Saving Rain

by Kelsey Kingsley

His eyes twinkled, and he reminded me of my grandfather. There was just something about him. Familiar and comfortable. “Hey, so, listen, you have a visitor today.” My smile was quick to turn into a frown. “A visitor?” The words felt strange in my mouth. Nobody visited me. I hadn’t seen a person from my life outside of this place since my sentencing, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine who’d wanna see me now after all this time. Harry nodded with the same suspicion in his eyes, seeming to read my mind. “Yeah. Someone named Diane.” I dropped my gaze to the bucket and held on tightly to the handle of the mop. “Holy shit. That’s my mom.” “I know.” He reached to lay a hand on my shoulder, the way Grampa used to. “You don’t have to see her if you don’t want. I’ll tell them you’re not interested.” Harry was a good guy. Always looking out for me. But I shook my head. “No, I’m good. I’ll see what she wants.” The curiosity would kill me if I didn’t. I left the mop and bucket in the bathroom and headed through the halls to the visitor center. I’d never been in there before, but I knew exactly where it was, and when I crossed the threshold into a crowded room, guarded by several officers at every entrance, I spotted her right away. Mom. She was thinner than I remembered, and her hair was as dry as straw, piled on top of her head in a sloppy bun. Her eyes were fixed on the table in front of her, her hands fidgeting like crazy. She was nervous or doped up—hell, probably both—and I wasn...