dressed
and gathered up the other items. The MPs led us out of the room, down a darker
and narrower hall and through one more set of security doors. We entered one of
the housing areas. They split us up, leading Bear up a set of stairs and me
down a set.
It was quiet,
eerily so. The air was sterile and smelled of disinfectant. The place was
everything you would expect a Marine prison to be.
We stopped in
front of a cell. The wall was solid except for a small hole cut in the middle
of the door. I held my breath in anticipation.
“Don’t move.”
The MP let go of my arm and unlocked the cell door. Opened it and turned to me.
“Go in.”
I stepped
through and heard the door close behind me. The walls of the room were painted
gray and a single light fixture was fixed in the middle of the ceiling. A
toilet and sink sat in the back left corner. In the middle of the room was a
small table with two permanently attached chairs. A small window in the middle
of the back wall allowed sunlight to flood into the room. On the other side of
the room, next to the window, sat a metal bunk bed. The top bunk was empty. A
man with a shaved head lay on the bottom bunk, ankles crossed, one hand behind
his head, the other on his bare stomach. A colored tattoo of a phoenix covered
his hairless chest. His eyes shifted from the crossbars of the top bunk to me.
“Who’re you?”
“Noble.”
“Never heard of
you.”
“That’s the way
I like it.”
“What’re you in
for?”
“Murder. You?”
He shrugged.
“How’d you get
to keep all that crap on your face?”
I scratched at
my short beard. “It bother you?”
He swung his
feet over the side of the bed, planted them on the floor and stood. He was
about the same height as me with a similar build.
“Yeah, it
bothers me.”
“It won’t for
long,” I said. “They’re shaving me tomorrow.”
“How bout I
take care of it now?”
I held my
ground, prepared for him to attack. Turned out, I didn’t have to wait long.
He took a step
and reached out with a wide right hook intended for my face.
I ducked the
blow and exploded upward, driving my right fist into his jaw. A crack confirmed
that I had either broken or dislocated his jaw, perhaps both.
He hit the ground
like a bag of sand and his head smacked against the concrete floor with a thud.
I waited a few
seconds to see if he’d regain consciousness. He didn’t. I picked him up and
dumped him on his mattress, positioning him the way I found him. Then I walked
over to the door, stuck my face dead square in the center, which was open to
the outside except for four iron bars.
“That all you
got?” I yelled through the hole.
Chapter 6
The adrenaline
wore off, and I dozed off, managing to sleep the rest of the afternoon. I awoke
to the sound of my cellmate moaning. I opened my eyes. It took a few minutes to
remember where I was and why. I looked around the cell. The reddish orange
light of the setting sun filled the room. I swung my head over the side of the
bunk and looked at the injured man below me.
His eyes darted
to mine. He held his hand to his jaw. Guttural sounds formed in his throat as
he tried to speak. His wide eyes teared over.
“Shut the hell
up unless you want the other side broken too,” I said.
He fell back
onto his pillow, looked away and said nothing.
I continued to
stare at him, driving the point home. The cell became quiet again.
A knock on the
cell door broke the silence. Someone shouted something through the hole in the
middle of the door, then a key clanked into the lock. The door swung open and
an MP entered carrying trays of food. He stopped when he caught site of the man
on the bottom bunk.
“Jesus Christ,”
the MP said. “What the frig happened to him?”
“He slipped,” I
said, “and hit his chin on the sink.”
The MP put the
trays on the table then clicked a radio on his upper chest fixed to his shirt.
“I need medical in echo wing, first floor, cell four.” He fixed his
and gathered up the other items. The MPs led us out of the room, down a darker
and narrower hall and through one more set of security doors. We entered one of
the housing areas. They split us up, leading Bear up a set of stairs and me
down a set.
It was quiet,
eerily so. The air was sterile and smelled of disinfectant. The place was
everything you would expect a Marine prison to be.
We stopped in
front of a cell. The wall was solid except for a small hole cut in the middle
of the door. I held my breath in anticipation.
“Don’t move.”
The MP let go of my arm and unlocked the cell door. Opened it and turned to me.
“Go in.”
I stepped
through and heard the door close behind me. The walls of the room were painted
gray and a single light fixture was fixed in the middle of the ceiling. A
toilet and sink sat in the back left corner. In the middle of the room was a
small table with two permanently attached chairs. A small window in the middle
of the back wall allowed sunlight to flood into the room. On the other side of
the room, next to the window, sat a metal bunk bed. The top bunk was empty. A
man with a shaved head lay on the bottom bunk, ankles crossed, one hand behind
his head, the other on his bare stomach. A colored tattoo of a phoenix covered
his hairless chest. His eyes shifted from the crossbars of the top bunk to me.
“Who’re you?”
“Noble.”
“Never heard of
you.”
“That’s the way
I like it.”
“What’re you in
for?”
“Murder. You?”
He shrugged.
“How’d you get
to keep all that crap on your face?”
I scratched at
my short beard. “It bother you?”
He swung his
feet over the side of the bed, planted them on the floor and stood. He was
about the same height as me with a similar build.
“Yeah, it
bothers me.”
“It won’t for
long,” I said. “They’re shaving me tomorrow.”
“How bout I
take care of it now?”
I held my
ground, prepared for him to attack. Turned out, I didn’t have to wait long.
He took a step
and reached out with a wide right hook intended for my face.
I ducked the
blow and exploded upward, driving my right fist into his jaw. A crack confirmed
that I had either broken or dislocated his jaw, perhaps both.
He hit the ground
like a bag of sand and his head smacked against the concrete floor with a thud.
I waited a few
seconds to see if he’d regain consciousness. He didn’t. I picked him up and
dumped him on his mattress, positioning him the way I found him. Then I walked
over to the door, stuck my face dead square in the center, which was open to
the outside except for four iron bars.
“That all you
got?” I yelled through the hole.
Chapter 6
The adrenaline
wore off, and I dozed off, managing to sleep the rest of the afternoon. I awoke
to the sound of my cellmate moaning. I opened my eyes. It took a few minutes to
remember where I was and why. I looked around the cell. The reddish orange
light of the setting sun filled the room. I swung my head over the side of the
bunk and looked at the injured man below me.
His eyes darted
to mine. He held his hand to his jaw. Guttural sounds formed in his throat as
he tried to speak. His wide eyes teared over.
“Shut the hell
up unless you want the other side broken too,” I said.
He fell back
onto his pillow, looked away and said nothing.
I continued to
stare at him, driving the point home. The cell became quiet again.
A knock on the
cell door broke the silence. Someone shouted something through the hole in the
middle of the door, then a key clanked into the lock. The door swung open and
an MP entered carrying trays of food. He stopped when he caught site of the man
on the bottom bunk.
“Jesus Christ,”
the MP said. “What the frig happened to him?”
“He slipped,” I
said, “and hit his chin on the sink.”
The MP put the
trays on the table then clicked a radio on his upper chest fixed to his shirt.
“I need medical in echo wing, first floor, cell four.” He fixed his
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