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Many things stayed the same in my life. Gigi and I remained friends, and she and Lonny continued to be fixtures at the Showstop, even after their second-oldest son took over the business. The look of the place changed, though, as Gulf Town became less a haven for carnies and more a stop for tourists. My picture, however, hangs on the wall to this day.
Mrs. Schendel also developed a fondness for the Showstop. Blessed with indefatigable good health, she lived until just past her one hundredth birthday. In that time, she became more of what she had always been. A good mother and a giver of love and guidance. Her marriage to Saul, that late-to-the-game surrogate grandfather and father even, provided Emmy all she could ever need in the form of role models for love and devotion.
Despite the setbacks and glacial pace of my progress, I continued my efforts to get Jim out of prison. At one point, I estimated that I had read his trial transcript and case file from start to finish more than sixty times. Thirteen years after he was incarcerated, Jim was granted a new trial on the basis that he had had inadequate assistance of counsel the first time. His new lawyer, a smart man and a good friend, was able to get him acquitted on the argument that no one had ever pinpointed the victim’s exact cause of death.
Though I had lovers and even some great loves in Jim’s absence, few things have brought me such joy as seeing him set free. After his release, Jim worked with Isaac, running fishing charters. Jim talked often about how he liked being out on the water, away from the sight of land, nothing but sea and sky. He was able to breathe out there, he told me.
Jim remained a free man for the rest of his life.
I think that watching me research Jim’s case inspired Emmy to go to law school. She was the best of both Jim and me, and she grew into a beautiful, smart, ambitious woman. Despite being normal-looking and -acting enough to blend in anywhere, she nonetheless found her niche working with the poor, the inept, the crazies, and the type of sharp tricksters she had known all her life.
For a long time, Gigi and I joked about how nice it would be for Emmy to marry Gigi’s oldest son. A month before Emmy graduated from law school, however, she introduced us to Diane, the woman who would eventually become her wife and who was like a second daughter to Jim and me.
My own career also changed many times over the years as well. When the risks became too high, I moved on from the document business. I tried my hand in various ventures like disability and insurance claims and in roles such as show promoter, advice columnist, and most recently, memoirist. Though I do still find it hard to sleep at night sometimes, I have done what I could to follow Mrs. Schendel’s advice and not waste my opportunities.
The names of the people and places have been changed, but the story remains the same, allowing me at last the satisfaction of setting down the burden of unshared secrets that I have carried for so long.