Revelations

AJ stared at the calendar on the brick wall opposite the head of his highly uncomfortable bed. He counted the days. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. He paused. The eighth day was the first day he and Reneé made love. They always remembered the oddest dates of their relationship. He thought about how she planned the night out, which was a first. Before her, he was usually the one leading in the “Horizontal Tango.” Ah, but she was different. She took him out on the date, and she brought him back to her apartment when it ended. She lit the candles, she chose the music. She made him feel special. She made the first advances; unbuttoning his shirt slowly, planting sweet butterfly kisses all over his body, leading him to the bed.

Just thinking about their first time together gave AJ a light, fluttering sensation deep within his stomach. He continued to count. Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen. Thirteen. Thirteen more days until his appeal. That day was circled with a green marker. Thirteen more days to go... and he just know he’d be free. He’d be in his beloved’s arms again. He’d be by his mother’s side. He’d be amongst his friends and family. He’d be rid of Carrie and prison, for good. His name would be cleared. He couldn’t wait.

Seven o’clock came, and all of the cell doors unlocked electronically. AJ jumped out of bed and grabbed his toiletry bag and towel, then he pushed the door of his cell open, beginning yet another day in hell on earth. He made his way to the community bathroom that all of the inmates shared. A CO took down his name and what time he entered the bathroom. Thus, he had 15 minutes to shower, brush his teeth, and do anything else to cleanse himself for the day.

Kimbro and Armstrong were already showering. Usually, in any other setting, AJ would have greeted them with an urban-like handshake, and maybe even a distanced hug that most men give each other. But not in the showers. It was an unwritten code. No one touches in the shower. Touching constituted homosexuality. And once you were tagged gay, you could be targeted for rape or ostracized by those prisoners who were hopelessly homophobic. No, they didn’t shake hands. They didn’t even make eye contact. That too could be mistaken for a “moment” or a “come-hither stare.” When AJ saw his friends showering, he simply kept his eyes forward and mumbled the word “Sup?” They said the same, and all continued minding their own affairs.

When he finished rinsing off, he wrapped his towel around his waist and went to stand in front of one of the mirrors. He brushed his teeth rapidly. Gargled quickly. And if he had time, which he did that morning, he would lather up his face and hastily shave off his stubble. There were no more fancy goat-t trims for AJ. His facial hair was now a simple mustache and a patch of hair on the tip of his chin.

He slipped on some sweat pants before leaving the bathroom. Those who left the bathroom in just their towels were subject to pranksters who may snatch their towel, then those same jokers may be so inclined to snap one’s bare ass cheeks. So, of course, AJ made sure he was fully covered. It was all normal for him now.

He went back to his cell and put his things away. He also put a wife-beater on before tying a white bandana around his head. He then met up with Kimbro and walked down to the kitchen. They had breakfast duties, which meant that he served food and then took used trays back to the kitchen to be washed. AJ liked his duties. Actually seeing the food being prepared and making his own plates ensured that no enemies could poison his rations. He also got more than other inmates, as did all other kitchen workers. With AJ’s appetite, he needed the extra food.

After he finished all that he had to do, he made his way to the prison’s chapel. It wasn’t anything fancy. Just a room. It had maybe twenty chairs, ten on either side. An alter. A large portrait of Jesus protected by a glass. He went there every day to pray that all went well with his appeal. He also prayed for Case’s soul, and his family. He prayed for his own family, and he asked God to give him strength to live out yet another day in confinement.

This day, however, someone new was in the chapel. AJ had never seen him there before. Usually, the room was empty when AJ went. Maybe one or two inmates came along. But for the most part, AJ prayed alone. But today, he saw this stranger sitting in the very front. His leg was bobbing up and down as if he was nervous about something, or in deep concentration.

AJ sat a few rows behind him, and on the other side. He had only closed his eyes for a moment when he heard the stranger speak to him.

“Hey yo, can I ask you something?” The stranger interrupted. AJ opened his eyes and nodded.

“How do you pray? Better yet, how do I go about asking for forgiveness?” The fellow inmate looked extremely distressed. AJ hadn’t really seen him around. Then again, there were probably hundreds of inmates he hadn’t really paid attention to.

“There’s no set way to ask for God’s forgiveness. Just admit to him that what you’ve done is wrong, and just ask. He’ll hear you.” AJ responded. He had always been taught that God never turned his ear away from his children. So he knew that no matter what this man had to say, God would listen.

“What if the thing I want forgiveness for hasn’t been done yet? I mean, I want God to forgive me for the shit I’m about to do.” He revealed.

“Why do it at all then? If you already know it’s wrong, then stop yourself now.” AJ suggested. The stranger thought about it for a moment. He looked up at the picture of Christ, then back at AJ.

“Can’t.... I made a promise to my little sister.” The stranger got up and made the mark of the crucifix on his head, shoulders, and heart. Then he walked over to AJ and looked down at him.

“Do me a favor, would you?” AJ nodded. “While you’re here, be sure to pray for a cat named McLean. Alexander McLean.” The stranger then left the chapel in a hurry. AJ didn’t know what to think. Obviously the stranger had no idea that he was Alexander McLean. But why was his name even mentioned? Why did that stranger want forgiveness for what he was ABOUT to do? AJ closed his eyes again. And before he closed his prayer, he asked God to watch over him and protect him from any potential harm.

AJ left the chapel and went back to the main quad where he knew he’d find his friends. He sat down with them, but he didn’t tell them about the eerie thing that has just happened. Instead, he tried to block it. He put all of his trust in God to keep him safe.

He saw the stranger from across the room. And it seemed as though he was staring directly into AJ’s eyes. AJ felt his heart racing. But he stood his ground. Or, rather, he remained in his seat and refused to budge. He thought it better to keep a close eye on the stranger and render himself ready if anything should happen.

Suddenly, the stranger began to walk forward, in AJ’s direction. AJ panicked, and when the stranger got close, AJ stood up and made tight fists by his sides. The stranger got closer. Closer still. So close he could see his teeth gritting. He could see the stranger pull out a shank from his sleeve. AJ swallowed hard and inside he was screaming, but outside he remained calm.

He braced himself, and he prepared himself to block the shank once the stranger swung. But the stranger passed him. Just like that--- he brushed right passed him. Their only contact being the stranger’s sleeve grazing AJ’s bare arm. AJ spun around at once just in time to see a young inmate, about his age, get his throat slashed open from one side to the other. The stranger then yanked the wounded’s head back, further tearing the large laceration. Blood spurted from the victim’s arteries, and in seconds his white shirt was stained a gruesome red. The stranger then looked up at AJ and mouthed the words “God, forgive me” just before the CO officers beat him down and carried him away from the scene.

Blood now covered the floor surrounding the unfortunate inmate. It spread quickly and soon it was pushing against AJ’s shoes. He stepped back, in complete shock, and looked at the open eyes of the dead boy. The blood stopped spurting, his heart had stopped beating. There was a short silence before the other inmates crowded around and started an uproar.

AJ slowly turned and went back up to his cell. He sat on his bed and stared at the floor. His bloody footprints horrified him. That poor kid’s blood was under the bottom of his shoes. The poor kid’s life had come to a violent and painful end. That poor kid’s fate was meant for AJ.

~*~*~*~*~*~


“His name was Alex McLane. I knew him when he first got here. He was smart too. Got two years for tapping into government files. Man, that kid was a computer genius. He said he wanted to go to school after he got out, and maybe build computers for a living. Yeah... he was a nice kid.” Fields explained. AJ just sat and listened in awe.

“Kept to himself a lot though. He was good at staying out of trouble. Little dude never caused any shit with anybody. He was one of few that everybody seemed to get along with.” Johns went on to say. The men continued to play cards. AJ just sat still.

“Wonder what Rodriguez had against McLane?” Armstrong thought out loud.

“Alex McLane...” AJ mumbled.

“Hey man, what the fuck is up with you? You high or something?” Greene asked. AJ snapped out of his trance and looked at his friends, who were all staring right back at him.

“Early this morning, after breakfast duty, I went to the chapel as always. And there was this guy there. The same guy that slit McLane’s throat. You just said his name was Rodriguez, right?”

“Yeah, so?” Armstrong asked.

“Well, he started talking to me. He asked me how he should go about asking God for forgiveness for something that he hadn’t done yet. I suggested that he just not do it at all, whatever it was. Then he told me he made a promise to his sister. Then he asked me to pray for someone named Alexander McLean.” AJ’s friends all sat back in their chairs and gasped.

“Damn.” They all seemed to say.

“He killed that kid thinking it was me. That should have been me...” AJ felt horrible. An innocent kid’s life was cut short all because they had similar names. McLean. McLane. AJ didn’t know whether to feel relieved that he was still alive, or to feel guilty. He didn’t know whether to be angry with Rodriguez for killing McLane, or to be thankful that Rodriguez made a horrible mistake. He didn’t know whether to curse God for allowing a young life to be slain, or to praise God for sparing his own young life.

He was torn.

“Shit... I just had a thought. What does Rodriguez’s sister have against you?” Kimbro blurted out.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know anybody by that name.” AJ replied.

“Does Carrie have a brother?” Fields asked, leaning forward on the card table.

“Not to my knowledge... but something still tells me she’s causing all this. She still trying to fuck with me, even from her own jail cell.” AJ got up and went storming off in the direction of the warden’s office.

~*~*~*~*~*~


Carrie paced back and forth in her cell. Every couple of seconds she poked her head out and looked down the corridor for any sign of Maria. Finally, she saw the young Latina strolling down the dark hall with a few of her friends.

“Maria... please, tell me what happened!” Carrie exclaimed, stopping Maria dead in her tracks. Maria stared Carrie down and shoved her forcefully out of the way.

“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, bitch! But don’t you ever get all up in my face like that again!” She turned around and faced her friends. “Mira--- she acts like she owns this piece, no?” Her slight Spanglish amused her friends, which was her intention. She turned back around toward Carrie.

“You had to pay to get the job done. You gotta pay a little more to get the results. Got that?” Maria whispered, now just inches away from Carrie’s cowering face. Maria suddenly grabbed Carrie’s neck and pinned her up against the wall.

“You got way too much attitude, bitch. You’re too damn forward. You better learn your place here, and you better learn it fast. Cause you’re two seconds away from getting the shit kicked out of you...” Maria pulled one of Carrie’s blonde locks gently. “If you want to stay the pretty, perfect, clean little white priss that you are now... you had better not cross me.” Maria let her go by throwing her to the cold, cement floor. Carrie just sat there, watching Maria and her friends walk by laughing at her.

A few hours passed and Carrie made her way to the same storage closet that she first made the deal with Maria in. Maria joined her ten minutes later. They locked the door as best they could. Then Maria sat on an upside-down barrel that was near the back of the small room.

“I called my cousin earlier today. He said he talked to my brother’s best friend. Your boyfriend is as dead as the Macarena.” Maria whispered. Carrie took a moment to take in the information. She wanted to cry, because she couldn’t believe that AJ no longer breathed. Yet... she felt relieved. He paid for hurting her. He paid for allowing their child to die. He paid for everything. They were even.

“Thank you.” Carrie sighed, then smiled.

“Don’t forget, you owe my brother. He’s in fucking solitary because of you. You better be as rich as you say you are. Cause my brother gets out in seven months. And he wants his money. All $500,000. In cash, too. If you don’t deliver... bitch, your ass is mine.” Maria stated, standing up now and backing Carrie into a corner.

“Understood.” Carrie responded, hesitantly. Maria backed away then, sitting back down on the barrel. Carrie was fearful now. She told Maria that she was rich just so that the deed would be done. Now that it was, she had no idea how she was going to pay Maria’s brother. She had seven months to come up with something. Just seven short months.

“Now, I want my payment.” Maria demanded. Carrie approached her and took Maria’s long brown hair out of the tight bun it was in. She then kissed Maria’s cheek. Carrie tried her best to think of some way to get on Maria’s good side. And if it was through sex... then so be it. If anyone knew how to be seductive, it was Carrie.

“Is this how Brandon touches you?” Carries asked, kneading Maria’s breast through her t-shirt. Maria grabbed Carrie’s hand suddenly, and the pain of her squeeze made Carrie squint and gasp.

“No.... he touches me like this.” Maria moved Carrie’s hand under the shirt and Carrie then took over. As she kneeled down to remove Maria’s jeans, she saw Maria take her shirt off and caress her own breasts. And as Carrie parted Maria’s legs and tasted her, Maria held a pendant between her forefinger and her thumb. It was a locket, Carrie had seen it before. Inside were Maria and Brandon’s picture. It was working! Carrie now knew how to get to Maria... through her love, Brandon. If she could physically please Maria in place of Brandon, she would soon have badass Rodriguez at her feet.

~*~*~*~*~*~


After AJ’s kitchen duties, he skipped his daily visit to the chapel to visit O’Ryan’s cell. O’Ryan was Unit D’s informer. Anything that was going on in the prison, O’Ryan made it his business to know about it. He knew who shanked whom, who raped whom, who sold drugs, who did them, which CO’s snuck in cigarettes, and which CO used to sleep with the warden. He knew everything. So AJ was confident that he’d know all about Rodriguez.

He entered the cell and found O’Ryan accepting ecstasy pills in return for keeping his mouth shut about something. After the dealer left, AJ sat down and waited for O’Ryan’s attention.

“What can I do for ya?” O’Ryan asked. AJ reached into his pocket and pulled out $50, which was a great deal of money on the inside. Especially for information.

“I need to know why Rodriguez killed McLane. Who put him up to it?” AJ asked. O’Ryan looked at AJ for a moment, trying to figure out why he would want to know something as boring as that.

“Well... if you must know, Rodriguez got a call from his sister a couple of days ago. Friday, I’d say. And she asked him to off someone here. He was kinda reluctant to do it at first, he’s never killed a soul in his life. He got five years for dealing, not murder. So, anyway, he accepts after he hears that he’ll get $500,000 for shanking McLane in seven months, when he gets out. It’s not his sister who wanted him dead though, it was a friend of hers or something. I think I overheard him say it was her cellmate. And this girl has to pay him his money when he gets out, or his sister will kill her. Point blank. Got it?” AJ couldn’t believe his ears. It was Carrie! It had to be! He explained to O’Ryan about how Rodriguez made a mistake and that Carrie couldn’t pay him at all. She couldn’t pay her way out of a paper bag. He told O’Ryan the entire story, then he asked O’Ryan to make absolute sure that all of this information got back to both Rodriguez and his sister.

O’Ryan smiled up at AJ just before he left. He loved gossip, especially when there would be bloodshed in the end. In this case, more than likely, Carrie’s blood. AJ only hoped that he was right in his assumption of who Maria’s cellmate was. He could only hope.

~*~*~*~*~*~


Reneé held AJ close one last time before the double doors of the courtroom opened. Then, like the criminal he was labeled to be, he was escorted to the front, in handcuffs. As he sat down, he looked to his left and didn’t see Carrie. He didn’t expect to. They already had evidence against her, there was no need for her to testify again. This was a trial to determine whether or not his case would be thrown out. He silently prayed for the best.
~*~*~*~*~*~


Carrie crossed her legs daintily as the knob of the storage room door turned. Maria stepped inside and slowly closed the door behind herself. Her head was held low, and she took a deep breath before she spoke.

“Your boyfriend ain’t dead.” Maria began. Carrie started to protest, but Maria smacked the side of her face so hard that Carrie silenced herself and stepped back.

“Like I was saying... he isn’t dead. There was another prisoner with the same name, slightly different spelling. My brother, well, he slit the wrong person’s throat. And well, see, regardless of who he killed, he still wants his money. But word is you don’t got any. Word is you’re poor white trash. Word is you lied to me. Bitch, don’t you know I have a reputation to keep up? Don’t you know that my name alone sparks fear in every mother fucker in here. And did you really think I wouldn’t find out?” Carrie’s mind was running at a thousand miles per second.

“I was gonna tell you....” All at once Maria grabbed a bucket of paint from one of the shelves and swung it at Carrie’s temple. Carrie shrieked at first, then she felt her head. She looked at her hand and it was covered in blood. And she could feel the warmth of the blood trickling down her face, into her open eyes.

“You were gonna tell me what? That you lied to me? That you don’t have my brother’s money? And just when were you gonna tell me, huh?” Maria grabbed a broomstick and beat Carrie’s back, arms, and legs so hard the her skin turned purple almost immediately. She didn’t stop, even after the stick broke, she wouldn’t stop, even after the CO’s opened the door, she refused to stop... not until Carrie fell silent. No screams for help. No fighting back. No movement at all.

~*~*~*~*~*~


“Will the defendant please stand...”

AJ stood to his feet, along with his lawyers. He glanced back at Reneé and she gave him as much of a smile as she could physically form, despite her nervousness. He turned back around and faced the judge. There was no jury this time. For some reason, AJ felt as though being judged by a judge was far better. He would be more unbiased than a jury would, or so he hoped.

AJ stared at the Judge’s eyes as he spoke. He read from a paper at first. It was custom. It was mandatory that the court be reminded of AJ’s charges before the decision was announced.

During the brief recess in which the Judge went into his office to go over the evidence and analyze all the information given to him, AJ calmed his nerves with an ice, cold can of soda. They didn’t serve sodas in prison, so he greatly missed the fizz of carbonated drinks... and the kick of caffeine. Now, as he stood listening to the judge go over the list of crimes he didn’t commit, he felt the pressure of the soda’s gas building in his chest. It only heightened the tension he felt around him, getting thicker by the second.

“Alexander James McLean...” The judge started off.

AJ took a deep breath. He could hear his family behind him do the same. And for that split second, a dreadful silence fell over the room, and it only died as the judge finished off his last statement.

“........I find you...”


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