Falling From Escape

forty days and forty nights

Twenty days after AJ was put into solitary confinement, people felt eased by Daniel's presence. He was less jittery and nervous, he had a way of speaking that could melt a person like butter. That's at least what everyone else got to speak with.
"If I have to cut another flower with scissors I will cut my throat with them." Dan groaned lounging across the chair where AJ sat days prior. "I hate manual labor and all the books in here are terrible!"
"Then quit complaining and color a picture with me!" Harlem offered. She honestly wanted to hear no more of Daniels complaints, an understandable desire since it was a continuous cycle for the past few weeks.
"What's your picture supposed to be?" Gunter babbled, the trio talked for a while before the com speaker came on saying that it was time to go to supper. “I don’t care for this god forsaken routine either!” Dan complains about getting out of aj’s seat “it’s annoying and honestly-”Dan is cut off by Harlem smacking him on the back of the head.
“I don’t care for you damn complaining danny-man so either you shut it or gunter will make you!”she says while they're walking, Dan rubbing the back of his head.
“Don’t involve me in this!” Gunter shouts worriedly which doesn’t sound like something a guy like him would do.soon the halls are quickly filled with only a few people but Dan complains of it being crowded and stuffy quietly to gunter away from Harlem not wanting to be hit again. Dozens already at the lines, Hedge sees the three immediately and runs over.
“Hey, is it true that aj is in solitary for denying the warden's advances?” Hedge pries as dan, gunter, and harlem walk past him with him following behind like a moth to a flame. They don’t stop till they reach the line and Dan turns around and stares arms crossed and finally Hedge gets an unsatisfactory answer of “we don’t know, but if we did we wouldn’t tell a freaky bug like you.”  he turns around trying to look around and see what they’re being served 
“Come on, I need something on what's happened to her.” hedge provoked which was enough to turn gunter around and hit him in the jaw.
“They are not a god damned girl or do you need to be taught that again!” he rebuked standing over him harlem holding on gunter’s arm looking back from hedge and up to gunter before trying to interfere
“Gunter it isn’t worth it right this second we have a deal only one of us in solitaire at a time remember. Come on, just turn around so we can eat. This isn’t worth our time!” her voice getting quieter while shaking and getting more and more urgent. Dan walks over and grabs hedge roughly by the collar when hedge tries scurrying off the ground “you are a weak and useless bastard no wonder you keep being thrown in the hedges… Why don’t we drag you to aj? If you have so much to say to them you should tell them what you want, ask what you want.” he looks over to Gunter who seems calmer than earlier still with an angry look, but Harlem has let go and stands between them. “He’s all yours.”Dan lets go of hedge and gets back in the line pulling harlem in the line with him keeping her from looking over at them two until they are at the doors of the mess hall.
“See what can be fixed if you suggest a convenient option for both people. It’s not hard and no one is gonna go into solitary confinement.” Dan boasted looking smug about what he has just done.
“You haven’t done anything, just prolonged a bastard's sorry life cause as soon as aj gets out they’re gonna kill him” Harlem snapped giving Dan a dirty look scornfully. “You aren’t helping, you never helped, your plan is going to fail, your hope of getting out to see your stupid little spouse is useless so drop it if she hasn’t come to speak with you nor has she given you anything she has probably moved on and doesn’t love you. So. Move. On.” As she says this Dan slouches with a sorry look in his eyes very different from his look seconds ago. But just as quickly he straightens up fixing his glasses and looks down at the scrawny wire of a woman beside him “at least I had people who love me unlike you, you're not so lovable you know.” Harlem winced and was brought to tears. With her soft sobs Dan groaned “listen harley i don’t mean it you just gotta watch what you say cause i got a rude mouth you know?” harlem starts laughing
“Harley? Is that the nickname your goin’ with danny-boy a motor bike company?” They both chuckle quietly as they get to the front of the line and get their meals. Dan looks disgusted by it and hands it to Harlem, who takes it graciously and digs into both plates while Dan stares off in the distance not long before Gunter comes over and sits in front of him, shocking them both “When’d you get back?” dan lifts his head off of his hands and pushes his glasses back up puzzled
“Not too long ago I just walked over there with him. I honestly don’t care if he stayed to talk to them.. Why do you got two dinners harlem?” Gunter also looks puzzled now Harlem moves her head to insinuate that it was dans but Gunter doesn’t understand so he just shrugs and starts eating his own food. They're all very quiet.
When they’re finished and they leave, Dan and Harlem go a separate way from gunter after roll call they go to they’re cells. In the morning Dan gets an unexpected change: a disheveled looking Antonio is joining him as his cell mate and AJ will be moved to Harlem's cell when they’re done with their solitary confinement nonsense. “Bet you weren’t expecting me il mio dottore demone.” antonio grins slyly
“No one expects a furetti tristi in prison.” Dan laughed back pulling the young man into a hug roughly. They laugh and Antonio pulls away. “So why haven’t you left yet you leave so many different prisons? How is this one so different?” dan shrugs and harlem walks over slack-jawed
“You gonna introduce us danny-boy?” Harlem smiles at Antonio leaning on Dans’ shoulder. Antonio starts laughing again “no Signora, I am a married man.”
“Oh, are you really going to stop chasing after me that easily, Miss. Harlem?” Jamie is standing beside Harlem now admiring her while Dan takes this to sneak off and go to the shed for his 'terrible' job. He goes over to the far gate near the yard where he reaches a decent sized hole; luckily no guards have caught him since they don’t patrol that area. He moves over to the bushes in the yard with his cutters and starts trimming them thinking how to get aj out should be pretty easy right? Right.
It’s about three o’clock and dan, harlem, gunter, and antonio are sitting in the library barely making conversation as harlem is reading a short looking chapter book, gunter is drawing on a what might be a letter for his daughter, and antonio is reading a book assigned for his classes. While those three are off to their own world Dan is lounging on the red chair muttering to himself multiple ways to get aj out of their cell while tossing a wad of paper in the air. He tosses it and sits up quickly and shouts “I got it!” making the others stop and stare at him like he's a lunatic.
“I know how to get aj out! It's so simple. I mean if I have the key to my cell I've got to have the key to theirs!” dan says excitedly looking over to the three sitting nearby him
“You can’t be serious? Why not just wait the last few weeks and the two of you leave then?” Antonio slumped still staring at Dan with a crazed look.
“I agree with ant-man. You can wait, for two more weeks it won’t be the end of the world if you can’t leave as soon as you need, besides you still haven’t earned yourself some new glasses yet and you need to wait a week in order to do that.” Harlem chimes putting her book to the side looking at Dan with an annoyed expression
“You know i thought you were going to be on my side considering they’re your friend”
“They’re your friend too you know i mean you two have been planning to escape… well I mean you’ve been planning on taking them with you when you escape.”
“I just feel better around them, I guess… that doesn’t matter! What matters is that I get out there and find my wife!” Daniel stands up shouting down at Harlem . Antonio slams his book shut.
“ I can't believe I have to tell you this, your ‘wife’ is your spouse and they left you because you wouldn’t deal with that. "
Dan was taken aback sitting down slowly. He couldn't think of what to say. He was drawing blanks. Over and over. um's and i don'ts were falling from him losing the small grasp he had on confidence and remembrance. They were all silent, Antonio fuming enraged.
" But of course let's not forget 'you're the doctor something like it'" Antonio said words hissing  like fire, "something like it can never happen and shouldn't exist. Those are your words aren't they?"
Everyone watched as Dan got up and left the library swiftly as possible. Antonio stood there. Harlem made a soft gesture to Antonio to follow after dan.