Too Late

"Why? Why should I care who you are? Why are you doing this to me? I don’t care where you’ve been all these years? I don’t know you and I don’t want to know you. If you cared so much about me, you would’ve been here. Where the hell were you?  No. No. I don’t want to hear your lame explanations. You weren’t thinking about what was best for me or you wouldn’t have abandoned me. Of course you did. Dad told me I was abandoned.  You can’t just waltz in here like nothing’s happened. It doesn’t work that way."

Ted stood up and pushed past the elderly couple standing in front of his desk. Looking as haggard and grief-stricken as people existing in a death camp, they turned slowly and followed him from the office. Ted stormed out to the parking garage, jumped in his silver BMW and took off with a squealing of tires that couldn’t be interpreted as anything but an angry, hostile driver.

Myers and Bertha felt as though their lives had been stripped from them for the second time.  Forty-two years ago, circumstantial evidence had convicted the couple of an armed robbery that resulted in the death of two security guards at a bank. 

The juvenile authorities at the time of their sentencing convinced them to sign away parental rights and allow their son to be adopted.  They painted an ugly picture of his life if he were left to grow up in foster homes or orphanages. Permanent separation from Teddy was a more severe sentence than the one imposed by the judge when the jury found them guilty.

"What do we do now, Myers? How will we ever convince Teddy we love him? Fourteen long years we’ve spent every moment of every day searching for him and now we find out he hates us."

Bertie was trembling and trying hard not to lose control.

"Bertie, this must be a terrible shock to Teddy. He’s going to need some time to sort it all out.  Why don’t we write him a letter telling him exactly what happened and why we weren’t there for him. He won’t listen to us now but maybe he will agree to see us when he learns the truth. Recent DNA technology may have proved our innocence but we have to convince our son we loved him and did what we felt we had to do when we were sent to prison.  What do you think?"

Myers was pretending to be strong and help his broken wife through the ordeal. They had both prayed for this day for so many years and now it was just another trial.

"I guess that's all we can do, sweetheart.  Let’s go somewhere quieter to talk.  Those sirens make it hard for me to hear you."

Down the street at the corner, a silver BMW was wrapped around a pole with the driver taking his last breaths awaiting a too-late ambulance.