Page 23 of Fragments
Byron’s been clinging to his hetero status for as long as I’ve known him. But he likes it with me.I know he does.
“Why do you need this…?” he murmurs, gaze narrowing. “Why, Ren?”
My jittering evens out. And the confidence in what I’m about to say straightens my spine. “Because he’s mine. Whether he wants to be or not.”
My friend is gawking at me like I’m nuts, but before he can argue any further, the door to the row flings open. Rook peeks through, eyes landing on Hancock. Our attention is on them now.
“Hey… you gotta cover me for dinner,” Rook huffs.
Hancock’s forehead lines. “Why?”
“Kemper quit,” Rook breathes, looking and sounding frazzled.
“Hequit??”
Rook nods. “Bounced. He’s just… gone. I gotta run down to solitary and help Brenner.”
Rook’s eyes dart behind Hancock, to me and Byron. Then he turns and storms off.
Hancock rakes his fingers through his hair. “Jesus fuck, I hate this fucking place…” Flipping his wrist, he checks his watch. “Fuck it. We’re going now. Come on, assholes. Bitch-boy therapy session’s over. Dinnertime.” He yanks the bars open, nodding at Byron. “Against the wall.”
Byron does as he says while Hancock cuffs me, bringing us both out into the row. But as soon as he does, the door bursts open,again. Joy and Peters clomp past us without word, heading for Byron’s cell.
“What the fuck is this now??” Hancock barks. “This place falling apart or something?Fuck…”
“Don’t worry about it, princess,” Joy grunts at him while Peters enters the cell, striding out with Kieran O’Malley, cuffed and shackled.
“Wait… where are you taking him??” Byron shouts as they haul O’Malley away, struggling against their hold.
Hancock backhands Byron across the face. “I’ve had enough of this bullshit! Shut the fuck up and fall in line, inmate.” Byron is raging as he squares up to Hancock. Hancock’s hand falls to his taser, and he smirks. “Go ahead, 62. Make my day.”
“Alright, alright,” I mutter, shoving my friend away with my shoulder. “Let’s just calm the hell down.”
“Fook yeh!” O’Malley hollers. “Let me go! Yer all rats!”
Our heads whip in the direction of the door as Joy and Peters drag O’Malley off kicking and screaming.Literally.
I’m not sure where they’re taking him, but I know for a fact it won’t be a positive excursion.
Still, my friend Byron looks worried, and I don’t want him to be. So I grab him by the shirt with my cuffed hands. “Focus,” I tell him quietly. “Head in the game, remember?”
He lets out a long breath, trying to calm himself down as he nods. But not without first shooting a seething glare in Hancock’s direction.
“By all means, inmate…” Hancock grunts, shoving us both through the door. “Keep looking at me like that.”
A little while later…
My new cellmate is a weird guy.
Truth be told, when I first heard about Dascha Reznikov, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Admittedly, the idea I had in my head waswayoff.
I didn’t expect him to be so young. I mean, he’s older than me by a couple of years, but still. He’s apparently this world-renowned bank robber, and from looking at him, you wouldn’t guess it. In fact, he kinda looks like he should be a model, or a rock star or something.
He’s got that frightened, deer-in-headlights thing going on right now, which makes sense, what with the circumstances and all. And his guard is way up, also to be expected. It’s his first day in prison… and not justanyprison.
Arrival in Alabaster Penitentiary is like being whacked in the face a bunch of times with a pillowcase filled with bricks, especially if you’ve never been in jail before. Even for those whohave, being dumped in this place is a shock to the system.
I remember my first few days here…
