You’ll never know how much I wish I weren’t here. If only I could go back and do things differently. I wish I’d never even taken that job at the Brandenburg’s. If I would have known what would have transpired, I wouldn’t have stepped foot inside that home. But I guess none of us can go back and change our past, can we?
Well, I don’t really know what to write. It’s…tough here. Really tough. I don’t want to bore you with all the details of prison life, so I guess I’ll let you go. Freedom is a wonderful gift. Enjoy it.
Please pray for me, if you will.
I think of you constantly.
Sincerely,
Jonah
~
Joseph carried his tray of food to one of the tables in the cafeteria. “Mind if I sit here with you?”
The man shrugged, not really paying any mind to Joseph.
“I’m Jonah.” He offered his hand.
The man grunted and continued eating his food.
Joseph bowed his head and prayed silently. When he lifted it, the men at the table around him were staring. He grabbed his spoon and began eating.
“Jonah, you said?” A robust man sat his utensil down.
“Yeah.”
The man dipped his head. “I’m Maverick. Grumpy over here is Alex.”
“It’s good to meet both of you.”
“I Ricardo.” Another prisoner said with a thick Hispanic accent.
Joseph smiled. Growing up on an Amish farm didn’t expose him to many different cultures. There seemed to be men of several races here in prison. “Nice to meet you too, Ricardo.”
“You pray?” Ricardo asked.
“Yes. Do you?”
“Si. Soy católico.”
Joseph frowned.
Alex chuckled at Joseph’s clueless expression. “He said he’s Catholic. Ricardo’s English isn’t that great. He’s got a pretty good understanding though.”
“So, what do you guys usually do around here?” Joseph took a bite of his food and again longed for home. What he wouldn’t give for one of Dinah’s home-cooked meals right now.
“Not much, other than our jobs and classes. Once in a while, there’s a game of poker going on in the rec hall. I wouldn’t join unless you’re good at gambling. Other than that, you’re pretty much looking at it.” Maverick volunteered. “If I were you, I’d stay away from Max and Wolf.”
Joseph frowned. He’d never gambled in his life and he wasn’t about to start now. “Max and Wolf?”
“They’re at the table behind us. But don’t look at them. They’ll take it as a challenge. Avoid them at all cost.”
Joseph leaned forward and whispered. “What do they look like?”
“Wolf’s the one with the wolf tattoo on his neck. Max has two silver front teeth and he’s about a foot taller than anyone else.”
Joseph made a mental note to steer clear of the two notorious prisoners.
“What are you in here for?” Alex asked.
“I’d rather not say.” Joseph blew out a breath. “You?”
“Manslaughter,” Maverick volunteered.
A chill climbed up Joseph’s spine. Maverick killed somebody? He immediately thought of his older brothers.
“Everyone will know sooner or later.” Alex shrugged. “Possession with the intent to sell.”
“Drugs?”
“No. Cats.” Alex chuckled. “Yes, drugs.”
“Thefts,” Ricardo added. “I steal truck.”
“Your turn,” Alex challenged.
“Attempted sexual assault.” Joseph frowned. How he loathed saying those words.
“Oh, man. Don’t let Max and Wolf know that. You’ll never get a moment’s peace.”
“I didn’t want anyone to know.” He was dying to add ‘because it’s not true.’ But what was the point? It wasn’t like these men had the power to set him free. And if the one he loved most didn’t even believe in his innocence…
He sighed. He refused to go down that thought path again.
God, please be with me while I’m here. Protect me from whatever evil is lurking. Help me find favor.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Joseph sat at a desk across from one of the facility’s employees. He waited patiently for the man to render his assessment of the past few months.
“Well, Jonah. I’ve got good news for you.” His tone didn’t reflect the enthusiasm his words hinted at.
“What’s that?” He kept his cool.
“You’ve done very well here so far. I’m putting you in charge of mail call.”
“Mail call? Really? But I thought that was a job for employees.” He rubbed his stubbled chin. He’d need to shave soon.
“We’ve been short staffed lately, so I was asked to find someone I would trust with the task. That’s you. You’ve been here a year out of a two-year sentence. It looks like you might be eligible for early parole in about six months, if you keep up your behavior. Which, something tells me you’re a very smart man and you wouldn’t do anything to mess that up.”
“Not if I can help it.” Joseph smiled. “Thanks. Your trust and confidence means a lot to me.”
“If anyone can do this job well, you can.” He offered his hand. “By the way, congratulations on passing your HSE. You got one of the highest scores I’ve ever seen come out of this place.”
“Oh, wow. Really?” He knew he had Azalea to thank for a lot of that. But he could never do that now. Maybe he should write her another letter. He’d been disappointed that she’d never responded to the one he’d sent—not that he’d expected her to. But way down deep in his heart of hearts, he’d clung to a hope that she might.
“Yep. What do you plan to do when you get out of here?”
“I’ll need to find a job. A place to live.” He shrugged.
“We can help with that.”
His brow jumped. “You can?”
“Yep. It’s not much, but it’s enough to help you get on your feet.”
“That’s great. I wondered where I was going to sleep. I could find a Rescue Mission. I’m hoping to contact my old employer, but I’m not sure if he’ll want me anymore.”
“Well, I’m glad you have a plan, Jonah.”
~
Alex threw the basketball to Joseph, who tossed it to Maverick. Maverick went for a shot, but it bounced off the backboard and flew out of bounds. Joseph ran to retrieve the ball.
Wolf picked up the ball and his eyes ran wild. “Ah, the prison pet! Come and fetch this ball from me and I’ll make you my pet, pretty boy.”
Maverick, Ricardo, and Alex raced to his side. “Give the boy the ball, Wolf!” Maverick demanded.
It seemed like ever since Casper’s bunk was vacated and Maverick moved in, he’d acted as Joseph’s protector. He’d been reminded of a verse he’d read in Psalms, The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. God had certainly been looking out for him since he’d been here.
“Or, what?” Wolf sneered.
“You don’t want to find out.” Alex cracked his knuckles.
A correctional officer blew a whistle and quickly assessed the situation. “What’s going on here?”
“Nothing.” Maverick said. “Wolf’s just returning our ball is all.”
The officer eyed Wolf. “Is that right?”
Wolf grunted and tossed the ball to Alex. He stomped off.
“I don’t want any trouble.” The officer glared at each of them.
“Neither do we. Thanks for intervening, Randy.” Joseph nodded his appreciation. The last thing Joseph needed was a problem to arise that would jeopardize his parole date.
Thank You, Lord, for Your hand of protection.
“Hey, have any of you been out in the garden lately?” Sometimes Alex came up with the strangest turns of conversation.
“No,” they replied in unison.
“Something’s going on there. I can’t figure out what it is.”
“What do you mean?” Joseph asked.
<
br /> “The plants. They’re all dying.”
Joseph frowned. “You’ll have to show them to me tomorrow.”
“I fear they might be dead tomorrow.”
“I’ll see if I can take a look at them this evening, then. Here.” He tossed the ball to Maverick. “I’ll be back.”
“Where’s he going?” Ricardo asked.
“To look at the garden.” Joseph heard Alex’s reply before he reached the middle of the yard.
He approached the officer. “Do you think I can take a quick look at the garden right now?”
The officer frowned. “What for?”
“Alex says the plants are dying. I want to see what’s wrong with them. I might know how to treat them, but it might be too late if we wait till tomorrow.”
Another correctional officer approached. “What’s going on?”
“He wants to look at the plants.” The first officer looked amused.
“Call someone out to escort him to the garden. I have no doubt Jonah means what he says. He’s not about to put his parole at risk.” He turned to him. “Are you?”
“No way. I just want to see if I can help the plants.”
The officer pulled out a radio and a short time later, Joseph was examining the ailing plants. Exactly what he thought.
“We can go back. It’s too late to save them.” Joseph couldn’t help the disappointment in his tone. He knew the garden was a labor of love for Alex.
The officer escorted him back to the yard, and he walked toward the basketball court.
“That was quick.” Maverick’s ball sailed through the air and swished through the net. “Oh, yeah! Did you see that?”
Ricardo high-fived him.
Joseph sought out Alex on the side of the court. “How long have they been languishing?”
“A week?” Alex shrugged. “I sprayed them, but it didn’t help.”
“It’s too late to save them. I’m sorry.”
“Ah, really?” He shook his head. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
“If I would have known about the plants a few days ago, we might have been able to bring them back. I’m afraid the spray you used probably made matters worse.” Joseph frowned.
“What’s wrong with them?”
“I’m almost positive it’s a parasite. I’ve seen it before.”
“What did you do?”
“I concocted a homemade spray one time and it worked like a charm.” He grinned.
“Really? Maybe you should consider patenting it.” Alex slapped his back.
“I don’t know about that.”
“No, I’m serious, man. You could make a killing. Literally.” He laughed.
The basketball came flying in their direction and Joseph snatched it in mid-air. “Let’s play before our time is up?”
“You bet!” Alex caught Joseph’s pass and went in for a lay-up.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Hey, Maverick!” Joseph called from his bunk.
His friend tossed and turned in his sleep, but it was obvious he was in some kind of turmoil.
“Maverick, wake up!” Joseph moved to his friend’s bed and shook his shoulder.
Maverick bolted upright, his breathing labored. He continued to breathe heavily and his eyes locked with Joseph’s.
“You okay, man?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He breathed out slowly. “I had a dream—no, it was a nightmare.”
Joseph nodded, letting him know he was available to listen if he wanted to share.
“You sure you want to hear it?”
“Only if you want to share it with me.”
“Okay, at first I was reading some kind of letter. Then I was walking down this long hallway. Really, really long. There were two officers—one on each side—walking with me. I was handcuffed. I felt this sense of urgency but I don’t know what it meant. I was scared. So scared…”
Joseph’s eyes widened and his chin fell. No, that can’t be right. Lord?
“What? You know what it meant, don’t you?”
Joseph stared at him. He didn’t want to lie. He also didn’t want to tell Maverick what he knew in his heart to be true of his dream.
“Tell me, Jonah. I want to know.”
Joseph shook his head and his eyes watered. “No, you don’t want to know. It’s probably better if you don’t. It’s bad, man.”
“If it’s as bad as your expression says it is, I have to know.” He lightly touched Joseph’s shoulder. “I won’t be mad at you. I promise.”
“Oh, Maverick. I—”
“Just tell me. Please.”
Joseph took a deep breath. “You will receive a message regarding your case. It has been determined that you will receive the death penalty. Soon.”
Maverick’s eyes locked with his. “The…the death penalty?” He swallowed.
“I’m sorry, Maverick.”
“You don’t need to be.”
“Look. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I just thought it was God showing me and it was really just my imagination.”
“No, you’re not. I’ve watched you, Jonah. I’ve seen this connection you have with the Man upstairs.”
Joseph’s lips twisted. Man upstairs? “Are you referring to God?”
He nodded.
“You can have a connection with God too, Maverick.”
“No, I’m beyond God’s help. I’ve done too many bad things.”
“You can be forgiven.”
“No, I can’t. How can God forgive me when I can’t even forgive myself? Jonah, you have no idea of all the terrible things I’ve done.”
“It doesn’t matter. Not to God.”
“Yeah.” He scoffed. “That’s why I’m getting the death penalty, right?”
Joseph didn’t want to push it. Maverick obviously wasn’t ready. “If you ever want to talk, let me know. Okay?”
Maverick nodded and stared expressionless at the wall. Tears filled his eyes. No doubt, he’d been contemplating his fate that was sure to come.
God, please help Maverick. Please open a door for me to share Your love with him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
A blood-curdling scream awakened Joseph from a dead sleep. His heart raced as he tried to gather his bearings. Jah, I’m in prison. Still. For a crime I didn’t commit.
God, why am I here?
He turned to see Maverick pacing near his bunk.
“Maverick, was that you that hollered?”
He kept walking backing forth, shaking his head, hands trembling, uttering something undecipherable, as though he were in a trance.
“Maverick!”
His prison mate finally realized he was talking to him and snapped out of it. “Huh?”
“You okay?”
“Bad dream.” He shook his head. “Bad dream, man.” He sat on his bunk and dropped his head into his hands.
Was he crying?
“Wanna talk about it?”
“I…I don’t know. It was scary.”
Scary? As far as Joseph knew, Maverick wasn’t afraid of anything.
“Tell me.”
He shook his head. “I already know what it means.”
“And?”
“I’m going to hell. I know it. I’m going to hell. The flames. They were all around me. I felt the heat before it even touched me. Then…”
“Then what?”
“I dropped down into this lake. But it wasn’t water. It was fire. I was burning. Burning. But I didn’t burn up. I just felt the pain. The regret. The torture. I tried and tried to swim out, to climb out, to claw my way out. I couldn’t escape.” His breathing became shallow. “It was worse than anything I can even imagine.”
“Jah, that sounds like hell.”
“I know I’m going there. I know it.” He wrung his hands, shaking his head.
“Maverick.” Joseph moved to sit next to his cellmate. “You don’t have to. You may not be on this earth much longer, but right now you’re still alive. We will all die eventu
ally. There’s nothing we can do about that. And it’s true. You are headed to hell, but you can change your fate. You have a choice. God is giving you a chance to escape that. He loves you, Maverick. He doesn’t want you to go there.”
He finally stopped fidgeting and stared at Joseph as though he had just heard him for the first time. “He doesn’t?”
“No. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Just repent, Maverick. Ask God to save you and wash away your sins. Put your faith and your hope and your trust in Jesus Christ and He will save you.”
“How do I know? How can you know?”
“Because His Word says so and God doesn’t lie.” He stared at the petrified man next to him in the dimness of their cell.
“You’re sure?”
“Let me read you a few verses, okay?”
He nodded.
Joseph prayed inwardly that Der Herr would get ahold of this man’s heart. That He would change him from the inside out and give him new life. Abundant life. Eternal life.
He reached for the Bible next to his pillow and opened it up to verses he’d underlined. He’d read the verses so many times himself that he could probably quote each one by heart, but he wanted to read the actual words to Maverick, not just speak them to him.
“I’m reading in the book of John, chapter three, beginning at verse sixteen.”
Maverick shrugged. “It’s all Greek to me.”
“Okay, I guess I won’t give you the references then.” He began, speaking the words slowly. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Maverick nodded as though he were taking it all in.
“You know who Gott’s Son is, jah?”
“Um…Jesus?”
“That’s right. Jesus was innocent, but He died on the cross like a criminal, and He rose again after three days.” He confirmed. “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me.’ I know that the world teaches there are many ways to Heaven. That is one of the devil’s biggest lies. There is only one way to Heaven, and that’s through Jesus Christ, God’s Son.”
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