by Jose Moreno
CHAPTER XIII***
The day before Barón was set to be released from prison, the man in the suit, who had captured Barón and the other teens in the woods, showed up in the prison. As Barón was in his cell checking the bag of the belongings he had the day he entered the prison, the man in the suit knocked on his door. Barón walked to the door and opened it.
“Barón, I can see you met your goal!” The man said with a tone of excitement.
Barón was startled by his excitement. His heart began to beat fast. Surprised by his visit, Barón responded, “Oh! I see you came…”
“Of course, we had a deal. You had to make sure that you accomplish the graduation of at least 75% of all the students. You obtained 100%. Congratulations! Now, you will have to complete the other part of the deal.”
Then, the man began to laugh while Barón was puzzled about his laughter. Barón knew that his laughter meant a serious matter that the man had to articulate. Once the man stopped laughing, he said to Barón, “Now, it is time for the second part of the deal…Let me ask you….Did you learn something while you serve your time in prison?”
Barón knew what the man wanted to hear; however, Barón felt sad at the moment knowing that he did not have to lie; he had learned a terrible lesson while teaching “rambunctious sociopaths.” Almost whispering, with wet eyes, feeling depressed, and with a face of mercy, Barón responded to the man, “yes…”
The man in the suit could see how much harm prison had done to Barón’s soul. Barón’s sincerity was noticeable. The man, then, walked one step towards Barón, put his right arm on Barón’s right shoulder and said to him, “Barón, it is time to improve your soul”
Barón’s state of mind changed from depressed to inquisitive not understanding the “poetic” words that the man had just uttered. But, Barón was afraid of asking what “improve your soul” meant. In this way, he acquiesced and waited for the man to continue talking.
The man removed his hand from Barón’s shoulder and said, “Tomorrow, your father will pick you up, right?”
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow it will be time to make amends with the one that you hurt the most from this world. Then, I will pick you up so that you finish the project that we already assigned for you.”
Barón said, “Yes”; however, he was afraid of working for that agency. Furthermore, He had lost his sense of appreciation for humanity being around the worse of humanity. He thought, “What else will I learn that will kill my spirit?”
The man, having heard what he wanted to hear, just turned around and left the third floor of the prison.
Barón had already turned eighteen years of age on the last day in that jail. Now that he was an adult, he could be out on the street at any time he wanted; the allowed hours were history. However, it was time to talk to his dad. With this purpose in mind, the man in the suit made arrangements so that his father picked him up when he came out of jail in order for Barón to make amends.