Chapter 14 - The Visitor
Later that afternoon, my phone rang with a call from the California Department of Corrections.
I accepted the transfer.
"You have a collect call from an inmate at Pelican Bay State Prison: Adrian Vance. Do you accept the charges?" the automated voice asked.
I paused for a second, then pressed 1.
The line clicked. Heavy background static, the clanging of iron gates, and the distant shouting of inmates echoed through the receiver.
"Claire?" Adrian’s voice came through, sounding thin, broken, and unrecognizable.
"I'm here, Adrian," I said, leaning against my balcony railing, looking out over the Pacific Ocean.
"Claire... please," he choked out, his voice cracking with dry, desperate tears. "You have to talk to your lawyers. You have to tell the DA that Dad forced me to do it. You know I loved you, Claire! I never wanted to hurt you! That night at dinner... I just lost control, the pressure was too much!"
I listened to him ramble, feeling nothing but a profound, peaceful emptiness.
"Adrian," I interrupted calmly.
He stopped breathing. "Yes? Claire, are you going to help me?"
"I'm looking at the bay right now," I said softly. "The sun is shining. The air is warm. And I am sitting in the condo you tried to steal from me, drinking wine you could never afford."
"Claire, please—"
"You didn't lose control, Adrian," I continued, my voice steady and unforgiving. "You showed me exactly who you were. You were a coward who hid behind his father’s money and used violence against women who dared to say no to you."
"I'm going to die in here, Claire!" he wailed. "You don't know what this place is like! They treat me like an animal!"
"Then you finally understand what it feels like to be trapped with a monster," I said. "Goodbye, Adrian. Never call this number again."
May you like
I tapped the red button on my screen, permanently blocking the correctional facility's line.
I took a deep, clean breath of the crisp ocean air. For the first time in years, my life was completely, unconditionally my own.
