Right Side Up

Thirty Two

My doorbell rings. I shake my head. Every time my doorbell rings, someone comes in here and tells me bad news or tries to kill me. I'm really not ready for any more bad news or murderers on my doorstep.

I open the door, fully expecting bad news to follow. "John?" I ask as I see him in uniform on my porch. "I mean- Officer Meenan. What are you doing here? Please tell me he's still in prison. If you aren't going to say he's still in prison, please just turn right around and leave or else I might suffer a heart attack if you say that." I warn him.

"No no, it's nothing like that. It is about your father but it's not nearly as worrisome as another escape. May I come in?" He asks. I motion for him to come inside.

"I'll get you some water. Hang on a second." I smile and grab him a bottle from the kitchen. "How bad is it this time? Did he kill someone in prison?"

He shakes his head with a smile. "He didn't hurt anyone else. No. I came here to talk to you about pressing charges against him."

"He's already in prison. Why would I press charges?" I ask, not understanding.

"Well, he's already in prison for killing five people, including your mom."

"I'm aware."

"So, he's not in jail for killing your sister-in-law, Kara, or for kidnapping two of your step-siblings." He adds. "You could press charges against him for that and add to his sentence."

I nod my head. "Well of course. I want him to rot in jail for the rest of his life."

"I get that. But I come here to warn you of what pressing charges would mean in this case." He clears his throat and fixes his tie. "If he is found guilty over the new murders and both kidnapping a, which is very likely due to the evidence against him, the judge, I know the judge, he will most likely motion for him to receive the death penalty."

I nod, taking it all in. "But, he might not get convicted."

"Let's assume for a moment that he does get convicted," he leans closer. "He will be put to death. Most likely by lethal injection. And for legal reasons, you would have to be there to identify him and then afterwords, you would um- have to watch him be infected."

"I'd have to watch him die?" I ask, a lump forming in my throat.

He nods. "It won't be pretty. But you will need to decide. Either you let him rot in prison for the rest of his life but he will never serve time for hurting more people. Or, you can press charges but you'd have to watch him die."

I nod my head. That is a lot of information to take in at once. But I'd lie if I said it wasn't something I've thought about.

"It hurts me to say this. I mean, he's my dad all all that. But I think he should die for what he has done." I speak my thoughts out loud.

Author's note: do you agree with Avery's decision?