Sam and Colby: The Penitentiary

54

"Oh! Ray! Uh, hi," I said. I yanked my hands away from Colby and he did the same. We flattened ourselves against the opposite sides of the closet. Ray crossed his arms and stared at us.

"You told me repeatedly that there wasn't shit going on between you two," Ray said.

"Well, I...," I trailed off. Shit.

"Look, man. Wouldn't you if you shared a cell with her?" Colby asked.

"Doesn't matter because we don't share a cell. And I didn't lie," said Ray.

"Oh, what, so lying is just some big awful thing to you? Do you even realize who you fucking are? Do you understand what you fucking did?" I asked. I didn't need to be nice to Ray now. Not anymore.

"What, just because I caught you and Brock? Yeah, I found out that you're a lying slut," Ray said.

"That's not what I'm fucking talking about! You don't understand what you fucking did when you pulled that trigger! The Trenton Riots, the invalidation of the Montgomery bus boycotts led by Rosa Parks, you tore this fucking world apart for months and the effects lasted for years. I want you to know, though, that you didn't stop any of the civil rights movement. If anything, you strengthened it. You showed the world's leaders that there clearly is a very big problem here. Your idea that it is completely acceptable for a man to think he is better than someone else or that it's okay for you to hurt someone simply because of something as insignificant of the color of their skin is absolutely pathetic.

"I want you to know that the 44th president of the United States is going to be an African American man named Barack Obama. He will be considered one of the top five presidents of all time. I want you to know that the book To Kill a Mockingbird will be a required read for hundreds of thousands of American children to pass middle and high school classes. In the year 2003, Oprah Winfrey will become the first African American female billionaire.

"I want you to know that if anything, your actions pushed this country to end racism even sooner. Your face is plastered all over textbooks and articles as one of the most infamous people in history. You said you look up to Hitler? Well guess what, buddy? You and him are on some of the same lists for people that really fucked this world up. Yeah, you killed one person while he killed six million. But you didn't just kill a man. You killed an icon, you killed a symbol. A symbol that represented over 46 million Americans.

"You are going to die on April 23rd in 1998 in Nashville at the age of 70 from Hepatitis C complications. You are going to get nowhere else in life. You hit the bottom and nation—no, this world absolutely hates you. And they always will. You are nothing more to the American people than a disgusting excuse of a human. You deserve every second of the 99 years that you were sentenced. And I want you to know that everything I'm saying? Complete truth. You wanted to hear something from me that there's no way I should know? Fine. You were born on March 10th in Alton, Illinois. Your parent's names are George and Lucille. You are the youngest of nine children. And you know what else is true? You do successfully break out of this prison, which is why you're taking us with you. Because I know your plan is going to work. But I also know that you need six people to do it with you. The other six people you planned on taking with you wouldn't dare double cross me. Not for something this big.

"Now look. We've got the money for the newspaper. We've got the pipes we need. We've got our diversion and we're leaving tomorrow," I said sternly. I realized I was shaking with anger. Who did this man think he was? That he had any right to get upset about a little lie when he completely threw a wrench in the American civil rights movement?

"We're not going anywhere," Ray scoffed.

"Are you fucking KIDDING ME!" I screamed. I slammed my fist against the wall next to me.

"No, I'm not," Ray said.

"You're fucking scared, aren't you?" I asked with an angry laugh.

"Scared? No. Why would I be scared?" he asked.

"You're unnerved that I know these things I shouldn't know. That no one else here knows. I'm guessing you don't discuss your parents and siblings and early life with anyone in here. I bet Red doesn't even know everything I just told you about yourself. You're scared because I'm something you don't understand and I'm not on your side," I said.

"All you are is a lying little bitch," Ray said.

"Don't fucking talk to her like that," Colby said, angrily stepping toward Ray.

"How precious. He's here to protect you," Ray said.

"No. He's here to help me," I snarled. Colby looked over at me and his eyes widened.

"Oh, shit—you mean I can...,?" Colby trailed off.

"Beat the shit out of him with me? Absolutely," I said.

I'd be lying if I said that fucking Ray up didn't make me feel better. I'd honestly been wanting to do it since the first day we spoke. I would also be lying if I said that the guards did their job to pull Colby and me off of Ray as soon as they saw what was happening.

Waco had heard Ray yelling out and ran out of the cafeteria over by the closet to see Colby slam Ray against a wall and then punch him before I shoved him onto the ground and started to kick him.

Waco took his time with things, slowing down his pace when he saw that Ray was the one getting hurt. He waited until he was almost all the way over to us to call out for Porter. He definitely intentionally didn't yell for Jinx until Porter also slowly made his way all the way over.

They pulled me off of Ray first, probably because Colby was inflicting more damage than I was. I realized that I was putting up a big fight, trying to tear myself out of Porter's grip. He ended up handcuffing my hands behind my back and pushing me against a wall face forward so that I couldn't see what was happening anymore and so he could keep me still. He had one hand on the back of my neck to push my head against the wall and the other on the handcuff chain, pushing against it to try and keep my arms down.

I heard Colby grunt in pain and I struggled as hard as I could against Porter, but he was just too strong.

"Get the FUCK off of me, Porter!" I screamed.

"Shut the hell up, Atkins!" he yelled.

"This is your fucking fault, Jinx!" I shouted.

"For your own good, shut your god damn mouth, girl," Porter said quietly.

"No! Fuck this! Fuck all of you!" I yelled. I felt Porter let go and I tried to spin around, but Jinx replaced Porter and slammed my face back up against the wall.

an: hi, i'm sorry this took so long to upload since the last one. i'll try to get these out sooner for you guys. i love y'all