slumped her shoulders. “Don’t do this. You promised. I left work early.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. But I’d rather finish so I’m not stressed over the holiday break. Besides, there’ll be less traffic on Christmas Eve.”

  “I told my mom that I’d help her with dinner.”

  “We’ll be there in plenty of time to help with dinner.”

  “She’ll have everything done by two. Then she’ll complain that I didn’t help.”

  “We’ll leave early tomorrow morning. I promise.”

  Chapter 2: Girl Meets Boy

  Jason drove Michelle’s BMW on 322 West through the Allegheny Mountains. Michelle sat shotgun, content to be a passenger. Normally they’d take Jason’s M3, but her four-door sedan was more suitable to haul the mountain of presents in the back seat.

  Jason turned down the music: Christmas-flavored R&B, Michelle’s choice. “We’re not going out to any bars, are we?”

  “We might. A bunch of us are planning to get together at Maguire’s on Christmas night.”

  Jason shook his head. “I’d rather not.”

  Michelle pursed her lips. “You never want to go out.”

  “All they do is talk about high school. If you’re not from Loganville, it’s like you don’t exist.”

  “You just need to open up a little. Let everyone see what I see.”

  “I don’t think that’ll work. I think the whole town wanted you to marry Danny.”

  Michelle turned in her seat toward her husband. “It’s not like that. If you go into every social situation with a negative attitude, what do you think will happen?”

  Jason frowned. “Fine. I’ll do my best.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Who’ll be at dinner tonight?”

  “The usual suspects. My parents. Obviously. Then probably just Susie and Cody and Becky.”

  “Why does everyone in Loganville have a name or a nickname that ends with the E sound? Danny, Susie, Cody.” His eyes flicked to Michelle. “Shelly.”

  She mock-frowned. “People think it’s cute. Susie thinks Cody might propose over Christmas.” Michelle emphasized the E sound at the end of their names.

  Jason nodded. “Good for her.”

  “You like Cody, don’t you?”

  “I don’t know him very well, but he seems fine.”

  “My parents are over the moon. Susie hasn’t had the best of luck with men.”

  Jason changed lanes, passing a pickup truck pulling a camper. “How much of that is her fault?”

  Michelle shrugged. “I know she’s had her struggles, but I think she finally has her life together.”

  “I hope so, for Becky’s sake.”

  “Speaking of Becky, she was disappointed that we didn’t make it to my parents’ house last night. My mom told me that she wanted to play with you. She said to my mom, ‘I like Jason but don’t tell Aunt Shelly.’” Michelle giggled.

  Jason laughed.

  “You two have a special connection.”

  Jason nodded, thinking for a moment. “I’d like to think I understand what she’s going through. It’s not easy growing up without a father.”

  “I love that you spend time with her, when we visit my parents.”

  Jason flashed a small grin toward Michelle.

  They drove in silence for a minute. Michelle peered out over the gray mountaintops.

  Jason interrupted the silence. “Who else will be there on Christmas Eve?”

  Michelle turned from the window, back to Jason. “I think that’s it.”

  Jason glanced at Michelle, with raised eyebrows, and said, “You think that’s it?”

  “You know my mom. She opens up the house on Christmas Eve, so we might have some friends and relatives stop by.”

  Jason glared at the road. “Friends, like Danny?”

  “Probably not, but maybe.”

  “That’s bullshit, and you know it. He’ll be there, like always. Do your parents not understand how disrespectful it is to me to have your ex-boyfriend over when we’re visiting?”

  Michelle let out a breath. “It’s not like that. They don’t even think about it.”

  “Because they like him better than me.”

  “That’s not true. He’s just more open. More outgoing. And he has that police connection with my dad.”

  “You’re making my argument for me.”

  She reached over and placed her hand on his thigh. “You’re missing one very important thing.” She squeezed his leg. “I love you, so my parents love you.”

  He grinned, showing his dimples.

  Michelle leaned over, stretching her seat belt, and kissed him on the cheek. She sat back in her seat, admiring her husband. He was thirty-six, eight years older than Michelle. Danny and some of her childhood friends had made fun of the age difference, playfully chiding Michelle for marrying for money. But Jason wasn’t rich when they met five years ago.

  It was the summer after her first year teaching at Radnor Elementary. Michelle was at home, when she had heard a woman yelling outside her window on a Saturday afternoon. Michelle had parted her curtains. The middle-aged woman had pointed and yelled at a tall, dark, and handsome man. They were standing in front of an old Honda Accord, parked with the hood raised.

  The woman had said, “You can’t work on your car in the parking lot. I’m calling the homeowner’s association.” She’d stomped back to her condo, slamming the door in her wake.

  The man had been dumbfounded, but he hadn’t lashed out at the woman. He was thin, but his arms had muscle definition. He was clean-shaven, his brown hair cut short. His nose was a little off-kilter, but he had a handsome face and dark eyes. It had been over a year since Michelle and Danny had broken up. She’d only been with one man in the interim, and he had been a distant second to her vibrator.

  So, she had gone to the mailbox, checking the empty box, and checking him out on the way. He had been installing a battery, not noticing her. Michelle had stopped behind him and cleared her throat. He had turned from the engine bay, his eyes narrowed.

  Michelle had smiled and asked, “You need any help?”

  “No, thank you,” he had replied.

  “That’s good because I don’t know anything about cars.”

  He had laughed, and that was it. They’d spent nearly every second together since then.

  As she stared at her husband, she thought he was still that handsome man who she’d fallen in love with.

  He glanced from the road and asked, “What are you looking at?”

  “You.”

  Chapter 3: El Diablo

  Her parents’ house was a brick rambler that her father, Frank, had built himself. Jason pulled into the driveway, parking next to Frank’s F-150, and in front of the two-car garage. The garage housed Frank’s tools and fishing boat, along with Ruth’s Ford Taurus.

  Michel
le glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “We’re late. My mom’s probably already cooked dinner.”

  “It’s barely two o’clock,” Jason replied.

  “Pop the trunk.”

  They carried their luggage inside, along with whatever presents they could manage. Michelle led them into the living room, without ringing the doorbell. They walked into the kitchen and dining room, the smell of cooking meatballs and sausage in the air.

  Frank stood from the dining room table, a cup of coffee and the local paper nearby. He was a tall burly man with a full face, short feathered hair, and a goatee. He grinned at Michelle. “Shelly.”

  Ruth aka Ruthie turned from the stovetop, where she tended several simmering pots, and frowned. “Nice of you to join us, honey.” Michelle’s mother was tall with a paunch and fleshy hips. Her hair was still blonde but mixed with white.

  “Merry Christmas, Mom. Merry Christmas, Dad,” Michelle said.

  “Merry Christmas,” Frank said.

  “We should put our stuff in my room.”

  Frank smirked. “It looks like you’re moving in.”

  Michelle rolled her eyes. “Ha, ha.” Frank told the same joke every time Michelle visited with her entourage of luggage.

  Jason said hello to her parents, and they carried their luggage to Michelle’s childhood bedroom. A queen-size bed dominated the small room. Framed photos hung from the walls of Michelle with her family or with friends from high school and college. There’d been multiple photos of her and Danny the first time Jason had visited, but Michelle had since put them in the closet. Her Penn State diploma hung on the wall as well. Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education.

  Jason left the room, headed for the kitchen. At least that’s what she thought. She went to the bathroom, then walked toward the kitchen. She stopped along the way. Jason was in Frank’s office, gawking at the team pictures of various girls’ basketball teams.

  Michelle knitted her brow. “What are you doing?”

  Jason turned from the photos of the six- to eight-year-old girls in shorts and basketball jerseys. “Just looking. It’s nice that your dad coaches.”

  “He loves it.”