CHAPTER 9 #3
Taylor’s face didn’t shift, “And you’re just a number.
” I slowly reached into my pocket, pulling the drawing from within, a hateful glare shooting towards him as I forced it down into his hand.
He didn’t even glance at it, just tucked it into his clipboard as if it were nothing, but it wasn’t nothing.
“You’ll get it back after review, if it passes.” My fists tightened as I passed him. He knew he had pissed me off, but he didn’t care. Why would he? I’m just a number, remember. Anything human gets left at the door the moment you enter this shit hole.
I spent the rest of the afternoon ignoring the world. Malik tried to spark a conversation with me, but soon left me to it when he realised he wasn’t going to get anything more than a frustrated groan.
The yard had quietened down as the weather had shifted.
Dark clouds bloomed in the sky, teetering on the edge of a downfall.
I stayed, even if my skin was rippling in goosebumps from the growing wind.
It was quiet, giving me time to myself for once.
The gate to the yard creaked again. I didn’t look up, just continued staring across the yard.
Misfits shoulder bumped into mine as she dropped herself next to me, pulling me from my thoughts. She didn’t say anything, and neither did I. We just sat there, both of us quiet, our backs against the same cracked wall. Watching the yard like ghosts with nowhere else to be.
“Penny for your thoughts?” she said. I raised an eyebrow as I turned to her.
She paused, assessing my mood. I had nothing to offer her, returning my gaze forward as the first spots of rain started to fall around us.
The warmth of her hand reached out, clutching my wrist, and pulled it towards her.
The feeling of paper brushed into my palm, and my brows creased as I looked down at my hand, seeing Squeeks' picture now nestled within my grip. How the hell did she get it back?
Her hand released from around my wrist as she offered me a smile. The words to thank her lodged in my throat; this gesture alone meant more to me than I think she realised. And for the rest of yard time, that was it.
Just the sound of the wind and the scrape of her boot tapping the ground.
The cell felt different that morning. Lighter somehow, as if the tension that had lingered in the corners for months had finally dissipated. The metal bed frames still creaked; the air still tasted of damp brick and bleach.
Malik’s things were already packed. Not that he had much—just a few folded clothes, some dog-eared comics, and a photo of his mum and little brother that he kept under his mattress.
That, and the beat-up trainers he always said would carry him “out, but not back.” He sat on the edge of his bunk, elbows on knees, staring at the floor, waiting for the sound of the buzzer.
I sat opposite, back against the cold cinder blocks, arms resting across my chest, watching him and not saying anything at first. Words felt weird, more so on a day like this.
“You ready?” My voice breaking the silence between us.
Malik shrugged, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
We hadn’t started off close. He talked too much, and I wasn’t in the mood to trust anyone when I got thrown in here.
But time spent with someone wears the edges off.
You learn each other’s moods, rhythms, what makes the other snap, and what calms them down.
Malik would hum under his breath when he couldn’t sleep.
It annoyed the fuck out of me. But now, I’d probably miss it.
“What are you gonna do?” I asked, nodding at his duffel bag. “When you’re out, I mean.” He looked at me. His eyes filled with the nerves of someone who had been in this hellhole too long.
“Dunno yet,” he said. “Thinking of moving in with my aunt. She’s got a job lined up through a mate of hers, a kitchen porter. Not much, but it’s clean.”
I nodded, slowly, “That sounds… alright. That mean you’re gonna be a dish wench?”
He smirked at me and then leaned forward, “Fucking funny you are.”
I smiled at him, trying to avert his growing nerves.
“You should think about that too, you know. Something more than whatever you came from. When your time’s up.”
I scoffed, “Yeah, sure. I’ll go back to school, get my GCSEs and become a bloody lawyer.”
He shook his head, his smile falling from his face. “Not what I mean. You got a brain, Screech. And a kid sister who needs you. Don’t act like that don’t matter.”
That landed harder than I expected, wiping the cocky grin from my face as my eyes dropped to my lap.
I didn’t answer. He stood when the buzzer sounded.
Two guards quickly appeared in the doorway, one with his file tucked under an arm, the other just waiting with keys in hand.
Malik turned to me one last time. We didn’t hug or anything; we weren’t those kinds of lads.
But he held out his hand. I stood to my feet and shook it.
“Keep your head, yeah?” giving me a knowing nod.
“You too,” I replied. “Don’t let the outside chew you up.”
He grinned, “Already been chewed mate.” Then he was gone, just like that. And I sat there, in the quiet that followed, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before a new challenge would be walking through the cell room door.