Free Confessions of a Serial Alibi by Asia McClain Chapman Page A

I expected. Perhaps she was shorter or prettier than I anticipated. Perhaps she arrived late or early. Perhaps it was because she may not have been alone when she arrived. I can’t tell you. What I can say is that in the days after testifying I began to remember glimmers of speaking to Rabia on the phone. It began to feel like a small crack had opened up in the memory vault in my mind. I started to have the feeling that a phone conversation did take place with Rabia and that maybe I was in the kitchen making food when she had called. I’m not sure. The feeling was and still is very eerie to me, because I’m not certain about it and I’ve never been able to recall anything concrete.
    I have racked my brain over and over trying to remember something definitive, however nothing comes to mind. I can only assume that I didn’t hold on to that memory because to me the conversation wasn’t important. The point of the conversation was for her to schedule a visit and the actual visit is what was important to me and what I remember. It is also being thrown around that Rabia testified at the first post-conviction hearing that she, Saad and I also visited the Woodlawn Public Library in addition to going to see the notary. This could be true; I don’t remember. I can only remember going to the notary and I don’t remember anyone else being in the car. Again, this is after asking me how many years later?
    It was a beautiful, warm spring day when Rabia parked her car outside my grandparents’ house. I remember thinking that it was a dirty, unappealing little car, maybe blue (I’m not sure and I can’t exactly ask). The outside was dirty and I remember that she had a lot of papers inside of it. Either way I recall not liking her car and feeling kind of suspicious about her legitimacy as an attorney because of it. I also remember talking to her outside on the porch. She was a stranger and I was not about to invite a stranger into my home while alone. Female or not. I had been a “latch and key kid” from a very early age, and “no strangers in the house” was a cardinal rule that I never broke. I remember feeling confused about the purpose of Rabia’s visit because I did not follow the Syed trial and my knowledge of all the evidence heard by the jury was non-existent. As such I remember initially feeling quite guarded when Rabia showed up. I do remember that she was very polite and that I was the one who was somewhat a little rude and impatient. I had made plans to go somewhere that day and she was holding me up. I remember contemplating whether or not I should write the affidavit because I wasn’t sure to what degree I was volunteering to re-involve myself with the case. At some point I recall essentially saying to myself, “Screw it. What’s the worst thing that could happen? He’s already in prison.” I knew it was the right thing to do, so I went with my gut and agreed to write the affidavit anyway. Rabia grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote the word “Affidavit” at the top. She then handed me that same sheet of paper along with a pen. As I grabbed them from her I said, “Okay, now what?” and she responded by telling me to just repeat what I had just told her verbally in the affidavit. It was at this point I reminded Rabia that I had never written an affidavit before and that I didn’t know how to start it. She suggested that I start by stating my name, that I was of sound mind, my age and where I was previously and currently attending school. It made sense to me to do so, for identification and legitimacy purposes, so I obliged.
    Many people have speculated that Rabia spoon-fed me important times to relay in my first affidavit but this is simply not true. I don’t even recall Rabia telling me when the state had theorized that Adnan had killed Hae. Perhaps that she thought I was already aware. Perhaps she thought I understood the importance of the affidavit that I was writing, (call me naïve or stupid) but at