Officer Zody reached over and touched Tony’s arm. “That’s a shame. You seem like a nice boy. I’m sorry that you can’t see your mother more often. And what kind of father rejects his own child?”
“The kinda father that drinks too much and hits me and my mom.”
“Is that so? I’m sorry to hear you’ve lived with such a horrible role model. I think that you’re going to learn a lot working for me.”
Tony sat up straight in his chair. “I’d really like that, Zody. I like to learn new stuff. When I’m learnin’ new things I ain’t so bored.”
“Good. Then that’s what we’ll do. You can start now by helping with lunch.”
Tony leaned back against the chair and relief washed over him. He’d finally had a stroke of good luck.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
That night, after serving dinner and helping put the dishes away, Tony walked back to his cell. He paused at the door and looked at Dooley.
“You’re working for Zody now, huh?”
“Yeah.” The tone of respect in Dooley’s voice confused Tony.
“Ya can sleep up top tonight if you want,” Dooley said, pointing to the upper bunk.
“That would be good. How come you’re bein’ nice to me?”
“I don’t know. Just ’cause. Besides, you’re gettin’ your ass kicked by all the guards, so I figured I’d cut you a break. I can be mean again if you want me to,” Dooley threatened.
“Nah. I’ll take nice.”
Tony watched Dooley for moment. “How come you’re in here?”
Dooley casually glanced at him. “A few years back, I was arrested for stealing a couple of times. The court placed me with a family. They were supposed to be my guardians, but we didn’t get along too good, so my probation officer had me sent back here. They’re looking for another family that can take me. Thing is that I don’t do the family stuff too good. My father raised me after my mother left him for his brother. I was raised with all kinds of fucked up. My father’s in prison now, and I have no idea where that bitch mother of mine is. So I really raised myself. What about you?”
“The police think I killed somebody, but I didn’t.”
“I know why you’re here. I was askin’ about your family.”
“Oh. My mother is a good lady, but my father is an asshole. He drinks a lot and gets mad. Ya know.”
“Yeah. Parents can really suck. Anyway, like I said, you can sleep up top.”
Tony gave Dooley a broad smile.
Dooley gave him a dirty look. “Look, man—just ’cause we talked don’t mean that we’re friends. You got some heavy shit goin’ down, and I don’t want nothin’ to do with it. Understand?”
“Yeah, sure,” Tony responded, confused.
The next morning Tony reported to the kitchen instead of going for a shower, as Officer Zody had instructed. Tony was partnered with a Latino boy named Diego who was in charge of teaching him the ropes. Once Zody made the introductions, he left the two boys alone to start cooking.
“How long you gonna be here?” Diego asked.
“Don’t know. My trial will be in the next ten days,” Tony said.
“What did ya do?”
Tony shot Diego a confused look. “I didn’t do nothin’. They said I killed a kid, but I didn’t. How ’bout you? How long you here for?”
Diego poured salt into a measuring cup and added it to the powdered eggs. “Not sure. I beat up this kid real bad in my school. Spent some time here and then got placed with a foster family. Then the fuckers moved outta state, and I got sent back here.” Diego glanced at Tony. “They didn’t wanna take me along. Ya know?”
Tony gave Diego a head nod. “Yeah, I know what cha mean.”
“What do ya know about Zody?” Diego asked.
Tony looked at Zody through the window that separated the kitchen area from Zody’s office. “I don’t know. He’s a nice guy. He helped me out yesterday when that prick Nash was fuckin’ wit’ me.”
“Yeah, that’s Zody,” Diego agreed.
Tony worked throughout the morning and well into the afternoon before he and Diego stopped to take a break. Zody went out into the cafeteria and approached all the boys who worked in the kitchen. As he got closer, the boys went silent. Zody sat down next to Tony.
“So I see you all met the new guy. He’s something special, isn’t he?” Zody said, patting Tony on the back.
“Yeah, he’s a quick learner too,” Diego added.
“That’s real good to hear,” Zody said, looking at Tony. “It’s important to be able to learn things quickly. It makes life much easier.”
Zody stood and looked around at the group. “You boys take a little break and then get back in there so we have the food ready on time for dinner.”
It was the end of the second day and almost nine o’clock. Tony had been responsible for making the instant mashed potatoes, and his hair and clothes were covered with white clumps. Zody walked into the kitchen just as Tony and two other boys finished cleaning up.
“All right. I think it’s time to go back to your cells and get some rest.” Zody stepped closer to Tony. “I think you’re wearing more mashed potatoes than you served tonight.” The officer pulled a clump of potatoes out of Tony’s hair. “How about if I take you down to the showers? You have to be back here early tomorrow, and you won’t have time to shower in the morning.”
Tony grinned as he ran his hand through the sticky substance in his hair. “Yeah, thanks Zody,” he said with a chuckle.
Zody turned to the other two boys. “You two go back to your cells. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Tony and Zody walked through the prison toward the shower. They chatted easily about the day.
“I’m real grateful that ya let me work in the kitchen. I mean, it’s been a lifesaver.”
Zody patted the boy on the back. “Well, you know, I saw something in you that told me you’re a good kid. I’m happy I could help you. Just do what you’re told, and you’ll stay out of trouble. It’s that simple.”
When they got to the shower room, Tony undressed while Zody sat in a chair off to the side. Tony scurried under the warm water, washing the potatoes out of his hair first. He leaned his face up into the shower-head, and the long day of cooking and cleaning melted away. Then Tony felt an arm wrap around his waist.
“You’re a nice kid, Tony. I want you to be very quiet,” Zody whispered.
When Zody pulled Tony to him, the feel of the man’s flesh sent him into a panic. Tony spun on Zody and pushed him away.
“Resistance is futile. It’ll be easier for you if you just go with it.”
Tony looked down at Zody’s erect penis. His blood felt like boiling water coursing through his veins. His heart was beating so fast he thought his chest would explode. Zody grabbed Tony by the arm and forced him face first into the wall.
“Bend over.”
Tony shook his head and tried to wiggle and squirm from Zody’s tight grip.
“I said bend over,” Zody commanded through clenched teeth.
Tony continued to resist him, moving and trying to break his body free.
Zody, ready for the fight, grabbed Tony and cuffed his wrist. Then he forced Tony onto the floor of the shower, slid the other cuff under a thin pipe that ran along the wall and fastened Tony’s other wrist. Tony was now on his knees, bent over. His upper body leaned into the base of the floor where he was secured to the pipe.
Zody pulled Tony hips upward and entered him one hard thrust at a time. Tony screamed as his body and mind were violated. He moaned and begged Zody to stop until his voice was gone and no sound could escape his lips and he slid into shock. When it was over, Zody unlocked the handcuffs, and Tony crouched in the corner of the shower stall. Zody dried off and dressed. He walked over and threw a towel at Tony.
“Let’s go. Dry yourself off and get dressed. You have to get some sleep.”
Tony’s mind was racing, yet he couldn’t hold on to a single thought. His br
ain felt like it was floating in toxic waste, and if it wasn’t for the pain of being sodomized, he might have convinced himself that he’d imagined the whole thing. It was too much for the thirteen-year-old to comprehend.
Tony walked back to his cell, focusing on taking one step after another. Dooley was lying on his bunk and looked up at Tony. He immediately recognized Tony’s deadpan stare and knew that he was Zody’s boy now. Tony had been initiated into Zody’s sick circle. Dooley glanced at Zody, who gave him a vile grin, turned, and left. When Zody was gone, Dooley got off his bunk and leaned on the top bunk where Tony was lying, his eyes wide open with fear and confusion.
“You OK?”
Tony didn’t answer.
“I know what he did to you. Everyone knows what Zody does to his kitchen boys. He made you his bitch tonight, didn’t he?”
Tears slid out of the corners of Tony’s eyes. “What am I gonna do?”
Dooley chuckled nervously. “You’re gonna do exactly what he wants, or he’ll make your life a living hell. That’s the way it works. He made ya think he was a nice guy, huh?”
“Yeah. I thought he cared about me.”
“He does care about ya, Bruno. He cares about getting his rocks off by puttin’ his prick up your ass.”
“Stop. Please stop. I wanna go home,” Tony cried.
Dooley stood for a while, remembering the first time that Zody had done it to him. The shame of it disguised most of the physical pain.
“It’ll get easier,” Dooley offered.
“Ain’t ever happenin’ to me again. I swear I’ll kill myself,” Tony breathed.
“He already knows that you’re thinking that. We all think that the first time. But you won’t kill yourself because someday, someone, maybe you, will get back at him. You remember that—you remember that someday he will get his.”
As Tony and Dooley lay in their own bunks, both boys thought about the nightmare of becoming Zody’s bitch for the first time.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Dooley was sitting at breakfast with his friend Hack the next morning.
“Zody broke Bruno last night.”
Hack looked at him. “How do ya know?”
“I was up when he came back. We talked about it. There ain’t no turnin’ back for Bruno now. He’s got at least eight more days to deal with Zody. I don’t know if this kid is gonna come out of this OK. I kinda feel sorry for him.”
“Zody’s a fucking asshole, and so are the rest of these motherfucking pricks that run this place.”
Dooley stopped chewing. “What are ya gettin’ so worked up about? It wasn’t you that just took a snake up the ass.”
Hack cleared his throat. “I ain’t worked up; I just think it’s sick.”
“Yeah, well, just feel lucky that it ain’t never happened to you. Somehow ya never had to put up with that shit. Why is that?” Dooley reflected.
“’I don’t fucking know why. Lay off, Dooley. I’m warning you.”
The boys ate the rest of their breakfast in silence. When it was over, Hack asked permission to make a telephone call.
***
“Hey, it’s Hack,” he said to the man on the other end of the phone.
“What do ya know?”
“The Bruno kid got broke last night by the guy who runs the kitchen,” he said.
“For fuck’s sake. Bruno ain’t even done shittin’ yellow yet. I’ll let the boss know. Call if anything else happens.”
The phone line went dead. Hack walked to his job in the library, and while he worked the rest of the afternoon, he couldn’t get Tony out of his mind. He had hoped the kid would be moved out of the facility before this happened. Hack wished he had the power to make it stop.
Big Paulie went over to Johnny Morano’s house. He walked into the office and found Johnny sitting behind his desk.
“The kid’s in trouble, Johnny. He got raped last night.”
Johnny looked up, and standing in the doorway behind Big Paulie was Salvatore. He rushed forward. “Pop, you have to help Tony. You know he didn’t kill Rex. I swear if you don’t help him, I’ll go to the police and tell them I did it.”
Salvatore was shaking. The thought of Tony being raped in prison was hard for him to grasp. He didn’t know exactly what that meant, but he knew that another man had done something sexual to his friend.
“You will do no such thing. You will do exactly as I say. Do you want to be the one in prison having grown men stick their dicks up your ass?” Johnny screamed.
Salvatore felt as though he had been punched in the gut. The reality of what was happening to Tony became crystal clear in his mind, and his stomach heaved.
Minutes later, when Salvatore had calmed down, Johnny approached him.
“Bad shit happens sometimes,” Johnny began. “This is an unfortunate situation. You will not do anything stupid.”
“How did Big Paulie find out what’s happening to Tony?”
“One of our men has a son that’s there. We had him on alert so he could report back. He gives Big Paulie updates.”
“What are we going to do? We can’t just do nothing,” Salvatore shrieked.
“Yes, we can. We can do nothing,” Johnny said definitively.
Chapter Thirty
Over the next two days, Tony was taken to the shower by Zody after all the work in the kitchen was completed. On the third night, when Zody had finished with him, Officer Geltz stepped up from behind Zody. Tony looked at him with horror.
“You’re not finished yet, Bruno. You have me to take care of tonight,” Geltz taunted. The man dropped his pants and stood in front of Tony. “Put it in your mouth, Bruno, and suck on it. When I come, I want you to swallow every last drop. If you let one fucking drop out, I’ll beat the hell out of you and make you do it all over again until you get it right.”
Unable to think, incapable of protecting himself, he gave in to Geltz. Tony gagged down the salty, snotty substance.
That night, back in his cell, Tony’s resentment toward the guards set the stage for the remainder of his life.
“Ya all right?” Dooley asked.
“Like you fuckin’ care? Why don’t cha just leave me alone?”
“Calm down. I was just asking if you were OK.”
Tony jumped off of the top bunk and crouched down close to Dooley. “How the fuck can I be OK? Ya know what’s happening to me.” Tony lowered his head, overwhelmed with shame. “Geltz came in after Zody tonight.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“I was in your shoes my first time through this place,” Dooley admitted.
“This happened to ya?”
“Yeah, sure. It happens to a lot of us. Thing to remember is that when new boys come in, the perverted bastards will drop you and move on to the fresh meat. Once in a while they come back and get a piece of ass from us, but they stick with the new kids for the most part,” Dooley said casually.
“Why doesn’t anyone tell?”
Dooley sat up on his bunk. “Who the fuck are ya gonna tell? Come on. They’re all in it together. Do you really think anyone in this place gives a fuck about you or me? They don’t!”
“How do I make it stop?”
“Ya don’t. All ya can do is hope that the judge lets ya go, and ya get the fuck outta this place. I’m telling ya, being out in the group homes and shit like that, it ain’t any better. They might not fuck ya, but they do it in other ways. Sometimes it’s the other boys treatin’ ya like shit, and sometimes it’s the people who run the place. See this tattoo?” Dooley said. He pushed his right wrist in front of Tony: tattooed letters running from his wrist to his elbow spelled out “SLAYER.” “This is a gang I belong to in North Philly. This tattoo is what kept me alive in the places they’ve sent me. Nobody wants to come up against the Slayers. We always stick together and take care of business. If you get outta here, you need to find yourself a group of people that protect each other.”
Tony thought about what Dooley had j
ust said and realized that being a part of something bigger was something that he needed. “I don’t know that I can feel any badder than I do now. I ain’t never realized how messed up your brain can get, not till now. When I was a kid, I got picked on a lot, and puttin’ up wit’ those assholes in my school ain’t nothin’ compared to this,” Tony confided.
Dooley felt the effects of his own unfortunate life. He had made bad choices and had paid the price for those decisions. Dooley closed his eyes. “Hang in there, man. There ain’t nothin’ that lasts forever. I learnt that a long time ago. I’m seventeen years old, and it don’t matter if its good shit or bad shit—none of it lasts forever,” Dooley said. “I just look forward to the day I can get back to my gang, back to the Slayers where loyalty and trust is everything.”
The next several nights Tony was raped by Zody and Geltz. On the third night, Zody pulled a straitjacket out from a locker. “Let’s go, we need to put this on you tonight. It’s a special occasion, and I want to be certain that you behave.”
With the straitjacket securely fastened, Tony thought he would stop breathing. He focused on inhaling and exhaling as he waited in one of the shower stalls for Zody to come back. He was standing up against the shower wall when Zody, Officer Nash, and Officer Geltz stood in the opening of the shower stall. Tony thrashed around, trying to escape the straitjacket.
“See, I told you we’d need that straitjacket tonight, Bruno. Good thing I was thinking ahead, huh?” Zody laughed.
That night, the night before his hearing in court, the three officers sodomized him repeatedly. The pain and shame felt like an endless dark pit. When the men were finished with him, Zody slapped the boy on the ass.
“Tomorrow is your hearing, tiger. I don’t expect that you’ll be getting away with murder, so I’m sure we’ll see you back here until the judge decides where to send you. When you come back, I’m going to teach you some tricks. Little things, you know, that will make you be able to give us a better time. The crying and moaning is good, but we haven’t even gotten to all the little pleasures that really make us feel good.”
Mean Little People Page 11
