Kicking things off with Gen (and a tiny bit of Sister Pete)
It seemed like ages since she’d heard from Toby when she got the call from the nun at Oswald. Her first instinct was panic but she managed a cautious “Hello?”
“Mrs. Beecher, this is Sister Peter Marie. I work at Oswald. Toby has been awarded a conjugal visit. That means you-”
“I know what conjugal means, Sister.”
“I know you’re thinking it’s all about sex and that’s part of it, but mostly it’s being able to spend time together. You can bring food- the room has a kitchenette so you can fix a dinner for him. The State allows for a four hour block of time for each prisoner.”
“Four hours isn’t much time.”
“It’s more than the hour you usually get and you’ll be alone with Toby, not in a crowded visitation room with your kids or behind a glass partition. There won’t be any guards other than the one that searches you when you go in and when you leave.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Some of the men like to use their wives as a courier service.”
“Ah.” She said as if she understood. She didn’t understand. She didn’t understand a damn thing about that place. About this situation. Her husband was locked up for hitting a little girl with his car. It was an accident and they locked him up with rapists and murderers. Her husband who had never raised a hand to her in anger, who anguished over having to discipline Gary for anything, was being punished for an accident.
She expected any day to be told that he was coming home, that it all was a big mistake. She held it together for the kids, and told them that their daddy was away for a little while.
And now she was expected to what? To go to a prison and play house? What would she wear? Nothing too revealing- she didn’t want to look like a strumpet in front of the guards that searched her. And cooking? Now that that was an option, she’d have to go through the whole “what do you want for dinner” conversation.
She giggled. It was all so normal in a weird way.
“Mrs. Beecher?”
“Oh sorry. Yes, I’ll come. When?”
The nun let her know that the visit that was to take place in two weeks. Gen thanked her and hung up the phone. Two questions came to her. Would he be different? And if he was, could she still pretend to love him, to give him this normal for a few hours?
The answer to the first she wouldn't know until she arrived at Oswald. As for the second, she took a piece of paper and began to write a list of everything she needed for the visit. They'd have these four hours together at least.