TWO WEEKS LATER
“You’ve always loved listening to these guys,” Pearl said. “Ever since I’ve known you.”
“They were my Beatles,” I said. “Their songs fit me and the neighborhood. Just like you feel about the Temptations. Those songs stay with us, reminders of who we were and who we still are.”
Pearl nodded. “I’ll never forget what you did,” he said. “Getting this kid out of jail is not something I could have managed to do on my own. I don’t know how I can ever thank you, Tank.”
I glanced over at him and smiled. “Just stay my friend, that’s all,” I said.
“No worries there,” Pearl said. “We’re in this together for the long haul.”
“You could also take the dog for a walk now and then,” I said. “And maybe you and me could go to a movie or a show. Grab a bite. Make a night of it.”
Pearl laughed. “You need me as a friend,” he said. “Who the hell else would put up with you?”
“Looks like we’re here,” I said.
I eased the car to a stop under a canopy of trees. I got out and pulled Pearl’s wheelchair from the back and opened it. I slid open his door and helped him into his seat. The rain was coming down as if off a waterfall. “I don’t think I have an umbrella, Pearl,” I said. “Although with this wind, it wouldn’t be of much help anyway.”
“I don’t need one,” Pearl said.
We both stared through the rain and haze at the gates leading to the Attica Correctional Facility. “Randy should be by the front door,” I said. “I called the warden earlier and told him what time to have him ready for release.”
“You coming with me, right?” Pearl asked.
“No,” I said. “This one’s all you, partner. I may have helped free the kid, but it was you that brought the case to me. If he needs to see and thank somebody, that somebody is you.”
Pearl looked at me, nodded, and made his way to the gate.
I leaned against the front of my car, the rain pouring down on me like an early-morning cold shower. I heard a door creak open, and then the gates began to rattle and slide. And then there he was, walking slowly toward Pearl.
When Randy Jenkins got to the wheelchair, he fell to his knees and hugged Pearl, both of them as wet as if they were in the middle of the ocean. They stayed that way for the longest time. It was a grand moment to see.
I took a deep breath of the cool air and watched my friend hold on tight to Randy, no longer a prisoner for a crime he did not commit. He was out of a system he should never have been put in.
Randy lifted his head to the sky, his arms still wrapped around Pearl, and he let out a loud and happy cry.
It was the cry of freedom.
And Randy Jenkins had waited a very long time to let out that cry.