Mayday (Reality Check #1), page 16
“Do you think she’ll appeal to the Federal Court?” I asked.
“Hard to tell, but I doubt they’ll grant the petition, so it won’t matter. Judge Reynolds will get her execution scheduled. She still has time to file the Federal writ, but if she doesn’t...”
I nodded. If she didn’t fight it, the state would see that something as simple as a needle in her veins ended the life of Judah McDaniel. I bet she’d cry then.
The tears would be made up of hate, but she would cry... out of frustration, loss of control, and fear. Deep down, Judah might have thought herself a hero, but she was nothing but a coward.
Finn wrapped a comforting arm around me and led me out of the courtroom, my flats clomping out of place along the tile, but it was what we found outside the front doors that shocked me. My legs wouldn’t move.
Reporters with cameramen and foam-covered microphones in every shade were ready. “Oh God, Finn. Are they here for us?”
The muscle in his jaw ticked. “Just keep your head down and walk. There’s already a cab waiting for us at the sidewalk.”
“How’d you get a cab?” I asked, and he held up his cell phone in reply. There was an app open, showing a map and a yellow pin along a cross-section of roads. They really did have an app for everything. I wished they had one for getting rid of the press.
I wasn’t about to lower my head, though. I walked out, pushing the reporters back as Finn and I carved a path through the pile of people and ran toward our cab.
“Miss McDaniel, is your mother the reason you won Mayday?” one man shouted.
“Did she teach you how to manipulate men?” a woman yelled.
“Is she getting out now because of you?” another voice in the sea of voices rang out.
“Finn, aren’t you still angry with her for what she did?” Relentless.
Finn all but shoved me into the back of the cab and then climbed in, slamming their shouts outside the door. “Don’t listen to them,” he growled, breathing hard to catch his breath. He told the cabbie to pull away, and when we were clear, gave him the name of our hotel. “Didn’t want them following us,” he explained.
Back at the hotel, we were emotionally exhausted. Finn ordered room service while I slipped into the shower, turning the water as hot as my skin could stand it.
Chapter 36
Reality Check Magazine: How did you feel when you learned about the court’s ruling?
Jessa: Relieved, but also angry because it still wasn’t over yet. I knew it wouldn’t be until she exhausted every appeal and avenue her attorney could think of.
After we ate in silence, Finn held me until I fell asleep, and then he kept holding me until I woke the next morning. We quickly packed our bags and hit the road. Mr. Marcum said it would be days or even weeks before the judge formally considered what she’d seen and decide whether to uphold or dismiss my mother’s case, but it didn’t take that long. Judge Reynolds was prompt. We got the call on the way home.
“Hello?” Finn said.
Mr. Marcum’s voice funneled out of the car’s speakers. “Mr. Cohen, is Jessa with you?”
“I am,” I said.
“Good. May I speak freely?”
“You may,” I said, looking nervously to Finn, who just winked at me, driving like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Judge Reynolds dismissed her case.”
I released a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “Thank God,” I exclaimed.
“I just thought you’d like to know as soon as possible,” Mr. Marcum said.
“Thank you. Will you call me with any updates?”
“Of course, Jessa. Please drive carefully, Finn.”
“Will do.”
We said goodbye and Finn hit the End button to hang up. He looked at me. “Told you.”
“I know, but it feels better hearing it from the judge.”
“I won’t take offense to that, Jess.”
“Good.” I grinned.
The hours passed quickly. The fact that I dozed off helped, but soon we were pulling into the driveway of the house in Nags Head. I should have thought of it as home by now.
“Do… do you want to live here, Finn? Or is there somewhere else you’d rather be?” Please don’t say Miami, I thought to myself.
He pursed his lips, looking at the small house on the sea. “Can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than with you.”
“Come show me,” I told him, daring him with my eyes. Finn was never one to back down from a dare, and he didn’t disappoint. We made love for hours that day, resting beneath the sheets only long enough to gather strength to love each other again.
Chapter 37
Reality Check Magazine: Enough with the heavy. How are you and Finn now? Still together?
Jessa: *smiling* Yes. We’re still together and we’re gonna stay that way.
“What’s your favorite animal?” Finn asked as he chewed on a mouthful of Frosted Flakes one morning. He wore no shirt, just thin pajama pants that hung low on his hips and drove me crazy in the best way.
“Favorite animal? Hmm.” I smiled. “Shark.”
“They’re awful! Do you remember them circling us?”
“They weren’t real,” I said, remembering how stupid that knowledge made me feel when we found out. We binge watched the episodes of Mayday that we were in, stopping when the new couple was placed on the island. It was one thing to watch what we’d already been through, but quite another to watch someone else go through the same hell.
“They looked real. That show had some major financing to do all they did. Not to mention the prize money.”
And ours was the largest prize thus far. He brought it up once; why I didn’t keep it all, but I simply told him that he earned it. We were paired for a reason, and even if they gave me ten bucks and sent me home, I would have used my five to buy an envelope and stamp to send his to him.
“So why sharks, then?” he asked.
“They have fins.”
He smiled, sat his cereal bowl down, and hugged me to his body. “My favorite is the narwhal.”
I had no idea what that was. “What’s a narwhal?”
His mouth gaped open. “Only the unicorn of the sea!” Then he proceeded to open the web browser on his phone and show me pictures of the aforementioned unicorn of the sea. They weren’t majestic like I thought they’d be, but I could see the appeal.
“It’s just because they’re horny.”
He smiled. “I knew you’d get it. Now get your ass back in the bedroom. I want to introduce you to my necktie.”
We spent weeks learning each other. The ‘favorite’ questions never ended, followed by a lot of searches on the internet, some that probably put us on a few government watch lists. But mostly we were happy to spend time together. Summer came and the tourists weren’t right on top of us. They spread out down the sand in happy little clusters, and that was when I knew I could be just like them.
I watched them from the deck, leaning over and looking at everyone scattered around the house. “We could have that, you know,” Finn said one day while I watched a toddling boy fall onto his butt and push himself back up.
“What?”
“A family.”
“Are you happy, Finn? With me? I know I’m not like other girls.”
“That’s why I love you, Jess. I don’t want other girls. I want you.”
I looked at the little fella again. He’d fallen forward this time, but was determined to make it to the sea. His dad scooped him up just as he reached the wet sand.
“What if we had kids and they turned out like my mom?” I asked hesitantly.
“They won’t.” He seemed so sure.
“How do you know?”
“Because we’ll teach them how to love, and we’ll do that by loving each other and loving them. They’ll drive us nuts and we’ll let them. It’ll be a fun, crazy ride.”
“Maybe one day,” I said, smiling at the waves.
“I’ll take that,” he replied. “Until then, we’ll just keep practicing the art of making babies. That’s my favorite kind of art.”
I swatted at him.
“Jess?”
“Yeah.”
“Promise you’ll marry me one day?” he asked.
“One day,” I said. He knew I wasn’t ready for that yet. I’d just gotten word that Mom had immediately asked her attorney to file a federal writ of Habeas Corpus, which was denied because of a flaw in the filing document. She could now appeal to the Federal Circuit and Supreme Courts, but if they denied her request for appeal, her execution date would be set in stone. Mr. Marcum said he talked to her state-appointed attorney and was told she didn’t want to appeal anymore. I hoped she didn’t lie to the man, and that this would all be over soon.
Mr. Marcum told me that the mighty state of Georgia didn’t mess around. They would set her execution date a month away, and stays of execution were getting further and farther in between. But I needed to see this through before I could completely relax.
I needed her gone. Judah McDaniel’s shadow was long and far-reaching, not to mention poisonous. Finn wouldn’t be going anywhere and neither would I. He would stay with me and I with him. We would always have each other’s backs.
Partners.
Two halves of the same pair.
Friends.
Lovers.
Soul-mates.
Because of a reality show – something that was my last-ditch effort to try and get enough money to survive on – I found him. And because he wanted to find himself, he found me instead. I couldn’t be more thankful, even if it was to a horrible woman like Grayling.
Chapter 38
Reality Check Magazine: Anything else you’d like to add about your future? I might be hinting a little here.
Jessa: Nope. But thank you for interviewing us.
One day, out of the blue, I decided that I needed to do something important and I needed Finn by my side in order to pull it off. “Let’s take a road trip,” I told him as I fanned the smoke away from the oven. I burned the biscuits, yet again; the kind that popped out of the can. Finn said they were gross and a sacrilege against home cooks everywhere, but hey, I liked them. And while he fussed about it, he still pretty much ate anything.
“Do you need the fire extinguisher first?” he teased, opening the windows to let the smoke out.
“Nah. It’s not that bad.” I used an oven mitt to remove the cookie sheet and saw that it actually was that bad, so out on the deck they went, charred to a crisp and still smoking.
“Where are we going, exactly?”
I nodded once. “Georgia.”
“Why are we going there? I thought you said you never wanted to go back there again?”
“Well, I do now.”
“Care to explain?” He walked to his computers – yes, that was plural – and started to peck at the keys again.
“You gonna tell me what you’re doing on those day and night?”
“I’m working on something.”
“Workin’ on somethin’? Well, aren’t you just full of details this morning?”
He smiled. “Just like you, sweetheart.”
“Fine,” I groaned. “I want to pay a few people back, and we’re gonna have fun doin’ it.”
“Pay them back for what?”
“Well,” I said, walking to my bedroom and grabbing my small suitcase. I put it on the bed and unzipped it, flipping the lid over, and then I started filling it. “There was a lady who let me have a car to live in once, and then there was an old couple who gave me food from their store when Mom ran off and didn’t come back. Stuff like that.”
He was quiet, so I peeked out the bedroom door. He’d shut his computers down and was walking toward me. “Yeah, let’s do this. How many days?”
I shrugged. “As many as it takes to get there, repay them, and get back. I don’t know. Four?”
Finn drove my car, dressing in cargo shorts, a white tee, and a pair of aviators. It was late May and spring was showing her beautiful face. Trees and flowers bloomed all along the highway. “You’re awfully quiet,” he remarked after a long stretch of silence.
“I’m just thinkin’. We need to find a car dealership.”
“Car for a car?” he asked, completely understanding what I was up to.
“Yep.”
“Google them.” He handed his phone to me. I still didn’t have one. I didn’t want one. But he made me use his sometimes, so at least I knew how to search the web.
Google gave me three choices. “Jeep, Toyota, or Ford?”
He smiled. “What kind of car did they give you?”
“It was just an old Geo Tracker, but it gave me a place to lock and stay at night after the cabin was seized.”
When Mom was arrested, the cops figured out she wasn’t supposed to be living in the cabin. I told them I had to use the bathroom, and as it had no running water or facilities, I was able to slip into the woods and run before Child Protective Services could come after me. I was too old to be adopted, they’d whispered. I didn’t want to go into an orphanage or a foster home. I just wanted to be left alone. So I ran. Some people in town remembered that Judah McDaniel had a daughter and helped me. It was as simple as that. Now that I had money, I wanted to repay the favor… with interest.
“Do you want to go make sure they’re still there before you buy them a car?”
“Nope. They’re there. Or one of their kids will be.”
The couple, Earl and Lettie Price, had four kids of their own at the time, although they were all grown and had left home by the time I showed up scrounging around in their garbage can for something to eat. They didn’t have much, but Lettie fed me dinner, and then Earl led me to an old car that sat in their back yard. Earl got it running that night and gave it to me. I didn’t have any money so I didn’t get far, but I parked it out in the woods close enough to a highway I could use if I needed to, but far enough away from prying eyes. Without the Prices, I would have frozen.
From my spot near the highway, I walked to a small restaurant. The woman there took pity on me and let me wash dishes and cook for food, and paid what little money she could give me under the table. Without Miss Rhonda, I would have starved.
Everyone else in the town pretended I didn’t exist. That in itself was a blessing. I made it to eighteen, and by then had saved up enough to leave Statesboro and my past behind.
I never looked back. Until now.
Hours later, we pulled into Krohner’s Jeep dealership just off Highway twenty-four. The Geo the Prices had given me was faded yellow with a white soft top that zipped on and off, so I walked straight to the brand new models and found a Jeep Compass in canary yellow. A salesman with a fake megawatt smile strode over to me and Finn, immediately striking up a conversation with Finn. Of course.
“I want this one, and I’ll pay cash,” I interrupted.
He sputtered, eyes flickering from Finn to me. “Yes, ma’am. Let’s go draw up the paperwork.”
In the office, his desk was littered with papers and forms, pens and notepads. “Sorry about the mess.”
Finn and I settled across from him in two chairs that were comfortable enough and waited while he printed each document he needed to sell the vehicle to me. I slid him my identification and signed a dozen forms, eventually writing him a check for the full cost of the vehicle.
With the keys in hand, I smiled as I walked toward the Jeep. “Follow me,” I told Finn. “Try and keep up!”
He took the challenge and followed me to the edge of town, where the houses got fewer and farther in between. Just off the main drag was a small house with maroon siding and a familiar silver Chevy that resembled a boat more than a car. I put the Jeep in park and Finn waited in the car for me as I walked to the front door with the title in hand.
Lettie met me at the door before I could even raise my hand to knock. “Are you lost, sugar?” she asked.
“No, ma’am.” I took my sunglasses off and watched as realization dawned on her.
“Oh, my goodness, Jessa. I saw you on television!” As she ushered me inside, I gave Finn a quick wave before ducking inside.
“I was so proud of you!” she gushed. “Look how far you’ve come, sugar. You’re doing so well. Now, what brings you all the way out here?” Lettie’s posture was more slumped than it was the last time I’d seen her. Her hair was whitening and thinning, much like the thread-bare housecoat she wore. The varicose veins in her legs were bulging and blue, her feet covered by a small pair of pink slippers.
“I wanted to repay you for everything you and Earl did for me.”
She sat down on the couch, saying, “He’s not here. Had to run to the store, but he’ll be back shortly.”
I sat down with her. “Back then, you gave me your car.”
Lettie waved it off. “T’wasn’t much of a car, and besides, it was better than you freezing to death outside in the cold.”
“I want to pay you guys back, Lettie,” I said, handing her the folder in my hand. “This title is for the Jeep outside. I want you to have it.”
Lettie’s mouth fell open. “A Jeep?”
“Yes.”
Tears filled her eyes. “We’ve never had anything so nice, Jessa. We can’t accept it, though. We just wanted to help you out. You were so young, and then your mama… Well, I just couldn’t believe it.”
I nodded. “But you helped me when no one else would, Lettie, and I want to do the same for you, now that I can.” I took the pen from my pocket and signed the title over to her and Earl. She squeezed me tight and my throat clogged with tears.
“Finn’s waiting outside, so I should go, Lettie. But thank you.”
“Finn? From the show? Oh, he’s so handsome. I’m glad he’s still with you. That boy loves you, ya know. You could see it from the moment the cameras turned on.”
I did know. I stood up and hugged her again. “Tell Earl I said thank you.”
