It's been a while... and none of this belongs to me, obviously.
Chapter Four
Today was a special day, or that was what Two-Bit assumed. The atmosphere seemed cheerier. He had been allowed to bathe, to shave, and they had gotten what had to have been the best meal of the ordeal so far. Although he didn't feel entirely rested, he felt a bit more upbeat and was curious to know what the day would bring.
The time went slowly, ticking away as his internal clock (which he assumed was off most of the time) began to warn him that the middle of the day was nearing, and nothing special had happened.
About twenty minutes later a girl walked in, one he knew from around campus by the name of Sherri Valance. A sweet girl, definitely good looking, and a cheerleader. He wondered briefly if she was dating one of the guards, but decided to not look too far into the matter. Things always seemed to go badly when he did.
"Mrs. Matthews? Right this way—is your daughter going to be joining us?" Sherri's pleasant voice echoed in the silent hallway, and Two-Bit felt his heart soar. His mother and sister had come to see him...
"Anne, don't you want to see Keith?" His mother's voice sounded strained, and Two-Bit stared at her from his cell, catching her eye and waving enthusiastically. This was broken when the short, dark-haired guard opened his cell and took him out, leading him toward the isolation 'room' and then veering to the left, down a hallway, and into a small room. After making sure that Two-Bit wasn't going to escape, the guard stood in the corner, hands behind his back, eyes trained on the area where the prisoners were to speak with their families.
When his mother entered, she looked nervous and tired, maybe a bit angry. Anne trailed in behind her, the sixteen year old looking around with a fascinated expression.
"You don't suppose you could leave, Mr..."
"Ma'am, you have ten minutes to speak to your son, I suggest you take the time to do so."
Prison
Donna had never seen her son so exhausted. He slumped in his seat, shoulders hunched and that same smile on his face... only his face didn't seem ready to accommodate it. It was more of a grimace when matched with the dark bags under his eyes and the pale skin. What were they doing to her son?
Anne sat down next to her, drummed her fingers on the table, and looked at the guard. "Who're you supposed to be?"
The guard's expression didn't change, but he still spoke to her. No emotion. Maybe contempt. "Ma'am, your time is running out."
She didn't feel comfortable speaking to Keith (Two-Bit, she reminded herself, it's been Two-Bit since he was twelve) with this man in the room, but she hadn't spoken to her son in days, and missed him terribly.
"How... how are you feeling?" Her voice wavered, and she felt a lump rising in her throat. He didn't have to be part of this...
Two-Bit shrugged, all enthusiasm from before, when she had seen him on her way in, was gone. It was as if the guard was sucking it out of him bit by bit. "I'm... alright..."
Donna didn't believe it one bit. "Honey, if you want to leave, I could talk to the man running the programme, you don't need to be here—"
"Ma'am, prisoner 79172 has committed a grievous crime, and should be kept—"
"He doesn't deserve this! Look at him!"
The remainder of her ten minutes with her son was spent with the guard, arguing, and yet she left the building without Keith (Two-Bit). The guard's words still flew through her mind, and she wondered how she had ever fallen victim to such a blatant use of reverse psychology.
"Do you think your son isn't fit to complete this?"
"No, I think he's very capable."
"If you'd rather take him—"
"No, he can do this on his own."
What sort of mother was she? To leave him in a place that was hardly fit for any human being. She knew the guard, too. Usually a quiet boy... Keith (Two-Bit) had brought him home to dinner, said he met him at a party, but the boy (... Johnny...) hadn't seemed like the partying type.
The experiment wasn't going to prove anything. It would just be turning innocent boys into monsters.
Prison
It was going around again. Rumours of a rebellion led by prisoner 48913. The one that had gotten away, who had conned his way out of the prison and was going to help others.
He sat in the meeting room with the other guards, all but Mark, who had offered to take his shift in the room where the parents spoke to their children. Darrel glanced toward the door, then back at the other guards.
"I've spoken to the jail..."
Everyone seemed to hold their breath. The jail's decision determined whether or not they would be able to fix everything peacefully or not. Some part of Johnny hoped it wouldn't happen, that they would be able to use real force on the prisoners, show them that they weren't going to play around anymore.
"They won't let us move."
"What'll we do?" Sodapop, despite the fact that it wasn't his shift, had arrived to help with the security, to keep the parents calm and, of course, to discuss the plan of action.
Darrel ran a hand through his hair. He looked much older than he should have. It wasn't his face or his body, but his eyes. Johnny stared at those pale eyes for what felt like years, but looked away again.
"We'll move them."
"Where?"
"Anywhere... somewhere empty..."
Johnny spoke up. "On th' fifth floor, there's this room... I mean, there aren't classes in there tomorrow."
"Wonderful. I'll call in the others, you transport the prisoners to the rooms..."
"How d'we know they won't escape when we're moving them?"
"Bags. Blankets. Put something over their heads, they won't get out, and when 48913 gets here, I'll be waiting for him."