"Yard time cons! Line it up! The COs voice echoed throughout the tiers.
"Man." Lincoln groaned from the bottom bunk of his cell. "I will be so glad to never have to hear those words again."
"Yeah…I'll bet." His young cellmate, Marcus, replied glumly, hopping down from the top bunk.
The boy's mood didn't surprise Lincoln, but it certainly wasn't going to make saying goodbye any easier. As hard as he had tried not to, Lincoln had grown quite fond of the kid who, at twenty-one, was the same age as his son LJ.
Lincoln sighed and rolled out of his bunk.
"So I guess this is it." Marcus offered as he stared down at the floor and kicked at nothing with his foot.
"Yeah…I guess so." Lincoln agreed, tilting his head in an attempt to make eye contact with the boy.
"Listen…"Lincoln began again when Marcus remained silent. "You stay out of trouble. OK?"
Marcus smirked and finally looked up, making eye contact with Lincoln.
"You don't have to go lookin' for trouble in a joint like this. Trouble will find you. You taught me that. Remember?"
"You'll be fine." Lincoln replied, trying to sound convincing. The truth was, Lincoln was the only reason Marcus hadn't become another Tweener Apolskis and he knew it.
Lincoln may have been exonerated of the murder of Terrance Steadman, but inside these walls he was still "Linc the Sink". A fact on unlucky sex offender had learned the hard way.
It had taken just one comment. One comment that sent Lincoln into a rage that resulted in him being sent to the Shu for a week, the Sex offender being sent to the infirmary for three days, and ensured Marcus' safety for the remainder of Lincoln's time at Fox River.
Whatcha lookin' at Pretty
"Pretty"
…The one word Lincoln hoped he'd never hear again. At least not in the demeaning manner in which he had heard Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell use it to address his brother Michael for so many months. So when the con used it to address Lincoln's young cellmate only a week after his arrival at Fox River…Lincoln snapped. It took three guards and a can of mace to subdue Lincoln Burrows that day. But no one ever messed with Marcus after that.
"Hey man. Just forget what I said." Marcus' voice interrupted Lincoln's thoughts. "You're right. I'll be fine."
Lincoln smiled at this scared, young kid who was now trying to comfort him.
"Look…I'm happy for you man." Marcus continued. "You're gonna get to be with your kid. Your family. You're gonna get to hold Veronica again. I know you're psyched about that!"
"Oh, you have no idea how psyched." Lincoln replied.
"Yeah. I do." Marcus said seriously. "And like I said…I'm happy for you."
Lincoln smiled again and reached out to hug the young man. It wasn't something he did often, or ever for that matter, but it felt right at this moment.
"Marcus."
Lincoln and the boy released their grip on one another and turned to find Lewis, one of the senior COs, standing at the entrance of their cell.
"Come on kid. It's yard time. Let's go."
"Alright. I'm comin' boss." Marcus replied before turning back to Lincoln. "Take care man. I'll see you soon."
"Yes you will." Lincoln agreed. "Six months kid. I'll be waitin' to hear from you."
"Six months." Marcus repeated, nodding his head.
Lincoln watched as Marcus exited the cell and disappeared from his sight.
Lewis kept an eye on the boy until he reached the guard standing at the end of the tier, then turned his attention to Lincoln. As a senior CO, Lewis was careful about getting too close with any of the cons and especially careful about showing any favoritism. Of course, he had his favorites. Those few cons he felt were decent guys who just made a mistake and were paying the price. Lincoln Burrows was definitely one of those guys. And now that they two were alone, Lewis felt comfortable expressing his genuine happiness for Lincoln's impending release.
"Linc! This is it man!" he said with a friendly smile.
"I know." Lincoln replied. "I thought this day would never come."
"Well, for what it's worth…I'm glad to have known you. I just wish it could've been under better circumstances."
"Thanks man. Same here." Lincoln replied, firmly shaking Lewis' hand.
"Well, are you ready to get this process started?"
"Yeah. Absolutely. But before we do. I need to ask you a favor Lewis." Lincoln said, his tone serious.
"What do you need Linc?"
Lincoln paused for a moment.
"Keep an eye on the kid for me. I mean…you know…don't make it obvious or anything. It's just…he's got six months left on his bid man. I'd hate to hear something…"
"Hey." Lewis interrupted him. "I'll do my best. I promise."
"Thanks." Lincoln replied.
"In fact, I have a new cellie already lined up for him." Lewis informed him.
"Is that a fact?" Lincoln said, the curiosity evident in his voice.
"Yeah. In fact…I think you might have heard of him. Goes by the name of Sucre."
Lincoln laughed.
"Lewis, you're the best, man."
"Well, I figured Sucre only has about six months left on his bid too so, what the hell. Besides, Sucre's been bugging the shit out of me to get him away from his current cellie, so it works out well for everyone."
"Well, I appreciate it."
"Not a problem."
"Well, now I think I'm ready to go." Lincoln said, clapping his hands together excitedly.
"Alright then. Let's go." Lewis replied and started to lead Lincoln out of the cell. The two had gotten only a few feet, when Lewis suddenly stopped. "Oh…one more thing Linc…"
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted to let you know…there are a lot of people outside. You know, reporters and shit."
"Yeah. I figured as much." Lincoln replied, looking down at the ground.
"We're going to try to keep them back as best we can. But…I mean… a lot of people."
"It's OK." Lincoln replied sadly. "I understand.
Meanwhile, out in the yard, Fernando Sucre stood by the fence watching the throng of reporters and news vans that had congregated outside the prison gate. As he stood there, a witness to the media frenzy Lincoln's release was causing, he felt a hand slap him on the shoulder and turned to find his cellmate standing before him.
"Can you believe this shit?" the man asked and when Sucre didn't reply, he continued… "All this fuss over Lincoln Burrows!"
"I still can't believe it." Another con said, approaching Sucre and his cellmate. "Lincoln Burrows is actually gonna be a free man!"
Sucre rolled his eyes at the con.
"You really are dumber than you look. You know that?" he scoffed. Then, turning back to look at the mass of reporters again he concluded, "Lincoln Burrows will never be free."