Page 10 of Butterfly

“Even if you don’t right now, you will. He learned from his mistake, that’s all.”

Ollie frowned. “What mistake?”

“Jonesy, zip it,” Jack snapped.

Jonesy ignored him. “The mistake he made with his previous cellmate, Ryan.”

Green shook his head. “Seriously, shut it.”

“One of two things happened,” Jonesy continued. “Either Teddy pushed that pill into Ryan’s mouth, killing him so he’d have a replacement who’d be more willing to suck his cock, or Ryan swallowed that pill so he didn’t have to get down on his knees for Teddy anymore…”

“Jesus,” Green grunted. “Smack him one, will you?”

Jack walloped Jonesy across the back of the head.

“Ouch!” Jonesy ducked, anticipating a second strike. “What the hell was that for?”

“Not listening to us and shutting the hell up,” Green replied.

“Anyway.” Jack shook his head. “Whose go is it?”

“Teddy didn’t do that.” Ollie glared at Jonesy. “He didn’t kill his cellmate. He’s not like that. He’s protective, he’s caring, he’d never force himself on anyone…and if they rejected him, he’d never hurt them.”

Green and Jack both grimaced.

“Fuck me.” Jonesy dragged his hands down his face. He glanced around the wing. Their conversation had earned them an audience, and instead of speaking to Ollie, Jonesy spoke aloud to everyone else. “Are you all serious right now?”

No one answered.

Jonesy singled out Green and Jack. “And you claim to be his friends.”

“We are,” Green said.

Jack narrowed his eyes. “But we might not be yours anymore if you keep on.”

“Do you know why Teddy is in here?” Jonesy directed at Ollie. “Has anyone told you?”

Ollie pressed his lips in a firm line. He didn’t know the details, but he knew enough. He knew it wasfour. Teddy had been inside for over ten years and had told Ollie he wouldneverbe released.

“He killed one of his friends,” Jonesy said. “Gary. A guy he’d known since they were both in nappies. They were travellers together, had their caravans pitched close to each other. He set fire to the caravan, killing Gary, Gary’s mum Sally, Gary’s ten-year-old sister Blake and her best friend Annie, who happened to be sleeping over that night.”

Ollie opened his mouth to retort, to deny. His skin flushed with everybody staring at him, awaiting his reaction.

“He’s deranged.” Jonesy snorted. “And I can’t be the only person who thinks he might have killed Gary for the same reason he killed Ryan.” When no one spoke, Jonesy rolled his eyes. “Gary rejected him too.”

Ollie’s voice was small when it left him. “That’s not the Teddy I know.”

Jonesy sagged. “I know, but you need to be aware ofthatTeddy too. He doesn’t take ‘no’ well. Ryan said no to him. He told me so himself, and a month later, he’s dead. Suicide. Ask anyone in here whether he seemed suicidal, and they’ll tell you he didn’t.”

When Ollie looked around, the other inmates averted their gazes. Only Einstein, the old man with the wisps of white hair on both sides of his head, looked right back at him.

“No one knows what happened to Ryan that night,” Einstein said. “Both internal and external investigations were carried out. They don’t know where he got that pill, and they couldn’t prove Teddy had anything to do with his death—”

“They couldn’t prove it,” Jonesy jumped in, “but they suspected, like we all did.”

“No.” Einstein shook his head. “Not all of us.”

“That’s because you didn’t like knowing your buddy Sebastian had supplied the pill that killed him.”

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