Ethan, I would.”
Feeling his father’s gaze on him, Ethan continued staring straight ahead.
“I’m sorry, son,” his father’s voice trembled slightly. “Please trust that I’ve changed.”
How dare he call him son! He’d lost that right long before Ethan had lost his mother.
A cry erupted at the back of the room from Ethan’s aunt Maggie, his mother’s only sibling. He turned to see her run out. He’d tried to convince her not to come. Her heart attack had likely been the result of this damn hearing. She’d been an emotional wreck over it for months. She’d written down her testimony for him to read, knowing she’d be unable to do it herself.
“Mr. Ryder, as advised, you are to direct your comments to the parole board members only,” the commissioner said.
“I’m sorry. I just want him to know I wanna make amends. I ask the state, and my son, to give me a second chance. Hell, I may not seem deserving, but I’m rehabilitated and wanna chance to prove that.”
What a crock! He sounded so sincere, like he always had the day after he’d gone on a drinking binge and beaten Ethan’s mother and him. He’d been full of empty promises.
Ethan tried to focus on his own testimony as his father spoke about all the ways he’d been rehabilitated. The prison jobs and volunteer projects he’d been involved in. Like that justified releasing him. After he finished speaking, his attorney stated a bunch of crap in his defense, the only one there speaking on his behalf. Whereas Ethan, his aunt, the D.A., and the arresting officer from that night were all there to make sure his father stayed on the inside. The door opened, and he assumed it was Aunt Maggie returning, but if he looked at her he’d lose it. He had to remain focused.
The commissioner turned to Ethan, asking him to speak on how the murder had impacted his life. Ethan took a deep breath, looking at the board members. This was it.
“Not only did I lose my mother that night, but a part of myself. I’d lost my father long before. I still have the emotional and physical scars of that night.” He gestured to the scar on his face. The result of his father backhanding him, his wedding ring slashing Ethan’s skin, when he’d tried to protect his mother. “I could handle my own pain, the broken arms and ribs, but I couldn’t deal with seeing my mother in pain.”
He took a deep breath, reigning in the flood of emotions the memories caused. “That night he beat her ’til one final blow sent my mother crashing to the floor, and she lay there, motionless.” He could hear himself screaming out her name. He wanted to slap his hands over his ears, but that wouldn’t make the voice in his head disappear. “When I tried to run to her, he grabbed me around the neck. He’d have killed me too given the chance. I broke free and ran for help, thinking she was unconscious like the other times. My mother wanted to hide our secrets, but I couldn’t do it any longer. Maybe she’d still be alive if I’d spoken up sooner.”
Every time he’d begged his mother to leave, she’d insisted his father would hunt them down and things would only be worse. After that night, Ethan vowed to protect people in danger. To help them disappear and start new lives, like he’d always wanted to do.
He tried to block out the sound of his aunt sobbing in the back of the room.
“After our neighbor called the police, I snuck back home, wanting to help my mother, afraid my father would run away before the police got there. I held my mother’s lifeless body in my arms, crying, unable to make her breathe. Furious, I went looking for my father and found him passed out in bed, like any other night, like he hadn’t just killed my mother.” He’d stood over his father with a baseball bat. He should have killed the bastard. A few years in a correctional institute would have been worth it. He didn’t give a rat’s ass that it would have made him no better than some of the
Feeling his father’s gaze on him, Ethan continued staring straight ahead.
“I’m sorry, son,” his father’s voice trembled slightly. “Please trust that I’ve changed.”
How dare he call him son! He’d lost that right long before Ethan had lost his mother.
A cry erupted at the back of the room from Ethan’s aunt Maggie, his mother’s only sibling. He turned to see her run out. He’d tried to convince her not to come. Her heart attack had likely been the result of this damn hearing. She’d been an emotional wreck over it for months. She’d written down her testimony for him to read, knowing she’d be unable to do it herself.
“Mr. Ryder, as advised, you are to direct your comments to the parole board members only,” the commissioner said.
“I’m sorry. I just want him to know I wanna make amends. I ask the state, and my son, to give me a second chance. Hell, I may not seem deserving, but I’m rehabilitated and wanna chance to prove that.”
What a crock! He sounded so sincere, like he always had the day after he’d gone on a drinking binge and beaten Ethan’s mother and him. He’d been full of empty promises.
Ethan tried to focus on his own testimony as his father spoke about all the ways he’d been rehabilitated. The prison jobs and volunteer projects he’d been involved in. Like that justified releasing him. After he finished speaking, his attorney stated a bunch of crap in his defense, the only one there speaking on his behalf. Whereas Ethan, his aunt, the D.A., and the arresting officer from that night were all there to make sure his father stayed on the inside. The door opened, and he assumed it was Aunt Maggie returning, but if he looked at her he’d lose it. He had to remain focused.
The commissioner turned to Ethan, asking him to speak on how the murder had impacted his life. Ethan took a deep breath, looking at the board members. This was it.
“Not only did I lose my mother that night, but a part of myself. I’d lost my father long before. I still have the emotional and physical scars of that night.” He gestured to the scar on his face. The result of his father backhanding him, his wedding ring slashing Ethan’s skin, when he’d tried to protect his mother. “I could handle my own pain, the broken arms and ribs, but I couldn’t deal with seeing my mother in pain.”
He took a deep breath, reigning in the flood of emotions the memories caused. “That night he beat her ’til one final blow sent my mother crashing to the floor, and she lay there, motionless.” He could hear himself screaming out her name. He wanted to slap his hands over his ears, but that wouldn’t make the voice in his head disappear. “When I tried to run to her, he grabbed me around the neck. He’d have killed me too given the chance. I broke free and ran for help, thinking she was unconscious like the other times. My mother wanted to hide our secrets, but I couldn’t do it any longer. Maybe she’d still be alive if I’d spoken up sooner.”
Every time he’d begged his mother to leave, she’d insisted his father would hunt them down and things would only be worse. After that night, Ethan vowed to protect people in danger. To help them disappear and start new lives, like he’d always wanted to do.
He tried to block out the sound of his aunt sobbing in the back of the room.
“After our neighbor called the police, I snuck back home, wanting to help my mother, afraid my father would run away before the police got there. I held my mother’s lifeless body in my arms, crying, unable to make her breathe. Furious, I went looking for my father and found him passed out in bed, like any other night, like he hadn’t just killed my mother.” He’d stood over his father with a baseball bat. He should have killed the bastard. A few years in a correctional institute would have been worth it. He didn’t give a rat’s ass that it would have made him no better than some of the
Similar Books
