A look inside my NaNoWriMo Work
"Pay no attention to that woman behind the curtain"
I probably shouldn’t be doing this.
After all, most writers typically don’t just throw part of a work-in-progress out into the wild to be consumed by the masses.
After all, this is not polished.
I’d call it feral and raw.
My work on this has felt wild and has me backed into a corner.
Fighting self-doubt, word-count goals, and imposter syndrome, I have pushed on despite hearing echoing words inside my mind:
This sucks.
This doesn’t feel worthy of a novel.
This doesn’t ‘sound’ like a novel.
My goal in sharing this is not to beg for praise or critique. I hope putting the words out there will take their power away, quiet the voices, and tame the beast it feels it needs to be.
This has no title yet. They are just words.
Let the journey continue…and thanks for coming along!
Chapter One
“ID Please”
The woman slid her driver’s license under the bulletproof glass in the lobby.
“Mags! It’s you!” the officer replied.
She forced a weak smile at the sudden recognition. “Hey, Jerry,”
“Jesus, I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. How long has it been?”
Maggie retrieved her returned license and shakily put it back in her wallet. “Long enough for you to somehow find a way to become a cop.”
Jerry laughed and removed his hat. “Yeah, can you believe it?”
“I can honestly say in all the times I’ve been here, I never thought I’d see you on this side of a cell.”
“Come on now, I wasn’t that bad. Just a few unfortunate incidents after having some drinks at O’Connor’s.”
“Uh-huh. So, did the chief just decide you had enough frequent stay points to qualify for a job?”
“Nah. I’m a reformed man, Mags.”
“I’ve heard that before,” she muttered.
Jerry pushed a button under his desk. A loud buzzer sounded, and he opened the door.
“Thanks,” Maggie said as she entered the secure area.
“Listen, uh, I’m sorry about your dad.”
She nodded and closed her eyes. Before she even arrived, she decided no tears would be shed until…well, she didn’t know when. Just not now.
The pair walked side by side as the officer led Maggie to a holding cell at the end of the building.
“We all knew things were rough, but to have it go down like this. No one thought this is how it would turn out.”
Maggie stopped walking. A bitter chuckle escaped before she could stop it. “Everyone knew it would end like this. It was just a matter of which one would go first. Don’t try to bullshit me. Not now.”
Jerry turned around to look behind him. “Right. Well, I, uh…he’s just down the hall here.”
A few catcalls echoed in the halls as Maggie walked by the cells. She thought she recognized a few of the guys sitting there but decided not to say anything. None of their presence there surprised her, either.
Jerry grabbed the heavy keyring off his belt as he approached the last cell door on the left.
“Letting me out for good behavior?” the voice inside the cell called out as Jerry slipped the key into the lock.
“Not quite. You have a visitor.”
“No shit! What idiot would want to talk to a criminal like me?”
Maggie stepped in front of the bars and into the open door. “Your sister, asshole. And you’re the one who’s behind bars. So, who’s the idiot?.”
Tommy coughed back a cry the moment he saw his baby sister step into view. “Can you leave us alone, Jerry?” he asked.
The cop shut the door behind Maggie and lingered outside the cell. “You don’t got a file on ya, do you Mags?”
“I didn’t shove a cake up my skirt. How else would I bring a file into a jail?”
“When did she get a mouth like yours, Tommy?”
“I’m not sure,” Tommy answered.
“You got 10 minutes,” Jerry said and walked down the hall away from the siblings.
“Look at you,” Tommy said. “How do I know you’re actually my sister?”
“Like you said, what other idiot would come visit a confessed killer?”
“Maggie…”
“Am I wrong?”
“No, I confessed.”
“Why?”
“Well, Dad’s dead. The cops showed up at the house. I couldn’t exactly pretend like something didn’t happen.”
Maggie clenched her hand, and her knuckles turned white. “You think this is funny?”
“No.”
“You’re cracking jokes!”
“I’m trying to tell you what happened.”
“This was not the family reunion we planned.”
Tommy looked down at his shuffling feet. “We were never good at family events, Mags.”
“Damn it, Tommy!” Maggie said, her voice betraying her fight against the tears.
“You’ve been here for a couple of minutes, and you haven’t even given your big brother a hug.”
As much as Maggie didn’t want to do it, as soon as her brother opened his arms, she ran into them and buried her face into his chest.
“How could you do this!” she cried. “You promised me everything would be ok.”
Tommy held his sister close and kissed her forehead. “I know. And it will be.”
“You killed our father!”
He let out a long exhale. “Yeah.”
“So how can you say that?”
“Because it’s still true. Everything is going to be ok now.”
Maggie took a step back. “But…”
“He can’t hurt mom anymore,” Tommy continued. “He can’t hurt you. That’s all I’ve ever cared about.”
“It’s not that simple,” she said.
“You cannot tell me that after all this time, after all he’s done, you still love that son of a bitch.”
“Hold on.”
“Things didn’t get any better after you took off. Did all that time away cause some amnesia?”
“Of course not.”
Tommy sat down on his bunk. “Of course, Daddy always did love his little girl.”
“Hey!” Maggie shouted.
“Never raised a hand to hurt the princess.”
“Shut up!”
“Am I wrong?”
“Fuck you!”
Hoots and hollers carried throughout the hallway from other cells.
“Whoa, little sister,” Tommy teased. “You want the whole jail to know our business?”
“What else is new?” Maggie hissed. “The whole god damned neighborhood has known our business for years. If Dad wasn’t out making an ass out of himself, you did a good job following in his footsteps.”
Tommy couldn’t hold back a smirk. “When did you grow a backbone, little sister?”
Maggie folded her arms and turned her back to her brother. “Go to Hell.”
“I think I’m well on my way,” he replied. His feet hit the cement floor hard from the jump off the lofted bunk. In just a few steps, he reached Maggie and put his hand on her shoulder. “Come on, turn around. I want to get a good look at you before they drag you out of here. And I sure as hell don’t want to keep fighting with you.”
With a heavy sigh, Maggie turned around to face Tommy.
“That’s better. Jesus, how many years has it been?”
“Four. But it’s not like you haven’t seen me. I’ve sent pictures.”
“Not the same, and you know it.” Tommy paused. “Have you seen Mom?”
Maggie frowned. “Not yet.”
“She’s a wreck.”
“Ya think? Her husband’s dead and her son is in jail for murder.”
“They haven’t charged me with murder yet.”
“You know they will.”
“Not with a good lawyer.”
“You can’t afford a good lawyer.”
Tommy twisted his mouth and glanced away.
“What?”
“I know someone.”
“A lawyer?”
Tommy nodded.
“This can’t be one of those cheap hacks you or Dad used to get when you’d brawl in the street or get pulled over after leaving the bar,” Maggie warned.
“He knows what he’s doing.”
“And you know he’s good?”
“100%,” Tommy said He’s the smartest guy we know.”
Maggie raised an eyebrow, and then her eyes widened. “Wait.”
Tommy looked over his sister’s shoulder to see Jerry standing on the other side of the cell with another visitor.
“Your lawyer’s here, Tommy.”
“I got here as soon as possible,” the other man said.
Maggie froze in place as the voice confirmed her worst fear.
“I’m afraid it’s only one visitor at a time,” Jerry said.
She leaned in and gave her brother a quick hug. Then, Maggie slowly turned on her heel to see the one man she prayed to avoid for the rest of her life.
“Maggie?” the lawyer said. “You’re home?”
Jerry opened the cell and stepped back to let Maggie step out.
“It looks that way, doesn’t it,” she replied. She hesitated a moment. “What was it Dorothy said in ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘There’s no place like home?’ What a crock of shit.”
Maggie brushed past the two men and left without looking back.
Well, I would read it... that is an excellent start, keep going!
Very well done! Your fan from NW Ohio is all ears! Keep going one line at a time.
I met your Mom for a VERY brief time when visiting my Gram. She promised to put us in touch. I love to write, but I need direction. You definitely have direction and you need to keep at it!