The Teacher [Watty Awards 2013] - COMPLETE

XVI - Chances are

US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, EARLY 2013

It was raining outside and the sky couldn’t have been more cloudier than today. Emelda Sloan stared out the window as she sat down in her small office in the east wing of the Department of Justice building. Today was not her ordinary day. She was forced with the decision that may inflict the fate of so many lives. She wanted to do the right thing but she didn’t know what was right. According to the document she held in her hand, the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay or better known to her as Gitmo should be put to trial as a respond to a hunger strike that had caught numerous media attention. She agreed that something must be done to end the strike but whe wasn’t sure of agreeing to the prisoner’s innocences. However, the document was written by a lawyer and backed up by a big Human Right Watch agency. Emelda had a feeling that these people are serious people. She knew that if she didn’t do something, they will continue to seek other means to serve their cause. But she wasn’t to make decision based solely on that. She somehow leaned to believe in everything that was written on the document as if she was swayed towards the same emotion the writer was feeling. “He must’ve been a very persuasive lawyer” she tought.

As the legal advisor for the department, her job these days concentrated mostly on the hunger strike. She felt like she was assigned as the single task force officer specifically for that issue. She received almost all 164 review applications for the prisoners left in Gitmo in only a month time but this one particular paper had always caught her attention. The best she can do is to advise for the prisoners’ review but she was also worried for this particular prisoner due to the sensitivity of the conviction against him. He was claimed to be involved in America’s most devastating historic event, the September 11. According to the lawyer who wrote the review application proposal, he can prove that the man was innocent. Emelda sat there a little while longer contemplating her next move when in the end, she decided to give him a shot.

She piled all the documents she needed and head straight to the Head of Department’s office. As soon as she arrived, she was greeted and ushered into the office by Margaret. Emelda could see the familiar coffee table on the left and the enormous book shelf on the right when she entered the office. Preston Smith, the director of the department was sitting behind his desk, facing Emelda. He then asked, “Made your decision?”

Emelda walked towards him and placed ten sets of documents on the oval-shaped mahogany table. “We should start with these.” She said. Preston carefully picked up one document and put his reading glasses on, eyeing every details in the document. Once he was done reading the document, he placed them on the table, contemplate for a few nanoseconds then signed the paper and stamped them. After that, he went on to the next documents and so on until he reached the final document. Emelda eyed him curiously as he seemed to take a longer time with it compared to the rest. There were a few times that she saw a surprised look on his face as he was reading. When he was done, he removed his glasses and stared at Emelda with clear freckles on his forehead, “Ahmed Al-Zarafi. Are you sure we should review him?” He asked.

“I’ve never been this sure my whole life.” She answered and she meant every words.

Preston sighed and look down at the paper. He hesitated for a while then he muttered, “Very well, then.” He picked up his pen and drew his signature. Then, he stamped on the paper, “APPROVED”.