Under Lock and Key

9: Welcome Home

Chapter Nine: Welcome Home

Lee Clarke, May 8th, 1946, Modoc County

I waited in the back of the police car, looking out of the window, my hands restrained by steel circles.

Probably because I was so very dangerous.

I could almost laugh.

Almost.

The drive from the coast took about seven hours, since there's no direct road. I got to see Oregon for the first time, which was interesting I guess. I have to find some meager positives in this surreal situation.

A week ago I went to school. A week ago I had dinner with my family. A week ago I worked at the lumber camps in the middle of the densest Redwood forest on the planet. A week ago I sat on a rock near the freezing ocean and watched the tide come in.

A week ago I turned sixteen.

A week ago I had sex for the first time. A week ago I was betrayed by my best friend. A week ago I was arrested and sentenced for violent assault and stealing.

Now I sat here, in the back of the police car, ready to start my two year sentence at reform school.

I'm alone. I'm scared. I'm angry. I'm anxious. I have no idea, none, what to expect.

I saw my family the day I was sentenced.

=

Three Days Ago

The courthouse was a two story brick building in town. It served the entire county, but that's not saying that much. Crescent City was an actual city, sort of. Biggest city I can ever remember seeing, even though I was born in a bigger city in Nebraska. The rest of Del Norte was logging camps, with few tiny settlements along the coast and in the interior. Our closest neighbors were the sharks in the ocean and bears in the forest.

In the basement were the holding cells. It was just a room, with a bed and a toilet and a locked door. I was there for a day. Thinking about what I'd gotten myself into.

When they brought me to the courtroom, which was only a room with a few desks and a few rows of chairs, I saw my parents. I immediately knew everything was going to be okay. They'd never let anything happen to me. My baby sisters weren't there, not that I'd expect them to be, but Michael sat with Rose next to my mom and dad.

Mr. Pomroy wasn't in the room. Which was....worrisome.

Last night as my mind raced, I came to the conclusion that no matter what I'd said on my birthday, Mr. Pomroy would get me out of this. He would.

I can't conceive of any other possible outcome.

But, he didn't have to be here. As I sat down at the desk, Denny's father next to me, another older man seated in front of us, I thought about Richard's father as probably the most influential man in the entire county, and one of the richest in the entire state. He didn't have to be physically present. In fact, it made sense he wouldn't want to be publicly associated with a criminal incident. But he had other ways to make his interests known.

At least, in my head, that made sense.

"Okay, now Harold, what's got you in a tizzy?" said the older man.

Mr. Lester stood and passed him several, thin sheets of paper.

"Nothing complicated, Judge Brewster. This young man pled guilty to multiple counts of violence against a child and theft."

"Hmmm, simple enough, although disappointing to hear." The judge turned to me. "Is this true, son?"

I took a deep breath. "I did say that, but it wasn't true. I didn't do it." I tried to sound confident, even though inside, I felt so scared there was no spit left in my mouth. I told Richard that I'd take the fall, but there is no way even he could expect me to be formally sentenced for a crime I didn't commit. A crime completely fabricated by his jealous lover who loathed me.