Chapter 22 -- Redemption
Criminal # 98945 expected the final week of her sentence to be extremely hectic. However, because most of the issues surrounding the impending concert schedule of "Socrates' Mistresses" were settled the in the middle of June, there really was very little for her to actually do, other than make final arrangements for her sister Cindy to be present at the de-collaring ceremony in July.
Kim had a very slight disappointment when she learned that the actual ceremony would not be on July 2, the official date of her release. She would have to wait one extra day, because the Monday closest to July 2 was the following day, July 3. The change of date did not really bother anyone, however. Kim's friends had served three-year sentences and she had served a full two-year sentence. One more day hardly mattered.
Vladim Dukov filed a series of papers related to Criminal # 98945's impending release, including a certificate that assured the Danubian government that she was psychologically ready to be released and that she posed no further threat to the community. That was standard procedure, given that a Danubian Spokesperson for the Criminal held legal custody over the criminals assigned to his or her case-load. In theory a Spokesperson could be held accountable if a criminal approved for release re-offended. As a result Spokespersons had the legal authority to declare a criminal "not ready for release", although in practice postponing a release date was not common.
Dukov and Tatiana went to the basement of the Central Police Station to retrieve Kim's back-pack, which was dusty and smelled strange from having sat on a shelf for two years. He retrieved the plastic bags containing the jewelry and clothes she had been wearing on the day of her arrest. Finally the Spokesman retrieved his client's U.S. passport and had one of his brother's couriers take it over to the Danubian Ministry of Foreign Relations for a "transition visa" stamp. The stamp stipulated that as long as Criminal # 98945 held her job at the music store, she could continue to live in Upper Danubia as a legal resident. As soon as she quit her job, her visa would become a simple 30-day tourist visa, with the expectation she be out of the country before the visa expired.
Dukov studied Kim's passport picture, which had been taken about six months before her fateful trip to Europe. He marveled at the change, at how different she must have been when she was still in high school. He looked at the other stamps, noting the two-year-old exit stamp from the Netherlands on July 1 and the entry stamp issued on July 2 to enter the Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia. There was a third stamp, issued July 5 by the Danubian Ministry of Justice, indicating Criminal # 98945 was prohibited from leaving Danube City for two years and that her passport would be returned to her Spokesman upon completion of her sentence. Dukov initialed and dated that final stamp, to indicate he now had possession of Kim's passport pending her release.
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Cynthia Lee pled with her parents to accompany her to witness Kim's release from her sentence, trying to explain what a big event in her sister's life her final court appearance would be. However, the Lees wanted nothing to do with Upper Danubia, in spite of their daughter's troubled life prior to her trip and her Spokesman's kindness to her during her sentence. Certainly they did not want to see Kim anytime before she was allowed to get dressed. Once she was properly dressed, well, then it would be a different matter. However, the Lees still did not see the point in traveling to Upper Danubia, given that Kim was coming back to the US just a couple of days after her release.
Finally Cindy boarded a flight to Frankfurt by herself, filled with regret her parents could not understand the momentous importance Kim's release would have in her life. The ceremony that ended her sentence would mark her official redemption, the chance for her to apply all of the hard lessons learned over the past two years to the decisions she would make throughout her future. At least Cindy understood. Her sister's support was something that Kim would appreciate for many years to come.
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Cynthia Lee arrived in Danube City the final day of June. As before, Spokesman Vladim Dukov was at the airport to greet her, since his client still could not travel outside the Danube City collar-zone. However, the following week, when it was time for Cindy to leave, Kim would be going with her. They would fly out first-class, courtesy of their band's music company.
Once again Kim's sister would stay a hotel near the Central Plaza, to be within walking distance of the Central Courthouse and Dukov's office.
Cindy met up with Kim and Eloisa as they got off work at the music store. The store had changed, now that several of the bands its owner had sponsored were becoming successful. The adjacent building had been converted to a contracting office for aspiring groups of musicians and was very busy. The store itself was much busier than it had been the previous year with foreign music fans and tourists, with more employees and an even wider selection of music.
Cindy had dinner with Kim and Eloisa at Sergekt's restaurant. Eloisa then departed with her fiancée, leaving Kim and Cindy alone. Kim decided to take Cindy to the Temple of the Ancients, and then to the spot where all her trouble had begun, now almost exactly two years before.
The two Americans sat on the same bench where Criminal # 98945 had sat smoking her joint, and where she had endured two very fateful encounters with Officer Malka Chorno. They sat quietly in the late afternoon shade as Kim tried to think of something she could tell her sister, something that would best explain who she had become during her two year sentence. She decided to tell her sister the story of Officer Malka Chorno. She went into graphic description about her arrest, then continued with the ugly encounter in this same spot the following year and its result. She had a hard time making Cindy understand the strange relationship she had with Malka Chorno following the police officer's conviction, the difficult efforts of the two women to come to terms with each other, and the ex-cop's genuine efforts to come to terms with herself and her flaws. Kim concluded:
"I guess we've all had to figure out who we really are. Me, Eloisa, Spokesman Dukov, Malka Chorno, and maybe even you. I can tell you that I really didn't know who I was two years ago...never really gave it much thought. I still really don't know who I am, but maybe I'm a bit closer to figuring it out."
Cindy sat silent and lost in thought for a while. Kim's sister changed the subject.
"You know, I bet it's going to be really hard for you to go back next week...maybe more than you realize...I mean, see our old high school, Mom and Dad, your teachers...you know, everyone who knew you before you came here."
"I know that. I know it's gonna be hard for me stay focused on what I really want from my life."
"What do you want from life, Kim? I mean...it seems that you've sort of found yourself, here in this country. I can tell you this is the weirdest place I've ever been to, but you really seem to fit in. So, this is it? This is where you want to end up?"
"I think so. Spokesman Dukov wants me to take his place and represent all the foreigners he thinks will wind up in trouble, once we get a bunch of new tourists, Eloisa wants me to sing with her, and Sergekt wants me to marry him. So, that'll be my life, the path of my existence, as they say it here."
