Excellent Stacey discusses seeing Joshua with Rachel The Fix : The Fix - Chapter Thirteen by Jacob1395

Background Stacey knows her son Joshua is innocent of killing a young woman, and when a jury finds him guilty, she's certain the police have made him a scapegoat. For a summary of what's happened in previous posts, please see author notes. ************* 24th August 2023 ‘I’m going to arrange to see Joshua, well, I want to,’ I say, after swallowing a lump of mashed potato. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since it was first suggested to me earlier today. The thought of telling Rachel about my plans has been buzzing around inside my head; I know what she’s going to say to me, it’s pretty obvious. Of course, I want to see him, but I thought it would’ve taken me a bit more time to pluck up the courage. I didn’t think I would be seeing him so soon after the trial. Rachel stares at me. She puts down her fork. ‘D’you think that’s a good idea?’ she asks, frowning at me. We’re sitting in the kitchen. It’s six pm. I got home after seeing Lucie and Ruth at three this afternoon; I’d decided to stay out a little bit longer, knowing I’d have to convince Rachel I’d been out actively searching for some work. At least she didn’t question me too much about what I’d been up to; she’d just asked how my day had been. ‘I just want to see him to . . . look you don’t have to come with me, but I’d just like to talk to him, I want to try and keep some sort of relationship going with my son, even if he is in prison.’ I shift in my seat. Rachel seems to take forever to reply. If she seriously thinks Joshua did murder Susannah, part of her must hate him. I would hate him if I thought the same. I shift in my seat. ‘OK, when were you thinking?’ she asks. ‘I . . . I’m not sure, I’ve no idea how to even go about arranging a visit, I know there are certain days when family members and friends can visit inmates, but, perhaps next week if it can be arranged, I’m not sure if there’s a set day for visitors, it’s something I’ve never had to think about before.’ I glance towards the kitchen door. I can imagine what must be going through Rachel’s mind now, she’ll be thinking it’s a bad idea, she’s already warned me off trying to investigate the case further, even though my son’s innocent. ‘OK, you don’t need to worry about doing all the arranging; I’ll do all of that for you. But are you sure this is a good idea, it might be too upsetting for you?’ she asks. ‘I need to face it at some point, Rachel, if anything it might help me to come to terms with what’s happened,’ I say. I place my knife and fork on the plate, perhaps the last part of my sentence will help make Rachel agree to it. ‘Sorry, I’m not really hungry.’ Rachel dabs her mouth with her napkin. ‘Don’t worry; I think I overdid the sausages a bit anyway. Well, I can try and get all of this organised for tomorrow, if this is what you really want to do, or like you say, if there’s a certain day for visitors, then it might have to be next week sometimes.’ ‘Yes, please,’ I say, getting down from my seat. ‘Thank you, Rachel.’ I take my plate to the sink. The prospect of seeing my son in prison for the first time fills me with dread. He shouldn’t be there. He should be out, living his life. ********** Characters: Stacey (mother of Joshua)  Lucie (foreman of the jury) Joshua (Stacey's son) Susannah (murder victim)  Rachel (Stacey's daughter) Daniel (Stacey's ex-husband)  Ruth (journalist)  Author Notes Stacey attended the last day of her son's trial and was devastated when he was found guilty of murder, when she knows he is innocent. She is certain one of the jury members, the foreman, knows this too. Stacey is now desperate to prove her son's innocence. On her way out of the courtroom, Stacey spots the foreman and decides to follow her, following her to her home in Romford, before Stacey has the chance to speak to her she collapses outside her front door. Stacey has a brief conversation with the foreman, who she now knows is called Lucie, but before they can have a proper chat, an ambulance arrives and she's taken to hospital. In a flashback scene to a year before the trial, Stacey discovers her son, Joshua, is seeing someone. Her ex husband, Daniel has now urged her to move on with her life and to forget about what's happened. Stacey has now had a visit from Lucie who tells her she will try to help her prove her son's innocence. In the previous chapter, a flashback scene from over a year ago, Joshua tells her that he has started dating a girl called Susannah. Stacey returns home from hospital, and her daughter, Rachel tells her she needs to try and move on with her life. Lucie's now agreed to contact a friend who might be able to help them. Stacey has now met with Lucie and her friend, Ruth, who agrees to help them look into the case; Ruth suggests to Stacey that she visit her son in prison.

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