The Liberation of Ronald Johnson

Ronald was harshly awakened by the bright light above him. The lights always come on at six o'clock sharp in this wretched place. At least that's one thing I won't have to put up with any more, he told him self, and then covered his face with a pillow.

“Hey Ronnie Boy! Today's your day!,” another inmate shouted from down the hall.
“As if these assholes think I need a reminder,” Ronald whispered under his pillow.
Throwing his pillow aside, he sat up in his cot, and set his bare feet on the same ice cold concrete floor that he had for the past fifteen years. It had been a long time coming, but today was his day – his day for freedom. Standing up, Ronald walked over to the dingy white steel bars of his cell door. He looked down the hallway as far as he could see, but there was no one. The guards don't usually show up until breakfast time, around eight. He grasped the hard steel in his hands, as if it were the first time. I can't say I'm going to miss this fucked up place, he thought.

“Hey Ronnie! Six more hours brother, and you're out of hear!”
“Yeah Frankie! I know!,” I know.

For the next five hours Ronald sat on his cot, thinking mostly, and occasionally looking at some old pictures of his kids. Lauren and Beth were now grown up. Lauren, his oldest, was now married and had children of her own. And Beth was in college, working towards her Masters in criminal law. Beth was ten years old when Ronald was falsely accused of murder. He remembered that fateful day like it were yesterday, when the jury handed down the guilty verdict. As the guards were shackling Ronald, Beth broke free from her mother, and ran to him. She grabbed him by his arm, and with tears in her eyes said, “I'm going to get you out Daddy! I swear it!” She never gave up on her promise. As soon as she was old enough to visit her father on her own, she became his primary source of legal council.

Ronald was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of his cell door unlocking. A few seconds later a guard arrived with his lunch.

“Hi ya Ronnie,” the tall, dark skinned guard said.
“Hello John,” Ronald replied.
“Well, here's what you ordered: a cheese burger and French fries. This will be you final meal with us.”
“Thanks John. You can set it on the counter.”
John set his tray down, and then put his hand on Ronald's shoulder.
“You know Ronnie, I'm going to miss you. You're one of the better one's in this place.”
“Thanks John. Amongst all the guards, you're one of the few that isn't a prick.”
The two old friends shared a laugh, and then John went his way to see to the other prisoners.

Ronald's eyes were fixed on the small clock that sat in a wire cage on his wall. At exactly ten minutes till noon, his cell door unlocked.
“Ronnie, it's time,” the Warden said.
“Mr. McMillan, you've come to see me off?”
“Yes I have. I wasn't going to, but you've been a model inmate. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to say goodbye.”
Ronald stood up, and shook the Warden's hand.
“Okay then, let's get this show on the road,” Ronald said with a smile.

The two made their way down the long prison corridor. It was a longer walk than he'd been expecting. His fellow inmates said their goodbyes as he passed by their cells. It wasn't long until he reached the large metal door at the end. The Warden held his badge to a sensor on the wall, and the door unlocked. As the door swung open, Ronnie smiled. “Freedom, at last,” he said, as he laid eyes on the old wooden chair.

“Ronald Andrew Johnson... electricity will now pass through your body until you are dead. May God have mercy on your soul,” a solemn guard said. Ronald head was cloaked with a dark cloth. He couldn't see them, but he new his wife and daughter Lauren were there. He was told that Beth was frantically chasing down one last lead, trying to save his life. Ronald loved her for that, but he had given up hope on getting out any other way than through the chair he was now sitting in. He had made peace with his death, and was now calmly awaited his fate.

In an unseen control room, two men who were to remain anonymous, held their hands over identical buttons. When ordered by the Warden, the men would press the buttons simultaneously, and through random selection, a computer would activate the lethal current from one of their commands. No one would ever know who was actually responsible.

The Warden stood a few feet away from Ronald, watching the clock on the wall. As the stroke of noon, he lifted his hand to motion to the men in the control room to do their duty and end Ronald's life, but was halted by a loud scream from the observation area.

“Wait! Don't do it! There's been a change in the case!” a young woman frantically shouted, as she bust through the door. At that instant, the phone on the wall began to rang. The warden lowered his hand, and answered the phone.

“Warden McMillan. Yes... yes sir. I understand,” the Warden said to whoever was on the other end of the line, and then hung up the phone. Everyone was silent, waiting on an explanation.

“It was the Governor,” he said. “There's been a stay of execution, pending the review of new evidence in Ronald's case.”

Ronald's family and friends erupted in applause and shouts of joy. The young woman who had interrupted the execution ran up to Ronald, and turning to the Warden said, “Get my father out of this damn thing. He's innocent! And I can prove it.”

“Beth?” Ronald said, muffled by his hood.
“Yes Dad, I'm here, and you're going home.”