The Master Plan: My Journey from Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose

At Christmas 2013, a little more than a year and a half after leaving prison, Wilson purchases a black 2001 Corvette. He takes Steve’s weekly phone call—one o’clock in the afternoon every Sunday—from the driver’s seat of his new car. He tells Steve not to worry: “You’ll be here, too. You’ll be here real soon” (329).

Wilson speaks to a diverse audience at the University of Baltimore law school. He shares the story of one of Mr. Edwards’s visits to Patuxent. On this visit, the normally upbeat Mr. Edwards looked serious. Mr. Edwards told Wilson and Steve that he received a vision from God and that one day they both would be free. Meanwhile, a Columbia University study shows that the attack Steve suffered at age 14 caused him serious brain trauma, but the state fights to keep him in prison. Wilson attends Steve’s hearing on June 20, 2014. A three-judge panel concludes that Steve does not belong in prison. On June 23, Wilson arrives at Patuxent in his Corvette to pick up his newly freed friend, and they drive away from the prison together.