Eli pulls the worn blanket over his bunk and pulls a dirty pair of socks from the concrete floor. He'll lose leisure time if his side of the cell isn't spotless.
Bear, his bunkie, is leaning backwards on the desk chair, bouncing a rubber ball against the cinderblock wall. His sprawled arms and legs practically fill the entire cell.
It's hard to tell which is more annoying, the ball's rhythmic thud or the faucet's leaky drip. Either way, Eli may lose his mind for real in here. The ball ricochets off the door jamb and splashes into the toilet.
"Boss is coming," Bear mumbles, scooping the rubber ball up from the toilet bowl and tossing it under his pillow.
"Room inspection," the officer announces as he unlocks and opens the cell door. Eli and Bear stand rigid against the wall as the officer snaps on his latex gloves and eyeballs the small square. He plucks the rubber ball from Bear's bunk. "Mine now," he says. "And you just lost evening leisure time."
Bear's shoulders slump. The officer glances at Eli's side of the cell. He gives an approving nod as he backs his way out the door. The click of the lock echoes.
Bear flops onto the top bunk with his feet dangling over the edge.
Eli sits at the desk. He grabs the only pencil he's allowed, a # 2 nub with no eraser and a dull point. He pulls a lined piece of paper from a small stack and presses the pencil stub against it. Smooth curves and fine lines emerge. Round, curious eyes. Short, wavy hair. Full, bow lips. Mouth screaming from outside the art room window. Eli!
"She the one you were asking that security guard about?" Bear says.
"Yeah," Eli says, tossing the pencil.
"That dude looked like he was gunna punch you or somethin'."
Eli crumples the paper into a tight wad.
"He definitely knows her," Bear says, clasping his hands behind his head. He stares at the ceiling. "He's probably her dad or somethin'. Maybe her uncle."
Eli tosses the paper to the floor.
Bear shakes his head. "I tell you one thing –- he ain't ever gunna let her visit you."
Eli's face turns hollow. Dr. B got what he wanted –- Eli is locked up, hidden away. From everyone.
"It doesn't matter," Eli says, his voice flat. "She doesn't' even know I'm here."
A buzz rattles the cell door open.
"Music to my ears!" Bear grins as he leaps from the bunk. "It's chow time."
"Cell 2," the officer barks.
Eli and Bear join the rest of the pod residents and single file it, first through a secure door that separates the pod from the rest of the JDC, and then through a second secure door to the cafeteria.
Hanging on the wall in the cafeteria is a picture of a bird's eye view of the JDC. The building looks like a giant spider. At its center is the Main Hall, which is separated into two halves. The upper half looks like the spider's head. It contains the cafeteria and classrooms. The lower half looks like its abdomen. That's where the rec room is. Jetting out from the Main Hall are the spider's legs –- four cell pods on each side. A red arrow points to the center of the arachnoid-shaped building. The text next to the arrow reads, You are here. A line of red dots forms a pathway from the You are here arrow through the rec room and out a side door to the courtyard. In case of Emergency follow this route, runs along the bottom edge of the picture.
Eli collects his tray of food and paces to his assigned table. He sits across from Bear.
When it comes to JDC meals, you get what you get, and that's all that you get. Small portions and no seconds. Today's menu is a ½ cup of fried rice with some sort of meat, a sliver of cake, 1 cup of milk and ½ cup of mushy fruit.
Eli pushes the food around his styrofoam tray with a plastic spork.
Bear throws back his milk as if it's a shot of whisky.
"What do you think they'll serve tomorrow?" Bear says.
Eli shrugs and shakes his head. "Tomorrow?"
"It's Thanksgiving."
Eli stopped tracking the days a while ago. Why bother? "Instant mashed potatoes and rubber turkey meat," he says.
"Food here stinks," Bear says, stabbing a grape that looks like a popped blister.
Eli snorts out a laugh. "What doesn't?"
Bear grimaces. "I'm breaking out of this cage."
Eli snorts out a laugh. "Pffft. Good luck with that."
Bear scans the room, eyeing the guards. "Tomorrow," he whispers. "When Boss is at home and all the rookies are here. You wait and see."
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https://www.deviantart.com/neo-rippiru/art/Jail-Background-313450996
https://www.deviantart.com/thorneartstudio/art/Cell-Block-4-734659368
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Blue on Blue
ParanormalSixteen-year-old Maggie Krane is tormented by sleep terrors and debilitating panic attacks. When she discovers that the people she believes to be her parents are really her aunt and uncle, her entire world is turned upside down. The news is just eno...
