Natalie & King

Ch.30

Kohle

If prison was worse than the small jail cells the county had, I was gon' go insane. It felt like was losin' my mind in the worst way possible. I spent my birthday curled up in a ball, pissed off at the world. Of all days there was a lock down, it had to be my birthday. In some way it felt like karma for ruinin' Bay's birthday but not bein' able to talk to my girls and King on my birthday bothered me more than I cared to admit. I didn't even know what we were on lock down for.

Now, five days later, with King's letter in my hand, hot tears streaked my cheeks. The picture of him and his puppy struck a nerve. I could hear the joy in his laugh just by lookin' at his smile. What made Natalie get him a puppy? Even though I silently prayed Natalie wrote me a letter too, I didn't think God would answer my prayers. When I saw her and Bay's letter, my heart almost skyrocketed.

'Babe, I'm sorry it's taken me this long to write you. I just didn't know what to say. I still don't know what to say. Except I miss you. I wish things happened differently for us, for you. But I'm still here, regardless. I know what you did was because of me and I'll always love you for that. I just wish you would have been smarter about it. We could still be together. Natalie misses you too. I know she makes it seem like she doesn't, but she does.

It makes me sad that you feel alone. I don't like that at all and I hate there's nothing I can do about it. How is it in there? I hope you're takin' care of yourself, foreal. The girls need you alive and so do we. I don't know bout Natalie but I'm ready to have your baby. I'm fat as a whale and it's so damn hot. Maybe next time I'll have some pictures to send you but you'll have to wait til then. And I hate that you can't see my face when I tell you I love you too but I do. We all love you.

'Bay'Zell

I stared at the letter with sad eyes and a smile on my face. Bay always knew what to say to make me smile. I wanted to read it again before readin' Natalie's but hearin' my name called outside my cell made me push the letters under the thin blanket. The officer known as Jones and everyone's least favorite, stood behind the bars with a smirk. My stomach plummeted instantly. I didn't know what was goin' on as Jones drug me from my cell to a small, dark room. It had two chairs and a small table no bigger than the one I used to watch King draw on. I felt sick to my stomach, I missed him so much.

When my eyes watched Detective McMorran and his partner walk into the room, sweat coated the bridge of my nose. Another interrogation, even though I still didn't confess. Long had a mischievous grin on his face but I couldn't hear anything other than the sound of my heart beat. Question after question, accusation after accusation, it all felt like too much. The weight of my entire world was on my shoulders and chest. But I knew my fate whether I confessed or not, they didn't have to play good cop, bad cop with me. 3 counts of first degree murder were the only charges they said to make me consider confessin'.

My forehead was covered in sweat and I couldn't keep my heart from thumpin' so hard. If I confessed, what would be the point? They had evidence against me or I wouldn't be in jail. I let myself think about King and Natalie, Bay and the babies. How could I let this happen to me? Sittin' in prison for the rest of not only my life but theirs too...

"Just confess for Christ sakes. You were caught on camera!" Long snapped and slammed his fist on the table, makin' the bottle of water fall to the ground. If I was on camera why did I need to confess? What was the point? Either way, I was doin' life. I opened my mouth but closed it when the door to the interrogation room flew open. The man looked young but he wore an expensive navy blue blazer with the matchin' pants and shoes I know cost more than $800. He glanced at me and then back at the detectives.

"Don't say another word, Kohle." The blonde man put a brief case on the table. "Get me a chair, would ya? I'm Phil LiVinci. Just call me LiVinci."

"Oh come on...not this guy!" Long whined, almost soundin' defeated. LiVinci smirked and nodded his head as the detectives left the room with their tails tucked between their legs. Now that the room was empty, it was easier to breathe.

"Your dad hired me on your behalf, relax. I don't care if you're innocent or guilty, my job is to defend you. I'm not interested in innocent or guilty, I'm interested in what the evidence tells me. I have all the evidence; I just need to review it with a fine tooth comb. " LiVinci opened his brief case and flipped thru a few loose pages. A few minutes passed with us sittin' in silence while he read and then suddenly, he closed his brief case and stood to shake my sweaty hand.

"I'll come see you again when I've looked thru the evidence. Try to relax, Kohle. I don't take a case I can't win."

My unexpected meetin' with a lawyer I wasn't sure how dad could afford, had my mind everywhere. Could he win my case? Who was he? I grabbed King's picture and sighed. If I could see and talk to King in person again, I would never take it for granted again. That or bein' around Natalie and Bay. Thinkin' bout them made me remember Natalie's letter. I reached for it and almost ripped it open, I was so excited. I felt like a kid openin' gifts on Christmas mornin'.

'Kohle. Even though you broke my heart, I love you.

'Natalie

I don't know what I expected her to say but that wasn't it. The letter didn't say much but it said enough. Natalie didn't hate me. It felt like I could breathe again. Natalie doesn't hate me. If LiVinci could get me free, Natalie would never have to worry bout me breakin' her heart again. Neither would Bay. If somehow, I got out of jail, I would dedicate my life to makin' them happy. King too.

A few hours passed with my head in the clouds and my eyes starin' straight ahead at nothin'. My ears became immune to the loud roars that started after the sun started goin' down every night. I stopped gettin' headaches after hearin' it the first two weeks. After chow time, it got louder.

"Kohle? Get up. Come, on. Open this thing faster." LiVinci's voice made me sit up straight and hit my head on the top bunk. I rubbed the burnin' feelin' away from my eyes and looked at LiVinci's expensive tailored grey suit.

"Rise and shine. I need you to run me thru exactly what happened that night."

So I told him everything. I even told him that Tay shot himself in Nebraska but he already knew that. That's when I learned my prints weren't on either of the guns they linked back to Lamar's shootin'. Did Tay clean them before he shot himself? I also learned LiVinci had a winnin' streak of 40 cases since he became a lawyer, only losin' his first one. He was so arrogant when he spoke, I couldn't stop myself from hopin' he could make it 41 wins... He left after sayin' three words which lifted my spirits.

"Just trust me."