ST. LOUIS — Christopher Dunn has been free for a day and a half. He wants to see his father.
He strolls the unkempt rows of headstones at Washington Park Cemetery in Missouri, enjoying his freedom after being wrongfully convicted of murder and imprisoned for 34 years. His wife, Kira Dunn, whom he met and married while in prison, is there beside him. His father's grave is marked by a simple wooden stake.
Chris sits down beside the stake and hangs his head. He promised himself he'd buy a headstone for his father. That was one of the promises he made to himself and his family that prison broke for him.
Chris closes his eyes and removes his glasses. Kira kneels beside him. She puts her arms around his shoulders and wipes away his tears.
They stay there for several moments. Eventually, Chris pulls a red Sharpie from his pocket and the stake from the ground. He writes: "William Douglas Baker.
July 12, 1989." Then he signs it, "You are loved old man," and plants it back into the ground. The next day, Chris, 52, and Kira, 54, would pack up a rented silver Toyota Corolla, fill it with gas and leave on a six-state road trip to California.
They'd travel thousands of miles hoping to bury the disappointments of the past and cling to the lessons and promises that sustained them. They'd also make a fresh start, with a new home and a new life. They'd have a chance at new promises.
*** Christopher Dunn was one of his father's 37 children and the youngest of 14 sons. Still, he and his father.