Entering the prison walls, Sable felt like her whole world was about to change. For as long as she could remember, she had always disliked, even hated, the Chadwicks because of what happened in college between her and Brad. And just think, the creep was her uncle.
As she sat waiting for Joseph to enter the visitation room, she was wondering what she was going to say, then Joseph walked in dressed in prison wear. Gone were the designer suits. The Armani shoes. The five hundred dollar ties. He looked like how he treated most people…common. Neither said anything for several seconds.
Gazing at him as though, if she looked hard enough, she could understand the man behind the orange prison jumpsuit, Sable took in every angle of his features. His eyes. Like her mother, she had his eyes. Momentarily glancing away, she held herself as if she were cold. She was not. This monster is her grandfather, she thought miserably.
Joseph did not say anything as Sable gazed upon him like a scientist observing a lab rat. He almost felt like one. Staring at Sable, unable to deny what he was seeing, for she looked every bit of Jennie, down to the stubborn chin that used to anger him when she would openly defy him.
Taking a seat across from her, “Well…” Joseph said, somewhat uncomfortable for he could think of nothing else. Sable, looking at him, still said nothing. “You sure look like my Jennie…” He could not keep the amazement out of his voice. “You sure look like my Jennie.” He sounded so sad, she thought.
She sat there staring at him, unable to speak. Not knowing what to say. Just as Joseph was about to say something else, Sable slowly got up to leave, walking hurriedly toward the exit. She had to get out of there. Away from him.
She had made it to the door without lashing out at him. Reaching to pull the door open, “No…please…please wait,” Joseph yelled across the room. The on-duty guard’s hands immediately went for his club.
Standing for a few tense moments with her hands barely touching the doorknob, Sable turned around slowly and looked at the man she had hated for so long. She had no idea what she had expected from this visit. Maybe…closure.
Looking up at the cracked ceiling, whispering to herself, “This should be punishment enough for what he has done, shouldn’t it? Why don’t I feel better?” asking no one in particular. His voice called to her and made her look at him once more.
“I know that you have a lot of questions,” Joseph said, his voice full of uncertainty. “I would like a chance to explain—if you would let me.” Pleading, he reached out his hands to her. The guard on duty stepped in front of him, sternly reminding him that physical contact was forbidden.
Sable said nothing. Turning her back to Joseph Chadwick, she walked out of the visitation room, and the confinement of the prison walls, vowing that she would never come back there again.
The only thing she remembered clearly about her visit to Joseph Chadwick in prison was hearing him yell for her to come back and her determination not to.
George was in his office reading the paper when Sable walked in. He could tell the moment she opened the door that she was in pain. As he stood up and walked around his desk, he saw that her eyes had unleashed tears in them.
George opened his arms to his little girl; she laid her head on his shoulders, and cried, as he had never known her to cry before.