Dear Helen,
Please don't be sad. I miss you and the kids very much and I wish I could be back by your side, but I don't think they'll let me out. Last night I heard them talking, they said I'll be hanged today. I'm not going to be hanged, Helen. I did nothing wrong. This shame and humiliation, you know I cannot bear it. Today I'm going to run away, and if they shoot me they do. I'm sorry, Helen, love, please understand. This may be the last time we talk, but I'll always be looking down on you, praying and wishing you the best. Sorry I'm going to a peaceful place, leaving you behind to take care of the kids and do all the hard work. I'm such a useless man, Helen. I couldn't earn a lot of money, couldn't buy you pretty clothes or give you a comfortable place to live in, and now I'm leaving you, for a long, long time, maybe. But don't worry, I will come back. If there is a next life, I'll make sure to find you again, even if you're at the other end of the world. We'll get married, have babies, and I'll give you everything a woman could ever ask for. But please don't blame it on Mayella, my love. She's just a young girl that's made the wrong decision. She's a poor girl, too, living along with her cruel father. I know because I see her everyday, and she's always working. Sometimes there's bruises on her face, and I’ll know that Mr.Ewell got drunk again. This is a cruel world, my love, it isn’t fair with anybody. But I'm sure it will change. There will be a day when all men are treated equally. The racism will end, Helen, and I want you and the kids to be there to witness it. I need to go now, my love, they're coming to get us. But before I say goodbye, I want you to do me one last favor. I want you to be safe and happy, even if that means marrying another man. Please tell the kids that their father wasn't a bad person. Do take care of them, my love. But I want you to take care of yourself as well. I want you to forget me. Just do me this one favor, my love, forget me and move on with your life. There are way better things ahead of you, and I don't want you to be kept back just because of your husbands bad luck. But I do not call myself unfortunate, my love. If I had the choice to choose who I wanted to be, black or white, I would still have chosen myself, because I met you, and that's all what matters. I would choose the same life over and over again for a billion times and still not think otherwise. Now I need to say goodbye, my love, but just for a short time. I'll find you in our next life, in which all men will be treated equally. I'm sure there will be a day, my love. Live to see the change.
Tom Robinson
August 31, 1935