Innocent

by Wyn Mallory

  I sit up and carefully fold the blanket that they gave me at the homeless shelter. I used to make my bed every morning. Now this blanket is all I have except for the clothes on my back and the stuff in my bag. Luckily, I have a hairbrush and a toothbrush in there. I’m going to find a washroom and get myself tidied up. After that, I’ll eat so that I don’t faint today. The lady who gave me the blanket also told me about a place where I can get a free breakfast, which is good. I want to make the money I have last as long as possible. I’ll need to spend some of it to get an outfit I can wear for my job search, but I plan to go to a bargain store as soon as it opens and get something super cheap. New panties as well, I think with a grin. Hopefully they stay dry for a while. It’s a good thing my appointment isn’t until the end of the day.

  It feels good to have a plan. I set out to start on my day with amazing confidence, which I probably wouldn’t have right now if I hadn’t made it to the probation office in time yesterday. Maybe if luck stays on my side, I’ll find a job today. Besides needing the money, I want to be able to tell Mr. Brent that I’m already employed. I can see that he has faith in me, but it’ll feel good to prove that I’m worthy of it and getting a job is a good start. It will also mean that I don’t need him. At least not to get my life in order. Then I can feel free to want him instead.

  Chapter 8

  Riley

  I guess a man can only take so much. I came in my sleep. It was probably inevitable considering how turned on I was. But at least I didn’t get myself off. I was dreaming about her and then I woke up in the middle of the night with my penis bursting with relief and spurting cum over me. By morning I was rock hard again, and I started the day with another cold shower., but it didn’t help. What I really needed was to get her in my bed and fuck her a few dozen times. Then this hard on might start to go down.

  On the way to work, I wonder if I should pass Lindsay’s case on to one of my co-workers. It would be the right thing to do. I’d have to give a reason, but I could pretend I’d met her somewhere before. Only they’re so busy, that I’d hate to ask. More importantly, I don’t know if they’d go as far as I’m planning to go. I don’t mean that how it sounds. I mean that I think she’s innocent, and I want to look into her arrest and conviction to see what I can find out.

  At work the matter is settled for me. I say good morning to three tired-looking people. Jack’s the worst. I can see from the dark circles under his eyes that he stayed really late last night and dragged himself in first thing this morning. In spite of that, I know he would take her case if I asked. The guy doesn’t know what his limits are. I just hope he doesn’t end up in the hospital as well. I’m the last to arrive, and I found out that he’s just been on the phone. He needs to go and deal with some shit. Tyler and Marion have offered to handle his appointments while he’s gone, which will mean squeezing his workload in with theirs. This week from hell just keeps getting busier. I have a lot of respect for my co-workers, but I’m finding it hard to trust that any of them will help Lindsay the way I will. By which I do not mean making her come, enjoyable though it is.

  That thought gets my cock rising again, and I hurry into my office and try to compose my thoughts before my first appointment. I will not think of Lindsay’s curvy body and soft skin. I will not think of sucking on her rosebud nipples or her sweet clit. I will read this file in front of me and not imagine sliding gently in and out of her tight pussy, soaking wet with it’s desire for my cock. Speaking of my damn cock, it’s now straining against my trousers and determined to keep me from getting any work done today.

  I look at my watch. There’s enough time to deal with this. Checking that there’s nobody in the corridor, I hurry to the bathroom. A few swift strokes relieve the pressure for the moment. No doubt it’ll come back, but hopefully not for a while. With the stuff on my plate today, I’ll have no time to think of anything else. It’s time to focus.

  I get through most of the day without my dick causing problems, but it starts to perk up about an hour before I’m expecting to see Lindsay. It knows what’s coming and is already planning to get me into more trouble.

  I’m as anxious for her arrival as a guy going out on his first date. I can’t wait to see her again.

  She arrives on time, and dressed differently from yesterday, in a very respectable looking skirt and blouse. I’m surprised at first because I know she didn’t have any clothes with her, but I have a good idea what she’s been up to today. First, I want to know how she spent the night.

  When I ask that question, she hesitates for a moment and I guess what’s coming.

  “I didn’t get into any of the shelters. I slept in the park.”

  Straight away, I know it’s my fault. “I’m sorry,” I say. “You would have gotten a bed if I hadn’t kept you so late.”

  “It wasn’t so bad,” she says, trying to make me feel better in her sweet way. ““I liked looking up at the stars. My dad and I used to go camping sometimes before he remarried. My stepmother doesn’t really like the outdoors. It wasn’t so cold last night, and I had a blanket and your jacket.

  Then her face goes red. I can guess that thinking of me helped to keep her warm, and it makes me feel like I did something useful.

  “All the same, make sure you get there early this time. I think it’s going to be colder tonight. What did you do during the day?”

  “I was looking for a job.”

  “I figured that’s why you’re dressed differently.”

  “I went to a bargain place and picked these clothes up really cheaply,” she explains.

  “It looks good for a bargain outfit,” I compliment her.

  “I wanted to look right for job-hunting, but it didn’t make any difference. I was feeling really hopeful this morning, but I forgot that job applications always ask if you have a criminal record and I don’t have an address or phone number to put down. A few managers talked to me and I think they might have given me an interview because they seemed to like me at first, but I saw their expressions change when they looked at my application. One of them even crumpled it up and threw it out right in front of me.”

  I feel the cruelty of that. It would have been kinder just to let it go. “You can use my number for a contact and I can take messages for you,” I say, telling myself that I’m making the offer because she needs it and not because it means she’ll have to talk to me frequently. “I shouldn’t really say this, but I think that a lot of the people I deal with lie on their job applications.”

  “I don’t really feel right doing that,” she says.

  Now we’re squarely at the subject I’ve been wanting to bring up. I know she isn’t going to be able to lie to me. I’m going to get my answer.

  “Why did you shoplift”? I ask.

  Chapter 9

  Lindsay

  I really want to tell him I didn’t do it. I want this wonderful and incredibly sexy man to know that I am not a thief, but I’m scared he won’t believe me. Nobody else did. Why should he? He spends every day with criminals and has probably heard lots of them lie about being innocent. He will look at me scornfully, and I do not want to see scorn in those eyes. It was like the lawyer said. People just want me to admit to the crime, not make excuses. I’ve been branded a criminal and can’t do anything about it, so I might as keep pretending that I really did it.

  I have to say something, but what? That I did it for fun? For a dare? That sounds stupid or like I’m trying to blame somebody else. I can’t exactly say I had needed those things. And I always had enough money for the few things I wanted.

  He’s sitting there waiting for any answer, but I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to lie to him. I won’t lie to him. I compromise on my answer.

  “I honestly won’t ever steal again,” I say lamely. “I don’t expect you to believe me, but that’s okay. I know you don’t have a good reason to, and that’s fair. I don’t deserve anybody’s trust.”

  “You didn’t answer my question. You can�
�t answer it, can you? Because you never stole anything.”

  I look at him in astonishment. He believes me. Nobody has believed me. He’s the first. The only one.

  “I thought you were innocent when I first saw you,” he says. “It was bugging me yesterday. I couldn’t understand how you ended up here. Tell me what really happened.”

  I tell him everything. It all comes spilling out, including how nobody believed me. I see his angry side now, but he’s not angry at me. He’s pissed that the security officer wasn’t more observant and didn’t check his facts, that the police officer didn’t do any further investigation when I told him about Brooklyn, and that my lawyer did nothing to help me. He calls them all bastards, and I let him rant about the unfairness of it all. After a minute, he looks at me.

  “You spent four months in prison for something you didn’t do.”

  “It wasn’t so bad,” I say.

  “You’re a sweetheart to say so, but the fact is that it was an injustice.”

  “I really mean that it wasn’t such a terrible experience. At first, everybody made fun of me because I tried to tell them that I didn’t do anything, but after I stopped explaining that I was innocent, most of them treated me okay. A couple of women picked on me, but there was this other one who told them to quit it, and they listened to her. She was pretty tough and got into a few fights, so I thought it was kind of funny she took my side, but she said it was plain to see that I really didn’t belong there. I think a lot of the others felt the same way. They saw me as an innocent, although not in the way I wanted them to, and they treated me differently. I actually got along with almost everybody. I used to read a lot, and because of that, a few people started asking me questions. I looked some stuff up for them, and that helped me to gain their respect. You know, I would like to go back and see some of them, especially Maria, the woman who had my back.”

  “You can go, but I’ll be coming to keep an eye on you.”

  It gives me a warm feeling knowing that he wants to protect me.

  Chapter 10

  Riley

  I can’t believe I’m managing to keep my hands off her. It probably helped that I was so angry about what happened to her and mad at all those people who hurt her today.

  “I’m going to see what I can do to establish your innocence,” I say. I’m thinking that the surveillance files might have been saved just in case they were needed in court. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll do my best.”

  Before she could say anything, my phone rings. I answer it and talk for a minute. It’s a problem. A serious one that I have to deal with right away.

  “I have to go,” I tell her as I put down the phone. “I wanted to make sure you got safely into a shelter tonight, but there’s a guy who desperately needs my help. He’s done everything to deserve it, and I can’t let him down.”

  “Go,” she says. “You don’t have to explain anything. I understand. I hope it turns out okay.”

  I grab my coat, the one that I brought with me this morning. Lindsay still has the other one and I want her to keep it for as long as she needs it.

  “Take care,” I tell her, and she says the same to me.

  I love that she makes it easy for me to rush away. A few years back, I had a girlfriend who complained every time I was called away. She didn’t understand what my job meant to me. Sometimes, the stuff I have to deal with is a pain in the ass but it’s still important. Sometimes, it’s vital to helping somebody, like it is tonight with Damien.

  Two of his roommates have been arrested for possession of drugs and stolen goods, and the police have taken him into custody as well because he’s on probation. I feel like it’s my fault. I told him a couple of weeks ago that I thought there might be some issues, but I didn’t have anything concrete against his roommates, and he couldn’t spare the time or money to look for a new place. The guy’s been working three jobs to get his life back together and send money back home to his family, so I figured it could ride for a while, since he was only at the place to eat and sleep. I felt confident he wasn’t going to fall under any bad influence, and since I hadn’t seen anything illegal, I didn’t have cause to act immediately. But I should have listened to my instinct and made him move right then and there. Now he was paying the price for my failure, and I wasn’t going to let him down twice.

  It’s a close call, but lucky for me, there is a friend of mine on duty at the police station. He knows I wouldn’t plead anybody’s case without really good reason. In the end, they accept that Damien had nothing to do with the crime, and he’s free to go.

  I buy him a coffee at a nearby diner, and we discuss the situation. He won’t be going home tonight because he’s working night shift at one of his jobs. Luckily, he has a day off tomorrow, and he promises to spend it finding somewhere else to live. It turns out that he just got a raise, and can afford a slightly better place, which might help his search.

  I give him a ride home, stopping on the way at a store where we can get some boxes. He doesn’t have much stuff, so we pack everything and store it in my vehicle. I’ll hold on to it until he has a new place to put it in, which will save him having to come back here. His remaining roommates don’t look too pleased, so I’m glad I came along to help. His shift starts at 10:00, and when we finish packing, I drop him off at work.

  “I don’t know how to thank you,” he says as he’s getting out. “That was above and beyond the call of duty, and I won’t forget it.”

  “That’s all the thanks I need. Let me know how it goes tomorrow.”

  He promises to give me a call or stop in at the office if he’s nearby, and he hurries off to his job. I’m thinking that he actually did me a favor in a way. Maybe two favors. First, rushing off probably kept me from being tempted by Lindsay in my office again. More importantly, while everything was getting sorted out at the police station, I had time to talk to my friend about something else. Something which might help Lindsay. There’s some evidence which he is going to check out, and he promised to make it a priority. I hope he was suspicious of my plea for urgency, but he knows that I’m big on fairness.

  My route home takes me past the park she slept in last night. I hope she’s not outdoors again tonight, but driving past the trees and seeing some of the smaller branches swaying in the wind makes me worry that she is. I’m thinking about taking a walk just to check.

  That’s when my phone rings, and I pull over to answer it.

  Chapter 11

  Lindsay

  I make it to the shelter in good time. The one that I didn’t get into last night. This time I fit the qualifications, and they give me a bed. I follow Mr. Brent’s advice and stay in a group with some other women. Everything seems fine at first, but then it all goes wrong pretty fast.

  I’m not too pleased when I see the guy from last night. I don’t know what he’s doing here instead of the other shelter, but since I’m already in, at first I figure he can’t demand anything.

  I’m wrong. I see him staring at me a few times, and I’m already getting worried when he comes over to speak to me.

  “You have to come with me,” he says. “I need to check your stuff.”

  He starts walking toward the door. I hesitate, but one of the women says, “You’d better go. Just do what he wants. It sucks, but if you don’t, he’ll get you in trouble. It’s easier if you keep your eyes closed,” she advises me.

  “Or I could just refuse.”

  Another one shakes her head. “He’ll put drugs in your bag and pretend to find them. It’s not good if you already have a record. He called the police on somebody a few weeks ago, and they arrested her.”

  He turns around and looks at me. I pick my stuff up and follow. I can’t risk a drug charge, especially when there’s finally a chance I might get cleared, but I’m not going to let him win. No way is he getting any access to my body. As we go into the hallway, I see the fire exit. That will do as long as I can dash to it before he stops me. They have my name, so I’
ll probably get into trouble, but he won’t be able to plant the drugs on me, so I’ll be clear of that. And I won’t hesitate to tell the police everything. I can sleep in the park and go straight to Mr. Brent in the morning. He’ll help me sort this mess out.

  As I’m calculating my moment to run, the asshole says, “I remember you running yesterday. You won’t be able to do that tonight. The front door is locked, and you’ll have to do what I want. I’m in charge here.”

  “Actually, I’m in charge.” A woman steps out of a room. “I don’t think we’ll be needing your help anymore, but I do have some police officers here who are interested in asking you a few questions. Two officers walk out behind her, and one of them takes the creep into the room and closes the door. The other asks to talk with me.

  “I’m sorry you had to experience that,” she said, “but it was helpful that we heard that first hand.”

  She sounds nice, but remembering the drug threat, I ask to make a phone call first. If the guy says he found something on me, I might need my probation officer’s help.

  Once that is settled, we talk. Our conversation doesn’t take very long. I tell the officer about yesterday as well, but she’s more interested in hearing what the other women said to me, and wants to interview all of them. The shelter manager calls them all out into the hallway and explains that they aren’t in any trouble.

  “A situation of some concern recently came to my attention,” she says. “This officer needs to ask you some questions as part of an investigation.”

  They still look nervous, but they nod their heads.

  “Tell the officer everything honestly,” I say to encourage them. “It’s important for everybody to speak up.”