Chapter 7: The convict
Sarah decided that she should talk to the man himself, she would talk to Charles Bartowski. She knew where he was being housed, the local prison was in the next county. Fortunately she had use of the work car for her to get there.
Sarah's first interview with Charles was a disaster. Sarah was allowed access to the correctional facility visitor's room. A room that the convicts could receive visitors that were usually their relatives. She found him sitting quietly at table six. The first thing she noticed was the hair, it was brown, long and unkempt, it looked like it could make animal shapes. The next thing she noticed was the crutches; they were propped up leaning against his table. The prisoner was handcuffed to a ring set in the middle of the table which made him lean uncomfortably forward. He looked bewildered when Sarah introduced herself and sat down on a backless chair of the other side of the table. Apart from the first look Charles turned his head away. Charles could not bring himself to look at her, it seem that he had been so institutionalised that he had no confidence and poor self esteemed.
Not only that Charles could not look at her but he could not speak to her as well. Sarah introduced herself but all she got in return was an awkward silence.
Sarah was wondering if this was going to be a waste of time when her thoughts were interrupted by a convict sitting at the next table. Sarah was looking at an older man, old enough to be her father, he had a full head of greying hair that he combed back off his face.
"Sorry to interrupt" he said, "But you look like you need a hand with my boy here." He was referring to Charles of course. With a voice of authority he ordered the younger man…
"Chuck I want you to look at your visitor!" the younger man slowly raised his head and his gaze to the young lady across from him. "Good, now I want you to introduce yourself!"
"H h hi, my name is Charles Bartowski but my friends call me Chuck."
Sarah was being polite when she said "Thank you for you help Mr?"
"Oh you don't want to know about Jack Burton here." He said in a polite way that meant no prying. "You're here for Chuck. And now that I've got him talking, I'll leave you so I can get on with chatting to my visitor." With that he turned away and put his attention back on his guest.
Trying to get a conversation with Charles was as painful as a visit to the dentist. Sarah would ask a simple question but Charles gave nothing back until she mention she had lunch with Ellie. For the first time that day she saw some life in the man. It was obvious that he was caring for his sister, probably would protect her if he could but he was locked inside. Now he was interested, he was interested on how his sister was, he knew that she had a mask on when she visited, to hide her true feelings. Why she did this Charles didn't know, it was a waste of time as he could read his sister like a book. He could see though whatever his sister tried to disguise. The Bartowski children were close, due probably because of the neglectful childhood they received from both parents.
Visiting time lasted an hour; Sarah was frustrated because she did more talking than the prisoner in front of her. Charles was more interested in Sarah's night of drinking with Ellie than anything else. He managed to distract the reporter for the best part of the visit. She had all these questions she wanted to ask but didn't get around to asking. She would have to come back next week and try again.
The following week when Sarah visited, she found Charles in a better mood and far more talkative. She wondered if that Jack Burton fellow had anything to do with it. When she entered the room she could see Charles staring at her. She also noticed that the crutches weren't there anymore. As soon as she sat down Charles formally apologised for last week.
"I wish to apologise for wasting your time last week, I get very few visitors. I'm not used to talking to a stranger, especially someone who is as beautiful as you are."
Sarah could feel the blood rushing into her cheeks, an involuntary smile formed.
"Now that we seem to be less formal do you mind if I called you Chuck?"
"I don't mind."
"So, Chuck, tell me about yourself? What was your childhood like?"
"My childhood was not a happy one. My overbearing mother used to bully my father merciously. My father used alcohol as a form of coping. This affected my sister and myself. My sister sought affection elsewhere, the town boys would exploit this and she was passed around from frat boy to frat boy. I myself became very withdrawn; if it wasn't for Morgan I would not have spoken at all. I was so quiet that I'm sure that the town started a whisper campaign against me. Kids at school called me all sorts of cruel names; I guess that they were taking queues from their parents.
My father went to an early grave. He had drunk himself to death and left us nothing in is estate. What little he still had was taken by my mother. She then decided to leave town with her affair partner. She didn't come back for my trial. In a sick way I had hoped that she did. She may have made my fathers life a living hell but she didn't extend her venom to us kids.
Morgan came from similar circumstances; his father took off with a younger woman stating that he was only doing this for his own happiness."
"You speak a lot about Morgan…."
"Well he is my only friend, well until Hannah moved to town. Morgan and I came from the same shitty circumstances, adulterous parents, broken homes and no money."
"What about Hannah?" Sarah asked
"Three years ago when I came to know Hannah. First time that someone looked beyond the rumors and the lies and saw the man inside. We used to walk down by the river She loved to watch the sun go down We used to walk along the river And dream our way out of this town No one understood what I felt for Hannah No one cared until the night she went out walking all alone And never came home"
"Hannah was in the same year as my sister. Hannah started talking to me as we walked home from school together. She was never in a hurry to get home and she would hang around my place. Ellie was dedicated in getting good grades so she would hit the books. Hannah wasn't, she got interested in the computer games I had and we would play them together, in my room, now I know what you are thinking? Nothing happen."
"Did you have a relationship with her?"
"No we were just friends".
"I've noticed that the crutches are gone".
"Yes. I no longer need them."
"What did you hurt? Ankle or knee?
"Hip!"
"How did you hurt your hip?"
"I was unfortunately thrown from the first floor balcony and I landed on the concrete floor and busted my hip."
"Did I hear right? You were thrown from the first floor balcony.
"Ar Yeah, You may have heard of a riot a couple of months ago, Hugo Panzer wanted to throw missiles at the guards and the first thing he grabbed was me."
Chuck said it in a deadpan way the Sarah didn't know if he was joking or telling the truth.
Sarah wanted to keep the mood light so she slipped over Hannah's death so she asked about his arrest.
"Man with a badge came knocking next morning
Here was I surrounded by a thousand fingers suddenly
Pointed right at me."
"For my own safety he bundled me into the back of the patrol car and took me to the station."
"Last night I watched you walk along River St and then you noticed the Patrol car. You then took off like a jackrabbit running as fast as you could. What were you running from? It was around the time the girl was killed. Is there something you want to tell me?"
Sheriff Casey was very direct and overbearing, Sarah nodded, Sheriff Casey could be terrifying, especially a young teenager who was the prime suspect.
"He got right in my face, he was really scary, he scared me into saying what I said. I told him what I thought what he wanted to hear. I don't remember what I said, I was so scared, I wet myself."
Chuck admits to tying his scarf around Hannah's neck. Chuck believed that he had somehow strangled her.
Something about what she read puzzled her, the schoolboy had confessed that he killed her, he said he strangled her with the scarf but the autopsy stated that she was killed by a blow to the head with a rock.
Sarah heard the prisoner tell how the DA made him crack like an egg.
"The trail was so cut and dry, the DA was talented, he made me say things that were not true. He had a way of twisting my words and making me look bad. My councilor told me not to take the stand but I wanted to, I wanted the truth to come out but what came out wasn't the truth."
He let out a long sigh.
"The next thing I know, it seemed that the Jury only retired for five minutes. No sooner than they filled out then they filed back in. The foreman stated that they had reached a verdict. He said Guilty."
"Why didn't you appeal?"
"Hannah was dead and nothing was going to bring her back. The jury found me guilty for Hannah losing her life. I felt responsible for her anyway. My life was over so I just wanted to accept my fate. Everybody hated me now. The whole town always hated me. I have nothing to go back. Once I accepted my fate, I like it in here. I've made some good friends in here. Morgan and Hannah were the only friends I'd made while I was on the outside. Now there is only Morgan. There are men here who are just as damaged as I am."
Listening to Chuck made Sarah realise that Chuck had become institutionalised. He had been inside the prison for so long she had doubts that he could be released back into open society.
