She took her daughter to the park every day after school. It was one of those small luxuries in life that she never missed. Her daughter loved the merry-go-round in particular and she loved to get it spinning as fast as she could. All the kids always squealed in delight as she let it go.
It seemed that they knew everyone there. A lot of the single moms like her would gather there after school to exchange the latest news and let the kids blow off steam before homework. Others came to walk or workout or just to enjoy the grassy expanses. For the most part, the others always stayed to themselves.
One cool Thursday, when summer was fading into fall she was intensely engaged in a conversation about cats when she saw her daughter talking with an older man. He looked to be in his mid-60’s, and gave off the appearance of a vagabond. She ran over and pulled her daughter away, while shouting obscenities at him.
He apologized profusely, saying that he was only being polite. She was a nice kid and he didn’t want to be rude.
She began to notice him there everyday. He would sit on the same bench, under the same shade tree, by the same sectioned off playground day after day. The more she watched, the more she became convinced that he was planning an abduction. He was too friendly with the kids.
She convinced some of the other mothers and they decided to call the police. They watched as they came and arrested him, then hauled him away in the back of a police SUV. Satisfied that their kids were safe, they soon forgot about him and life returned to normal.
He was sentenced to four years in a medium security prison for attempted kidnapping and molestation a charge the mothers concocted and the district attorney was more than ready to accept. Why not, it made him look good and it was their word against his. He tried to fight but going up against a group of elementary school mothers and the State of Oklahoma was a no-win situation.
One year passed before all hell broke out. He was assaulted for his charge and was forced to defend himself. He ended up sending his assailant to the hospital and racked up another charge which added another ten years.
After three years, his attorney was able to get the first charge removed. He admitted to being at the park every day, but not for the reasons he was falsely accused of. His daughter died there 27 years earlier in a freak accident. They would have ice cream on that bench after school, under that tree, next to the old playground equipment that used to be there. He went there in remembrance of her. Once a year, he would leave flowers at the base of the tree, but those parents never knew that. He tried to explain but the public defender talked him into taking a deal.
After seven years, four years after being declared innocent, he tried to take his own life. Now, he can barely speak and will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, but sometimes when he’s more coherent he’ll share his story, and the story of how special his daughter was.
All he wanted was to spend some time at the park, remembering back to a time when he felt whole.
