As I came into the kitchen, Deanie Kessler said, “Don’t worry, Thea. I’m not going to trap you.” So many people were milling around that I felt like a guest. “I can’t say that this will be easy, but it won’t be as bad as you fear.” She looked very young, and all those tumbled red curls were disarming.

“Are you going to trap Stefan?”

“Of course not.”

“Are you going to make him talk about the night of Belinda’s death?”

“I said I wouldn’t.”

In the end, there was no choice but to believe her.

Deanie Kessler went over some questions that didn’t sound particularly threatening—about the experience of having a relative incarcerated, my feelings about the protestors and the reactions of family to Stefan’s homecoming.

We decided to shoot in the backyard. From the hedge break, Charlie Ribosky watched as Stefan sat down at our patio table and the crew wired him up. I stood near the back door, appalled as several other neighbors drifted into Charlie’s yard and lined up next to Charlie.

“If you can’t hear, you can get closer, Charlie!” I called. The group pretended to disband but really just slipped behind a taller portion of Charlie’s privet hedge.

Showtime!

Deanie Kessler told us that she had recorded a brief introduction to the series and this program earlier, thus it would be possible to get straight down to business.

“So we’re not here to talk about the crime, Stefan. We’re not here to talk about prison. We’re here to talk about what comes after you did your time. What do you want people to know about you today, Stefan? What do you want people to know about starting over?”

“It’s hard,” he said. “A lot harder than you think. I didn’t know what to expect but it can take your heart out. At first, it feels like no one will ever trust you again, and nothing you do can ever make you anything but a loser.”

He talked for a few moments about incarceration. “The punishment you get doesn’t take away the responsibility. I think there’s a responsibility to do something good, too, not just survive prison and go on with your life. Like a counterweight, not that it would really have the same weight. That is my reason for starting The Healing Project.”

“Now, this is like a platform for people to do something for their victims or their families. Are you your own first client, Stefan?”