“Dionne, he’s going to come home. I can feel it. Your daddy is going to come home, and your ass is about to start acting different,” Free said to me, sitting right next to me, and she picked my hands up that were folded in my lap, holding them in hers.
Tears dropped down my face, as I nodded my head with a smile, letting her know that I heard her, and that I hoped the things that she was saying to me were true.
We eventually pulled up to where the parole hearing was taking place, and I somewhat calmed down. We had a driver bring us here, and before any of us got out, my mom stood in the middle of the floor because she wanted to pray before we went in. She walked over to me, standing right in front of me, putting her hand on top of my head, and this lady prayed this sprinter down!
Her prayer had tears falling from my eyes. Blake, and my sisters, who were sitting next to me, I could hear them sniffling as well, which let me know that they were probably crying too. My mom may have fucked up at a point in time when we were kids, and she didn’t always get it right, but she knew the church, the bible, and God. She knew how to pray, and that’s exactly what she just did in here. I heard her voice crack a couple of times, but she never broke.
When she finished, I stood up, so that I could hug her. She hugged me tight, rocking us.
“I don’t think I ever heard you pray like that before, ma. You ready for your man to come home,” Tommie cracked, making us all laugh.
Tommie’s eyes were a little red, so I was right about her crying when my mom had been praying. My mom just waved Tommie off.
Tank eventually stood, getting off first, and he went outside the door, extending his hand for each of us to grab one by one, once it was our turn to make it off the sprinter. When it was my turn, he pulled me into him for a quick hug, tapped me on my behind, letting me know that everything was going to be fine, and it would work in our favor.
We walked inside, and right in the lobby, my entire family had showed up for my dad. Everyone had cleaned up nicely too, just like I told them. So many of my baby cousins were here. So much love that my dad had waiting for him. Sevyn was here as well, so when we walked up, he was standing amongst my family, just giving them a brief rundown of what was getting ready to happen. When he saw me come in with my mom, Tank, Blake and my sisters, he paused for a second, so that he could give hugs, and I could introduce him to Tank, Blake, and my sisters, since he hadn’t met them yet. Him, and Tank shook it up in a way like they were friends in a previous life.
“Did you see him yet?” I asked Sevyn, referring to my dad.
When I asked him that, he smiled and then laughed at my question.
“I saw him. I needed to give him a little pep talk. He’s nervous. He’ll probably be ready to fight me if I told you this, but he was back there crying. Dionte going to be good. He coming home,” Sevyn assured me, sticking his fist out for me, so that I could put mine out as well, and we could do a fist bump.
I was truly grateful for Sevyn. Aside from my family, Blake, and my man, he’s been someone in my life that’s been keepingme calm during this hard process. I liked the work that he was putting in for my dad. He was paid to do a job, and that’s exactly what he was doing. He wasn’t cutting any corners. This man mapped up an entire plan on how this parole hearing was going to go, and he did it in a way like my dad was his family, and it was important for him to bring one of his family members home.
I went around the room, loving on my family, giving out hugs, and before I knew it, it was our time to walk into the room where the parole hearing would be taking place. I wanted to be on the first row. I sat with my mom on my right, and Tank, Free, Tommie, and Blake were sitting to the left of me. My family, and I literally took up the entire left side of the room.
It was just a plain, institutional conference room, but it was large enough to hold us all. The setup wasn’t like what court would typically look like, where you had members of the jury, and a witness stand. In fact, there was just a long table that sat at the front of the room, and that’s where the members of the parole board were.
I sat here with a rapid beating heart, paying attention to each member of the parole board. It was five of them, and I noticed that no two looked alike. There was a variety of members. On the end, there was an older white man. He sat up tall in his seat, with confidence in his eyes that proved that he’d been doing this for decades. Next to him, there was a black woman, that looked to have been my age. She sat up high in her seat as well, and I could tell by her body language that she was tough, and she didn’t take a bunch of bullshit. There was a black guy sitting next to her, that looked like he could have been a little younger. Then, I saw a Latina looking woman. Very beautiful, with her hair hanging down loosely, pen in her hand, looking like she was ready to start. At the very end, there was an older white woman. It was her that kind of scared me. Her ass looked mean as hell. Mean,and ready to get out of here, so that she could go on about her day.
Moments later, the side door opened, and I saw one of the guards come out. He kept the door open, and right behind him was my handsome daddy. I hated that they had him shackled, but I was already prepared for it, since Sevyn let me know, and I wouldn’t crash out about it like I did the last time. His legs and hands were shackled. You could tell that he made sure to get his hair lined up for today because his hairline was sharp, and his waves looked so nice. His chocolate skin was so beautiful, and I watched the way he looked around the room, and he smiled when he saw all the family that he had here for him. His eyes went for me, and even in his chains, he raised his hands, so that he could put it up and make a heart for me. I melted at that, picking my hands up, so that I could do the same.
He then went over to the front of the room, so that he could stand next to Sevyn, who was already standing, ready to get this going. I watched as Sevyn hit my dad on the chest, probably doing that to rid him of the nerves, and I released a sigh, said another silent prayer, and it started from there.
“Good morning. At this time, the hearing is now in session. We are all here to consider the parole eligibility for Dionte Henry, inmate number 76745532. Mr. Henry, please step forward,” one of the members of the parole board started.
It was the older white woman that was sitting towards the end. She spoke with no kind of life in her voice. She sounded mean as hell, just like I thought she would. That worried me and because it did, I turned my head, so that I could look at my mom. She nodded her head, and I knew that was her way of telling me that she was thinking the same thing as I was, but for me to remain optimistic like I’ve been doing.
My dad stepped forward like he was asked, and he stood in the middle of the room, facing the members of the parole board. He took a deep breath, followed by him clearing his throat.
“Good morning, everyone. My name is Dionte Henry. Before I start, I would just like to thank every member on the board for coming out to hear me today. I don’t want to stand here and make up any excuses for the actions that I made when I was seventeen years old, so I won’t. I was young, reckless, and living life like there wouldn’t be any consequences for my actions. I take full responsibly for the messed-up choices that brought me here and caused me to spend the last 37 years of my life incarcerated. That’s the past, and I can’t change it. What I can do is change my present, and the future, so with that, I’ve spent every day since I’ve been here, trying to become a better man. I’m nothing like the young man that I was when I walked into the system,” he started, and I was emotional listening to his words because I was literally listening to a man beg and plead for his freedom.
I’ve never heard my dad talk this proper. I was used to every other word that came out of his mouth being a curse word.
This was just my dad’s opening. He didn’t have to go into specific details yet, so when he finished, he went back towards Sevyn. Sevyn, who knew how to work whatever room that he was in, he walked up to the front, so that he could face the members of the parole board now.
“Good morning. I’m Sevyn Crawford. I’m counsel for Mr. Henry. We’re all here today with the support of Mr. Henry’s family, along with the institution. My client has spent close to forty years behind bars, and I believe with his good record dating back to the last fifteen plus years, it’ll show that he’s more than ready to come home. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Henry for the first time a couple of months ago. I remember his daughter telling me that him and I carried on like we knew eachother all this time, when in fact, it was our first time meeting. His character makes him likeable. He has a calmness about him. I met with a man that just spent 37 years in prison, so I didn’t know what I was going to see. Every time I’ve come to the prison to see him, he always has a smile on his face. I saw his record, saw the things that he took part in in the past, and I just know that that person isn’t the same person that I’ve been talking with these past couple of months. He’s changed for the better,” Sevyn started.
For over five minutes, Sevyn was up front, selling my daddy out to be the best person in the world. He came with facts. He came with some of the great things that my dad had done while he was locked up. He talked about my dad getting his GED, his job that he had in prison, where he would be on cafeteria duty. He talked about the life skill courses that my dad was enrolled in, behavioral therapy, and even some parenting classes. My dad was into art, and drawing, so Sevyn even showed some of the creativity that he’s done while incarcerated and that the art room that they had at the prison, my dad was responsible for painting it. So many good things Sevyn had to say about him.
The correctional officer that brought my dad in here, he was an older man and took to the front of the room as well, going for the board, letting them know that he’s been at this prison since my dad came in as a teenager, and he saw the growth in him. His words brought tears to my eyes because he spoke about my dad as if he was a grandfather that wanted his grandson out of the system, so that he could go on, and do better with his life.
Now, it was my dad’s turn to go back to the front, so that he could give his final remarks. When he finished, they were going to make their decision.
“As you can see, I’m a changed man. In the time that we’ve been here, you’ve been informed about the work that I’ve put in here with different programs, plenty of work assignments,and my growth as an individual. If anything was made clear to me during my time here, it’s the knowledge that I gained on what I took from someone else. I came into the system when my daughter was only one years old. I remember that afternoon vividly in the courtroom. She was sitting in her mama’s lap, probably thinking that she was going to be in my arms soon, but it didn’t work like that. I missed out on just about every milestone of her life. I missed when she learned how to walk, talk, and just grow up. I only got to spend one birthday with her, and that was her first birthday. Today, my baby is sitting behind me, and she’s thirty- eight years old. She doesn’t know what it feels like to grab lunch with me, go to the movies, none of those things. All the things that make her happy, I’m ready to come home, and experience them with her,” he said, and his words had me softly crying.
My mom had her hand on my back, rubbing it in a circular motion, while Tank was holding my hand tightly in his.
