Page 1 of Kept in the Dark

June 10, 2011

11:26 am

A flock of birds flew across the open sky. There were few clouds to block the rays of the Florida heat as the sun beamed down on Sara Gallagher’s face. Though she had only been outside a mere thirty seconds, she was sweating profusely and a part of her wished to go back into the prison if only for the air conditioning. Instead, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Freedom.

Though tan lines, beaches, and vacations came to mind when people thought about summers in Florida, Sara had a different sentiment. She spent the last thirteen years hating the season, though not for reasons most other Floridians dislike it.

It’s no secret the natives hate the one-hundred-degree weather that accompanies the summer as well as the tourists that flock to the sunshine state to vacation and sight-see as if it were some glorious place. Politicians will claim it keeps the state thriving, but all it really does is hike up living costs and crowd the roads with both lost and bad drivers.

And the humidity all but makes living here miserable. It's not enough to be hot, you have to be damp, too. It feels like the heat has wrapped you up in a wet blanket. And then, rolling in with the heat and humidity, are the daily afternoon showers.

Misery loves company.

Sara, though, hated summer because it was a reminder of all she lost. Summer was supposed to be a time of freedom and happiness. A time to cast your cares aside and live in the moment, making memories that last a lifetime. But for Sara, it only ever reminded her that she was a prisoner; that she lost everything. It only ever reminded her that one fateful summer night had changed the trajectory of her life.

Until today. Today she was free.

The outer gate to the prison buzzed loudly as it closed, jolting Sara from her thoughts. After serving thirteen years for a crime she didn’t commit, she was being given a chance to become a “functioning member of society.” Whatever that meant.

She had spent more than a decade being treated in the most inhumane ways. She had to fight for basic human needs, had absolutely no rights, and even fewer options or opportunities. Though the government would have everyone believe that prisoners were given life’s necessities, that was far from the truth.

Sure, you had a bed and food, but even those were fair game along with anything else you could get your hands on. If you wanted a bed, you had to fight for it. If you wanted food, you had to be more violent than the woman trying to take it from you. And, when it came to commissary items like snacks and feminine products…well, you had to learn to think smart, hit hard, and pray the other prisoners believed you were tougher than you truly were. Violence is the language of the prisoners and it’s a language Sara knew well- a gift her father gave her long before she was ever thrown behind bars.

Sara spent most of her life being looked down upon, forgotten about, and tossed away like trash, which worsened once she was thrown into a cage. How anyone thought she could go from being a ward of the state for over a decade to a functioning member of society was beyond her.

Her freedom didn’t matter, anyway. Her family turned against her, her friends abandoned her, and her hopes and dreams disintegrated the moment a guilty verdict was read.

She had been eighteen then and was sentenced to thirteen years for second-degree murder. It hadn’t been a fair trial, and the judge wanted to make an example out of Sara, despite the fact the entire case was circumstantial at best.

Although, it didn’t help that Sara pled guilty.

She found it quite ironic she was getting out the same week she had been put away, only years apart. She chuckled cynically. She was free, but what good was freedom when you’ve lost everything? She didn’t have a place to live, a family to help her get back on her feet, or a job waiting for her. Even her twin sister, Hailey, turned her back on Sara.

Sara may be physically free, but she was still bound to her past, a ball and chain she would drag behind her for the rest of her pathetic life.

Sara turned to take one last look at the place she begrudgingly called home for the last thirteen years.

Good riddance.

She fanned her face with her hand, trying to cool off. The fleece sweatpants she wore trapped the heat and, despite wearing a light t-shirt, she was still soaked with sweat. She should be grateful the prison gave her the standard-issued clothing to wear, but she wasn’t. She was angry she had to wear them at all.

It was yet another painful reminder of all she’d been through.

The smell of freshly cut grass assaulted her as she made her way to the busy road and began walking, sticking her thumb in the air as she did. It didn’t take long for an older gentleman to pull over and roll down his window. “Where ya headed, Darlin’?”

He was missing some teeth, his head nearly bald except for a few patches of gray toward the back of his scalp. His old pickup truck sputtered as it sat idly, waiting for Sara to pick her next destination. She wanted to name a random town where she could start over, but truth be told, she longed to go back to where it all started.

Sara was out for blood.

She walked up to the truck and yanked on the rusted handle of the passenger door. The vehicle smelled like hay and horse feed and the floorboards were a mosaic of mud, oil, sand, and grass. “Can you take me to Auburndale?”

“That’s a long drive. I can take you about thirty minutes up the road, but that’s it,” he said.

Sara shrugged. What choice did she have?

She paused before climbing in.

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