Just the $50,000 dowry.”
Jessica, not entirely foolish, asked, “What if I
pay you and you still keep Mark locked up?”
I tapped the paper. “You don’t have to pay
now. Just sign this promissory note. Six months
to pay it back.”
It wasn’t a difficult decision. She signed. “When
will they release Mark?”
“After my leg heals.” He would pay for what he
- )
774
<
did.
A few days later, John, hearing about Mark’s arrest, begged to see me. I didn’t want to see
the man who murdered my parents. But after a day, I agreed.
He looked decades older. Tears filled his eyes. “Sarah…”
“Don’t.” I painfully shifted in my chair. “What do you want?”
“Mary and I… we messed up. We’re sorry. But Mark didn’t know anything. If we… if we’re
gone, he’s all the family you have left.”
My lifelong sentimentality, the “weakness” my
father had warned me about, surfaced.
“He may not have known about the poison, but
he sure knew how to swing that pipe.” I
gestured to my cast. “He wasn’t exactly
thinking about family then.‘
John fell to his knees. “Sarah, please. For old
times‘ sake, for the good times, let Mark go.
He’s not built for jail. He’s got a baby coming.
He’ll lose his job. How will they live?”
I looked away, silent.
<
11:38
John’s voice dropped to a desperate rasp. “You
know about the poison…you know about your
parents.”
I met his gaze.
“Get Mark released, and I’ll tell the cops
everything. It’s been years. Without my
confession, they’ll never prove a thing.”
“How can I trust you?” Just like Jessica, I didn’t believe he’d actually do it. The poisoning would
get him a few years. Murder was a different
ballgame.
“There was someone else… someone involved. She has proof.” The friend he’d mentioned to
Mary.
I considered it. “Deal.”
A week later, Mark was free. He looked broken,
haunted. I heard he was having panic attacks,
erratic behavior. He’d always been coddled.
Spoiled rotten. A classic case of too much love
ruining a child.
John confessed to poisoning my parents, taking
full responsibility. But Mary, spineless, crumbled
under questioning and spilled everything. A year
lator along with their accomplice
woman
11:38
<
GREE
774
later, along with their accomplice, the woman
who’d supplied the poison, they were all
convicted. I sobbed as I left the courthouse. I’d
finally gotten justice for my parents.
I quit my job. Corporate life wasn’t for me.
Using the money my parents had left, I started
my own company. Two years later, I opened a
branch office.
That’s where I saw Jessica. I almost didn’t
recognize her. She’d gained weight, aged
drastically. Her face was lined and scarred. She
was applying for a cleaning job, despite her
education.
HR told me they were hesitant to hire her but
felt bad for her. That’s how I learned the rest.
After the lobster incident, doctors advised
Jessica to terminate; the poison could cause
birth defects. She refused. The baby was born
with cerebral palsy. The stress broke Mark. He
had a mental breakdown shortly after his
release and was institutionalized. He still hadn’t
recovered.
Jessica was drowning in medical bills for both
1 1 1
recovered.
Jessica was drowning in medical bills for both
her child and her husband. Years out of the
workforce, with no experience and constant
need for time off, she couldn’t hold down a job.
I didn’t meet with her. I told HR to give her an
office job, something with a decent salary. The
rest was up to her.
Leaving the office, the sunlight was dazzling. It
felt like a reflection of the bright future that finally lay ahead.
