Here's the next part. My procrastination from doing my schoolwork is at least paying off in one way. And no, you are not crazy, I changed the uncle's name to Duke for clarity's sake.
***I do not have much knowledge of the justice system. This will NOT be accurate. I’ve only done a few Google searches to make my creative brain happy. This is done for entertainment and the enjoyment factor.***
“Next time you are picking up strays, Chickadee, make sure you check in before you make them our problem. Moving Pope in like that was a dick move. Like you expect us to be at your every beck and call.” Your cousin Domanic was in a really pissy mood today. He had been bitching and complaining since he had sat down for his visitation, and you were about over it. This though?
“Is he causing trouble?” Already? It had only been four days. Dom scoffed but didn’t answer. It made your stomach tie into knots. You heard the loud buzz and looked up to see them leading your uncle Duke in.
It had been a bitch fighting for split visits, let alone family ones. A lot of nights looking things up. You had still been young and not yet very confident in your abilities to advocate. It had been a big yet terrifying win. Because of the mass amount of family members who were in lockup (you swore that your family didn’t understand what a condom was, let alone how to use it), it felt like you were related to half the county-and not the good half. It was easier to come on light days and do a few visits. The most common being starting with person A, then fifteen minutes in, person B joined. They both stayed for roughly twenty minutes, and then you got the rest of the hour with person B.
They uncuffed Duke, and he made his way to the table. “You didn’t answer my question, Dom. Is he causing trouble?”
Duke eyed the two of you as he eased into his seat. Dom stayed silent. It took three seconds or less for Duke to figure out the tension in the air. “Ah, fuck Dom, are you still bitching about Pope being your new bunkmate?” Dom glared at Duke, who held eye contact with him with a steady stare until Dom broke, looking down at the table. “You make him sound like such a fucking problem when he slept for the first two days, and half the third. He’s barely made a sound since he was reassigned.” You felt immediate relief flood through your body. Not only had Andrew not been stirring up any problems, but he had actually slept. That man looked rough when you saw him. “She made a decision, and we back family-”
“Yeah, well, she is real good at making decisions for the family. Knows just how to pull those strings, don’t you, Chickadee?” Your stomach dropped as you pulled your arms off the table where they had been resting to sit up straight.
“That’s enough.” Duke's voice was low and deadly. The conversation was over. Dom didn’t say anything back but rose to his feet, ending his part of the visit early.
“Asshole,” You muttered to yourself. Letting it hang in the air.
“Try to cut him some slack.” You gave Duke a disbelieving look. The man smiled, then it dropped, “Angela came and saw him today. She is pregnant.”
“Yeah, and that’s my fault? Maybe he needs another lesson on how to put on a-” You start angrily and then trail off a frown pulling at your own lips. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Duke said simply.
“Oh fuck, for real?” You were mad at yourself for not realizing it immediately. Don had been in for almost six months now. If Angela had just found out that she was pregnant, it wasn’t Donny’s.
“And he is under the impression that you knew and didn’t tell him.” You sigh and roll your eyes. Crossing your arms over your chest, lips pursed.
“You know, despite what everyone seems to think, I don’t know everything that is going on in this family. Honestly, I try to actively not see them in more than small controlled burst when I can get away with it. Which isn’t often because someone always fucking finds me and I end up getting stuck in their bullshit.”
Duke smiles. It’s wistful, “Sounds like family.” You feel bad, eyes glancing down at the table. Duke made it a point to try to know everything that was going on. He was social, and he knew the family. The family knew him. The family talked to him- you had never realized how much it was just for favors until he got locked up, and they had all disappeared. You wonder if he had known or if it was a harsh wake-up call.
You didn’t like seeing that look on his face and started talking to him about what you had learned about the family. It wasn’t much this week. But Bobbi, a girl you still weren’t sure how you were related to, had just had a baby, and that was enough of a distraction for Duke. You glanced up at the clock. Only a few minutes left.
“Ask what?” Duke leaned his crossed arms on the table, raising an eyebrow at you. Busted. “Andrew, how is he really doing?”
“Hmm,” Duke tilted his head from side to side, “He was in a bad way when they brought him in.”
“Do you think he is going to cause problems?”
“Hard to tell. We will know soon, when he is back on his feet.” Duke’s tone made it clear that he was serious, maybe a bit disappointed, but not angry when he continued. “You really should have said something before you got him moved into our block. Donny was right about that. It was fucked up. Inconsiderate of the consequences.”
“It was an impulsive thing. I didn’t think about it before I went into Rick’s office.”
“He isn’t like one of your young buck strays that you try to get on the straight and narrow while they're here. He’s a grown man with a record. I saw what he did to that guard. Bloody mess. He is dangerous.”
“Aren’t we all.” Duke’s lips twitched at that. You look down at the table, tapping your fingers. “I couldn’t stomach it. I have to be able to sleep with myself at night.” You could still feel his stare on you. Heavy. Worried. “I’ll be careful.”
You had a half-hour wait between seeing Duke and Andrew. Time to brace yourself for what might happen at the visit. You were sitting at the table, looking out the window at the men playing basketball, when the screeching buzz went off. You looked up like you always did.
A few men filtered in. He was the last. You watched the guard take off his cuffs. When Andrew’s eyes locked on you from across the room, they were piercing. Like he could see right through you. His long strides closed the distance between you quickly.
He looked better. Like he could think straight for the first time in a while. His face was still a mess of nasty bruises in various states of healing. He looked freshly showered, and you knew it was for your benefit, not out of respect for his rights.
He sat down across from you, and you felt like you were in a battle of wills, and you didn’t know what you were fighting for. The silence stretched a minute too long to be comfortable.
“I don’t know you.” His voice sounded different from what you expected. You weren’t sure in what way. Maybe it was the flat, unimpressed tone.
“Sure you do, you dated my cousin’s best friend for a while. We ran in the same circle. I’m flattered I made such an impact on you.” You glance up at the guards who were monitoring. You recognized the man who seemed overinterested in your table. You lean slightly forward and lower your voice. “I’m also the one who got you out of solitary.” You discreetly nodded to the guard standing behind him. He didn’t turn, but he got the hint. “You look like you’re doing better. Last time I saw you, you were pretty out of it.”
“What do you want?” You blink. Straight to the point, then. Blunt. You could respect that.
His hazel eyes were analyzing your every move. The weight of his stare was enough for anyone to take notice, but it looked even more intimidating with his still-healing black eye, gash on his eyebrow held together by two butterfly stitches, and bruised chin. But you kept eye contact. You were used to piercing stares. Duke was known for them. His intensity behind them was different, though. ”I don’t want anything.”
“Everybody wants something.” He said it like it was law as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. You didn’t think arguing was quite the way to go with this one. He looked as stubborn as a mule. Play the game then.
“Okay, fine. You win. Hmm, let's see.” You press your lips together in thought, rocking slightly back and forth. “I want my supervisor at my work to stop telling me how to do my job when he doesn’t know how to do it- and a pay raise to go along with it. I want my mechanic to actually fix what’s wrong with my Jeep and not have to keep bringing it back every other week for the same problem.” You sigh in frustration because that was being less of a hassle now and more of a full-blown problem.
“I want to take a vacation. Maybe to Hawaii or Cuba. I want my family not to have someone go into prison every time someone else gets out, like a fucked up, never-ending game of musical chairs. I would love to have a guy who, when we had sex, cared half as much about getting me off as he worried about himself. I want the new season of The Pitt to come out right now so I can watch it. And I want them to put my two favorite couples together. Oh, and I wouldn’t mind a big piece of chocolate cake with extra frosting. I have an insane sugar craving right now.”
Andrew was silent. Just staring at you. Didn’t move a muscle. Not even a twitch of his lips. Tough crowd.
“What do you want from me?” You tried not to take his abrasiveness too personally. God, he is stand-offish. You hadn’t done it for a thank you, but he could lay off a bit.
“I want to keep you out of solitary for the rest of your five-year sentence. You think you could help me make it happen?” It came out a little sharper than you had intended. A rise in your tone as the sarcasm had started to oze out. His eyes narrow, a stark line appearing between his eyebrows.
“Well, from what I hear, it’s compared to psychological torture. So, I thought you might want to avoid that.” You glance up at the clock. Time was going by quickly, half the visit was already almost over.
“No,” He didn’t seem to like your answers. Not in an angry way, but almost confused. Like he couldn’t quite understand you, and it bothered him. “Why do you want to help me? I don’t even know you.”
“Sure you do.” You correct eyes glance back to Hilty, who thankfully looks distracted by a couple across the room who are not taking the policy about physical touch seriously enough. They were definitely going to get in trouble for that.
Andrew sat up and leaned forward in his chair. The first real spark in his demeanor. “Is this Smurf? Did she send you here?” You couldn’t tell if his tone was angry or hopeful. Maybe a mix of both.
You knew that he had a mother and three brothers who had left him high and dry, but did he have a girlfriend who had done the same? A girl like Angela, who said she would stay faithful, started screwing around after a few lonely months? Or had she ripped it off like a Band-Aid and broken up with him after he had been put in prison? Still a shitty thing to do, but less so, in an honest way. “Who’s Smurf?” Your look of general confusion must have been enough of an answer. His jaw clenched, tension scrunched his face, and his muscles contracted coiled like a cobra ready to strike.
“Then why?” You took the redirection in stride, following him away from an obviously personal and painful subject.
“I saw you walking past the visitation room when I was here last Wednesday. Thought I could help.” You said simply. Honestly.
“Out of pity, then.” Your eyes narrow at him as you sit up a little straighter at the accusation.
“I don’t do pity. You got yourself locked up in here.” You say harshly, then pause. “But I do have empathy, and you looked like you were in need of some. There is a line between paying for your misdoings and…”
And the torture you were clearly facing.
He is still suspicious. Like, he doesn’t believe anyone would do something for nothing. You glance at the clock. You had only scheduled a half-hour visit. You had been unsure about how he would be doing. You had about five minutes left. So you gave him something that his brain might be able to understand and reason with. Connect to the reality he knows. You had seen it a lot in the younger guys- the “strays”- you had helped.
“I’m a meddler. I like to fix things-even when they are not necessarily broken. My brain constantly needs something to do-to focus on. And I like to argue.” You couldn’t help the smile that came to your lips. “I mean, I really, really like to argue. And I’m good at it. I needed something to focus on and argue with Rick about. It’s been a while.”
A last-minute warning was called out to the room.
Andrew doesn’t look like he trusts you any more than when he walked in the door and sat down. In fact, he looked like he was even more unsure about you. His penetrating stare was almost unnerving in its intensity.
“If you really need to do something for me, how about this- stay out of trouble. For both of our sakes. I’m good, but I don’t know if even I could smooth over a problem that took place less than a week after you were released from solitary. Sound fair?”
An order to line up was called out, and inmates stood up to get cuffed and taken back to their blocks. Andrew didn’t move for a moment. Just staring. At you.
“Now, Pope!” Then he was on his feet and walking to the guard, wordlessly turning so his hands could be cuffed behind his back. Then he was back through the door and down the hallway without a single look back.
@sunbonesss @starlitflora @agape-for-more @lo-bells @chloe-skywalker @batterylips @the-lonely-abyss @ravens-and-writers78
