“How come?” Jimmy asked.
“You know the old saying, there aren’t any atheists in foxholes?”
“No.”
Omar decided that he would have to slow things down for Jimmy. “You know what an atheist is?”
“No.”
“It’s someone who doesn’t believe in God.”
“Okay.”
“And you know what a foxhole is?”
Jimmy nodded. “It’s where you hide in a war movie.”
“Exactly!” Omar said. “Now, when you say that there are no atheists in foxholes, what you mean is that even if you don’t believe in God, if you are facing death, you’ll hedge your bets by praying for God’s help, just in case he exists. Got it?”
“Yeah.”
“Now, there aren’t any atheists in parole board hearings, either. Every con who goes in front of the board says he’s found God. Of course, no one on the board believes him. They know cons make that shit up so they can get paroled. But when the board is convinced that an inmate really and truly has found God, the chances that con will get himself a parole go way up. You got that?”
“Yeah. So, to get out, I got to be religious.”
“Correct. Only you can’t find God too fast. You got to do it slow and thoughtful or the board will know you’re running a scam.”
“How do I find God slowly?” Jimmy asked, and Omar told him.
The next Sunday, Jimmy went to the prison chapel, as Omar had advised. Then he went every Sunday until the prison chaplain noticed him. The first time the chaplain tried to engage Jimmy in conversation, Jimmy followed Omar’s advice and said he was just in chapel for something to do. Gradually, he began talking to thechaplain, and he soon “confessed” that the chaplain’s sermons had gotten him thinking.
Jimmy didn’t profess to having been converted until his third parole board hearing, which was attended by the chaplain, who testified that Jimmy was truly saved. Parole was granted after Jimmy had served five years.
Things looked rosy until ten days before Jimmy was going to walk out of prison. That’s when Peter Knox, a new inmate from Jimmy’s old neighborhood, told him that Timothy Rankin, Jimmy’s former cellmate, was screwing Loretta. Loretta had been Jimmy’s girlfriend when he went in, and he still had the hots for her.
Jimmy had gone on and on about Loretta while he was bunking with Rankin, and he felt betrayed. After his conversation with Peter Knox, it occurred to Jimmy that Loretta had stopped visiting him. Her excuses always made sense, but her absence left Jimmy anxious and wanting. And now that he started thinking about it, he realized that he hadn’t heard from Loretta for quite some time.
When Jimmy walked through the prison gates, his brother, Miles, was waiting. Jimmy’s parents had passed while Jimmy was incarcerated, and they had left Miles the house. Miles, who was steadily employed and totally honest, had kept Jimmy’s room for him.
Jimmy had spent a lot of time thinking about what he would do to Timothy Rankin when he got out. The morning after he was released, Jimmy waited for his brother to leave for work. As soon as the front door closed, Jimmy went to the shed in the backyard. The shed was used for storage. Jimmy had to move a sofa, several cartons, and an old vacuum cleaner before he found a gun and the cardboard box full of bullets. He’d hidden them six years before, after the failed armed robbery that had landed him in jail. The box was damp and the top melted off in Jimmy’s hand. He tossed it aside, loaded the handgun, and went looking for Timothy.
Jimmy found his old cellmate sitting on his front porch.
When Timothy saw Jimmy, he stood up and greeted him with a big grin. “Hey, man, I heard you got out.”
“And I heard you been fucking my woman,” Jimmy said as he drew his gun and aimed it at Timothy’s chest.
Timothy’s eyes went wide, and he threw his hands in the air. “What woman?”
“Loretta.”
“Who said that?”
“Pete Knox.”
“Knox is lying. He thinks I ratted him out to the cops, which I didn’t. And Loretta doesn’t even live around here anymore. She moved years ago.”
“Now I know you’re lying. If she moved, she woulda told me.”