Chapter 17 - The Letter
Two years after sentencing, I opened David’s prison letter.
I keep thinking about the word suffocating.
You were trying to reach me because Lily could not breathe.
I called your fear suffocating while our daughter was dying of something taking her breath.
I put the letter down.
That sentence was enough for one night.
Later he wrote that prison had not made him wise.
Mostly it made time loud.
That sounded like David.
Awkward.
Not polished.
He did not ask me to forgive him.
He asked for Lily’s school picture.
I sent one.
Nathan asked why.
“Because she was his daughter too.”
I hated saying it.
It remained true.
At Vance Meridian, new controls held.
Employee health reserves were independently governed.
No one could move protected money with a spouse’s backup token or a CEO’s charm.
David's letter contained one sentence I almost admired for being honest.
I still want to explain myself every time I say I'm sorry.
He wrote, I'm trying to stop doing that.
I folded the page there.
Maybe prison changed him.
Maybe it didn't.
Change did not create a claim on me.
Nathan joined the board and complained constantly.
I told him that probably meant governance was working.
He said I sounded annoying.
May you like
Also probably true.
