Chapter 6
"Hey Edwin, get up."
Marc Edwin was still sleeping on his hard bed in the jail room he shares with Darry "Chipz" Drogue when he heard someone call him. He cracked one eye open and asked "What?"
"You're now free," he heard the guard say which made him open both of his eyes this time now.
"I'm what?" he asked, unsure if what he heard was right. He sat up and looked at the guard.
"I said, you, Marc Jeffrey Edwin, are now free to leave jail," the guard, named Robert, said to him louder this time.
"It's not yet April 1, Robert," Edwin said, stretching his arms and yawning. "You've got no right yet to fool me this time of the morning, not until April Fool's Day, ya know."
"Joke all you want, Edwin, but one look at my face and you'll know I'm serious," Robert said then the brown-haired guard turned to leave.
Edwin just stared after him in confusion. The old man's crazy, he thought. Then he heard someone talk to him and realized that Chipz has woken up now. "Wh.. what happened?" the big guy asked while stifling a yawn.
"Nothing, my friend," Edwin answered, then stared again at the guard's face. Robert sure seems like serious. I mean, his face is dead serious. "He just said that I'm now free. Free to go." He looked at his jail mate who was now wide-awake and staring at him with wide eyes. He couldn't help not missing Chipz' tousled sandy-gray hair that matched the color of his eyes. "You don't think he's serious, is he?"
Chipz' mind seemed to have gone back to earth and asked in surprise, "So it's true? I've been hearing bits and pieces of rumor around here saying that you'd be free soon."
"I didn't know about that," Edwin said honestly then, still dubious, he asked the guard, "Hey, Robert, can I get my things now?"
The guard just grunted in reply.
"Yoohoo! You're free man, you're free now! Do you know what that means? You can live your life again! Wow man, am I so jealous of you!" Chipz told Edwin excitedly while hugging the lean body of his mate whom he had known for almost three and a half years in jail.
"Yeah, I guess so. I'll just, uh, get the very few stuff that I, I have," Edwin replied, still shocked about the news. He let himself be let out of the cell by Robert then headed to the bathroom. He stood in front of the mirror. He saw his reflection and couldn't answer the question forming in the green eyes of the man he saw looking back at him. Things got too fast in my life, he thought. Then he shook his head and damped his jet black hair with some water and headed back to his cell.
In half an hour, Marc Edwin was ready to go outside and be free. His bag, containing some of his clothes and few things, is now packed and he has signed all the papers that required him to sign before leaving jail. He looked back at Chipz, gave a final nod, and finally set himself out to freedom
