My whole body ached as I stood outside the administration office. One of my eyes was swollen shut. The fat warden gave me one last dirty look before disappearing through the doorway to speak to a man inside. I heard two muffled voices, but I could not make out what they were saying. I strained my hands against he cuffs behind my back. No good, I was not strong enough. Not yet. I glared at the four men around me, one by one. After ten long years, these cowards had ambushed me, four against one, and beaten me senseless.
Now, before I could resume my life in general population, I was expected to speak with a journalist. I was to be paraded in front of the world like an animal. One last humiliation before I had to face the friends of the man whom I had killed.
After a few minutes, the fat warden returned from the room and silently nodded to the guards. I was roughly marched into the room where I saw a man in a suit. The journalist. He was dressed sharply, and looked so very different to anyone I had met before. Until now, the only people who I had met in my life were other prisoners, or Pena Dura staff. This man instantly struck me as an outsider. He sat at a small table, a recording device in front of him. He did not look up as I entered the room.
"It's 0800 in Santa Prisca, a beautiful country in the Caribbean that has faced many years of ugly war. I am in Pena Dura prison.
I was seated in front of the man. Finally he looked up at me. He was approaching middle age with thick black hair, sideburns and a mustouche.
"This is Daniel Chirinos, on assignment for La Republica Daily News. I have been granted an interview by the warden with a teenage boy who has spent his entire life in prison. As is customary in this country, he's serving the sentence of his late insurgent father. This boy has just been released from a ten year confinement in solitary for killing another inmate, Jorge 'Puerco' Baptiste. An act that has earned the boy the name 'Bane.'
I stared silently as the man summed up my entire life in less than a minute.
"Bane is now about to be released into general population, where he will spend the rest of his life."
"What do you want?" I said, addressing the man.
Daniel Chirinos gave me a small smile. "To reveal your truth. To hear your story as you tell it. To learn your thoughts. Your dreams. Your fears. Simply to know you, Bane."
I grit my teeth in anger. The man's intentions were not meant with malice. He was not one of my captors. Still, I was trapped here and forced to share my secrets with him against my will. I was just as much a prisoner in this administration office as I was in the Cavidad Obscuro. My dreams? My fears? What had this man done to deserve such intimate trust from me? Worse yet, the recording device in front of me meant that my secrets would be shared with the entire world -a world that has done nothing for me save leaving me to rot in a flooded cell. I did not appreciate being paraded around as a curiosity. I looked back at the guards stationed at the door. I flexed against the chains at my wrists. I had no choice, I knew I would have to speak with this man, I would have to sate his curiosity about me. I also knew that given the chance, I would kill him. I was in chains before him, being picked at and interviewed like a specimen. I was in a position of weakness, and I had known since childhood that weakness -any weakness, any public display of vulnerability would eventually lead to death.
"Let's start with your childhood, shall we?" Daniel began.
I gave him a small nod.
"Firstly, I would like to state for the record the fact that you were born into this prison. You are serving a life sentence through no fault of your own. You are serving the sentence of your father for his part in the insurgency against the government. This is correct, yes?"
"Yes," I responded. Then curiosity got the better of me. "Do you know the identity of my father?" a shred of hopefulness in my voice, much as I might try to disguise it.
"I do not, I'm afraid. Record keeping has never been the strong suit of the Santa Priscan government. And as a journalist, I have limited access to government records at the best of times."
I sat silently. Perhaps I'd never know who my father was.
"What is your earliest memory?" he asked.
"My mother." I replied.
"Yes. My research has revealed that she died when you were very young. Do you remember anything of her medical treatment here in the prison?"
"Yes." I responded. "I remember the doctor being a drunk. I remember watching her condition get worse and worse each day, until she was dead."
Daniel nodded in respect. "I have heard that the medical facilities here are... lacking. The hygiene standards in the medical wing are appalling. You say the doctor was drunk?"
"Indeed he was. There was always a bottle of alcohol on his desk. I could smell it on him every time he spoke. I don't think he could have stopped drinking even if he wanted to. Perhaps in a way, he is a prisoner just as I am. He is a prisoner to his addictions."
Daniel paused for a moment as he took in my words. "You have a lot of wisdom for one so young. You are seventeen years old?"
"Correct."
"Well, it may interest you to know that in the ten years you were locked away, the prison has undergone a few changes. The medical wing has been expanded and upgraded. It's a lot cleaner, more professional. Some cutting edge research is being done right here in Santa Prisca. There is talk of new drugs being developed that will enhance human performance to levels never thought possible. It's only in the early stages, mind you."
I snorted. "They can work all the miracles they want in this new, upgraded medical lab. It will not bring my mother back."
"No. I am sorry."
"Your sympathies will not bring her back either."
We sat silently for an awkward moment before he spoke again. "Your condition... I can see that you have a black eye. There are cuts and bruises all over you. Are you okay?"
"I will live."
"What happened to you?"
"Minutes before this interview, I was beaten by four guards. After ten years in a small cell, these guards were the first human faces I saw. Then you."
"Again, I'm sorry you had to endure that, Bane. I assure you, I am no threat to you."
"Certainly not. It took four of them to take me down. And you are certainly not the physical equal to even one of them."
Daniel let out a polite laugh. "That is true. I do not have the physique to be a prison guard. Especially not in a place as brutal as this. Journalism has always been my passion, anyhow. You on the other hand... if you don't mind me saying so, for a teenage boy you have grown quite large. Looking at you, it comes to no surprise that it would take four guards to restrain you. Your own physique, I assume that is gift from your genetics?"
"Perhaps. I also exercised non-stop in my cell."
"I suppose you would need a way to pass the boredom over ten years."
"Yes, and it was necessary to become stronger. Otherwise I would not have survived those ten years."
"What do you mean? Surely you were protected from harm in your cell? Surely you were fed?"
"I was fed barely enough to survive. I was safe from other inmates yes. I was safe from the guards. But I was not safe from the rats or the crabs. I was not safe from the high tide that would flood the cell every night."
Daniel gasped in shock. "I knew the conditions of this prison left a lot to be desired... but I had no idea..."
"I grew stronger." I stated in response. "The conditions of my cell were demanding, so I met the demand. I learned to swim. I cannot tell you how many rats and crabs I have killed over the years. I realised early on that I had to rise with the tide, or die."
"Well, Bane. It seems that you are quite the survivor."
"Yes, it seems that way."
"I mentioned earlier that being a journalist is my passion. Do you have any passions? Anything you feel strongly about?"
"All I have known these past ten years, is meditation and exercise. Do I have any passion? I suppose my passion is to improve myself. I have grown strong these past ten years. But I am still not as strong as I would like. Someday, I would like to be strong enough that four guards cannot defeat me."
"Self-improvement is certainly a noble pursuit."
"I would also like to improve my mind." I paused for a moment, feeling perhaps a little guilt for oversharing, but admittedly enjoying this man's company. It was the first conversation I'd had in a decade. "I can meditate. I can sleep on command. I can slow my breathing and heartbeat. I have mastered my own body. But... I cannot read. I can count, but only to twelve. I feel that my time in isolation has stunted me. I would like to catch up to where I should be."
"I wish you the best of luck, my boy. You certainly seem to have a sharp mind, I'm sure you will do fine."
"Thank you."
"You are welcome."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "Your time in isolation was due to the murder of Jorge Baptiste."
"Purerco," I snorted in disgust.
"Yes, Puerco. Can you tell me, -tell the world, even, what would motivate you to commit such an act? You were a child, correct?"
"Correct. Puerco was a monster. At six years old I was placed in the cell next to him. He was obsessed with me. Wanted me to work for him."
"Six years old, and you were placed in a cell next to the infamous Puerco Baptiste?"
"Yes."
"Did you know that he was also serving a life sentence in Pena Dura for a series of rapes and murders?"
"The only thing I knew about him was that he lived to torment me. That he almost killed me."
"He almost killed you? Please elaborate."
"There was a fight with one of the other inmates. He used me as a shield and I was pushed through the bars of our platform. I fell three stories. I was told that it was a miracle I survived."
"My boy, I assure you that the world will be appalled that an innocent child had to endure such hellish conditions. This prison might be the only world you've ever known, but this type of upbringing... these conditions... it is far from normal. I'm publishing this article to shine a spotlight on these atrocities."
I sat silently again.
"Your time before the Cavidad Oscuro... do you remember much of it?"
"I remember seeing my first murder. Two other inmates bribed a guard to leave his post so they could kill a man."
"How old were you?"
"Six years old, if I remember correctly."
Daniel held his composure, but I suspected that underneath his calm demeanour he was more that a little disturbed. "The staff here. The guards. The doctors. Would you claim that they are corrupt?"
"Of course. I have seen with my own eyes that they will turn a blind eye to murder if you have the right money. Sadly, I did not have this kind of money when I was a child and I had to protect myself from Puerco."
"Do you have any other dreams or aspirations? Aside from improving your body and mind?"
I shrugged. "I have seen how the strong can overpower the weak. As I grow stronger, perhaps I can command the respect of my fellow criminals here. Or maybe I'll be killed tomorrow by one of Puerco's friends. Who knows. Maybe if my power and influence grows large enough, I can find out who my father was. What he did exactly, that was so heinous that his son has to serve out his sentence."
"I see. You desire power."
"I do. And if my power grows large enough, you should be wary Mr. Chirinos."
He sat back in surprise. "Me?"
"Yes. I am enjoying our conversation. You seem like a good man. But I do not appreciate the advantage you have me at here. I do not appreciate looking vulnerable or having my weakness shared with the world."
He leaned forward. "Bane, I assure you. My intentions here are for your best interest. I don't want to make you look weak. In fact I admire your strength. What I intend to do with this interview, is expose the corruption in the prison system here. The world needs to know the horrific childhood you were forced to endure, so that this type of barbarity can be exposed, and maybe someday, even corrected."
"Is the interview over?" I asked him.
"Yes, Bane."
"My story. My thoughts. My dreams. You have them all on your tape Mr. Chirinos."
"Yes," he replied. "But in all our conversation, we've avoided one particular topic. Your fears."
"My fears. Yes." I paused for a moment as I considered his enquiry. "I grew up behind bars. A prisoner all my life. I have witnessed many horrors. Most of my fears have already occurred and been conquered. But I have grown strong here. I have grown angry. And someday I will leave this place and unleash my rage upon the world. So I fear being free. I fear what I will do without walls to restrain me. And most of all, I fear there will be no one to stop me."
The door swung open and the fat warden entered the room. I suspect he had been listening to the whole interview.
"I think that is quite enough," he said as he glared at the two of us. "Mr. Chirinos, you will come with me. I would like to listen to your tape, and find out if the contents of your interview are suitable for sharing with the world."
"You agreed I could have this interview." Daniel Chirinos stated.
"I did. But I will not be made a fool of. If your intention here is to paint me or my prison in a bad light... I know the politicians here Chirinos. I have connections everywhere. I can make your story disappear. I can make you disappear."
Daniel Chirinos sat for a moment. "Warden. I mean no disrespect here. I'm sure we can come to some kind of arrangement."
Satisfied, the fat warden turned to me. "And you. This interview is over. You will come with me. Your new life in general population begins today.
