The Rat

by Louise Collins

“That’s just great,” Ollie yelled, “How am I supposed to get them out?”

  “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

  “No shit!”

  The door swung open, and Rory hid the bag behind him. Sebastian frowned, and folded his arms over his chest. His eyes twitched, and he tilted his head as if trying to work them out.

  “What are you two shouting about?”

  “You wouldn’t believe us if we told you.” Ollie mumbled.

  “Speak up.”

  Ollie straightened and took a step back. The bag crinkled behind Rory, and he tried his hardest not to laugh. The whole situation was ridiculous.

  “Rory?”

  His lips twitched, the laugh bubbled up, and he couldn’t stop it. Sebastian glared at him, but his angry expression gave way for amusement. He grinned, then shook his head.

  “What are you up to?”

  Ollie darted panicked looks between them. “Look, this was my idea, not Rory’s.”

  Sebastian stepped into the cell, then leaned back on the door. “What was your idea?”

  “Teddy had some maggots and I got the guards to kill them. He was upset and I felt shit. I asked Rory to help me get some more.”

  Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up. “Help you get maggots?”

  “And I tried to go through the bin, but I couldn’t do it, so I begged Rory.”

  “That explains the smell.” Sebastian smirked.

  “The short story is, Rory found a dead rat.”

  Sebastian narrowed his eyes and took a step closer. The amusement had gone, and the anger returned in full force.

  “Have you got this rat?”

  Ollie nodded. “Rory’s got it—”

  “Give it to me now.”

  Rory hesitantly held out the bag, and Sebastian snatched it away.

  “It was moving with maggots.”

  Sebastian reached into the bag and pulled out the rat. Ollie scrunched his eyes shut and turned to the sink.

  “This is mine.” Sebastian muttered.

  Rory blinked—he swore he’d heard wrong. Every long serving inmate had lost their mind. Teddy, obsessed with maggots, and Sebastian territorial over dead rats.

  “It’s yours?” Rory said.

  “I’ve been waiting for it.” Sebastian ripped the rat open with his hands. “My old one got found by the guards.”

  Rory pinched himself. It must’ve been a dream. He wanted to wake up, it was too strange, the stress of being undercover had lost him his mind.

  There was no blood, or guts, or smell. Sebastian grinned, then turned the gaping rat to Rory.

  “They look good, don’t they?”

  Rory leaned closer. “It—it’s fake.”

  Sebastian nodded.

  “But it was moving?”

  Sebastian opened up the rat like a purse, and Rory spotted something inside.

  “Take it…”

  Rory reached, and his fingers closed around something plastic. A flip phone. He smirked and studied it intently.

  “As I said, I’ve been waiting for a new one.”

  “Did he just rip the rat’s head off?” Ollie whispered.

  Rory turned to him. He was leaning over the sink with his eyes still scrunched shut.

  “No, he didn’t.”

  Sebastian took the phone from Rory and shoved it in his pocket. He dropped the scraps of fake rat in the bag, then smiled.

  “All done.”

  “Done?” Ollie asked.

  “Yep.”

  Ollie opened his eyes. “What happened?”

  “Nothing,” Sebastian said, “and don’t worry about the maggots. I’ll speak to Teddy when he comes back on the wing.”

  “Yeah?” Ollie said.

  “Yep,” he turned his attention back to Rory. “We’ll speak later, but…”

  “But what?”

  “Make sure you have a damn shower first…”

  ****

  Rory waited patiently for Sebastian to explain. The lights went out, and the only glow came from the floodlights in the yard. He drummed his fingers on his stomach, waiting, then sighed.

  “Well?”

  Sebastian chuckled below him. “You want me to tell you about the rats?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Only people I trust know about the rats.”

  Rory didn’t bother telling Sebastian he could be trusted. He didn’t think it’d come out of his mouth convincingly enough.

  He rolled on to his side, and muttered at the wall, “That’s me screwed then.”

  Sebastian snorted. “You’re mine, so I can tell you. It’s quite simple, really. The guards and the governor think the prison’s got a rat problem. Sometimes packages have been nibbled, and there’s rat droppings all over the floor.”

  Rory screwed up his face. “Gross.”

  “Except, I just get someone to scratch up the packages. And the rat droppings? Burned grains of rice.”

  “Okay, so no rats…”

  “Occasionally there is, but that’s not the point. The point is, the governors and guards believe there is. They worry about health and safety reports. So they hire an exterminator, and he puts boxes of poison outside the prison. He can’t put them inside—inmates would kill each other.”

  “Yeah, I bet.”

  “I have a friend on the outside, he makes the rats, real fur, and tail.”

  Rory shuddered, and the bed shook. “Yuck.”

  “It’s been cleaned up. Anyway, he throws them over the fence, and the guards won’t go near the dead rats. They get inmates to put them in the bins, and I pick them up when I can.”

  “And inside the rats?”

  “Drugs, alcohol, phones, aftershave, chocolate, whatever will fit.”

  “Why did you want me to get you drugs when you’re already doing it yourself?”

  “I didn’t really, I wanted to know what you’d do to get my protection.”

  “So that’s how you smuggle stuff in?”

  Sebastian huffed. “All prisons do it differently, but I’ve been running this for years. One rat a week, haven’t been caught, and it’s preferable to getting drugs from some guys back passage.”

  Rory twitched his nose. “Because it’s so much more appealing getting drugs from a rat’s stomach.”

  Sebastian laughed. “Exactly, and that’s not all.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The governor is so convinced of this rat problem, he bribes me with phone cards to keep the inmates quiet. Ten cards a month, and I kept the rat problem hush hush when the health inspector comes. I’m pretty much paid to smuggle stuff in.”

  A silence grew between them, and Rory picked obsessively at his nails. “It—It’s really clever.”

  The bed shifted, and Sebastian stood up. He crossed his forearms on Rory’s bed, and leaned closer. The glow of the floodlight shone on his face, and his blue eyes sparkled. His silver hair caught the light, too, and highlighted the etchings of age on his face. Rory hated to admit he thought he was handsome, but he couldn’t deny it in that moment. The floodlight shone a spotlight on Sebastian, and Rory liked what he saw.

  “You think so?”

  Rory glanced at Sebastian’s lips. He couldn’t stop looking at them, and they lifted into a smile under his gaze

  “Yeah…”

  “Good to know.” Sebastian smirked. “But if the guards suddenly get wise, I’ll know who to blame.”

  “I won’t say anything, I swear.”

  Sebastian climbed underneath the bed, out of Rory’s view.

  “Night, Rory.”

  Rory wiped his hand down his face, and inwardly cursed. “Night, Sebastian.”

  Chapter Eight

  During the first week, the hardest part about being inside had been the fear. The fear that he’d get found out, the fear that Pauly would corner him. The fear someone would hurt him. It had come true, but he didn’t feel fear anymore. Pauly still shot him interested looks, Sebastian still scared him sometimes, but the fear
had gone. Instead it was the boredom that drove Rory mad.

  Most of the inmates busied themselves in the gym, or boxed, or played soccer. Rory tried to train with Captain, but after ten minutes he was out of breath, and pain throbbed in his side. Captain patted his shoulder, then went to help Zeke lift weights.

  Rory ended up limping back to the wing and collapsing on the same uncomfortable chair he had sat in day after day. He read books, he ate, he talked to Captain and Ollie, and he watched the one-hour allowance of TV, all in the same spine-aching plastic chair.

  Then Sebastian would come over with the chessboard, and for a few hours they would play. They smiled in amusement, and triumph. They frowned and huffed in frustration. They mocked each other and jeered. Rory hated to admit it, but he found it fun, and he looked forward to their matches.

  ****

  Ollie slipped into the chair opposite Rory. Captain’s chair.

  “And you’re sitting there because?”

  “I can see the gate.”

  Rory glanced back. “There’s nothing going on at the gate.”

  “Teddy comes back on the wing today.”

  “Has it only been two weeks?” Rory groaned.

  “What?”

  “Feels like months have dragged by.”

  “You gotta get used to it, you’re here for eight years.”

  “Kill me now.” Rory muttered.

  “I forgot to tell you, I signed us up for art class.”

  “What?”

  “Art class.”

  “Why the hell did you do that?”

  Ollie gestured to Rory slumped in his chair. “Always moaning you’re bored, I took the initiative. So we’re doing art class.”

  Pauly paused at their table. “Art class, sweetheart?”

  “So what?”

  “I know what to sign up for now, that’s all.”

  “Do what you want.”

  “That an invitation?”

  “Go away.” Ollie hissed.

  “I will, but I’ll see you at art class. Maybe you can be the nude model, Rory, but for my eyes only.”

  He winked, then carried on to his table and sat down with his group of inmates. They’d all started wearing red bandanas, and when he asked Sebastian about it, he said not to worry.

  Rory spotted Sebastian coming down the stairs. He threw a venomous glare at Pauly and walked straight to Rory and Ollie. He placed the chessboard he’d been holding on the table, then sat on the opposite side of the table to Rory.

  “What did he say to you?”

  “Said he was gonna sign up for art class.”

  “Art class?”

  Ollie nodded. “Yeah, I signed me and Rory up.”

  “I guess I’ll be doing that class, too … again,” Sebastian sighed.

  “You gonna tell me what the red bandanas are about yet?”

  “He’s getting a gang together.”

  “To do what?”

  Sebastian grinned, but it was crazed, and Rory leaned away.

  “To beat the shit out of me.”

  “What?”

  “Relax, he’s got seven guys, I’ve got the rest of the prison on my side. He starts on me, he’ll lose.”

  “It only takes one guy to stab you.” Rory mumbled.

  Sebastian gave him a considering look, then tilted his head. “True, but think of the positives—if someone sticks a knife in me, you get the cell all to yourself.”

  “That’s not funny.”

  “You could even wear my clothes.”

  Rory looked at Sebastian’s overly tight t-shirt. His hard nipples poking through. His mouth went dry, and he muttered, “No, thanks.”

  “Chess.”

  Ollie groaned. “Really?”

  Sebastian started setting up the board. “Me and Rory get pleasure from it.”

  Rory’s neck prickled at the word pleasure, and he shook his head at the odd reaction.

  Ollie looked at Sebastian. “I get why you play it, you’re ancient, but Rory…”

  Sebastian slammed the pieces down with more force than necessary, and Ollie shot back in his chair.

  “I meant no offense.” He blurted.

  Rory gestured to himself, then Sebastian. “To me or him.”

  “Him, obviously. Well, if you’re gonna play, I’ll go hang out with Teddy.”

  “You could watch.”

  “No thanks, it’s far too intimate.”

  Rory couldn’t even deny it. Over the past few days, chess had gone from passing the time to intense and exciting.

  There were no words, it was all facial expressions and lingering eye contact. The prison was full of inmates, but in the hours they played, it felt like just the two of them.

  Sebastian caressed his pieces as he anticipated moves and it heated the blood in Rory’s veins. When he claimed one of Rory’s pieces and smiled possessively, his heart started thumping, and when Rory finally won the match, relief rushed through him and made him giddy.

  “You go first.” Sebastian murmured.

  Rory shivered at his low voice and closed his fingers around the top of a pawn.

  “Captain…” Ollie breathed, looking at the gate.

  Rory released his chess piece and turned around. He grinned at Captain, but he didn’t get one back.

  “He had his appointment today, right?” Sebastian murmured.

  “Right.”

  The gate slid open, and Captain stepped inside. His chest heaved, and his lip tugged back in a snarl revealing his teeth.

  “What you all staring at?” he shouted.

  Sebastian exhaled slowly. “I don’t think it went well.”

  Captain approached the table, but didn’t sit down. “Never again.”

  “Hey, why don’t you calm down.” Sebastian tried.

  “Don’t you tell me to calm down.”

  Sebastian flared his nostrils, and he glared at Captain with the same terrifying intensity he’d glared at Rory for the first few days.

  “What did you say?”

  Rory grabbed Sebastian’s arm, and his bicep pulsed under his fingers.

  “Leave it,” he whispered.

  “No.”

  “Please.”

  Sebastian wobbled his jaw side to side, then turned away.

  Captain looked at the rest of the prison. He held up a small tub and rattled the contents. “Don’t worry though, you’ll all get a good night’s sleep from now on. I’ve gone from alcohol to drugs, god bless the prison system.”

  He walked towards the stairs and didn’t turn back. Rory tapped his nails on the table, then got to his feet.

  “Let him calm down.” Sebastian said. “I’m worried what he might do.”

  “He won’t hurt me.”

  Sebastian snorted. “You’ve been here five weeks, one of them you spent in the hospital, and you don’t even know who stabbed you. It could’ve been Pauly, it could’ve been Captain.”

  “It wasn’t, he saved me.”

  “Maybe he’s got some hero complex, saved you after he stabbed you.”

  “It wasn’t him.”

  Sebastian muttered something else, but Rory didn’t stay around to listen. He rushed up the two sets of stairs to get to the second floor.

  “Captain…”

  He pushed the door open and peeked inside. Captain sat on his bed, obsessively scrubbing his military boots. Rory took a hesitant step closer.

  “Can I come in?”

  “You are in.”

  “Further in.”

  Captain sighed, then nodded.

  “It didn’t go well, then?”

  “The psychiatrist is no older than you. Barely any life experience, and he’s telling me about stress, and anxiety, and whatever.”

  “Was he patronizing?”

  “No, but he didn’t have a clue. People that haven’t done what I’ve done, seen what I’ve seen, experienced what I’ve experienced, they don’t have a clue. They look at me like I’m this big brave captain who fought off the evi
l in this world, but it’s not true. I fought the evil, but I am the evil, too.”

  “You’re not evil—”

  “Don’t, Rory.”

  “Sorry, you’re right, I don’t understand, maybe you are evil, but so is everyone sometimes.”

  “Can’t imagine you being evil.”

  Rory snorted, then mumbled, “Give it a few months and you might change your mind.”

  “Won’t happen.”

  “Maybe you’ve done evil things, whatever ‘evil’ means, but you’ve been great to me. You saved me when I was stabbed, and you’ve looked out for me and Ollie. They weren’t evil acts.”

  Captain breathed out of his nose, then shut his eyes.

  “I messed up.”

  “Messed up?”

  “I got defensive when the he asked about my dreams. He picked away at them and I got mad, shouted at him, and he looked scared. It made me feel good at the time, but now I feel like shit about it.”

  “He’s a psychiatrist, I’m sure he’s had people shout at him before.”

  “But look at me,” Captain mumbled. “How’d you feel if I got in your face and shouted all my anger at you?”

  Captain was without doubt the biggest man Rory had ever seen. Wide shoulders, masculine jaw, huge muscles, and contained rage swirling in his eyes.

  “Pretty damn terrified.”

  “Exactly. The guy was damn shaking I scared him so much. I’m such a bastard.”

  “Just make another appointment and say sorry.”

  Captain snorted. “No way I’m going back, I’m not gonna subject him to that again, but don’t worry they’ve given me some pills to sleep, so hopefully everyone will have a better night, but sorry if tomorrow I’m a walking zombie.”

  “Doubt I’ll see a difference.”

  Captain laughed and dropped his boots to the floor.

  “Hey—”

  Rory turned at Zeke’s voice. His forehead gleamed with sweat, and his towel was draped over his shoulder.

  “Wanna go work out?”

  Captain nodded. “Sounds like a plan. You don’t mind, do you?”

  Rory shook his head. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

  Sebastian was waiting outside the cell.

  “Were you eavesdropping?” Rory asked.

  “Yes, yes I was.”

  “Why?”

  “I told you, I was worried in case he kicked off.”

  “You think you could stop him if he did?” Rory asked.