It is 3:50 pm Friday, Brent picked up the phone to call his attorney. As Brent entered the twelve-digit number on his calling card, he could not help but wonder what his attorney would say to him. About that time Brent heard the operator instruct him to, “Enter the area code and the seven-digit number to the person you’re trying to reach.” As Brent entered the number, his hands were shaking. Pushing the numbers on the phone turned out to be a chore. He heard the phone on the other end start to ring. The butterflies in his stomach start to go crazy and he thought he was going to throw up. He wasn’t sure what his attorney might say and does he really want to know.
Brent heard, “Ted Samuels, attorney at law, how can I direct your call?”
Brent just sat there a minute and took a deep breath. Then he said, “This is Brent Matthews, can I speak to Mr. Samuels please.”
“Mr. Samuels is not in; he is gone until Monday morning.” About that time all the butterflies in his stomach became flustered and his knees were like worn hinges. Just then Brent heard the secretary say, “Mr. Mathews, have the guards come to get you yet?”
About that time Brent heard the keys clanging as they pierced lock of the first door. Brent heard a load clicking as first door was unlocked. Brent paused, while he waited to see if the guards would open the second door.
As the door opened, Brent heard a deep raspy voice, “Matthews, get your mattress, blanket, and the rest of your belongings and come with me.” Brent looked to his right to see Shane, a young guard with a medium build and a newly pressed uniform on.
About that time Brent told the secretary, “He just got here.”
The secretary replied, “Okay, have a good weekend and call us on Monday morning.”
“Yes ma’am,” Brent replied.
After a hundred and twenty-one days in jail, Brent felt as if he just lost a hundred pounds. Brent asked the guard to give him five minutes to get his things ready. The guard replied, “Hurry up, I don’t have all day.”
“Brent,” Richard hollered, “Are you going to let us have your commissary?”
Richard and Justin rushed into Brent’s cell to get first dibs at all the goods Brent had. Brent always had snacks, drinks, and foods for when dinner tasted a week old. Brent told them they could split everything after he got his belongings together and left. Brent had his letters and cards that friends and family sent him in two old saltine cracker boxes. Brent had his bible and other books he received ready to go already. Brent had placed his personal things and blanket in the middle of his mattress and then folded his mattress up.
As he took his mattress in his hands and walked out of the cell, he did not look behind him. For he did not want to look at the past, he only wanted to look at the future.
Brent could hear his old cell mates holler good lucks, don’t come backs, and byes as the doors slammed shut behind him. Brent used to jump every time he heard the heavy steel doors slam behind him, but this time was different, the slamming of the heavy steel doors was a peaceful sound to his ears.
As Brent walked down the long corridor Brent realized the guards did not place him in hand cuffs or shackles this time, he then smiled, he knew then he was going to be a free man once again. When they got to the end of the hall they made a left right in front of the security room where all the guards watched the cameras throughout the day. Brent and the guards walked a short distance more when they reached another door that lead into the room where he would be booked out. When they entered the room the Shane told Lisa “this is Brent Matthews.”
Lisa was a very pretty, college-age officer working behind the counter. She handled processing inmates in and out of jail. Lisa exclaimed, “Give me your full name, date of birth and social security number.”
Brent did not hesitate, “Brent Keith Matthews, 07/11/1968, 246-76-4613.”
Standing at the counter waiting on Lisa to get done typing seemed like eternity. Finally, Lisa said, “Here are your clothes, you can step into the room behind me and change.” It did not matter to Brent that these were the same clothes he wore a hundred and twenty-one day ago and they were dirty. Brent did not hesitate to take his clothes and step into the changing room.
The first thing Brent thought was, They have me changing in a closet. But then he remembered why he was in there; “I am getting out of these hot pink pants and shirt and putting my own clothes on.” After one hundred and twenty-one days of lock up the dirty clothes he wore in there felt great when he put them on.
When Brent got dressed, he stepped out of the room and through his clothes in the basket next to the changing room with other dirty pink clothes in it. As Brent approached the counter, Lisa asked him, “Would you like to make a phone call and see if someone can pick you up?”
Brent was willing to walk home if he had to. It is only a two-hour drive to Denton. Brent was going to stay with his mom and son in Denton, since he lost his home and belongings when he was locked up. But then he remembered he could call an elderly couple he knew down the road, they might pick me up. “Yes ma’am,” Brent replied.
As Brent dialed the number, he could not help but think, “I hope someone is home.”
The phone rang on the other end two times when Mrs. Basin answered, “hello.”
“Mrs. Basin, Brent here, I am being released, can you come and pick me up, please.
Mrs. Basin did not hesitate; “Yes Brent, Earl and I will be there in about an hour.”
“Yes mam, thank you.”
After Brent hung the phone up, Lisa asked him to sign his release papers. While Lisa explaining each page and Brent was signing, he could not control his excitement. His hands were shaking and his signatures were really messy looking. Then it dawned on him, I need to call Cody and let him know, I can’t wait to give him a hug. Cody is his 17-year-old son that was left behind when he was arrested. He had been living with his grandma while Brent was locked up.
Lisa told him that is all, “here is your copy of release papers and a check for $41. 95 that was left over commissary money.” Lisa exclaimed, “You can go through this door and wait in the lobby for your ride. Have a nice day and good luck.”
As Brent walked through the door, it felt like a hundred-pound weight was lifted off his shoulders. “I am a free man,” Brent said loudly to himself. He could not wait to call Cody. He only had $2.00 on his calling card, so he knew he had to make it quick. Plus, he needed a ride to Denton where he would be staying. Brent found a payphone and began to dial Cody’s number. Brent could not wait to hear his son’s voice.
“Hello,” Cody replied.
“Hey son, how are you,” Brent exclaimed. “I am free, they released me,” Brent said with excitement.
“No way,” Cody replied.
“I don’t have long bud, but can you ask your grandma to come and pick me up, I will be at Mrs. Basin’s house.”
“Grandma is at work, but I will call her and ask her, I know she will.”
“Okay, I love you bud and I can’t wait to see you.”
“I love you to dad and we will see you soon.”
The first thing Brent did when he got off the phone was head straight for the front doors. He wasn’t able to take in much fresh air in while in his cell. As he walked out the doors, he felt the sun on his face for the first time since the first day he was locked up. He took a deep breath of fresh air and tears began to roll down his cheeks. He could not believe he went from facing ninety-nine years in prison for a crime he did not commit to being a free man in just a matter of hours. He paced around a minute and then sat down on a bench to take it all in. As he sat there on that bench, he laid his head back, closed his eyes and thought back to what started all he had been through the last one hundred and twenty-one days.