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Chapter One Hundred-Four
Point of View: Narrator


Nick felt like he was in a dog kennel. He stood in the corner, leaning against the brick wall, watching as some guys played basket ball, jostling to get the edge. They were all relatively short.

His eyes were roving around the exercise area, scanning constantly, waiting for the moment he could feel in his gut was coming. He didn't know which direction he would come from... but he knew Leon was just biding his time until Nick looked unaware.

Suddenly the door to the court opened and a guard shoved Leon out it less than twenty feet away from where Nick was standing. Leon was practically foaming at the mouth. He leaped for the door, banging his fists against it, sputtering curses as loud as he could.

Nick slowly inched backwards along the wall. If he could avoid the impending confrontation, good - if not... well.

Leon looked up.

Nick froze.

It happened quick.

Leon moved quickly, with cat-like fluidity, and grabbed Nick by the front of the orange scrubs, his motions so fast and precise that Nick didn't have time to react without Leon having a counter move. He tried to duck away, but Leon moved with him. Leon spun Nick, hard, and Nick's skull hit the brick wall with a loud crack.

The basket ball players stopped.

"Fight!" some guy bellowed, and soon everyone was watching as Leon spun Nick, whose head was bleeding in the back, and let go of the wrists he was holding onto, and Nick tumbled to the ground, again cracking his head - this time on the cement of the basket ball court.

Nick rolled onto his hands and knees, intending to get up, but Leon kicked him square in the mouth and nose.

"Ohhh," murmured the guys that had gathered around them.

Nick spit blood onto the ground. It was pouring out of his nostrils like a faucet. He crawled a little further away, pulling himself with his arms, his hips never moving the cement. Leon laughed, "Whatsa mattaw Nicky?" he teased in a babyish voice.

Nick clenched his teeth.

"Do you have a pwoblem, Nicky?" Leon continued. The others were laughing, Nick could feel their eyes on his back. "You can't even fight me like a man?"

Nick pulled himself up to his hands and knees.

"Hey look fellas, he wants it up the back alley," Leon snorted. He landed a push with his foot up against Nick's backside, sending him sprawling into the cement again, this time his face smashed against, scraping along the entire left side of his face.

Nick scrambled a little further away this time before he started to get up. He managed to get up all the way. He turned to look at Leon. Nick's face was bloody, and there was a steady stream, leaking across him."

Leon was surprised that Nick got back up.

He was so surprised that when Nick ran at him, it was his turn to not have time to react. Leon went backwards into the brick wall, too, and the both of them crashed into it with velocity, Nick ramming into Leon, and the two of them fell forward, Leon on top of Nick. Leon grabbed at Nick's neck, Nick at Leon's head. They locked and as Leon pushed against Nick's neck, Nick pulled at Leon's head, and they started rolling around on the ground, their bodies tangling and flailing, blood flying very which way, Leon intent on killing, Nick intent on simply making Leon feel pain...

Suddenly there were guards everywhere. Tens of guards came running out of the prison, shoving back the inmates that had surrounded the two fighters, their bodies now locked in vice-like grips as they fought. Two guards grabbed Nick who had just rolled Leon to the ground, and pulled him back as another two yanked Leon up right off the ground. Both men fought the officers' grips to get back at each other, their eyes livid, Leon's teeth bared, Nick's fists balled.

"ENOUGH," bellowed a huge guard, "Enough."

Nick froze and tamed, sinking back into a standing position between the two guards, but Leon continued struggling, continued hissing and spitting and fighting.

"Let's go," snapped the guard, and the others started pulling Nick and Leon out of the courtyard. He waved at the inmates, who were still standing around staring. "Really? You wanna waste your fresh air watching this? Go on, go find something else to do; show's over."

The guards started moving toward the prison door, and the inmates dispersed. They were almost in the door when Leon broke the grip of the guard on his left and used all of the strength of fiery anger that was raging inside of him to punch the guy on his right square in the jaw. The guard fell to the side in shock as the officer on the left started grabbing to catch Leon's arm again, but Leon ducked away, grabbed the gun from the officer's holster and ran forward at Nick, who was back-to, but just starting to turn his head to see what the commotion was behind him.

Their eyes met. Leon's filled with hatred, Nick's with regret and then shock... Leon stared into those eyes - brilliant blue and sad - and he didn't hesitate or even pause. Nick, though he saw every fragment of an inch of motion that Leon took, like the entire scene was being played in stop-frames, had no time to react, no time to duck. He did not see the life flash before his eyes, he didn't have time to pray repentance or think of Kayla or his mother. He didn't have time to beg or to cry for help. He didn't even have time to completely comprehend what he saw as he turned.

Leon leveled the gun, and pulled the trigger.