“Jack, it’s been 139 days since I last saw the world.”
“Why? What’s the matter with that? I honestly like it here.” I rolled my eyes as I heard Jack go off about how cozy prison was,
“They give us free food, a bed, place to sleep, and proper washrooms. What more could I wish for, huh? Outside, all I get are disgusted looks when I walk by.” I stared back at the used-to-be white, now a gray color of the ceiling as Jack rambled on. Today just felt like an odd day in the Orange County Jail. Dimly lit lights hanging silently unstirred, not much buzzing of chatter among the inmates or the guards, everyone else still remained asleep or quiet, except for one odd cellmate. He sat, crouched, in the corner of the cell, scratching at the guiltless wall, mumbling indistinguishable words.
“Shut up Jack,” I spoke, “Who’s the dude in the corner?”
“I haven’t got a single idea. Seems like he came into the cell this morning. What a weirdo, what on earth is he saying?” Jack briskly walked towards the so-called weirdo and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey noob, what the heck are you doing there all by yourself?” What came back was mere,
“I need to see Cecilia, let me leave. I need to see Cecilia, let me leave. I need to see Cecilia, let me leave. . .” I could sympathize with my personal constant yearn to escape this hell and meet my daughter, loving mom, and Zeus, my often brother-like dog if you ignored his frequent licks and barking. I wanted all of those people back in my life. I slowly walked towards the muttering resentful man and crouched next to him, placed my right hand on his shoulder, and silently started helping him scratch away at the wall with my left. The man glanced at me in confusion and awe as I helped him dig a barely noticeable half-moon into the dirty brown walls. The man whispered into my ear,
“I know a way out, let’s escape together.” My ear tingled with excitement and anxiety. The man crawled under his bed right by the wall, and proceeded to stay there while I became more confused as each second passed. I got on my stomach and scrunched my eyes as I tried to peer through the dark, dusty ground. The odd man whispered,
“What are you waiting for? Let’s leave together! Come, come next to me. Be careful of the bed frame.” I stood up and leaned my head to my left shoulder and thought to myself,
‘What have I gotten myself into? What if he’s an actual lunatic or a tad bit koo-koo in the head?’ The man crawled under his bed right by the wall and proceeded to stay there while I became more confused as each second passed. Then, I heard a clatter of keys and whistles with a distant pattern of footsteps nearing our 2-bunk bed cell. The footsteps came to an abrupt stop and a screech from a chair followed.
Guard Andrews was dozing off with his right elbow raising his limp hand holding his lifeless chin. I thought to myself,
‘Andrews must have had a rough night.’
“Guard Andrews, were you on the late shift last night? You seem like you haven’t gotten enough sleep.”
“Yeah, Johnson. A bunch of things was keeping me up throughout the whole night, so please don’t cause a raucous for me today. You too, Jack Cooper.”
“Hmph, I’ll try,” replied Jack.
“Did you meet the new guy, Guard Andrews? He’s one cheery fellow,” I asked.
“Oh what? No, I have not, he’s in your cell?”
“Yup, I think he came in while we were sleeping or something.” Guard Andrews curiously trod towards our cell front from his desk in the corner of the hall. He peered through the bars, gave the newbie a terse smirk, and turned right around to his desk while returning to his nap position.
I walked back to the bedpost and yanked the newbie from the floor upright onto his bottom bunk. I sat on the left side as I persistently tried to make small talk with him. I glanced up at Jack who shook his head in disapproval of my new acquaintance. I think I fell asleep since I woke up to the newbie’s whisper to my left ear,
“Mason, come on. I need to show you the way out while everyone else is asleep.” I vacantly stared into the dark nothingness of the room. I followed the man back into the bottom of his bed as he revealed to me, a gigantic hole that he seemingly dug up beforehand. I was left in complete and utter shock. The newbie enthusiastically got on all fours and desperately started to crawl through the gaping opening. As there was no other choice, I did the exact same behind him. The intensity of the light grew eventually as another tiny opening which only allowed for one to squint through to see the connected different room. The room was a lot different compared to an average cell that I had stared at for precisely 140 days now. It seemed to be an investigating office, but the worst part was, the room was covered in blood splatters all around the floor and four walls. There was no entire body in sight, but a severed bloody hand laid lifelessly in the corner. At that moment, Guard Andrews nonchalantly walked in through the doors and started humming; humming a creepy tune as he started to scrub the blood stains off the furniture first. The noob and I glanced at one another with widened eyes as we were completely astonished by this incomprehensible sight. The rookie gasped a deep breath and the guard shot an instant look towards our direction. Shivers went down my spine as Guard Andrews slowly approached the tiny hole in the wall. He got on his knees and with bloody hands, he pulled his face right up close to the crack and started whispering in an eerie tone,
“Who is it? I know you’re there. Come out, come out, wherever you are. Let’s play tag!” I trembled in complete fear because I had never seen Guard Andrews acting in this zealot manner in the third of a year I’ve alongside him. Right then and there, the novice started to whimper and repeat the words once again,
“Let me leave, let me leave, let me leave, let me leave, let me leave, let me leave. . .” It was already too late for me to cover his mouth as Guard Andrews quickly stood up and said,
“Hm, I think I know who you are. I’ll see about you tomorrow. I’m busy. Leave me alone, noob.”
I dragged the rookie’s body as he remained in unmitigated astonishment on our way back to the cell. I lay in bed, wide awake. I could not fall back to sleep. I had practically witnessed a post-murder scene and I couldn’t do anything. I was the prisoner; he was the guard. Who was to believe a guilty convict who claims a pretentiously innocent warden killed a man in jail? I couldn’t bear to live with this burden. I was more in fear over the rookie’s life since the guard seemed to notice that the rookie was the sole viewer. I silently walked over his bed and watched over him, mentally insuring his safety. I promised myself,
“I do not want my friend murdered nor do I want this pure soul in this hell on earth. I will keep you safe. I will.”
The next morning rose and as soon as I woke up from the light nap, I ran to his bed. The bed was empty, blankets were neatly folded, and the cabinets were near empty, only left with collected dust and trash. I kicked the wall with our half moon with all my force and fury. I was enraged by my solemn oath which I couldn’t even keep for more than a matter of a few hours. I was a failure. I was going to escape and avenge my dear friend’s death. I glanced at Jack who woke up from the thrush of my kick as he stared back with a peculiar look. I mouthed the words to him,
‘My escape is tonight.’ Right then and there, Guard Andrews strode to the front of our cell and greeted us.
“Hope you fellas didn’t have a rough night’s sleep! I, for one, did. Tsk, tsk, he was fun to play around with though.” My jaw dropped as I realized he was speaking about my newcomer. My knuckles turned white, my hands started to quiver, and I couldn’t keep still. I shouted,
“I know you did it. I saw it too.” The guard shot a glare at my infuriated face and whispered with a chuckle of infatuation, “Well then, I guess you’re next!”