Andrew Pappachen, who migrated from India to USA in 1973 has been living in New Jersey ever since. When he migrated he had a Master Degree in Chemistry from Kerala University, India. Later in USA, he had taken a Master Degree in Environmental Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey and a Certificate in Public Administration from Rutgers University. He has been working in government for the past 47 years. Andrew started working as a chemist in City of Newark, Water Supply and retired in 2018 as Director of Public Works. From 2012-2019 he served as the Environmental Commissioner in Montville Township, where he lives. Andrew currently is an Environmental Consultant and a New Jersey State certified water distribution system and water treatment operator with W4 and T4 licenses. He had worked as a consultant in City of Trenton, Water Supply and afterward as a part time engineer. Andrew Pappachen has published several books both in English and his mother tongue Malayalam. His English publications are, Love With The Ghost. Journey Alone, Rays of Light From The Darkness of A Prison Cell, Zero to Infinity and Story of Achu. Each book of Andrew has a different theme and story. Zero to Infinity is a scientific, cultural and historic narration of origin of Universe and Life on Earth and travel through various stages of Human development. He also explores the infinite size of the Universe and the very minute size of Earth in comparison to the size of endless Universe with billions of galaxies and trillions of stars. He also explores various religions and the existence of God. Andrew's recent book Story of Achu was published in November, 2020. This is a story of a person born in Kerala, India in a poor family, achieved good education through scholarship in India, migrated to USA, advanced is education in Finance and Investment, became an investment banker and became a millionaire in capitalistic USA. The story is narrated with contemporary governments and economic conditions in India and USA.

Rays of Light from the Darkness of a Prison Cell

By Andrew Pappachen

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 Andrew Pappachen
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4685-5831-9

Chapter One

Alfred looks through the small hole in the wall of his prison cell and sees the beams of light from the full moon. But his cell is very dark. It is past midnight, and there is pin-drop silence. He can see some light rays from a light inside the prison corridor a few feet away from his cell. He has been locked up here for more than a month. He is taken out of the cell once a day for an hour with chained hands and legs. Otherwise he is confined to the prison cell. The food is served to him through the little window. Alfred is outraged at his conditions, but there is nobody to complain to.

Alfred remembers sitting in the courtroom and listening to the prosecutor, who accused him of killing a woman. He could not remember killing her, but he remembers the woman lying on the floor with blood flowing from her chest. He then told the police that the woman was murdered by an intruder while he was out. When he came home, he saw the front door was opened and saw the body of the woman lying on the floor with blood flowing from her chest. The police believed him and comforted him. But later, the police came to the conclusion that he had killed the woman, and they charged him with murder. The murder weapon was the big butcher knife that was kept in the kitchen. The police could only find Alfred's fingerprints on the knife handle. They could not find any other evidence that somebody from outside entered the house. Alfred's lawyer asked him several times what had happened, and he told the same story to the defense lawyer also. The defense lawyer could not represent him properly, since Alfred did not have a credible story to tell. Even though he said that he had gone out, he could not say where he went and whom he met. Alfred does not remember anything. He is confused. He is sentenced to be in maximum-security prison for twenty-five years.

Alfred cannot sleep. He closes his eyes, and his thoughts go back to his childhood. He is the youngest of four children, with three older sisters. His father, Jerome, was a mechanic and worked in the nearby auto repair shop. His mother, Betty, worked as a waitress in the nearby restaurant. They lived in a village away from the city. His mother used to work ten to twelve hours every day. Jerome used to come home drunk after work. Alfred's grandmother—his mother's mother—lived with them, and she took care of the grandchildren until his mother came home. Betty was a quiet woman who never complained about her husband, even though occasionally he used to abuse her physically. When Alfred was convicted of second-degree murder, his mother was weeping heavily. Nobody else was there to weep for him. His sisters were not in the courtroom.

Alfred's father had died a few years ago. His father always treated his sisters very well, but he used to shout at Alfred and made him do all the housecleaning. His sisters were given freedom, and they always ganged up together. He used to hate his sisters. He used to complain to his mother about his father, but she could not help him, herself a victim of his father's abuse. His sisters are all married now and live far away from his mother and him. He has no relationship with his sisters.

Alfred had dropped out of high school and started work in a nearby foundry. He moved out of the house and lived alone in a small apartment. Since moving out, he did not have a close relationship with his father and sisters. He used to visit his mother regularly at the restaurant where she worked. He met a woman named Janet, who used to work with him, and started a friendship with her. But Alfred was unable to show affection to her. She started complaining to him that he did not show any love toward her. Alfred could not help himself. In his mind, he felt hatred toward women, yet a physical attraction toward her. He was very confused, and he started taking drugs to escape from his strange feelings. His hatred toward women increased. He started arguing with his girlfriend. One day, they had a big argument, and he stopped seeing her.

He decided to move out of the area, so he found a job in a factory in the city. He told his mother that he was moving to the city and promised to visit her often. In the city, he lived in a small room in a poor neighborhood. He continued his drug habit. He was leading a lonely life until he met a woman in the neighborhood who worked as a waitress in a restaurant, just like his mother. They became friends, and they met regularly. She also lived alone in the area. He told his mother that he met a woman and that she was also a waitress. Alfred thinks how happy his mother was when he told her about his girlfriend. What happened to him? He is now alone in a dark prison cell. How did he reach this place? He is now twenty-six years old. If he gets parole after twenty years, he will be forty-six years old. His mother is fifty-five now, and she will be seventy-five then. He misses his mother, and he regrets that he did not live with her after he dropped out of high school.

Alfred's mind is wandering through the wilderness. He never enjoyed his childhood. His father used to abuse him when he did not do the work he was asked to do, cleaning the house and the laundry. His sisters never did any work. He never got time to play with the kids in the neighborhood. He dropped out of school and got a job, to move away from his father and sisters. Even though his mother was nice to him, she did not have time to spend with him. She came from work late every day and worked seven days a week. Whatever money his father made he spent on drinking and partying with his friends. Mother supported the house with her earnings. She worked all her life and was still working.

Alfred led a life in darkness and ended up in a dark prison cell. Is it his making, or did the surroundings in which he grew up create the situation? His life was not properly molded. His childhood was filled with bad experiences and incidents. He never saw light while growing up. He continued his adult life in darkness. Now he has to spend twenty-five years in this dark cell. Will he ever see the light of life? He never received love and affection. When he was young, he yearned for it. His mother had no time to spend with him and express her love. When he became an adult, he moved out of the house because he could not live a life with his father and sisters. How does he get love in this prison cell where he has to spend twenty-three of the twenty-four hours a day? He gets one hour a day to walk around and exercise. He has one hour visiting time once a week. Who is going to visit him? He hopes his mother will come to see him, the only person who loves him still.

Chapter Two

Alfred spends a sleepless night. He is mad at everything. He had never thought about being in a prison cell. He blames everything on his father, who treated him very badly. Early in his childhood, he developed hatred toward his father and sisters, who abused him. His mother was always nice to him, but he could never experience her love because of his father and sisters. When his father abused him, his sisters also ganged up against him. He never experienced the love of his sisters either. In fact, the hatred he developed toward his sisters is now shown to his girlfriends. He could never fall in love with a woman.

Alfred's last girlfriend in the city was always nice to him. After work, she always came to his place and spent time with him. She discouraged him from using drugs, but he never listened to her. The more she tried to advise him about the dangers of drug use, the more he started hating her. One day she invited him to her place. While there, he took his drug of choice from his pocket and started sniffing it. She got mad and told him that he could not use drugs in her house. He got angry, and they got into an argument, which turned physical. He started hitting her on the head with a closed fist. She ran to the kitchen, took a knife, and came toward him. He held on to her hand to protect himself. While struggling, he pulled the knife away from her and stabbed her in the chest. She fell down and started bleeding heavily. Then he took the bloody knife with him and left the place. On the way, he threw the knife into a nearby river, went home, and washed off the blood from his hand.

The next morning, he saw the news on a local TV channel that a woman was found dead in her apartment, stabbed in the chest and that the police were looking for the murder weapon and the murderer. Alfred panicked. He called his employer and took a day off, and then went to see his mother. His mother saw he was very agitated and asked him if everything was all right. He told his mother that he had a fight with his girlfriend because he saw her with another man. His mother told him to go and see his old girlfriend, Janet, because she still asks for him. His mother made him dinner, and they talked about their time as a family when he was young.

Alfred told his mother, "I did not get enough love when I was young. You were always working. Father was always shouting at me. My sisters always ganged up against me and supported their father."

The next morning, Alfred went to see his old girlfriend, Janet, who was very happy to see him. He asked her, "Can you quit your job here and come to the city? You can get a job in the factory, I can marry you, and we can live together."

Janet was not ready for him. She told him, "Alfred, I am happy to see you. I want to stay in the village and keep my job in the foundry. They are paying me a good salary, and it is close to my house. You can visit me every weekend. Sometimes I can come to the city, but I do not like city life. It is too crowded. I like the quiet life."

Alfred was not happy to hear this. He told her, "Think about it. I shall definitely come and see you. I still love you."

Janet asked, "Do you still take drugs? You must stop your drug use. Otherwise, I cannot be your friend. I get scared when you are under the influence."

"I will definitely stop the drug use if we can be friends again. I promise." He wanted to regain her friendship.

"I have to see it to believe it."

Alfred promised again, "I will for you. Let me go now. My mother is waiting for me."

Alfred was still nervous and worried that when he reached the city, the investigators would stop by his place. Nobody knew about his relationship with the woman he killed. He had destroyed the murder weapon.

The next morning when he went to work, everybody was talking about the murder of a woman in the city. He asked a colleague, "Did the police find the murderer?"

"No, they are trying to locate her family and friends. Nobody has come forward yet. She had stab wounds, and she died of bleeding."

Alfred said, "Poor lady. I hope they find the murderer."

A few days passed, and nobody came to question Alfred. He was relieved. Every Saturday, he used to visit his mother and Janet in the village. Life returned to something resembling normal again. One day, he was sitting in his room, looking through the window and watching people walking in the streets. He saw a young lady standing alone and looking at him. He waved to her, and she waved back, so he gave her a signal to wait there. He went out and saw the young lady standing there. He asked her, "What are you doing here?

The lady replied, "I do not have a place to live. I am lost."

Alfred told her, "You can come with me. I live here in this building, second floor."

"Who are you? What is your name?"

"My name is Alfred. I live alone. I work in a factory nearby."

"My name is Alice. I came to town looking for a job. I only want a temporary place to live until I find a job."

"That is fine," Alfred said. "What do you do?"

"I can do any job. I have to make some money so that I can find my own place. Do you have a job for me?"

"We can talk about it. Come with me to my place, take a shower, and relax."

They went to Alfred's place, and he was very nice to her. After she took a shower, Alfred gave her something to eat. She was very tired and went to sleep. Early the next morning, she got up as Alfred was getting ready to go to work. He told her to make herself comfortable there and that he would be back in the evening. He gave her a key, in case she had to go out.

When Alfred came home, Alice was there. She had cleaned up the apartment and organized everything. He was very impressed and asked her, "Alice, why did you do all this work? It looks very nice."

Alice said, "I am a very organized person. I need everything to be kept clean."

"What type of job are you looking for? What are your qualifications?" Where are you from?"

"Well," she said, "it is a long story. I have attended college but never finished. My parents got me married to a businessman in the city. I have lived with him more than two years. He was always very busy and had no time for me. If he was not working, he was with his friends, drinking and partying. One day, when he was not home, one of his friends came to our place and started making moves on me. I struggled, got free, and ran outside. When my husband came, I told him the story. He did not believe me and instead accused me of inviting his friend while he was not home. I knew then that his friend had already talked to him. I was suspicious that when my husband and his friends were partying, they used to have prostitutes with them. After the incident, my husband used to come home drunk and physically abuse me. One day, I was prepared. I kept a kitchen knife with me. When he came home and started abusing me, I stabbed him and ran away. That is how I ended up here. I am not going back to him."

"Did anything happen to him? Did he get hurt?"

"I don't think the stabbing resulted in any major injury. When I tried to hit his stomach, he blocked me with his hand, and the knife might have made big cut in his arm."

"What will happen if he comes looking for you?"

"He might have contacted my father. I am not going back to him either. When I talked to them about my husband, they advised me to try to patch things up with him. Give me some time. Can I stay with you for few days?"

Alfred knew that she was in little trouble, and she needed some time to get to normal. He said, "You can stay here as long as you want. I am only afraid that your husband, being a businessman, may find you."

"Do not worry. I am going to cut my hair and change the style. Hereafter, you can call me Jenny. I'm not Alice anymore. I want to find a life for myself."

"Okay, Jenny, I have no problem with that. After all, if you stay with me, my place will be kept very clean."

In just a few days, Alfred and Jenny became very good friends. Jenny found a job in a nearby department store. They would go out together in the evenings to the park and to restaurants. Alfred stopped making his regular trip to the village to see his mother and Janet. He was very happy, and enjoyed coming home after work to spend time talking with Jenny or going out with her.

Suddenly, one evening during conversation, Jenny said, "Alfred, I found a place to live, very close to my workplace. I am going to stay with another girl who works with me."

Surprised, Alfred said, "I thought you are comfortable here and going to stay with me."

"It's too much trouble for you. There is only limited space here. I'm very thankful to you for everything you've done for me. We will still be friends. I have to give you some money for the expenses."

"No, Jenny, I don't want you to go. I never met a woman like you. In fact, I have fallen in love with you."

"I like you too. I told you early on that when I got a job and could manage myself, I would move. We can still meet and go out. I plan to contact my parents. I want to go and see them. I miss them."

"I forgot the fact that you are married. Maybe you just want to get back with your husband. Women are very selfish."

"No, Alfred, I don't want to get back with my husband.

I want to see my parents. I have to make sure that my husband does not find out."

Disappointed, Alfred said, "Okay, Jenny, do what you have to do. I wish you would stay with me."

"Sorry, Alfred. Please understand my situation."

The next day, Jenny moved out. She promised him that they would meet and asked Alfred to visit her.

Chapter Three

After Jenny left him, Alfred started feeling lonely again. He had been comfortable with her and wanted to marry her, but now his hatred toward women increased. He thought of visiting Jenny. He hadn't visited his mother for some time and therefore decided to visit the village. His mother was very happy to see him. She asked him, "What has happened to you? It's been a long time since you've been here."

"I had to work overtime and was tired. I shall make sure that I visit you more often."

"Okay, Alfred. Janet was asking about you when I saw her last week."

"How is she doing?" he asked. "I haven't seen her or talked to her for some time. I asked her to find a job in the city. She wanted to stay in the village."

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Rays of Light from the Darkness of a Prison Cellby Andrew Pappachen Copyright © 2012 by Andrew Pappachen. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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