[somber music]
[suspenseful music]
- [crew member] Quiet please.
- [Woman] A, B mark.
- [Man] Rolling up.
- [Woman] All right, camera speed.
- [Mark] Few days, she's gonna go pick him up.
[woman gasping]
[prison guard speaking indistinctly]
- I met Bill through a prison pen pal program.
He has been in prison over 18 years.
- He cannot go to his mother and father's house.
He's got me a little bit concerned.
- Well, as far as Dad bringing a prisoner into the house,
I think it's insane.
- He's gonna stay at my house
until he gets back on his feet.
He was in prison for selling drugs, meth, coke, crack.
Drugs is drugs.
- You're okay with a convict living in your house?
- He's made some poor choices,
but everyone should have second chances.
- You're outta there, huh boy. How you doing, boy?
- After all these years.
Hi, Bill.
Prisoners, not all of them are bad,
some of them just made mistakes.
- Oh, how are you? [laughing]
- Hey, baby, oh!
- I'm doing this because I do understand
what he's going through 'cause I've lived it.
Jovan, that's my son, that's Steve.
- You cool with me, you know what I'm saying, staying here?
- I mean, I ain't cool with it.
- Here we do have your list of rules.
- I scarcely know how to respond.
- What I really wanna say is
what in the world are they doing?
- He's an adult, he has to make his own choices.
- He [beep] up.
I am done.
I will leave.
- If you do decide to see him without having approval,
I'm supposed to call the police.
- I ain't trying to.
I'm not trying to be [beep].
- Be smart and not stupid.
That is [beep] stupid.
- You've said that a [beep] dozen times.
- Get the [beep] out!
Jovan and I calling for the past two days
and some bull [beep].
You ain't gotta go home, but you gotta leave here.
- If you have something I need to know about, tell me.
It will make a difference.
- I can't do this anymore.
I'm done.
[prison bars rattling]
[gentle upbeat music]
- Look, we get to see the sun again.
- [Mark] Hopefully we'll receive a blessing
and be ready for this mission.
- [Sharna] Yes.
Always glad for Sabbath.
- I'm Mark.
- I'm Sharna.
I met Mark on a dating site.
- Yes, it's the Seventh Adventist dating site.
And now we've been married for seven years.
- And we're getting ready to house an inmate in our home.
- In two days, I'm leaving to go get Bill.
He's getting out of prison and he's coming to live with us.
- Hi Alicia. - Hey.
- [Mark] How have you been?
- [Alicia] Good.
Busy, but good.
How are you guys?
- [Sharna] Good. - [Mark] Good.
- Is the plan still on?
- [Sharna] Yes.
- Yeah, we're still gonna take this guy in evidently, so.
- All right, here we go.
- [Mark] Yeah.
- I've never met Bill in person.
I only know Bill from the time that I've been writing to him
through a prison pen pal program.
I was having issues with my marriage
and I needed something to fill my time helping other people.
I like to help others so I don't think
about my own problems.
This letter starts out, "I pray for you and the family."
He was in for burglary, high-speed fleeing,
and evading the police, et cetera at the
time of the escape, nothing fancy.
[laughing] That's what he says.
- [Alicia] So when is it happening?
- [Mark] A few days, she's gonna go pick him up.
- By herself?
- Yeah.
- You're doing okay, though?
- I'm doing okay.
I'm just really worried about the trip
and about what's gonna happen, what could go wrong.
- Yeah.
I mean, yeah, this is taking a big leap of faith.
- Would you consider being involved in helping us
through this?
- I would need you to trust what I say.
If there's red flags, I wanna be able to know
that I can talk to you about those openly
- [Sharna] Right. because I've been where he is.
I'm a 14 time felon.
I've been clean almost eight years now
and I know Mark and Sharna through jail ministry.
So I've had to navigate this process
and I am a firm believer in re-entry and I'm a firm believer
that people can change, but I'm gonna call a red flag
when I see a red flag and I'm not afraid to.
There's just a side of it that I'm wondering
if you thought about.
I mean, on paper, if we're being honest,
your wife was writing a man in prison
and she's bringing him home to your house.
- I have low expectations that this will succeed overall.
I'm worried that our house could be really disrespected,
that I could be disrespected as the man of the house.
- In any recovery community, they always suggest highly
women write women, men write men.
- Sharna swears that Bill has never been inappropriate
in his calls or writing,
however, a man in prison 18 years may end up
with starting some sort of inappropriate movements
towards my wife.
I'm definitely not gonna tolerate it.
- Do you know about the pen pal situations in prison
and what they're known for?
- No.
- Do you know that some pen pals are sold in prisons?
The letters are sold?
- Never heard of that.
- I've seen it happen in women's facilities with men.
The letters are then taken to another guy who needs
a place to stay.
It's a network.
The level of manipulation on the inside is what scares me.
What I really wanna say is what in the world are they doing?
I mean, I think we're all kind of questioning that.
I'm proud of them for stepping out in their faith,
however, we need to be real about what is gonna happen.
And then are we all ready for that?
Because there could be heartbreak.
Have you guys seen a progress report from the prison?
- [Mark] No.
- [Sharna] No.
- Okay, request a progress report.
You're gonna see their conduct history.
Are they using drugs while they're incarcerated?
Huge red flag.
Have they escaped?
That's another huge red flag.
- Yeah, he did.
- He walked off from a work program.
- That's yeah.
- I have new things to think about,
but I know that I'm still doing the right thing.
I must do what God tells me I need to do.
I'm not worried.
If it doesn't work out and he makes choices
that are not right, then it was his problem, not ours.
- We'll see.
[upbeat guitar music]
♪ Faster than a speeding bullet ♪
♪ More powerful than a train
♪ When he speaks the world really listens ♪
♪ I wish I could say the same
- I'm Dr. Henry.
I'm a psychiatrist.
I'm 68 years old living in Northville, Michigan.
Siggy, who came here today?
Hello, Sigmund Freud.
Yes, I had to make sure that you didn't make any errors.
Oh, wait, I'm thinking of wanting to have sex
with my mother, right?
My friends describe me as eccentric and kind of a weirdo,
but the sooner you own it, the better things go.
Well, keep that subconscious in mind.
Okay, I'll keep that in mind.
Very good.
I got married about 30 years ago.
I married a wonderful woman.
We have two children.
We were married for about seven years.
It didn't go as well as I wanted and we got divorced.
At my age, living alone has been going pretty well.
And now I'm about to take a returning citizen,
an inmate, Darquavion, in to live with me.
Darquavion was a patient of mine
and seven years ago, he came into my residential unit
as a teenager.
And he'd been through some very rough things
where he made some poor choices.
- I stayed involved with him for the seven years
because he's a really remarkable person.
Once it was established that Darquavion was getting out,
I saw that he didn't have a safe place to go.
So I just said, maybe you should come here
and live here for a while.
He was thrilled with it.
You come up the stairs here.
The messy room over here is my bedroom,
Which is messy right now because we've had to put some stuff
in there to get the room that Darquavion's gonna be in
cleared out so when Darquavion gets here,
he'll be able to just enjoy it.
This is the bathroom.
That is a great bathroom
except right now it doesn't work very well,
but we're getting this fixed.
No problem.
As you can see that we have to use this all the time.
But we're getting it fixed.
- So I've had a few people that have asked me
if I'm a hoarder.
My mother was a severe hoarder,
my dad was a medium hoarder, and my brother was a hoarder.
And I had to put up with that all the time, but I'm not.
Today, we're getting everything prepped.
I'm excited, but I've also been very nervous
because I see things that aren't yet
quite where I want them to be.
This is a pretty nice windows to look out of
and he can feel like he's got his own space.
At the same time, he feels connected to me,
which I think is really important
because he went through a lot of traumas.
Like getting this bed ready, given that he's had
a lousy bed arrangement in prison.
The fact things are clean here will help him get back
into a better life.
I wanna know, can what I'm doing make a huge difference
in Darquavion.
Because getting outta prison after seven years,
what he needs to do is live his life in a way
that is consistent with adults.
But he can't do it impulsively and then have it backfire.
At these moments, all I can do is stay involved
and help him find his way.
There are the clothes that he may need.
This sheet says, "Darquavion, if any of these clothes work
for you, they are yours."
This note says, "Welcome, Darquavion!"
so I'll put that right on top.
I'm certainly very excited I'm gonna get to see Darquavion
which I haven't been able to do for seven years.
But I also wonder what's gonna go wrong.
So I'm just trying to brace myself for that.
[country music]
[engine sputtering]
- Hold.
[engine revving]
[suspenseful music]
- [Michael] How's everything with Aaron?
Have you heard anything?
- When is he supposed to show up?
- Well, the whole thing's got me concerned.
I mean, this guy, we don't even know this guy.
Well, as far as Dad bringing a prisoner into the house,
I think it's insane.
I don't know what has this guy done?
I mean, he's been in prison for years.
I mean, how many fights has he been in?
Is he angry?
What if they got into a simple argument
and it escalated it and then my dad ended up getting hurt?
- I don't wanna catch no charges trying to keep you safe.
[engine revving]
[suspenseful music]
[cell phone ringing]
- [Operator] Hello, this is a prepaid debit call from--
- [Bill] Bill [beep].
- [Operator] An inmate
at the Virginia Department of Corrections.
To accept this call, press zero.
- I'm leaving tomorrow to go pick up Bill.
I'm gonna be driving my van to Virginia for about 10 hours
and then I will sleep in my van overnight
close to the prison, wait for him to come out, pick him up,
bring him back, and he's coming to live with us.
- Hey, Bill, good morning.
- Hey.
- Good morning.
- [Mark] Good.
- Bill has been in prison a little over 18 years.
I'm just really excited to let him adapt to being back out
in the free world and anxious to get in the car
and hit the road.
What time are you getting out?
- Okay.
Well what's the first thing you wanna do when you get out?
- Okay.
- I don't think that's a good idea, Bill.
I don't think that's a good idea.
[Bill laughing]
Sorry.
- I think Sharna can be very naive and I sure hope
that Bill coming to parole here does not turn around to bite
us in the back.
- Well, you know, in our home that we don't watch anything
that's rated R and stuff, so you need to keep
all of your movies kosher, nothing with immorality
and things in it.
- Well, we'll have to go over the rules with you
when we get here, but we live in a Christian home,
so anything like nudity or pornography,
nothing like that is allowed.
And on the internet or anything.
- [Sharna] Okay.
- [Sharna] Oh.
- [Operator] One minute remaining.
- Well, we're looking forward to seeing you
in a couple days, talking to you later.
- [Operator] Thank you for using GTL.
- Definitely getting nervous about this.
I just don't, I don't think he's a rule follower.
He's joking about going to Miami and going here
and there, but I don't think that's funny.
I think he needs to get a job,
follow the rules of the house,
and then get out within a certain amount of time.
- We can't expect that he's gonna go from prison
and come to a prison.
- If he doesn't follow the rules,
he's just gonna have to go.
[intense music]
[gentle music]
- My name is Artie.
I am 53 years old.
I'm from Cleveland, Ohio, and I'm a homemaker.
I've never been married.
I have three children and I'm single.
And I like it like that.
- Okay.
My quality of life today is not what it used to be.
Every day, I'm in some kind of pain constantly.
I have cervical stenosis and degenerative bone disease,
so it's serious pain.
[water running]
My medications make me drowsy, but I keep on keepin' on.
Yeah.
[cell phone ringing]
Hello.
- [Operator] This call is from a correction facility
and is subject to monitoring and recording.
- And what's going on?
You all packed up?
- I know it.
A returning citizen named Jovan has asked could he stay
at my house until he gets back on his feet
and I told him that he could.
[suspenseful music]
- I thought you'd probably enjoy a good, home-cooked meal.
- Well, you got that coming.
I have a very good friend that's in prison with Jovan
and he gave Jovan my phone number and told him
that I might have a room for him.
I got to talk to Jovan and I really believe
that he's trying to change his life.
So tomorrow morning, he's getting out
and I'm going to meet
him at the gate for the very first time.
So you getting out tomorrow,
you think you're gonna sleep tonight?
- [laughing] I know, right?
That's gonna make your night go so slow.
- Right, right.
I do feel that there's a stigma put on people
who have been incarcerated
and I don't think that's fair because people do change.
[upbeat music]
I have been to prison one time.
That was like 23 years ago.
It was a probation violation.
Being locked up has given me a different outlook.
I have more compassion for people that have been locked up
because I know, even for the smallest crime,
you get treated like a piece of crap.
I do understand what he's going through
'cause I've lived it.
All right, babe.
- You have a good night and get some sleep.
- Talk to you soon, bye bye.
My ultimate goal is to see a success story, to see
him become productive without having to hustle
in the streets and traffic drugs.
And he'll look back and say, well, wow,
she really helped me.
I want everything to be perfect because I have a real OCD
about my bathrooms, the handles, and the toilet, everything.
I'll let him know that and I hope he abides by it.
My fear is that he'll go back out in the streets.
That would be the ultimate let down.
If Jovan acts like a slob, I will totally freak out,
totally.
[upbeat music]
♪ This is my father's world
♪ And to my listening ears
♪ All nature sings and round me rings ♪
♪ The music of the spheres
- [GPS] Welcome to Ohio.
- Welcome to Ohio.
It's surreal to think that all of the letters I've received
from Bill for five and a half years and the next time,
it won't be a letter, I'll get to talk to him in person
and I'm looking forward to that.
It's time to set you free, Bill.
- Bill's house rules.
No drinking or drugs.
I'm still very nervous about whether or not I believe
Bill coming to parole here is a good idea.
The more and more I find out about Bill's past
and his crimes, the more I wonder how many more things
there may be hidden.
I don't think I would've done this if it wasn't for Sharna.
I would do anything for her.
No women sleeping overnight.
And the most important thing right now is to finish
this list of rules we've been working on.
I believe this will give him a better chance of making it
in this house if he's able to follow these rules.
If there is noncompliance,
there will be penalties.
If we have problems in this house,
we're prepared to call a parole officer,
we're prepared to call the police.
We don't know what's gonna happen,
but we just really want everything to stay safe.
[gentle guitar music]
[phone ringing]
- Hi, I have an appointment to speak with Darquavion.
- [Henry] Hey, Darquavion.
- I'm doing well, excited you're gonna be here tomorrow.
[Henry laughing]
- What's the first thing you wanna do when you get out?
- Cool.
- I guess we will have to watch out for you being
a ladies' guy and that you like to hang with them,
that's fine, but we'll have to keep an eye on that.
Make sure it's all okay.
- Everyone who's coming out of prison is set up to fail.
You have to put things in place very carefully to get
you a job, get you work, get you connections
that keep you out of trouble.
And being a ladies' man isn't one of them.
Do you feel like you're on top of what you gotta do?
You're gonna have to check in with the prison people
on some kind of regular basis, right?
- Darquavion's very excited about getting out, that's great.
He's gotta be very careful and realize that he has a sense
of freedom, but he needs to know
that this is an illusion, he's not really free.
And if he makes the wrong choices,
they could put him back in prison.
It worries me that he doesn't seem as focused
as he needs to be.
- Yeah, good.
- You, too, bye bye.
[suspenseful music]
I've never really liked waking up in the morning,
but then I've also said numerous times
when people have asked,
"Does it help me to see a psychiatrist?"
I say, "Well, I see one every morning
and it's never helped me."
That's my standing joke.
- Yeah, today's a big day.
[knocking on door]
Hey, you're here, man.
- [Maliek] Nice to meet you.
- Good, it's good to see you and meet you.
Let's go.
- I think this experience has scared the hell out of him,
to be honest with you.
- Yeah, I agree with you about that.
- And when you've gone seven to 20, it makes you think.
I don't know how you lay down your structure of law,
but DQ love, he loves money.
I can tell you that he loves money, he loves women.
Those two things together, - Yeah.
just make sure that's not his only focus.
- [Henry] And it's really important that he doesn't make
a mistake.
- Correct.
- Where he could get pulled back into prison.
- [Maliek] Man.
- You immediately see how it's all blocked off
so nobody can get out.
That's gotta be disturbing.
- I know.
- To be constantly in this place that there's no way
you can get out.
- But I couldn't imagine being in prison, honestly.
- No. I love my freedom way too much.
- Yeah, me too.
All right, here we are.
[car honking]
Darquavion brings into my home, risk,
and I don't have a lot of confidence that he understands
he's gotta be focused in a much wider way
than he's been on the phone.
Darquavion seems to be very focused on dating
and having a great time.
It's impulsive.
And that's one of the biggest worries.
When you're getting outta prison,
you're gonna do these impulsive things
that lead you to break the laws and hurt somebody.
- [Maliek] What's up, [indistinct]?
Joe, this is Henry.
Henry, this is Joe.
This is DQ uncle.
- Oh, you're the uncle, yes.
Okay, great.
- [Joe] DQ tells me good things about you, though.
He highly respects you, he respects you very, very much.
I'd love to see him come home,
hate that he had to go through what he did,
but I know that in that process,
you learn how to be a man around other men.
But going back into life as a regular civilian is just,
it's an adjustment.
[suspenseful music]
That boy's shaking.
- [Starr] He's scared.
- [Henry] DQ is gonna feel good to come out and see family
that are actual family.
- Darquavion is very nervous about going back out
into the real world and he wants someone who can help
him not make mistakes.
And family is different.
They're important and they make a difference
and they have opinions and he's affected by them,
but he likes having a mentor like me
who's not in the family.
- Now the last Darquavion I saw was a really funny,
well-intended fellow who seemed to help people
and things like that.
I have to believe that some form
of that guy's gonna be here, but who knows?
- [Joe] Eight long years.
- In this situation. I'm walking into it rather blindly.
There he comes.
- [Maliek] Outta there, boy.
I need a hug, what!
What?
[Maliek and Darquavion speaking indistinctly]
- [Henry] I kind of recognize you, I think.
Good to see you, man.
Yeah, it's great to see you.
[Joe speaking indistinctly]
- [Darquavion] All right, that's my brother.
Shake.
- [Tony] There you go.
- [Henry] Man, it's gotta be good to be getting out.
Woo, feels good.
I've been waitin' for this moment a long time.
Just been a journey, you know?
Came here, I was 17.
What's up, bro, you straight?
Very anxious to get on with my life.
- [Henry] All right, yeah.
All right, let's do it.
- [Starr] Ooh, we.
- Damn.
Like a new man.
It's just take it a day at a time.
- [Maliek] All right, man, you ready to go, DQ?
- [Darquavion] Hell, yeah.
Free at last.
[country music]
[leaf blower humming]
- The last time I heard from Aaron was three days ago
and we didn't have a chance to communicate very long
'cause the phone just went dead.
You know what?
You got it?
[gentle music]
[phone ringing]
- [Operator] Please leave your message for [beep].
[torch blowing]
[gentle music]
[phone alarm chiming]
- I had about a little less than four hours of sleep.
It was a long journey to drive 10 hours,
but I made it.
It's time to start a new life, Bill.
- [GPS] Turn Right.
- Okay, here we go.
Good morning.
I have to pick up William [beep],
he's being released today.
Where do I go?
- Okay.
I've been waiting to meet Bill for a long time.
Finally, it's happening.
[dramatic music]
[Sharna sighs]
Is it him?
[prison bars rattling]
- What's up, dog?
I've made the choice to bring Nick here.
I want to help him succeed in the best way
that he possibly can.
- Being locked up for three years, it was fight or flight.
How you doing, man?
And I'm not flight nothing.
- So what exactly did she do?
- [Woman] She got caught doing credit card fraud.
She destroyed people's life by taking their money.
- I have to put my sandwiches in the air conditioning vent
'cause I'm not allowed to use the refrigerator.
This is so ridiculous.
- Jovan!
You have to respect my house, period.
Do it my way or go.
- What are you watching?
Are you watching something?
- I'm watching a porno.
- I see.
- [Man] But I know he got caught up with a bad drug habit.
- [Woman] And this is the person you are welcoming
into our home?
- I don't think it's gonna go well.
- Just stop talking to me, bro.
- I'll smack this broad right now.
- Ain't nobody gonna do nothing.
- Lord, we don't know what to do.
We ask for you to show us.
- You're so convinced that your version
of Christianity is correct
that everybody else is a piece of [beep].
- Why don't you just get out?
- I know you were on something,
I could tell by your eyeballs.
- I was not high on [beep] anything.
- Well, you proved me right, Nick.
- We're done here.
I'm leaving. I'm over this [beep].
- I don't want him coming up here and him winding up dead.
I wouldn't be able to live with that.
- [Man] You've been served.
- What?
I've been served?
Here it is right now.
Drama in its fullest [beep] form.
- I've dealt with this for four [beep] years.
- Okay, okay.
- Honestly, I wish I would've never agreed to this.
I feel like it's backfiring on me.
Shut the [beep] up!
- I don't appreciate being lied to.
I'm done.
- We're done with it.
- No.
- We're done--
- Sorry we failed you.
[prison bars rattling]