Hostile Environment

AJ woke up to the sound of Mike pacing back and forth, swearing and banging his fist into walls. He rolled his eyes and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Man, what is wrong with you?" Mike kept pacing, refusing to stop. And he kept mumbling. Only a few words AJ was able to make out and understand.

"What did you just say? Who hit you?" Mike finally stopped and pointed to his lip. It was slightly swollen and had a small stain of blood on it.

"Some nigger, I don't know his name! And I don't care. All I was doing was cleaning dishes, like I always do. And he comes up to me, bumps into me intentionally, and then he acts like I bumped into him. So he starts talking shit, right? Next thing I know he knocks me across the floor. And those damn guards break everything up before I can hit his black ass back." Mike yelled out through the open cell door as if he wanted the guy who hit him to hear what he was saying.

AJ could do nothing but sit back and laugh. Mike was offended by this response, of course.

"What the fuck is so funny, man?" AJ stopped laughing abruptly and looked Mike dead in the face.

"You are. Sit down. Let me ask you something..." Mike wouldn't sit down and stood there with anger and aggression in his eyes.

"Look, I said sit down!" Mike did as he was told. The last thing he needed was for his cellmate to beat up on him as well.

"You came in here this proud skin-head, neo-nazi, whatever the hell you wanna call yourself, right? You hate black people. You hate Jewish people. You hate Asians, Hispanics, and Catholics too. All of these people are a supposed threat to you. Moving in on the white man's territory. Taking jobs that should be his. Marrying women that should be his. And you're angry about this. But tell me something, all this hate that you put forth... does it make you feel any less oppressed? Does it make you feel any better about yourself? Does it?" Mike remained quiet. He said nothing.

"No. You hate others just so you can feel like you're somebody different. Or somebody better. But you're not. Every time you got a swastika tattooed to your skin, you sold yourself short. Every time you yelled 'white power'. You sold yourself short. With every minority you looked down at, you sold yourself short. And here you are. Alone. No one to help you out. You're scared. In here, you're the minority. How many guys do you see like yourself here? Huh? Not too many. My advice to you is to quit all this supremacy bullshit and make your time spent in here a learning experience. You're no better than any other man here. And I swear, if you say another racial slur in my presence, I will kick your skinny little ass myself, clear?"

Mike was far too angry to just give in so easily. He stood to his feet and stormed out of the cell, mumbling, "fuck you, man" as he left. AJ just smiled and went to the cell door.

"Yeah, you say that now. But you're gonna wish you stayed in here when they find you and finish you off." AJ called out to him. Mike just shook his head and kept walking. He rolled his sleeves up and exposed his hate-filled tattoos. AJ looked down at a small group of skinheads like Mike. They were all sitting together playing cards. Taking strength in their small but tight numbers. In a way, he hoped that they would at least take Mike into their group. Otherwise the other 98% of the prisoners would take care of him in ways AJ didn't even care to visualize.

AJ had just turned to go back into his cell when he heard a loud bang and then the husky voices of men shouting and yelling at one another. He turned quickly and saw two prisoners fighting and one pulled out a tiny hand-made weapon, stabbing the other, then quickly fleeing the area.

The injured inmate lie on the floor in pain, rolling over onto his stomach and holding his stab wound. The rest of the inmates backed up so that none of them could be blamed for the deed. Still, AJ kept his eyes on the culprit. He looked up and returned AJ's gaze. Then he put the bloody shank he had made into his pocket and walked off.

AJ felt his heart racing. Why had the man looked at him so harshly? Better yet, why on earth did he stare the man down so very long? AJ shook his head, escaping his own train of thought and went down the stairs to where Case and the rest of his newfound friends were. He sat down with them and listened to their conversation.

“Did you see that dude’s face when he got shanked? Goddamn, he was looking pretty bad.” Johns commented, slapping his winning hand on the table with a grin. Case, Fields, and Woods all signed, highly disgusted, and put their cards down too. AJ took this opportunity to say something about what he had just experienced.

“Hey, do any of you know who stabbed that guy?” AJ asked. They all looked at each other, then at AJ.

“Well, everyone has a good idea. But the reason why all those guys crowded around is cause, well, no one is suppose to actually see the guy who did it. And personally, I’m glad I didn’t. That’s how you get hurt in a place like this.” Armstrong said, first leaning toward AJ to speak in a low voice, then leaning back in his chair. AJ just nodded and pretended that he had no other questions. But deep inside, he was falling apart. There was no telling what this guy would try to do to him to keep him quiet.

~*~*~*~*~*~


AJ had just come in from outside, and he had been working out with the guys. There wasn’t much else to do. So he took a liking to bench-pressing. After he returned inside, he decided to go ahead and shower while there weren’t many people in the showers. He absolutely hated being naked in a hot room with other naked men. It sickened him.

AJ made his way to she showers, and once cleared with the CO by the door, he went in and turned on one showerhead as hot as he could stand it. He sheepishly dropped his clothes and stepped into the flow of the water.

Outside, an inmate came up to the CO and he too made sure it was ok to go in. The CO agreed, and the man walked in. He knew exactly whom he’d find there, and he smiled at the thought that he had AJ all alone.

Since AJ could not hear anyone or anything due to the sound of the forceful water, he had no idea someone was sneaking up behind him. The inmate grabbed AJ’s neck from behind and slammed him up against the shower wall. Immediately AJ’s nose began to bleed.

“I know you saw me yesterday. And I’ll be damned if I let a little bitch like you get me in the hole. You tell no one what you saw, understand? No one! Or you’ll be next, bitch. And you don’t wanna die, do you?” AJ tried to push back, but the inmate was way too strong.

“Oh, you can’t answer me? Fuck it then, I know what’ll make you answer me.” The inmate took his foot and kicked AJ’s right leg out to the side, then he grabbed his thigh with one hand while squeezing his neck with the other. He moved his hand from AJ’s thigh just briefly to position himself, and ready himself to push through the virgin of sodomy before him. AJ tried to yell out for the CO. He knew that this kind of thing was definitely not permitted in the prison. He had to get help.

The CO came in just in time to tell AJ his time was up when he saw the inmate preparing to rape AJ.

“Mitchell! Cut that shit out and let the kid go. McLean, get your shit and get out of here.” Mitchell, the inmate, let AJ go and pushed him as he released his neck. AJ wiped his nose and quickly wrapped his towel around his waist. Embarrassed, yet thankful, he left the showers and went straight to his room to dress.

As he sat down on the bed, he thought back on what had just happened to him. The reality of being in prison was started to scare him more than ever now. He never thought someone would try to rape him. And he knew that if Mitchell got another chance, he’d try again. And possibly succeed. When Mitchell had parted his legs, he couldn’t even think straight. But what he could think about was that he refused to go back to Reneé damaged and used. He wanted to return to her the way he left her. She deserved that.

AJ finished dressing and went down to the cafeteria. He saw Mitchell there, but he didn’t look too long. He just went straight to the table where he usually sat and slumped down, resting his head on the table. Case leaned in and tapped AJ on the shoulder. AJ raised his head slowly and asked what he wanted.

“Yo, Mitch just told us he fucked you up. Now, I can tell he was lying cause you sat down to quick. But what happened, dunn? What ain’t you tellin’ us?” Case asked. AJ rubbed his eyes, trying to keep himself from breaking down into tears in front of these men.

“He tried to, but the CO came in, thank God.” Case nodded and looked over toward Mitchell’s table. Mitchell was actually staring at AJ, and staring hard at that.

“You saw him shank that kid yesterday, didn’t you?” AJ nodded, a little ashamed that he didn’t say something before.

“Aight, look… whatever you do, always do it with people around. He’s not gonna try to fuck you if people are standing around. But, make sure these people are not his crew. Cause see, if you’re around his crew, they’ll fuck you too. Don’t shower alone, don’t work alone. Especially cause you work in the kitchen, and at night, sometimes, it gets dark and no one else will be there to help you out. And most of all, tell me when something happens to you. I don’t run this joint, but I do have some say-so.” Case slapped AJ on the back and told him to eat up and forget it happened.

Later that night, AJ was in the kitchen cleaning up. Of course, he was not alone. Case pulled some strings and got Kimbro moved from laundry to the kitchen with AJ. So AJ was accompanied by other inmates, and Kimbro who he knew. They were cleaning out serving trays and dishes when Kimbro started to say something.

“I hate Mitchell, man. What almost happened to you, happened to me. The second night I was in here. I wasn’t even doing nothing. He just went after me cause he could. And I hate him for it! He’s a fucking gay bitch himself for messing around with other guys. And I swear to God I’m gonna kill him one day. Just watch. You’ll see.” Kimbro whispered. AJ just stood there amazed. Now he knew why Kimbro was so quiet and withdrawn. He had been raped, and he was so young. He probably came into the prison thinking it would be no worse than his lifestyle out on the streets. But as soon as he got there, he was violated in the most unimaginable way.

“Don’t do that. If you kill him, you’ll just be bringing yourself down to his level.” Kimbro slammed the metal tray he was cleaning down and it made a loud, irritating sound.

“Fuck that, man! He deserves to die! Any guy who does what he did to me and likes it deserves to die. And I’m gonna be the one to fucking do it!” AJ decided it would be best to just leave matters alone and allow Kimbro to calm down.

As they walked back to their cells, AJ saw Mike go into their cell with his head freshly shaven. Being that he had been in there for a few weeks, his hair had grown. But now he was completely bald again. He also had on a wife-beater opposed to the long johns he had been wearing to conceal his tattoos. AJ hit Kimbro on the shoulder and then continued to his cell. Mike was in there, standing on the tips of his toes, hanging a confederate flag right next to a swastika flag.

“What the fuck are you doing now?” AJ asked, looking at the young, confused boy hanging his hate flags.

“Don’t you fucking worry about what I’m doing. Just mind you’re goddamn business, nigger-lover.” Mike was just about to climb up onto his bunk when AJ pulled him down by the leg and brought him falling to the concrete floor.

“What did you say?” AJ asked. Mike kicked him away, and AJ went slamming into the sink, knocking over all kinds of toothpastes and brushes. He steadied himself on his feet and started kicking Mike back, who was lying on the floor still. He kicked him in the ribs, where he knew it’d hurt the most. The he kicked him in the face. Finally in the crotch, which cause Mike to turn nearly purple.

“I told you not to ever say that shit around me.” AJ pulled down the flags and started ripping them up. He spat on them twice, then flushed then down the toilet. Mike got up, and pulled out a toothbrush shank. The end had been melted down and a razor blade had been inserted.

AJ backed out of the room, knowing a CO would be making his rounds, checking each cell. Mike followed him out of the cell, and swung the shank at AJ, cutting him across the stomach. The CO saw this and quickly ran for Mike, grabbing the shank and handcuffing him. The other cellmates stuck their heads out of their cells, trying to see what was going on. A female CO took AJ by the arm and pulled him the opposite way.

“Hey, listen, I didn’t do anything.” AJ protested.

“I didn’t say you did. But you’re bleeding. And you could have AIDS or something, I don’t know. So you’re going straight to the infirmary to get this treated. AJ calmed down then and walked willingly with the woman to see the doctor on call.


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