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

the time I did not. In the affidavit I repeated the story of my chance encounter with Adnan Syed. While writing, I recalled that Woodlawn had already let out for the day at 2:15 PM. I also recalled that all the school buses were about to take the majority of students off the school property, thus why I wrote 2:20 PM in parentheses in the affidavit. I stated the amount of time that Adnan and I spent together and our location, along with a brief description of Adnan’s demeanor. Towards the end of writing the affidavit Rabia once again asked if I was sure that no one from Syed’s legal team had ever contacted me, to which I replied “yes.” This seemed to be of great importance to her (because she had asked me multiple times throughout our conversation) so I made sure to include a statement referring to that fact at the end of my affidavit.
    When it came to signing the affidavit, I remember that I did have the fleeting thought of waiting until an adult came home before signing it. I wasn’t quite sure when that would be, so instead of waiting (because I had other plans) I made the decision to go ahead and sign the affidavit without waiting. This is when Rabia especially annoyed me. I was ready to end the conversation thinking that my duty was almost complete. Rabia then informed me that my signature needed to be witnessed and signed by a notary. Again, this highly annoyed me because I had somewhere else to be and considered it a huge inconvenience of my time to have to leave with Rabia to get the notarization done. I don’t remember exactly where the notary was located; I believe at a check-cashing place at a local shopping center. I have read online that the notary location had been criticized. Why didn’t Rabia take me somewhere more official like a bank? Best answer I can give you is that A) the banks were closed and B) she was trying to get me somewhere close and quick because she could tell that my patience was running low.
    So into her little car we went. The fact that I was getting into the car of a stranger did cross my mind, however it was another fleeting thought that I eventually shook off. As I got into her car I remember thinking that I could “hold my own” if she began to drive me anywhere other than where we’d discussed. Funny thing is after she began to drive, I remember checking to see if my passenger door was unlocked (and it was), in the event that I needed to jump out of her moving car. Yeah, I thought I was pretty badass back then. The thought of road rash was something I was willing to take over being kidnapped and possibly murdered any day. Luckily Rabia was cool and we didn’t have any issues that required me to activate my “badassdom.” You’d think I’d remember more about the notary experience itself but I do not. Probably because I was in a rush to get it over with. It was my first time ever having a document notarized but I don’t remember the exact location or the person who notarized it. I do remember that it wasn’t too long of a drive from my house and that I was perplexed after Rabia accidentally drove past my house (by about two houses) when she attempted to drop me back off at home. I remember thinking, “Really? Weren’t you just here, lady?” and then she, embarrassed, apologized for her error.
    The last thing that I recall about the whole situation was that it immediately felt like Rabia was going to hug and kiss me all over my face after the document was “official.” I remember her being very happy and thankful, kind of like the type of thankfulness you’d imagine getting when returning a lost child. In any case I remember that her reaction made me feel good inside. As I went to close the door, I stopped and said, “Oh, my boyfriend and his buddy Jerrod remember seeing Adnan that day too. They aren’t the type to want to get involved with cops and court stuff, so don’t involve them unless you have to. I know they remember because I asked them before I wrote