Summary
There are four days left until Patrick’s execution. Prejean
visits Eddie, who hands her a note confessing to the killing. He
asks her to get it to the governor. Prejean describes her conversations
with the guards, many of whom are the second or third generation
workers at the prison. Prejean also describes the death house to
which Patrick has been moved.
Prejean tells Patrick about the Pardon Board hearing.
He is angry about not being there. He has Prejean write a letter
to the governor asking permission to plead before the board.
Prejean drives to New Orleans for a strategy meeting with
Millard and the other attorneys. Her friend Kathleen reminds Prejean
to help Patrick prepare for death. At the prison, Patrick and a
guard watch a basketball game together as if they are friends. Patrick
says he hopes he has the strength to make that last walk, and that
he’s ready “to go if it comes down.”
Prejean has a brief conversation about the death penalty
with Captain John Rabelais, the man responsible for Camp F and the death
house. One of the guards on duty says he does not want to be there,
but he has a wife and kids to support. Prejean organizes a prayer
service with the prison chaplain for the following afternoon. Prejean
hardly sleeps that evening. She is on antibiotics for a bronchial
infection.
At the prison, Warden Maggio says he is just doing his
job, and that nobody is excited about this execution. After speaking
on the phone with C. Paul Phelps, head of the Department of Corrections, Prejean
drives to the death house. She meets with Captain Rabelais to discuss
Patrick’s prayer service. Exhausted, she passes out during the conversation.
She goes back to see Patrick, who is worried about her.
The prison chaplain, an old Catholic priest, arrives, and they have
a prayer service in Latin. Prejean says she feels sorry for the
old man, who believes rituals are enough. Prejean encourages Patrick
to share his emotions. He says he can’t let go or he will lose control.
The only love he has known, he says, has been here in prison with
Prejean. Prejean says she feels humbled “in the face of this man’s
utter poverty.”
