The warden was a little suspicious of Kevin Grant’s true motives. After all, it would be pretty embarrassing if Mr. Grant actually had retribution on his mind rather than forgiveness. But after meeting with him, he agreed to permit him a supervised visit with Tony and Danny.

He arranged for them to meet in a small conference room that was reserved for family visits. The meeting would be private, except for the presence of a prison guard.

Danny was the first to arrive. He was lead into a nondescript room that was painted the sort of muted color he had come to expect in institutions. He sat there in the room alone, and looked out the window. It was clear, except for the wire embedded inside the glass. In the distance, beyond the prison wall, he could see the town of Chillicothe, the church spires rising up above the surrounding buildings. It was two in the afternoon; outside the sun was shining and he knew the temperature was in the nineties. The air conditioner hummed away, so it was almost chilly in the room. He was glad he would see Tony, but had his doubts about how things would go with Grant. He still could not believe the guy was for real.

The door opened, and in walked Tony. They had not seen each other in over a year, but they had spoken on the phone a few times. They hugged and then stepped back to look at each other.

“Man, you look great,” Danny said, a little envious. “You look like you’ve been on vacation in the Caribbean or something!”

“You look good, too, Little Brother,” Tony replied, but he was a little alarmed by the stilted sadness he detected in his brother’s eyes.

They knew they only had a few minutes before Kevin Grant arrived, and so they talked quickly back and forth about how amazing it was they were having this meeting. Tony was totally convinced Grant was sincere. He had developed a regular practice of praying and reading the Bible himself, and understood the concept of forgiveness. “We need to forgive ourselves for our mistakes, first of all, bro,” he said, putting his hand on Danny’s shoulder, and looking him straight in the eye. “This isn’t BS. I’ve really changed.”

Danny was about to say he could see that something was different about Tony, when the door opened again and there stood Kevin Grant. He hadn’t been able to attend the court proceedings due to his condition, so the last time these three were in the same room was on that fateful night, when they were clubbing and swearing at one another.