Chapter 4 FREEDOM

One thousand eight hundred and sixty days passed by longer than he thought it would. With each passing day, Ace had grown used to the system in the state penitentiary. The first three months had been hell for him, he'd been bullied, tossed around, and toyed with over and over again until he almost lost it.

He had lost it. On more than one occasion, he'd gotten into a fight. Got beat up multiple times, left bloodied and battered, and needed medical attention afterward. From there on out, he'd changed his approach. Rather than fight back, he'd out-scheme them. He'd toughened himself up and used the gym facilities more than he had in his entire lifetime. He was no longer scrawny and feeble-looking, he'd added some muscles.

He also didn't just improve physically, his mentality had also improved. He networked with some inmates and got to learn how some of them think, how they work, why they were in there, and their contacts outside. A whole lot of things.

And most importantly, he never forgot his reason for survival. His revenge. He had a plan in motion, he'd become friends with one of the inmates there and he'd told him about his boss.

He has worked for a man named Carlton Howard. The third Richest Man in all of Chicago. He owned Howard Inc. Ace had looked it up and it was the second largest conglomerate in all of America with so many factions and lines of businesses including Automobiles, space exploration, etc. As to how he got in jail, he never said and Ace didn't hassle him about it.

He'd given Ace a recommendation and told him to seek him out when he got out. He was going to be in there for another ten years, so there was no use holding onto some information. Almost like that, Ace had set the wheels of his plan in motion. And now that he was getting out today. Everything he'd spent the last five years planning and strategizing was finally coming to pass. It was time to act.

Collecting his belongings from the prison guards and attendants, he was taken through a corridor and out of the facility. The doors were shut behind him as he stepped into the light.

Five years. Over a thousand days. Sixty months. All those numbers looked inconsequential as he was finally a free man once again. He was free at last. He didn't know what to do, where to go initially, or who to seek out on his first day, but he was free and that was all that mattered.

He raised his hands into the light, not knowing why he did that or what it was for. Then he heaved heavily.

"Was it all worth it?" He asked no one in particular.

"I guess we'll have to find out." And with that, he walked out onto the acres of space before him.

He walked a good ten minutes before he could reach a bar, to which he walked in and grabbed a seat. Ordered a shot of liquor and picked up a newspaper, just to try to keep up with the events of the present day.

All through his time in jail, he'd stayed in touch with the business world. He knew all he needed to know, the right investments, the right markets. He was still sharp. Maybe sharper than before. He'd grown his beard while in there so his face was almost unrecognizable now as he sat amongst the crowd.

After half an hour there, he paid for his meal and newspaper and left the bar. He walked over to an ATM just across the street. He still had his credit card and his accounts weren't frozen, so he should have some money to last him some days as well as enough to get a train for the journey he intended.

He hailed a taxi to his house and while the driver waited for him to get down once they'd reached the location, he stayed put wondering.

It's been half a decade since, had Olivia thrown his belongings away? His old stuff, clothes and everything else. What were the chances of him getting his belongings back? Was she even living there still? He wondered, then paid the driver and got out of the cab.

There was only one way to find out and he would. He walked down to the building, climbed the stairs, and knocked softly on the door. He knocked a second time and heard her voice from the inside.

She opened the door not long after. If she was surprised to see him, she didn't show. She just stood there, blank-faced, hands on the door which was slightly ajar, and stared at him.

"Hello, Liv." He said.

"What do you want?" She asked obviously repulsed and uninterested in entertaining him for long.

Ace hesitated to respond, he didn't know how to articulate his words.

"I...I was wondering if I could...could get my clothes. Sorry some of my things were still here," he said mid pauses in his statement.

She looked at him for a while, disgust all over her face, then she shut the door on him. Confused and feeling like a fool. He rested his head on the door frame, hands limp beside him. He pulled himself up and headed down the stairs just like he'd come up.

He should never have come here. He knew that now. Just as he was thinking, the door opened again and he turned just in time as a bag hit him in the face. Then came the water. He was soaked, drenched. She'd thrown the water at him alongside his bag.

"Don't come back here, else I'll get a restraining order." She said and shut the door once more.

Humiliated, soaked in water, and passers-by all looking at him in shame and mockery, he grabbed his bag and prodded on. Hailed a taxi to the train station and got in.

He paid for his tickets to New York and waited at the platform for the 10:30 train. When it arrived, he stepped in to passengers stepping out, found a cleared bench and sat on a corner looking out the window. He watched the windows as the train started it's journey out of the city. His eyes were filled with tears all the way through, but he promised not to shed them.