“Catch ya later, Harrison.” Andrew heard in the distance.
Reeves brought his nightstick under Andrew’s chin and lifted his head up, examining for any damage.
“You okay, Harrison?”
Andrew nodded as he started to cough, spitting blood to the ground. Guard Reeves kneeled down and grabbed Andrew’s face, moving it from side to side. Reeves’ had been a guard for a very long time. He was a scary looking guy. He was big, huge even, bodybuilder size. No one messed with him. Word was that he was real cool, but if you messed up, he would beat the living shit out of you without remorse. Andrew thought that it was possible that Guard Reeves felt sorry for him, which sort of surprised Andrew considering he was positive that Reeves knew exactly what Andrew had been convicted of.
“Do you need to see one of the docs?”
Andrew shook his head vigorously as he forced himself to stand. Andrew knew that if he were to go to the doctor that Marcus and Jack would know they had hurt him. That would make him vulnerable and he couldn’t have that. They would be relentless and use it to their advantage. Andrew winced in pain. They’d likely cracked a rib this time. Panic began to set in at the realization that if they came after him tonight he wouldn’t be able to fight them off.
“Alright then, just steer clear of them,” Reeves replied, standing up. He hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Just hang in there, Harrison. They’ll give up soon enough, just keep fighting 'em off. I’ll do my best to keep 'em away from you the next few days; give you a chance to recoup. We are all sort of rooting for you. This is the longest anyone has been able to fight ‘em off.”
His partner nodded at him and they started to walk away. Andrew stood there in shock. He’d never really talked to Reeves, but he had gone out of his way. He was helping him. Andrew had no clue why he would do that. He closed his eyes and prayed that there wasn’t something nefarious going on. He took a deep breath and decided to take a chance that maybe Reeves could be a friend of sorts to him.
“Reeves,” Andrew hollered after him and when he turned around he said, “Thank you.”
Reeves smiled this big shit eating grin that had absolutely no place in a prison yard. “No problem, Harrison.” He then pointed his nightstick at Andrew and chuckled. “My money is on you, Harrison, so don’t let me down!”
Year Two
“You owe me,” Marcus yelled as he, Jack and Nick backed Andrew into a corner.
“I don’t owe you shit. Stay the fuck away from me,” Andrew seethed.
He was getting tired of having to fight the three men off of him. After each fight Andrew thought that that was it, they would finally give up and pursue someone else, but that was never the case. Over the past year, Marcus had consistently gone after him. At first, he came at him alone, and then he enlisted Jack and more recently, Nick, to help him, as Andrew was difficult.
“Oh but you do, Harrison. I have been looking out for you,” Marcus said coolly.
“The fuck you have.”
“I haven’t?” he asked arching his brow as he took another step towards him.
For a brief moment Andrew wondered if it was true, but then decided it didn’t matter, that even if he had looked after him, it still didn’t entitle him to rape him. Andrew kicked him hard in the crotch bringing him down. He then rolled his shoulders, preparing to fight Jack and Nick. As expected, they both jumped in but Andrew was able to hit Jack in the stomach, knocking him out of the way while he pounded on Nick. Andrew had known how to fight before he entered prison, but he had mastered it since being locked up. A lot of guys in prison he knew were tough on the outside, but they had weapons at their disposal. On the inside, weapons weren’t so readily available. He had learned to be tough without the use of weapons. Andrew could see Marcus moving slightly so he kicked him hard in the chest but in doing so, Nick grabbed him just as Jack came at him. Andrew brought his head back and rammed his skull against Nick’s face, causing him to let go. Nick brought his hands to his nose cursing as blood seeped through his fingers. Andrew started to panic a little bit. The three men were relentless and he was wondering when the guards were going to show up. He needed their presence to stop the fight before Andrew couldn’t hold them off any longer. Jack swung his fist again and got a good punch in before Andrew was able to hit him hard, knocking him back. And THAT’s when the guards decided to show up.
“Solitary, Harrison!” One of the guards yelled while another one grabbed his arm and jerked him away.
Andrew glanced up and saw that it was Reeves who had him. Andrew was happy about that. At least Reeves wouldn’t kick his ass before throwing him in solitary. Reeves remained stoically quiet, not saying a word until the two of them had entered the hall that led to the solitary confinement cells.
“This is quite the system you have, Harrison,” Guard Reeves said casually.
Andrew sighed, “It seems to be working so far.”
Andrew stole a quick glance at Reeves to see that he was smirking.
“Well, I suppose it is,” he concurred with a light chuckle.
“I thought you said they would eventually give up. I mean shit! It’s been almost a year already. Don’t they have some other ass to go after? This is getting ridiculous!”
Reeves glanced at him smiled. “Well, I thought they would have given up by now. Their persistence is somewhat amazing.”
“I wish I knew what I was doing to make them think I would be into that because I sure would stop it. I’m not even fucking gay!”
“Well, guys like Marcus don’t really care if you’re into it or not. It’s not really about sex. He just set his sights on you and when he couldn’t have you, it became a threat to his standing in here. I doubt it would matter what you did, Harrison. He would still pursue you because now it’s about his reputation,” Reeves mused with the insight of a man who had seen enough to understand prison hierarchies.
Andrew nodded and looked down, hoping his stamina would get him through it all. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take but there was no way he would go down without a fight. Whatever it took he would continue to keep them at bay for as long as possible. Remembering what Marcus said he glanced at Reeves.
“He says he is protecting me. Do you think that’s true?” Andrew asked as they stopped in front of the cell.
Reeves motioned to another guard to open it. The doors clicked and Reeves pulled the heavy door open. He turned Andrew around and released him from his handcuffs. Andrew gazed up at him, awaiting a response to his earlier question. Reeves simply motioned his head indicating that Andrew needed to go inside. Andrew obediently did.
“I don’t think Marcus has the word out not to touch you, but I’ll ask around to make sure,” he finally said.
“Are you guys still betting on this?” Andrew asked with a frown, which elicited a toothy grin from Reeves.
“Of course,” he said, smiling wider than before. “We have a nice pot going and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.” As he started to close the door he stopped and sighed. “I will ask around about Marcus, but I think he’s trying to bait you.”
“God, I hate that guy,” Andrew said to the ground.
“He’s been around a long time. But don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye and ear out for you. After all, I do need to look out for my investment, don’t I, Harrison?”
Andrew frowned again before the cell door closed and blocked out all the light. He took a seat against the cold wall and closed his eyes in the darkness. The silence was peaceful and calm. They didn’t tell him how long he would be in solitary, but he hoped it was a few days. At least then he wouldn’t have to worry about Marcus and his friends. It would be a bit of a reprieve from fighting.
~*~
Andrew walked through the crowded room carrying his tray. It seemed that everyone was watching him. There was a heaviness in the room that was palpable. He took a deep breath and steadied himself as he walked past Marcus’ table. Marcus and the others continued to eat but didn’t s
ay anything. Andrew wanted to whip his head around to see if he had past the wrong table, if he had mistook the man sitting in Marcus’ spot as Marcus, but he didn’t. He swallowed thickly and held his head a bit higher.
“Did that just happen?” he asked himself softly as he took a seat.
It had been nearly six months since his last stint in solitary confinement. He had been there for a week and once he was released, Reeves had gotten him a message that he wasn’t aware of Marcus issuing any kind of protection over him. That had been a relief. Marcus and his friends had continued to pursue him but there wasn’t the zealousness that had been there before. Perhaps Marcus had finally realized that as much as he wanted to have sex with Andrew, it wasn’t worth it.
“I guess Reeves was right,” he mumbled with a smile and for the first time since his incarceration began nearly two years ago, he actually ate.
When mealtime was done and they were required to go in the yard, Andrew was on edge. He started to worry that the incident during lunch was a fluke, a set up even, to get Andrew to let his guard down. He passed the men playing basketball and the ones conversing on the benches. He found a spot away from everyone, but still under the watchful eye of the guards. There was one guard in particular that he wanted to make sure could see him. He leaned against the fence, his body ready for whatever might happen.
Guard Reeves stood across the yard in a position where he could see what was happening to Andrew, but also see if Marcus decided to make a move or not. He couldn’t actually interfere unless something happened, but he would be the first one there if needed. It turned out it wasn’t needed. Marcus ignored Andrew all together.
“I think I just won!” Reeves said happily.
The rest of the day and evening went well for Andrew. Marcus barely seemed to register his presence which shocked Andrew. He wasn’t going to complain. He was happy that things were finally looking up for him. By lights out, he slept, better than he had before.
The following morning was like any other day. If it was one thing he had learned was that prison was made up of routines. In a way, it was easier that way. He didn’t have to think about where he would eat or sleep or how he would get money to pay for his habit. He went where he was told, avoided people and the rest of the time was in his cell. Except, today was slightly different. When he walked back to his cell, he noticed that there was something on his bed. He carefully approached it, touching the items lying there.
“What the hell?” he mumbled.
“I noticed you seemed to, I don’t know what to call it, doodle I guess is the right word, so I thought you would like those.”
Andrew turned to see Guard Reeves blocking the entrance to his cell. He was truly an imposing figure. One hand was on his waist while the other was as it always ways, resting on his nightstick. His fingers lightly tapped against it making an odd clicking sound.
“You bought these?”
“Yeah, well,” he glanced up and down the hall before turning back to Andrew. “You did win me three grand so it was the least I could do.”
Andrew nodded and glanced back at the sketchpads. They were nice and… expensive as were the pencils, nothing like what he had always bought from the dollar stores. When he turned back to thank Reeves, he realized that he was already gone. Andrew sat down, grabbed one of the sketch pads and picked up the pencils. It had been a long time since he’d drawn anything significant. He pushed himself back against the wall, thinking, trying desperately to remember. Something, anything, but nothing came to mind. His memory was shot from the drugs. Well, at least the memories he had from when he was using that is. He wished the other memories would go away as well. He was glad that Guard Reeves won his bet, but he was more thankful that Marcus and his friends had given up. He just hoped someone else wouldn’t take their place. He continued to hold the pencil above the paper. His hand shook and his heart ached. He didn’t know why.
Reeves smiled as he walked away from Andrew’s cell. He was pleased with himself. Andrew seemed to like the gift. He was glad Sky had encouraged him to do it. She was good that way. Mid-thought, he withdrew his nightstick and banged it on one of the cells, people around him stopped. He offered a glare or two, just to make sure that the inmates didn’t pick up on his fabulous mood. After all, he had a reputation to uphold.
Year Three
“What are you looking at, hon?” Aaron asks as he walks in the house and sits down next to me.
“It’s the packet that Roger collected on my nephew,” I say wiping tears from my eyes.
“He found him?” I can hear the excitement in his voice.
He knows how much I have wanted to find Andrew until I finally couldn’t handle it anymore and hired a private investigator to track him down. When that wicked news report came on television over ten years ago, I had been horrified. After the report aired, mom and I tried to figure out what happened, but Kimmy and Drew were not in Ohio as mom had thought and we had no clue how to track them. We didn’t know where they went and there were no records of Andrew ever being enrolled in school after he left Chicago. After a few years, we gave up and it wasn’t until mom passed away a year ago that I decided that I needed to find him. I had to. I owed it to mom and to Andrew and in a way to Kimmy as well.
It had taken a long time to find out anything as Andrew sort of 'disappeared' when he was seventeen and had run away from the group home. Most of the records were sealed but Roger was able to get the information, at an extra cost of course. I have been going through this packet all morning. There are just piles and piles of pictures and files and reports from the group homes, foster care, police records, there is so much to decipher. So much sadness, so much hurt, so much pain. I shouldn’t have given up on Kimmy. I know I could have prevented all of this. I could have helped. I would have taken him if I’d known what was happening.
“Yes,” I finally say sighing, “He's in prison. The police report says he raped a girl. According to Roger, before prison he was living on the streets, in and out of the shelters in Los Angeles and using pretty heavily.”
Aaron places his hand on mine and removes the picture I am holding, setting it on the table.
“He was so close,” I say shaking my head.
“There isn’t anything you could have done.”
I start breathing hard, so hard that I am close to hyperventilating. How could he say that? I pull my hand away from his and start going through the pictures, pulling out the two most damaging ones. I then shove them at his chest until he takes them out of my hands.
“I could have prevented that if I hadn’t given up on Kimmy. If I had fought her and taken Andrew from her when he was little. If I had searched for him sooner THAT...” tears are coming down my face in buckets, “THAT wouldn’t have happened and maybe he wouldn’t have started using drugs and whatever else he has had to do over the years, to deal with my messed up sister and her even more messed up husband.” My heart feels like it is going to beat out of my chest.
Aaron looks at the pictures and I see that his eyes are watering as well, but he doesn’t say anything, he just pulls me into his arms and holds me, comforting me. I need to fix this. I need Andrew to know that I am sorry and that I want to help him.
“I want to go to the prison and see him,” I say with conviction.
He nods, “Olivia, I will support that but...” He runs his fingers under my eyes to wipe my tears away. “He may not want to see you, so you need to be prepared for that,” he says sweetly.
“I know, but I need to try,” I say as more tears fall from my eyes.
Olivia was startled out of her memory by the sound of movement beside her. She offered a smile to the woman that had just sat down and then turned back to her hands which were squeezing together so tightly that her fingers were turning white. She sat outside the prison waiting along with the other visitors to be allowed inside. She was so nervous but she needed to do this. Not just for her but for Andrew and her sister as well. A guard came out to direct t
hem inside and she quickly rose from her seat.
Meanwhile, Andrew leaned against the bars of his cell and watched as a new batch of people came through. The courthouse must not have been very busy because there were only three new people. One looked like a gang banger and from the signs being thrown by the Crips down the way; Andrew knew his assumption was correct. The next was a Mexican dude that was already giving head nods to people as he walked down the hall. He had clearly been in county before and the third was a smaller white dude who looked scared shitless. Andrew turned his head slightly when he heard Marcus immediately start making cat calls to him. He just shook his head and went back inside his cell. Shortly after sitting on his cot, there was movement outside the cell.
“Don’t be jealous, Harrison, you had your chance,” Marcus said as he and Jack walked past the cell.
Andrew furrowed his brows, annoyed with Marcus’ assumption. He was still an asshole. Things had become considerably better over the last six months. Not only was Marcus a non-issue but Andrew found that most people left him alone. Oddly enough, the brothers inside thought it was funny that some ‘pretty little white boy’ could fight so well and the Mexicans were not interested in ‘the gringo’. The white dudes didn’t say much to him either. When he first got here, they saw all his tattoos and the way he fought off Marcus and his cronies and thought maybe he would be interested in joining the ‘brotherhood’ but that was not going to happen. Andrew had no intention of getting involved with them. Their protection was not worth it. He picked up his book, Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths and started reading. He was almost done with it and decided he wanted to get another book similar to it. He had never been much of a reader, but had learned to enjoy it while being inside.
“Harrison, you have a visitor,” Reeves said walking up to the mouth of the cell.
“I have a visitor?” Andrew asked confused.
“That’s what they tell me.”
Andrew had no idea who would be there to visit him. He didn’t know anyone. Reeves motioned for him to follow him, which Andrew did. Reeves directed him to the holding room where they frisked him, making sure he didn’t have anything on him and then they led him to a chair with one of those plexiglass partitions. There was another chair on the opposite side of the partition. Andrew sat hesitantly in front of a woman who looked to be in her late thirties, maybe early forties. She had medium-length brown hair and while he was certain they had never met, she seemed familiar to him for some reason. She reminded him of someone, but before he could contemplate whom, she picked up the phone. He followed her lead.
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