Chapter 12: Cellmate

A crowd bustled about around William. He got the grand view from his corner spot in the canteen. Under the slight cover of darkness, his one hand rested against the right side of his rib cage. He grunted with every bite he took of what he could hardly clasify as food. He lifted up the overdone fish and the rice, all of it is so dry. How can they even call this food? He pondered, and continued to forcibly consume. The pain from his violent encounter shot up once more with every vibration his body felt through the motions. He slowly leaned forward against the table, and his teeth gritted hard, so much so as if they were grinding against stone. The food did little to soothe his pain, and the medication given to him for it was less than stellar. In a few quick bites, he quickly swallowed his food and rid himself of the taste with his cup of water. Having rid himself of the food tray, he left the canteen with one hand still holding his side rather tightly. I need to visit that doctor to get me something stronger.

On his way back to his cell, William noticed the very familiar guard stand in his way, the very same who acted as his guardian diety against the gang of hooligans. The man pointed back towards William's cell and explained, "You are getting a new cell mate today. Be sure to play nice."

William took notice of a box of goods on the extra bed upon reaching his cell. He looked around at his surroundings to see what gazes leered around him. With very few bodies around, he entered the cell to promptly open the box and took an immediate note of the contents. There was hardly any literature inside, and what there was could not be considered as such at Williams' level. The packing is quite haphazard, thought Williams as he was careful not to move the items too much. His eyes shifted to the one book that was inside, a young adult novel, I wonder if this cell mate of mine is someone on the young side. He quickly covered the box with its lid and sat to his side with his book in hand. Its not my place to pry any more, but I am curious to meet you my young friend. William flipped the page he finished from which he had last left on.

It wasn't long before two guards approached his cell with the prisoner in tow. William studied his new cell mate from head to toe. Just as he had predicted, it was a young man. His eyes were covered by his shoulder length shaggy dark brown hair. His feet quickly scrambled inside the cell with a strong push from the back. His form shrunk more so with every second that passed, and as their eyes met, his very presence became minuscule. He looks no older than twenty-one, thought William as he noticed the cell door close shut behind the young man. The guard undid the cuffs and watched the new inmate stare about in uncertainty of his future here. As the guard retrieved the handcuffs, he said, "Report tomorrow for your medical exam after breakfast. Enjoy your hair while its still there."

The other guard laughed as he turned to leave and said, "Welcome to hell!"

The young man's eyes shifted from the guards the quickly disappeared further into the hallway, and towards a familiar box. He quickly approached it to study its contents and felt a breath of relief as he saw the familiar packaging. William quietly watched the man with slight amusement tug at the corner of his lips. The young man was not ignorant to the presence behind him however as he shot a long, concentrated glare in William's direction. The young man sat down on his side of the bed as soon as William's eyes diverted back to the pages of his book. He took the box and gently pushed it down underneath the bed bunk.

"You can take your belongings out of there," William spoke alerting the young man, who once again felt his guard up. William offered a small smile in response and said, "I'm not going to take anything of yours. You can put your stuff on your side of the cell."

With his back faced against the old man, the younger one lied down on the harder bedding. This one sucks worse than the one from the correctional facilities before, thought the young man. He shifted further inwards to try and find the sweet, comfortable spot. William sat with his mouth a little agape, as one eyebrow raised high and his head tilted to one side just as if he was hit by a ball to one cheek. His voice made no effort to hide the discontent and offense he felt. "Well, nice to meet you as well."

The lights for their sector slowly dimmed, till there was only darkness. William noticed no prisoners in the halls. They were all back in their cells, it was time as dictated by the prison for them to go to sleep. He put his book to the side with a small sigh of annoyance. I wanted to read a little more, I suppose I will resume tomorrow. He shifted his weight to one side of his body and fell down against the pillow. He kept his body facing the young man, best not take any chances with what happened recently to me. He kept his eyes half open, but the half-closed side was slowly gaining ground as he fell into a much needed slumber.

The next morning, William awoke the the rumblings of the prisoners around as the loud bell echoed in their cell block. He heard many slurs abound as he slowly lifted himself out of his bed. By the door was already the young man who waited in silence. Yet he too rumbled, through his stomach. He waited patiently for the door to open and grant him his mynute freedom. Several loud clangs banged against William's ears as he rubbed his eyes open. He looked out to find the morning music produced by the guards as their batons hit against the metal bars at different frequencies. The young man glared at the guard's approach, and before the guard even had a chance to hit his baton, the young man shouted, "I'm up, no need for you to be going around and throwing your hissy fit at us!"

"Watch your tongue, otherwise I will toss you in solitary confinement, you worthless shit!" the guard shouted in response as he then proceeded to bang the baton against the multiple bars. The young man scoffed and turned his gaze away towards the wall in front of him. William stood up with the stretch of his back and cleared his throat. "You have some ball standing up like that. Most prisoners don't dare doing so after their first day here. Most impressive."

William splurged his face in water and felt the cool sensation bring a clear headed clarity. He placed his toothbrush to the side and discarded of the contents of his mouth. Wiped clean, he walked back with great strides to the cell bars and extended a hand towards the young man. "Let's try last night again. Seeing as how we are stuck together for the foreseeable future, we may as well get to know one another. I'm William."

The young man looked at the aged hand and looked out the cell. "I know who you are. I have seen you in the news."

"I'm sure you have," William replied with a smirk tug at his lips. He retreated his hand slowly, a little disappointed, yet determined to convert this young one to his side. "As have many others. But the media only reports what is click worthy, most beneficial for them. They are a bunch of leeches looking to make money by discrediting others in the process. So, your name is?"

The young man looked at his older cell mate with an eyebrow raised up high, as if a puppet master controlled it with a string. He took a deep breathe and gently nodded his head. "It's Lyle."

"Tell me, Lyle," William began, getting the younger one's attention at the mention of his name. "What did you do that landed you in seemingly one of the most secure prison facilities here on Earth?"

"You are better off not knowing. Don't touch this subject again, old man."

"That's not very sporting of you," William argued as his bow furrowed a little. "After all, you know of my story already."

After a brief respite of silence, a temporary retreat into his thoughts, the young man looked up and said, "I killed a room full of people. I mutilated their bodies, and sprayed every corner, every inch of the walls with their blood."

Unshaken by the explanation, William pushed forward. "Do you regret what you did?"

"Regret?" Lyle in response scoffed, almost laughed. "It was one of my best nights yet. My best work to date to say the least."

"I'm sure that the media reported on it. What did you think about their reporting?"

"They are a bunch of tasteless blood bags with no eye for art," Lyle replied with his chest held out rather proudly. He glared out to the rest of the prisoners and guards. "I doubt there are any true appreciators of art here as well."

"I'm glad to have found something common in between us, Lyle," William said as he stood closer to the door. He knew it was almost time for their first meal. "You are not wrong in thinking that the media mis-represents what we did, or why we did it. They do it because its convenient for them, and to fulfill their own selfish goals."

The prison door opened and William inched outward. He motioned for Lyle to follow him to their breakfast. The two men that were once enemies yesterday, now walked side by side as allies in the making.

In the cafeteria, William settled his tray on a much familiar table. Covered in partial darkness, he sat more in the shadows as Lyle took the opposite spot. William gently dug his spoon into the oatmeal and lifted it out like a shovel. He felt the cold touch of the spoon against his lips and let the contents fall in. They were somewhat cold and hard to digest. A dish hardly worth praising the prison chef over. Lyle on the other hand could care less for the stomach demanded its fair share of the fuel. He ate quickly, and without precision. Milk jumped out from Lyle's bowl and onto the table. It was no secret that William was somewhat disturbed by this display. However, he kept his comments to himself for William was a man of greater wisdom, at least he felt it to be so. William rested the spoon in the pool of milk and asked, "What was it that you used to do before coming here?"

"Therapy," replied Lyle as he picked up a stray scrap off the table and lodged it into his mouth. "Therapy for the mind...at least it was. That is until I was given...permanent leave from the sessions."

"The freedom must have been quite exhilarating," William mused as a smile formed on his lips. Lyle nodded his head and said, "The others never believed in my recovery, so I just chose to show it to them instead."

"I'm happy for you," William batted back as he gently looked up from the half-way empty bowl. "That must have been quite therapeutic in and of itself."

"If only," Lyle complained as he drank the remaining milk. "It didn't do me a damn bit of good. I traded one life for another by ending up here in this shit hole."

William wiped the spots of crumbs clean and leaned forward towards the young one. He slowly smiled whilst eyeing the surrounding prisoners. "Tell me Lyle, how would you like to get out of this...shithole?"

A spark flared in Lyle's eyes and they immediately perked. The two found themselves locked in contact. The silence and an intense gaze was a clear equation of interest. He continued, "I have things being set in motion, and nothing will stop me."

"And you don't believe I could stop you in the future?"

"Believe me," William fought hard to hold back a laughter at the mere suggestion. "The worst you can do is inflict physical pain and maybe hinder the plan, or kill me. But you can do nothing in the grander scheme of things to stop me. And if you were to kill me, think about it, the only man who is offering you a chance at freedom will be gone."

Lyle dug his spoon back into the cereal with the shake of his head. "There are hundreds of guards here, all armed to the teeth. You think you are some sort of badass with a plan?"

William simply smiled in response, and prompted for Lyle to fill the ever growing silence. "I knew you were crazy the moment I laid my eyes on you, old man."

"Think about it carefully, kid," William said slowly as he leaned forward. His hands both joined in unison, and the tip of his nose rested atop them. "I didn't climb my way to the top just through hard work. I have connections, many connections that I can make use of for my own purposes. So, you can either join me, or stay out of my way. If you try to stop me, I won't show any mercy."

William quickly found himself faced with the edge of a spoon, pointed straight at his throat. Lyle banged his fist against the table and said, "I can kill you right now if I want!"

The other prisoners stopped a moment to look, as did the staff. William shifted Lyle's attention to their audience for the two had taken center stage, and he felt the need to exit stage right rather fast. Lyle sat back down and finished the last of his porridge. As the crowd went back to the norm, William said, "Like I said before, killing me won't get you anything. You yourself know the consequences, because I would like to think that you are smart, but a truly smart man would join my cause and help the two of us escape."

Lyle slowly collected his plate and stood up. But before he left, he scoffed in William's direction, "I will think about it, old man."

William quickly found himself alone in the corner table. A sight most familiar. He looked at the soggy oatmeal and felt a loss of appetite just from the mere unappealing smell of it. It wasn't long before William found himself some additional company however, but not in the form he had expected this morning. The guard who had saved him stood by his side, who quietly observed the old man for a few minutes, before forcibly getting his attention. "There is someone here to visit you."

To visit me, William thought as he watched the guard motion for the visitation center. It must be Jacob. He stood up to put his tray away and followed the guard down to his booth. William sat down to face a hazel eyed man. His stub was ever so prevalent when the land around was cleanly shaved. William looked at the combed hair and found some unexpected amusement. You never put this much effort into looking clean and kept when we held the hearings in the court. But it takes visiting a prison to get you in order, what a guy. He picked the receiver to his right. Jacob straightened out his tie and blazer. With a cleanly kept shirt, he looked in William's direction. The older man snickered to himself and said, "Your tie and your three button suit are just fine, Jacob."

"My apologies," he replied with a deep, yet strong voice. He settled down his suitcase in front of him. William rested forward with his elbows against the small table counter, connecting the two. "Thanks for coming all the way out here."

"Of course," Jacob turned to open his case and said, "However, it's not easy getting here."

"I would imagine," William mused with a smile. "But you still managed to find a way."

"There aren't that many places left in this world where man has not figured out how to get to yet," Jacob replied as he bent down for his suitcase. "Or the universe for that matter."

William watched his friend organize through the pile of documents within the suitcase. Jacob opened a folder and organized the documents neatly. "Let's start."

Jacob held one in front of the window for William to read in all its glory. William's eyes directed towards the last line, in which it was bolded very carefully with underlined words. "Will this speed up my release, or at least give me another chance at a trial?"

"I don't really know," Jacob admitted as he waved the papers and rested them atop the folders. "I really had to stretch my ideas for this one in trying to find arguments to have the justice system give you another chance. Though this time, hopefully under a much less strict judge and jury."

"It is still better than nothing," William crossed his arms and silently nodded. "Well done, Jacob."

"By the way," Jacob held the paper up against the window once again. "There is an important line at the very end, to the bottom right. Be sure to read that."

William raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, however his eyes lit up like a light bulb as soon as he saw a small fonted ink. In a very soft whisper, he read, "We are working to obtain more information from the warden on the architecture of this prison. Based on the analysis, we will come up with an attack plan. It will require both internal and external cooperation to help with your escape."

Jacob rested the papers, blank side up once again. William stared in the direction to his left, as a knock invaded his ears. "You have five more minutes, William. Make it quick."

As the door closed, William looked back to his friend and said, "You have done a great job. I appreciate you sticking your nose out for me."

"I'm simply helping a friend in need," replied Jacob. "You shouldn't be here as you did nothing wrong."

"If only the rest of the world saw it that way."

"I'm sure they will soon," Jacob answered with a concrete sense of confidence. William nodded in agreement. "Yes, they will. I'm sure all of them will."

A/N: After a long time, I am finally able to release another chapter. Life has gotten super busy lately, therefore I barely get any more time to do writing. However, I will see these stories through to the end.

A new character is introduced here and please look forward to more future jail antics!

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Feedback is appreciated!

Thank you for your support in reading my work and hope to see you next time!

~ Monty