CHAPTER 10 #2
And there wasn’t going to be anyone who would stop me from getting it. Because when they put you in a box with nothing but your ghosts and your fury…you don’t come out the same.
I pulled myself from my bunk and followed the crowd into the dining hall as breakfast was called, catching sideways glances from other lads, faintly followed with whispers between them.
There was only one person I was looking for, and by now I can imagine word has got around to Nate that I was out of solitary.
I moved in line, shoulder to shoulder with the same faces, scanning the room, just waiting for him to crawl out of the woodwork.
I collected my tray and waited for them to fill it with the poor excuse for food.
A scoop of something grey they called oats, a bruised banana, and burnt toast that could’ve passed for cardboard.
I sat at my usual spot. Alone. The others I used to hang with had drifted into other social groups since Malik left. But I wasn’t there for small talk.
Across the hall, that’s where I saw Misfit lingering near the back wall. She was flicking glances in my direction, measuring my mood from across the room. I think she quickly got the memo, as a devilish smirk appeared on my face.
I should probably thank her, after all, I was trying to help her, trying to stop other lads from chewing her up and spitting her out. If it weren’t for her, I probably would have carried on drifting through this place until my release date.
My eyes locked on, following her around the room as she finished her food and dumped her tray. She moved oddly quick, like she had something to hide. Trying to ghost her way out the side door of the dining hall. I stood myself up from the table, leaving my tray in place.
“McCabe, tray!” One of the guards bellowed to me from the edges of the hall.
I scoffed as I held out my arm, flipping them a middle finger as I left.
Could’ve let her go. The better part of me would have.
But I didn’t want to. The door groaned shut behind me as I followed.
My boots echoed off the concrete like a slow drumbeat.
She turned halfway down the hall, her shoulders already squared.
“Oh. You,” turning back from me as she continued.
“Aw, you remembered me.” I brought my hand to my chest, gesturing a fake sense of sincerity as I flashed a grin. “Touched, really.” She didn’t reply, just stared with her jaw tight, eyes colder than the metal rails behind her.
“I was just coming to thank you,” slipping my hands into my pockets.
“What?” Her face screwing up in confusion.
“Nine days in a box, with nothing but my own brain chewing itself up. Thoughtful of you.”
Her brows furrowed at me, “What the—?! I didn’t make you do anything!”
A grin started to play on my lips, “Sure you didn’t. But you’re the reason I was getting this shit in the first place, stopping them from making true on their little threats.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t owe you anything. What you did was off your own back,” she snapped.
“Maybe I should let them have at it then…. From what I overheard, there’s plenty in here that would love nothing more than to bring you down a peg or two.”
She stepped closer. “You threw the punch. That’s not my fault.”
“And I enjoyed the punch,” I said.
Misfit’s eyes narrowed. Her hands curled like they wanted to be fists, but she didn’t raise them.
“What is this?” she asked, “You trying to intimidate me?”
“Nah,” I smirked. “But I do like the way you twitch when I talk.”
She scoffed, “Fuck you, Screech. You’ve gone off the deep end.”
I leaned in, voice a whisper. “And you’re right there with me.” We were close now—breath close, eye-to-eye like two boxers before the bell.
“You think you scare me, don’t you?”
“I think I live rent-free in that head of yours. Dangerous to let someone take up that much space.”
“I’m not scared of you, Screech.”
“Come play with me then,” I said, tilting my head. “See who breaks first. Could be fun.” My voice dripping with a menacing undertone.
We stood there, locked in something too electric to name. Not quite hate, but it wasn’t safe. Then a guard’s voice barked down the hall, breaking the spell.
Misfit stepped back, eyes still on mine, “Keep your games to yourself.”
“Spoil sport.” She turned and walked off, but I knew I’d gotten under her skin. Could feel it in the way she didn’t look back. And as I leaned against the wall, alone again in silence, I felt it, that grin still stuck on my face like a mask.
It had been weeks since I’d last heard Nate’s laugh behind me. I figured they had separated us for a while to let things settle.
Little did they know that ever since throwing me in solitary, my desire to end the cunt had only amplified. I glanced out into the corridor as he passed my cell, clutching a towel in his hand. He was heading for the showers.
The light was already dimming through the windows, which told me this was outside the usual shower time slots we were given. Bribing one of the guards no doubt, allowing him access without an escort.
A steady smirk appeared on my face as I placed my magazine down on my bunk and pulled myself up.
Typically, one of his boys would tail him, all fake-smirks and shared cigarettes. But tonight, the hallway was quiet.
The second the shower room door clicked shut behind him, I felt it—that slow, steady burn in my gut.
The guards were halfway through shift change, which meant lockdown would soon be upon us. If I wanted to make my move against him, this was my best chance at doing so.
The hum of the overhead lights buzzed like a warning as I pushed open the door. Steam was already curling in the air, thick and wet, clinging to the cracked tiles. The shower hissed as the water slapped onto the floor, echoing around the room, making him unaware of my presence.
Nate was hunched under the far spout, back turned, his shoulders flexed as he ran his hands through his dark hair, smugly humming something tuneless.
Sticking to the shadows of the room, I waited patiently for him to finish.
I leaned myself against the side of the adjoining cubicle, arms crossed tightly across my chest. Even just seeing this fucker’s face made my blood run molten in my veins.
Water was still dripping from him as he grabbed his towel, wrapping it around his waist. It wasn’t until he exited the cubicle and stood next to the sinks that I revealed myself from the shadows.
My arm wrapped around his neck with enough force to yank him backwards, struggling against my tightening grip.
Before slipping on the wet tile, he drove his elbow deep into my ribs, knocking me back.
He caught himself on the wall, cursing as he tried to find breath, but I didn’t give him a chance to get to his feet.
He spun, just in time to see my fist coming.
The crack of bone meeting my knuckles echoed loudly.
His lip split open instantly, blood mixing with the water running down his chin.
He tried to swing back, wild and uncoordinated, a futile attempt to hold me off as he staggered to his feet.
My anger blinded me as I drove my shoulder into his gut and sent him crashing into the nearest sink.
His head hit hard. A sickening thud. His knees buckled, legs folding like paper.
I saw his eyes roll back for a second. But it wasn’t enough to satisfy the desire to damage him.
“Still think you’re funny, Nate?” I growled, stepping over him and grabbing a clump of damp hair in my hand.
I dragged him up and slammed his face again into the porcelain edge. Not once, or twice, my blind rage losing count until I saw blood spatter and teeth on tile. Until the water couldn’t wash it away fast enough.
My thirst to see his blood was animalistic.
But I had to stop. If I killed him, the whole jail would get put on lockdown, and with everything that happened between us, I would be their number one suspect.
So, I would have to settle for rearranging his face and leaving him to bleed out.
Guess I could get away with calling it an accident.
Oh no, he slipped and fell. The voice inside rattled with a mocking laughter as I watched him squirm on the floor.
He was coughing, choking on the blood now pooling in his mouth, but I didn’t let go. I leaned in, breathing heavy, my own fists shaking from adrenaline and fury.
“Next time you chat shit about me. Will be the last time I allow you to keep breathing. Understand?”
He tried to speak, but nothing came out. Just a gurgle. His face was a mess, nose bent wrong, lips split, one eye already swelling shut. I dropped him beside the sink in a pile of steam and red water, unmoving.
I planted my boot into his ribs one last time for good measure as blood splattered from his mouth across the tile floor. My shirt clung to my back as I left the showers. Damp with a mix of steam and sweat. I’d just rounded the corner when the beam of a flashlight sliced across the corridor.
“McCabe!”
Shit! I froze on instinct, like a deer caught in headlights. The voice belonged to Darnell; who was looking like one doughnut away from a cardiac arrest as his eyes narrowed towards me.
“What the hell are you doing outta your cell?” I paused, masking the rush of blood behind a lazy shrug.
“I needed the bathroom,” Keeping my tone as neutral as possible.
His eyes dropped to my clothes, damp and decorated with splatters of Nate’s blood.
“I was just coming to alert someone. Something’s wrong with Nate.
He’s on the floor. Looked pretty bad.” Darnell eyed me for a long moment, my blatant deception written all over me.
“Uh-huh,” he said slowly. “You just … walked in.”
I casually nodded. Darnell had been watching me since day one.
He never stopped me when I moved contraband between other inmates.
As long as there weren’t any knives or overdoses involved, he didn’t care.
I think he just liked watching the wolves rip each other apart.
Either way, I was glad it was him; if it had been any of the others, I would have been done for. Straight back to solitary for me.
He didn’t say anything for a beat. Then, with a sigh, he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Stay here.”
I leaned back against the wall, hands in my pockets like I hadn’t just rearranged someone’s skull. “Sure,” I said.
He disappeared into the steam-fogged shower room, and five seconds later, his voice boomed out:
“Medic! Get a medic in here, now!”
Chaos. Shouts echoed down the corridor. Boots on concrete. The sharp buzz of radios. I watched as more guards entered the showers.
Darnell appeared, glancing my way as a small smirk touched my lips, “Nasty accident,” he said finally, voice low. “Kid must’ve slipped.”
I met his gaze.
“Yeah,” I huffed. “Wet floors. They’re a bitch.” He smirked faintly, just a twitch of the lip. Then he stepped closer.
“You know I can’t protect you if you get sloppy,” he said. Another long beat of silence stretched between us, filled only by distant footsteps and Nate’s gurney being wheeled away.
“Get to your room, McCabe,” Darnell muttered. “Before I remember, I don’t like you.” I gave him a slight nod, then turned down the hallway. My heart finally started to slow. My smile widened as the sweet taste of payback filled my mind.