The Inmate

by Freida McFadden

I look like I’m in college, and I feel like I’m fifty. Story of my life.

It’s because of one of the inmates in this prison. Someone I knew a long time ago, who I am not eager to see ever again. But I can’t tell that to Dorothy. I can’t reveal to her that the man who was my very first boyfriend is an inmate at Raker Maximum Security Penitentiary, currently serving life without the possibility of parole. And I’m the one who put him here.

I don’t quite understand how you can love somebody so much, yet so frequently want to throttle them.

The problem with your kid getting older is they know there are some things you can’t promise.

It’s that waitress from the Shamrock. The one I knew from high school. The one I ran into at the grocery store, who yelled at me for testifying against Shane and told me to stay away from Tim.

After all, I would do anything for my mom.