The Inmate

by Freida McFadden

This is a mistake. I never should have come here.

Ohhh gurl what have gotten urself into

I didn’t want this job. I wanted any other job but this one. But I applied to every single job within a sixty-minute commute of the town of Raker in upstate New York, and this prison was the only place that called me back for an interview. It was my last choice, and I felt lucky to get it.

Thats harch

Working in a men’s maximum-security prison, I figured it was better not to dress in a way that might be construed as suggestive.

Good girl

With every step I take, I’m terrified that some prisoner will appear out of nowhere and bludgeon me to death with one of my high-heeled shoes.

What a way to go lol

I didn’t even know it was allowed anymore.

It prob isnt

That makes me uneasy.

Valid

“I have a son.”

Even though I’m twenty-eight, I look much younger. Although I feel a lot older.

“Yes, well, that’s what the last one said. Now she’s gonna end up in a place like this herself.”

Shit

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.

Ahhhhh u should not been able to get thjs job bc of nthat it feels like hahahhah

I wait for a moment, wondering if Josh will come out to greet me.

Not another book with the name josh lol

“Hi, Mom!”

So she was 18 when she had him

Margie is a local grandma who is going to be watching Josh when I am working.

Okay i like that she is older

In his entire life, my parents would never let us visit—they always came out to us in the city, until I told them they couldn’t anymore. This town is home for me, but to Josh, it’s a town full of strangers.

Interesting

And I can think of a few other reasons why he would be scared about starting school after what happened back in Queens.

Last year at school, Josh got bullied. Badly.

Because of my history and the fact that my son never had a father.

“Now that we’re living here, am I going to meet my dad?”

Chapter 3

Desperate enough to overlook my intimate connection to one of the inmates.

OHHH SO THEY KNEW

I don’t have much time here before Hunt returns. Fortunately, I know exactly what I’m looking for.

WHAT DID HE DOOOOO

I close my eyes and I can still see his ruggedly handsome face. His eyes looking into mine. I love you, Brooke. That was what he said to me just a few hours before he tried to kill me. And that’s not even the worst thing he did.

HE TRIED TO WHAT BDHSJSSDJX

I’ve only been here a day. It’s a bit early to be breaking the rules.

Never to early to get tge insidd schoop lol

But I was a minor at the time of Shane’s trial, and my parents worked hard to keep my name out of public records. Still—I had believed a background check would give me away. But I was wrong.

WHAT HAPPEND

Hunt narrows his eyes at me. “I laid out all the charts for the scheduled visits. If you need any other charts, I can bring them to you.”

Ok wtf are u her personal assistan t

ELEVEN YEARS EARLIER

YES LETS FUCKINGGOOOOKKKKKK

It’s only recently that they have eased up on the restrictions from this summer, when a teenage girl named Tracy Gifford from a neighboring town was found murdered in the woods.

Oh shit

My parents hate Shane, but Tim hates him even more. He hates him with a strange passion that I don’t entirely understand.

He obvi is inlove with u it seems

And back then, I felt like it would always be that way. It felt like Tim and I would always be friends that way. Tim was the one who bought me the snowflake necklace I always wear. He got it for me for my tenth birthday, because

Vaguely, I’m aware of the fact that Tim never, ever says no to me. But I try not to think about it. There are certain aspects of my relationship with the boy next door that are better not to analyze too deeply.

Chapter 5

Does she know the whole sordid story? People do talk in towns like this, even though my parents did everything they could to conceal my pregnancy.

It’s Tim. Tim Reese. Who lived down the block from me during my entire childhood. My best friend.

Shit

“No, I’m not,” I say quickly. “I work… somewhere else.” I’m sure as hell not telling him I’ve got a job at the maximum-security prison forty-five minutes away from here.

Oh gosh pls dont

After all, he was there that night too. He has the scars to prove it.

IM SCREAMING WHAT HAPPEND

There’s an extra skip in his step as he sprints back toward the elementary school. Tim Reese. Wow. I really never believed I’d see him again.

Chapter 6

Then my eyes drop to the prisoner’s face. Oh. Oh no. No, no, no… It’s Shane.

oFC IT ISSSSSSS

Chapter 7

The idea of it doesn’t quite sit well with me. I’m not sure why though. I’ve got Shane, after all.

I laugh along with Chelsea, but when I look back at Tim, there’s something in his expression that makes me a little uneasy.

I dont like tim

Chapter 8

The man who tried to kill me.

The necklace he tried to choke me with cutting off my windpipe.

HE WHAT

should be the angry one—if it were up to him, I would be dead. I suppose he’s mad that I told the truth in that courtroom.

“Well, Brooke, I’m spending my life in prison for something I didn’t do, so how the hell do you think I am? I’m not great.”

Did tim have anything to do with this

“Well,” he says, “it’s not like I could blame you after what you think I did to you.”

Omg it must have been tim

can’t explain to him why my relationship with my parents fell apart. Partially, they were angry that I had defied them and dated Shane in the first place. That I had lied and gone to his house, which almost resulted in the end of my life. But what they were furious about—what they could never forgive me for—is that when I found out I was pregnant, I decided I wanted to keep it.

“She died believing that I had killed those people.”

Chapter 9

I ryy like this book