Free From – Chapter 19 – July 19th

I hope you will join me this month as we JOURNEY each day through our short story. It is about finding FREEDOM in the midst of all the captivating pieces in life that steal our peace which we need FREE FROM!

FREE FROM
July 19, 2021

Isaiah 44:22, ‘”I have swept away your sins like a thick cloud. I have made your guilt vanish like mist disappearing into thin air. Now, come back, come back to Me, for I have paid the price for you.”’ (TPT)

Chapter 19

Legend trudged behind his jailer. His chin rested on his chest. He’d had two hot meals before they kicked him. He hadn’t had that much to eat in a long time, breakfast and lunch back-to-back. He thought he might get sick. To distract his stomach, he followed the man’s shoes with his eyes. For the umpteenth time, he questioned, why him? Why had he been sprung and who posted his bail? Maybe he’d find out eventually but details like that didn’t come to people like him, no forwarding address, ya know? He thought he’d sit outside and wait to see what came of his daughter. Wasn’t she in some sort of medical danger, passed out for so long? What if she OD’ed? Did they have a special cell where they put people who might OD so they could be watched, like maybe the Infirmary? Why was she even jailed in the first place? She wasn’t lucid at all; instead, out of it. She hadn’t caused a problem, but maybe her problem was being stoned out of her head? She needed protection from the giant lurking in the cell adjacent to hers. That was a fact.
“Hey, sir,” Legend interrupted the gait of the man in front of him. The hall they’d entered was like climbing out of the belly of the jail, like he had been resting in the innards, the bowels, of an old building. The hall was lengthy that led to the barred gate. Sounds like indigestion ricocheted as if the concrete walls were belching. The man paused, raising an eyebrow at Legend.
“That girl in there, the one arrested with me, do you have her name?”
“Nah, and I wouldn’t tell it to you anyway. Are you sick, man?” Legend had screwed up; the man had been friendly a few minutes before the question arrived on his lips.
“No, it’s not like…that. Sir, see, I think she is my daughter.” Tears, hot and thick, clotted his vision like coagulating blood. “I haven’t seen her in years. I’m worried about her. Do you think she is okay? Does she perhaps need medical attention?” The jailer raised his other eyebrow, a befuddled expression on his round face. “I know,” Legend murmured, “who hasn’t seen their kid in years? Who doesn’t know if a girl is their daughter?” He shook his head, remorse and embarrassment equal weights balancing on a scale of humility.
“I’ll have somebody check on her.” Gruffly, the man growled over his shoulder, his stride increasing.
“Thank you,” Legend muttered, his eyes catching sight of the brightness of the day. Gosh, it was going to be hot like a griddle, steam rising from the sidewalk like an early morning cup of tea. It was stuffy in these halls, but the cell he had been in was nothing compared to being imprisoned in your own thoughts, day after day, on a hot downtown sidewalk with the odors of city sewage and car exhaust overwhelming your nostrils. His layover at the county jail hadn’t been altogether that bad. Wonder where the boy was this afternoon? He had been attempting to block out all thoughts of Trace, but the persistence of the little boy’s cries finally won and filled his head.
The gate had rumbled on its track and Legend had walked through it. The man nodded curtly at him as he climbed back in the cage that would shortly come between them. “I’ll check on her now,” he mumbled before lowering his eyes. “Good luck, Legend. I knew of you when you first came back from the war,” he added softly. Legend got the message loud and clear…what happened to you, man? was what he heard.
The bars clinked loudly closed. “Thank you.” He wondered if the man heard; a tiny glimpse running through his mind of the hero he had once been. Turning slowly, he walked toward the EXIT sign. He wasn’t in a hurry to leave; it sure felt better in here than it was going to outside.
“Annie?” Legend had just rounded the concrete block wall, the one he had to grasp to keep from crumpling. There she stood, every ounce of her as familiar and lovely as the first time he ever laid eyes on her.

To Be Continued…