by Hope Stone
“I won’t. Promise. So glad you’re safe, little bro.”
“Well. For now.”
“Don’t say that. Stay positive.”
“I’m trying. Anyway, listen, I have to go, but kiss Mom and Dad for me. I know they think I’m on some sort of retreat or whatever. But just give them a kiss for me.”
“Sure, I will. I don’t know when I’m seeing them next, though. Bye for now.”
“Don’t worry about it, then. Bye.”
As I got everything together for the visit, I felt somewhat comforted that Hector was unscathed. I got out of my car and walked to the automatic double doors, making tracks to the administration window. Same drill as last time.
I flashed my Department of Human Services badge. “Hi, I’m Amber Atwood, and I’m here to see my client, Colt Winters.”
The administration officer on the inside looked at the badge then back at me, matching things up.
“Okay, you can go through now, Ms. Atwood.”
She opened the locked gate, and I went through to the same meeting room as usual. A guard stood watch outside the door. A camera sat in the left-hand corner, lurking over our conversation. My stomach danced with the lightness of butterflies as I entered the room. Colt’s eyes held a strong element of hot, provoking intensity as I strolled in.
“Hi, Amber.” He almost breathed my name. Hot damn.
“Hi, Colt. You’re looking well.” A blatant, ballsy lie. He was looking more than good. His steamy blue eyes had me hooked, along with his rippling forearms that I wanted around me. Faded tattoos peeked out the sleeves of his tawny-colored prison uniform, making him the ultimate bad boy.
“Thanks. I look as well as a prisoner can look. Granted, I won’t be one for long. You look really nice. I like your lipstick.” A wide, flirty grin followed the statement. So he did notice. It was worth the effort. I wanted him to look at me. I wanted him to notice.
“Thanks, Colt. It’s a new color that I’m trying out.”
He grabbed the water jug and poured me a glass of water, handing it to me. “With or without makeup, you look beautiful. I hope you don’t mind me saying.” His hooded eyes scanned me with appreciation.
“No. I don’t. I can take a compliment,” I answered flirtatiously.
“Good.” He sank a little lower in his seat as I pulled out his documents. “I have some news for you. It’s about Hector. I’m going to need your help, though. If he doesn’t get this sorted out now, he’s in trouble. I have three months to go. Otherwise, my hands are tied. If I can’t get out, I won’t be able to set up this prison debt overhaul. You scratch my back, and I scratch yours.” Colt’s creamy voice let me know he was a good negotiator. My tongue was dry, so I took a sip of water. I felt like I was between a rock and a hard place. I loved my brother more than anything.
“Colt. I personally don’t see why that can’t happen. The crime you committed was, you know, not one of a killer. It’s not like you’re a threat to society. You’re not a drug runner, either.” I put on my thinking cap. “I think we can win an appeal of your parole denial due to overcrowding because you have the extenuating circumstance of threats to your safety. This combined with the fact you’re not a threat to society and with the pettiness of the crime we have to have a good shot.”
The sexual chemistry between us caused my voice to break into a croak. Colt wouldn’t stop looking at me. A painful silence made the room’s tiny noises seem loud.
“Are we going to address this?” He flicked his finger back and forth like a needle, indicating us.
“I mean, it’s not a good situation. It doesn’t look good.” I slid a piece of my hair between my fingers, casting my eyes down. As I looked up, the intensity that Colt displayed was unmatched and being channeled toward me.
“I could care less what looks good, Amber. We look good. I want to get to know you better. I don’t think I’m alone in this. Am I?”
Colts biceps flexed as he slid back up in his chair. My body was radiating heat from top to toe.
“No. You’re not alone in it, but it’s a delicate situation and one to be handled carefully. I don’t want to lose my job,” I declared.
Colt’s handsome smile with those deep dimples made me smile. “It’s okay. That’s all I need to know for now. We can get back to the formalities if you need to.”
I paused for a minute and took a sip of water. I needed it. “Bella is doing great. She wanted me to give you this.” I slid over a picture of her patting Moonlight’s head.
The last time I saw Bella, she gave it to me. She’d asked, “Can you please give this to Daddy, Amber? I know he will be worried about Moonlight. I want him to know his big girl is taking care of her. She’s in good hands.”
Colt lingered over the picture for a long time. I watched as the tears welled up in his eyes. In a very masculine way, he wiped them away as soon as they came.
“My sweet girl. Tell her to hold on. I’m going to be out of here. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes, of course I can. And you will be. I know the judge on your case. I’m going to make a call to him as soon as I leave.”
Colt’s face was stoic. “I know not to get my hopes up with these overcrowding parole board appeals, but thank you. If you can get me the fuck out of this piece of shit, I will be eternally grateful. Plus, I know I can help Hector. I know some people that owe me, and they will cover that debt. It’s a done deal.”
“Colt, are you sure? I don’t want you taking money out of your pocket.”
“No, it’s not like that. It won’t be coming out of my pocket. I have some associates. Probably the fewer questions you ask about that, the better.”
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Okay. I guess that’s what I have for you today. We are making progress. Let me work on the parole board member and see if we can get a hearing date, at least.”
“You really are an angel sent to me.”
I knew I was blushing because I could feel it. “Thank you, Colt.”
“If we didn’t have that prison guard standing right there. I would kiss you.”
Colt
Fresh pools of sweat soaked my bedsheets as I jostled with an imaginary attacker in my cell. I woke up in a rageful fit. The realism of the dream made me gasp for oxygen. Anna was flanked by two men either side of her, and both of them were injecting lines of heroin into her veins as she shrieked for help. I tried to run to her, but I was caught in a rope. I didn’t make it in time. She frothed at the mouth and keeled over on her knees from an overdose.
I looked around me. On one side was the prison wall and on the other was the desk. The lights were out, and I could hear noises down the length of the prison halls, which was normal for USP. I got up and wiped the slick sweat off my chest. I ran the water in the washbasin and looked at myself.
“Get it together, Colt. Think of Bella,” I whispered in the stark darkness.
As I paced the cell, another note mysteriously landed under the door. I picked it up. I ripped it open and turned on the lamp.
Lights out. The job is done. See you in the yard. OS.
I shook my fist violently as I touched two fingers to the photos of Anna and Bella on the wall. I slicked my wet blond hair out of my eyes. A day of false redemption, for nothing could bring Anna back to me. Anna’s killer, though, was dead. Only his mother would miss him. Frank was a man of his word.
That’s how the Outlaws worked. If you’re loyal to them, they’ll be loyal to you. I’d earned my stripes, and now I was cashing in. At least the punk couldn’t fuck up anybody else’s life. I ripped the pieces from the envelope into shreds and threw it in the trash. I didn’t want anything to get in the way of an early release. My bedsheets were wet, so I took them off, balled them in a corner, and slept directly on the lumpy mattress.
I woke to the sound of the clinking metal bars. My eyes shot open as Raymond ran his black baton along the length of our cell bars.
“Rise and shine, fellas. It’s time for
laundry and showering. Unless you bitches want to stink all day.”
I felt my stomach cramping up as Errol and I rose up from our lackluster beds.
“No way,” Errol answered.
Raymond, with his overgrown belly and new porn mustache, eyed me with too much interest. “You’re getting out soon,’’ he said. “Trying your hand at an appeal, huh, Colt?”
“I mean. Anything can happen. I might be here for the full three months. I’m not expecting much.”
He rubbed his belly as the cell door clicked unlocked. “You shouldn’t expect anything,” he spat. “What’s that shit balled up in the corner?”
“Just some sheets for laundry.”
“You wet the bed or something?” He snickered, revealing his yellow teeth. If I had two bricks, I would smash this man’s head between them. Instead, I let the blood rush through my fingers. Errol watched the conversation from a distance. I made the mistake of scoffing as he said it.
In a quick reflex reaction, Raymond snatched his black baton out of its holster and struck down between my shoulder blades with three swift brute force blows. “What’d you say?”
I bent over in the shock of the acute pain. I blew out a strained breath, staying hunched over. I thought I would take a leaf out of the play-dead handbook.
Errol spat out in anger. “Hey! Lay off him. He ain’t doing nothing. That’s police brutality.”
Prisoners started crying out from behind their cells adjacent to mine that heard and saw him.
“Hey, I saw that! I’m going to report you to the warden.”
“Kick his ass, Colt!”
“Yeah, Colt, fuck him up!”
Raymond put his lethal baton back in its holster. “I know you’re not going to listen to them, are you?” he taunted, his stinking breath close to my ear. He turned to yell out to the other protesting prisoners. “Shut the hell up, you bitches, before you’re next!”
He turned his back to me. He reeked of alcohol and sweat. I gravitated away from him as much as I could as he followed a pace behind us. I stood tall as I walked, trying to stretch out the pain radiating across my upper back.
Raymond laughed. “You’ll be all right. Teach you to talk back. You have to learn your lesson, boy,” he sneered and kept walking past the showers to the other end of the cell block.
“You all right, man?” Errol asked once the officer from hell was out of earshot.
“Yeah, I’m good. If he was on the outside, he would already be dead,” I fumed.
Errol cocked his head to one side as we stripped and showered. “I don’t know about that. If we wanted to get rid of the guy, that could be organized. You and I both know a few heavy hitters in here.”
I let the hot water wash over my back, which was throbbing where Raymond hit me. “I can’t be focused on that. I have an appeal to think about. I can’t be getting into anything with him.”
“I hear you. Hey, pass the soap, and don’t drop it,” Errol joked.
I handed him a cake of thick yellow soap. “Ha. You’re not my type.”
He laughed.
We toweled down and headed to the yard. I rolled my shoulders back and forth to lift the pain. The shit wasn’t working. Austin recognized what it was immediately. “He get you, too?”
“Yeah, he did. What the fuck is his problem?”
Austin lit up a rare cigarette that he smoked from time to time. He offered me one. I refused. The sky was a little clearer today as I looked up and watched the wafting whites float by. It reminded me of my life and the way it had floated by here.
“The man is drunk on his own power.” Austin pulled a drag of his cigarette as the smoke wisps hit the air. “He ought to be careful, though. He’s got a few people riled up. There’s talk of a prison hit. He might not make it through the night.”
I put my large hand up to the left of my shoulder to self-soothe. It didn’t work.
“You’ll be all right, young man. I’ve had more than my fair share of blows. But he doesn’t mess with an old man like me anymore. I’m not news to him. He just likes to throw his weight around when he sees an opening.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” I mumbled. “Want to spot me? I want to push some reps out. It looks like the weight bench is free right now.”
Austin nodded. “No problem. Let me finish, and we’ll get to it.”
I watched the ash fall to the ground as I scanned the scene. Ten prisoners were gathered in the back corner. Nothing heavy, just the normal scene in the yard.
I dropped low and slid under the weight bar. Errol, who normally separated from me in the yard, came past mouthing something from the corner of his lips. “You need to be careful, my brother. There are a few guys in that group over there that know you’re getting out. They ain’t too happy. Stay alert.”
He smiled at both Austin and me then walked off. Austin tapped me back down under the bar as I tried to get up.
“Don’t pay them any mind. I know every one of those prisoners in the group. I’ve done favors for all of them. If any one of them tries it, they will have to answer to me. Now we got rep one on the same weight as last time. Let’s go,” Austin said firmly as he watched the group.
I got through my weight set with a sharp ache in my upper back. I’d endured a few fights in the yard in my time at USP, and I would withstand this one. I held steady and finished set one.
Austin looked down over the bar. “I heard you got your little problem sorted out.” He arched one brow at me.
I exhaled out as I lifted the bar back up towards him. “Yep. Frank got it sorted.”
“Good to hear. One more heave-ho to go. Let’s get to it.”
I pushed my muscles to the limit, and my biceps strained from the overload.
“You got it. Bring it up. Bring it up.”
I gushed out a breath and lifted with the excess anger stored inside.
“That’s it. I pushed you today to release that pain inside. Helps.”
I pulled forward and sat up at the bench. Austin caught a glimpse at the top of my shoulders as I did. “Thanks. ‘Preciate it.”
“That’s gonna turn up real nice in the next few days. Blue, purple, and yellow.” He laughed heartily.
“Thanks, old man,” I responded in a playful tone.
“Don’t thank me. You got Raymond to thank for that.”
“That I do.”
The bell sounded, and it was time to go back in. I made it back to the cell with no trouble. As my emotions settled from the hit, I heard my phone ring. I lunged for it so quickly that Errol did a double-take.
“Easy, brother.”
I ignored him and answered the phone. “Amber. What do you know?”
“Hi, Colt. I have a parole hearing date for you. If you want me to be present there with you, I can come. It’s with sympathetic parole board members now. It will be good for them to see how far you’ve come. The date is Monday next week.”
“Yes. I’m in. Can you help me prepare?”
“Yes, I can. I will bring notes to you. I’m confident you can get released. Stay strong, Colt.”
“I will. I look forward to seeing you, Ms. Atwood.” I rolled her name off my tongue shamelessly.
Amber
The amount of chocolate I’d been eating couldn’t have been good. I was stressed to the max about Hector, and my caseloads were rising. I still had to get a handle on the parole hearing for Colt, which on Monday. It had to go through. I had to save my baby brother, Hector. I bit my lip with anxiety as I made the umpteenth drive to work at the department.
I followed my usual routine as soon as I got to the office. I watered my baby Josie on my desk and turned my computer on. As if I didn’t have enough on my plate, Lucy showed up to lean on my cubicle and irritate me. Her strong perfume made me want to sneeze.
“Hey, Lucy,” I said wearily.
“Oh, that was a little lackluster. Have you been burning the candle at both ends?” she asked with narrowed eyes.
What was her p
roblem lately? I coughed and kept going with my normal routine. I opened my second drawer and pulled out my coffee sachets. Her penetrating gaze was burning into my back. “No. I’m good. I just have an increase in my caseload. Sorry, Lucy, I can’t pow-wow with you this morning. I have a lot of work to do.”
“I see. It’s all good. I have a few things to wrap up on cases, as well. How is the cowboy?”
I frowned at her as I rose from my desk, heading to the break room. “Cowboy? What do you mean?”
A few people were already in the break room, laughing and conversing. She ribbed me with her elbow to my extreme annoyance as I lifted my long hair out of my face.
“Oh, you know. Colt? I looked him up. He rides horses and has cowboy boots. I found a nice little pic of him on the internet. Oh, baby. Break me off a piece of that!”
I gave her a hard eye roll. “He’s a client. I’m doing my job. You shouldn’t be talking about clients that way, anyway. You know we are supposed to remain impartial.” My skin crawled as I said it. I felt like a complete hypocrite.
“Somebody has their panties in a bunch. I’m just having some fun with you. Anywho, I have to go. Good luck with Colt.”
A fake smile crossed my lips as I watched her ample physique walk away. I made my coffee and planned to plunge into my case files when I got back to my desk. My phone rang as soon as I sat down.
“Hello.” I kept my voice low, though most people were talking on the phone, so it was okay.
“Hey, sister.”
“Hi, Hector. I’m working on things. Colt is going to help you. I have to get him out first. Let me work on it.”
“You have to. Word on the street is they know I’m in San Fran. Las Balas is looking for me. I don’t know how the fuck they found out. Sis, you have to help me.” He sounded frantic with worry.
“You and everybody else. You will have to do your best until I can get this appeal finalized. Can you move? How did they find out?” I asked in a shrill tone. I looked around to see if anybody heard. They hadn’t.
