caught me during the afternoon Resources block. I had to wonder if that was on purpose. If he wanted to be my final memory of the day when I left this place.
Oh, the meaning I read into every crack and crevice of our encounters.
Attendance was down. The Resources room wasn’t air-conditioned, and apparently the allure of ogling my breasts and butt wilted some when the temperature flirted with the triple digits. Men still came and went, and most showed up for their computer slots, but for once I had a bit of free time, myself, and I used it to make a list of things I’d need to implement Karen’s unrealized plan of starting a cell-to-cell book cart service. I’d nearly begun to think I could put off choosing my stance toward Collier another week. Or indefinitely.
Maybe he pulls that “help me write a letter” shit with every librarian.
Maybe he’d never come calling again.
Foolish me.
He came for me at twenty minutes to five. I felt him step through the door, a heat wave and a cold front all wrapped inside one man. He strode to where I was sitting, lazy as you please, and I knew it was him without even looking up. He stood across the tabletop from me, behind an empty chair, his big fingers curled over its back. I raised my chin. Played it cool aside from the pink I felt stinging my cheeks.
“Hi there.”
“You free?” he asked, in that voice that had whispered the most brilliant, disgusting secrets in the privacy of my head this past week.
“Sure.” I nodded to the chair and he sat. He pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket, and a knot formed in my middle.
Another letter?
“I was hoping you could read something for me,” he said, gaze on my hands. “Something I wrote.”
“Sure.” I realized in that moment, I knew exactly where the nearest officer stood, and not for my own protection. I knew it the way every one of these cons must. The way a criminal keeps his radar tracked on witnesses and cameras when he knows he’s on the brink of wickedness. I took the paper from him, but he stopped me before I could unfold it.
“Not now. But maybe you could take it with you. Take your time. It’s real important. I want to make sure I say everything right.”
Thump thump thump.
“Um . . . Yeah. Sure. I can do that.” It was lined paper, and I could see the impression of his handwriting. Lots of it. “Whether it needs rewriting or not, this was good practice, writing it all out,” I offered.
He nodded. “I used that machine. I wrote it on that, and it fixed my capitals and spelling. Then I copied it down on paper. I didn’t have to rely on my head, to know which way all the letters went.”
“Smart.”
Collier’s brown eyes swiveled, seeking the guards. Finding them busy with the now departing inmates, he leaned a bit closer. “I’ll make this real easy for you,” he said.
I felt my brows rise and my heart tumble into my shoes. “Easy?”
“I’ve got stuff to say. To you.” He tapped the paper, his voice barely a whisper. “If you want to hear more, next week, you wear red.”
“Wear red?”
“You show up next week wearing red, I’ll know what I’ve got to say is okay by you. You wear any other color, I won’t ever bother you again. Not about typing or anything else. I won’t be angry or anything. But if you wanna hear, wear red.”
“Collier!” The guard shot him a look. “Check your posture, loverboy.”
Collier sat up straight, drawing his crossed arms away. “Red,” he said. “But only if you want to hear more.”
I nodded, tucked the folded paper in my notebook along with a couple other convicts’ letters I’d promised to drop in the mail room.
He watched my hands then stood. “’Preciate that,” he said at a normal volume, and pushed his chair back in.
“That’s what I’m here for.”
And he left without a backward glance. The older guard on duty—Jake, I thought his name was—came over.
“He being a creep?”
I laughed too quickly,
Oh, the meaning I read into every crack and crevice of our encounters.
Attendance was down. The Resources room wasn’t air-conditioned, and apparently the allure of ogling my breasts and butt wilted some when the temperature flirted with the triple digits. Men still came and went, and most showed up for their computer slots, but for once I had a bit of free time, myself, and I used it to make a list of things I’d need to implement Karen’s unrealized plan of starting a cell-to-cell book cart service. I’d nearly begun to think I could put off choosing my stance toward Collier another week. Or indefinitely.
Maybe he pulls that “help me write a letter” shit with every librarian.
Maybe he’d never come calling again.
Foolish me.
He came for me at twenty minutes to five. I felt him step through the door, a heat wave and a cold front all wrapped inside one man. He strode to where I was sitting, lazy as you please, and I knew it was him without even looking up. He stood across the tabletop from me, behind an empty chair, his big fingers curled over its back. I raised my chin. Played it cool aside from the pink I felt stinging my cheeks.
“Hi there.”
“You free?” he asked, in that voice that had whispered the most brilliant, disgusting secrets in the privacy of my head this past week.
“Sure.” I nodded to the chair and he sat. He pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket, and a knot formed in my middle.
Another letter?
“I was hoping you could read something for me,” he said, gaze on my hands. “Something I wrote.”
“Sure.” I realized in that moment, I knew exactly where the nearest officer stood, and not for my own protection. I knew it the way every one of these cons must. The way a criminal keeps his radar tracked on witnesses and cameras when he knows he’s on the brink of wickedness. I took the paper from him, but he stopped me before I could unfold it.
“Not now. But maybe you could take it with you. Take your time. It’s real important. I want to make sure I say everything right.”
Thump thump thump.
“Um . . . Yeah. Sure. I can do that.” It was lined paper, and I could see the impression of his handwriting. Lots of it. “Whether it needs rewriting or not, this was good practice, writing it all out,” I offered.
He nodded. “I used that machine. I wrote it on that, and it fixed my capitals and spelling. Then I copied it down on paper. I didn’t have to rely on my head, to know which way all the letters went.”
“Smart.”
Collier’s brown eyes swiveled, seeking the guards. Finding them busy with the now departing inmates, he leaned a bit closer. “I’ll make this real easy for you,” he said.
I felt my brows rise and my heart tumble into my shoes. “Easy?”
“I’ve got stuff to say. To you.” He tapped the paper, his voice barely a whisper. “If you want to hear more, next week, you wear red.”
“Wear red?”
“You show up next week wearing red, I’ll know what I’ve got to say is okay by you. You wear any other color, I won’t ever bother you again. Not about typing or anything else. I won’t be angry or anything. But if you wanna hear, wear red.”
“Collier!” The guard shot him a look. “Check your posture, loverboy.”
Collier sat up straight, drawing his crossed arms away. “Red,” he said. “But only if you want to hear more.”
I nodded, tucked the folded paper in my notebook along with a couple other convicts’ letters I’d promised to drop in the mail room.
He watched my hands then stood. “’Preciate that,” he said at a normal volume, and pushed his chair back in.
“That’s what I’m here for.”
And he left without a backward glance. The older guard on duty—Jake, I thought his name was—came over.
“He being a creep?”
I laughed too quickly,
Similar Books
