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“Fifteen days loss of phone privileges Carter,” the warden said as he glared at me from across the desk. “Was it worth it?”

At first I was going to tell the warden that getting in trouble wasn’t worth it, but a smile that tugged at my lips couldn’t be hidden as I thought about the cheap shot punch I threw at the asshole of guard when I was pulled away from him.

“Hell yeah it was,” I whispered. Knowing that admitting pleasure in punching a guard would only bestow more punishment, I shook my head negatively trying my best to wipe the smile off my face. “No sir, it wasn’t worth it and I am sorry for punching him.”

The warden stared at me for a moment before he flipped a file open. “Loss of phone privileges are only the beginning---“

“What the fuck! There’s more?! I said I was sorry!” The guard that was standing in the room pressed a firm hand on my shoulder silently urging me to keep quiet. My mouth always had a history of getting me in trouble and today proved to be no exception. “Fifteen days of not being able to use the phone is a pretty heavy punishment for hitting that guy,” I argued.

“See to it that Carter mops all the entry ways,” the man said as he hastily scribbled into the file and then handed a piece of paper to the guard. “Get him out of my sight.”

As soon as the guard took the paper from the warden he told me to get up. That seemed to be the key phrase said to me lately – get up. Well I guess there were more phrases but it seemed like get up was the one usually used in the past twenty-four hours.

“See what fighting earns you?”

Why do these people seem so content on trying to push my buttons? I have never liked having things thrown in my face after I do something stupid. AJ was always the king of instigators in starting knock down drag out fights between me and him. I honestly think that guy got off on watching me get so pissed that I was crying. He wouldn’t let up and then we would literally do wrestling holds until Kevin would come in and break it up. Bone would always be the victim when Kevin would stop the fights andI would get pegged as the instigator every damn time! Why does everyone always think I am at fault? Like today is not exception but what about this DUI? Was I behind the wheel of the car driving? Are they sure I was even driving?

“Carter, move along!”

Crap! I had been spacing out and when the guard pulled at my arm to get me to follow him, it pulled at the handcuffs, digging them into my wrists not to mention the shackles around my ankles nearly tripping me. Why did they have to have me tied up like a murderer?

“Hey can you slow down? I can’t walk that well—“

“I’ve heard all the sob stories Carter, just keep walking.”

Instead of being led back to my cell, I was taken down to a large janitorial room. I stood, waiting for the guard to take the handcuffs and shackles off. After the man started moving toward the door without making any attempts in freeing me from the bonds, I spoke up.

“You know it would be hard for me to do what y’all want me to do with this stuff on,” I said as I held my arms out.

“Quit being impatient,” the guard muttered as he looked down the hall. “I’m looking for the trustee….there he is, hey Charlie! I have one in here for you.”

Charlie appeared in the doorway, a huge six foot four black male that I swear that was as wide as he was tall. Sweat was literally running out of every pore on his body and talk about B.O….I could smell that dude before he even set foot in the room.

Finally the guard took my handcuffs and shackles off as he spoke to the sweaty, foul smelling trustee. “Charlie, this is Nick. He will be mopping the entry ways for the next two weeks.”

”Two weeks!”

“As you probably have noticed, Nick has a problem with his mouth,” the guard announced with a cocky smirk. God, I hated that guy as much as the one I punched in the mouth earlier.

“Why do I have to do this for two weeks?”

“Because Warden James ordered it. If you decide you don’t want to do your job, I’m sure he can add more things to your punishment.”

“I want to go back to my cell.” Who would have thought I would have ever uttered those words in my life? I barely got to know the ropes of this place and now I had to work out a punishment! “Please? I don’t feel very good.”

The guard dismissed my request with a shake of his head. “When you get done with the mopping you probably can go back to your cell.”

Without anything further being said by the guard, he left the janitorial room. Now I was looking up at Charlie who smiled at me with a mouthful of rotten looking teeth.

“See them buckets along the wall? You take it over to the sink and pour in the cleaner and then fill the bucket with hot water. You can roll the bucket up to the sink.”

I stared at Charlie in disbelief. “Let me see if I got this…..you want me to pull the bucket over to the sink and fill it with soap and water?”

Charlie belly laughed at my question. “Why the fuck would I want to do your work? The longer you stand here and ask me stupid questions the longer it’s gonna take for you to do your job asshole.”

“Maybe if you worked you wouldn’t be such a fat ass tub of lard,” I spat back as I walked toward the buckets.

“I don’t give a shit what you think about me, I’m just a step below the guards so if you give me shit you’ll get punished more so if I were you, I’d kiss my ass.”

There was no way in hell I would go near Charlie to kiss his ass….whoa, wait he meant that figuratively - at least I hoped that was what he meant. I wonder if people turn gay in jail??

“C’mon grab a mop from the closet and get your white ass moving.”

Charlie jerked me back into reality and I limped over to the closet, pulling a clean mop out. Remembering how cleaning people in hotels moved their mops and buckets in the lobby, I did my best to simulate their movements as I followed Charlie waddle down the corridor in front of me. God, I could close my eyes and follow the stench of that dude!

“Are you going to shower sometime today?” I hissed through clenched teeth. I swear I was going to get sick from the b.o.!

“Okay, this is entry number one, take your mop, drain it in there and go back and forth starting from the door and working your way back,” Charlie directed as he leaned against the wall.

I would love to see this guy actually bust a sweat from doing something else but just breathing! “Why don’t you show me how to do it? I’m not sure I would do this the right way.”

“Just do it.”

I finally stuck the mop back into the water when I finished the last sweep of the entryway. “All done, can I go back to my cell now?”

“You have five more entryways to do then you can go back your cell.”

My eyes widened. “Five more?”

“Yeah five more.”

“But this took me a half an hour to do!” I protested as I pointed to the clock on the wall. “That will be a three hour job when I get done not counting the time it takes for your lard ass to get down the to the entryways!”

Charlie only shook his head at my protests. “Wow you can add? What else do you have to do?”

He did have me; I had absolutely nothing to do all day long! They wake you up at 4:30 in the morning and CJ said that lights go out at 8:30 every night.

“So I have to do this for two weeks?”

“Two weeks.”

“Are you freakin serious?”

“Like I said, what else do you have to do?”

My mind raced with the thought of having to mop entryways for two weeks. That means it would fill up the empty space of having nothing to do for three hours a day, leaving the rest of the day for complete boredom or if I got lucky enough, sleep.

 

**********

I sighed when I finally lay down on the two inch thick mattress of my bed. I thought I had died mopping the entryways of the building. It took me more than three hours to finish the chore that had been issued as my punishment and my back ached as if I had done an entire concert. I do more types of physical things during a concert, but mopping those floors and having my back constantly stooped over killed me.

Would I start another fight with that guard again? Hell yeah I would; it was still worth it! I guess I never learn my lesson. I need to stop my brain from thinking right now, though. I want to sleep. I was away from that stinky ass Charlie and I just wanted to escape this hell by sleeping. Maybe when I wake up, my lawyer will have figured a way to get me out of this hell hole.

Speaking of stinky ass Charlie, I realized that I must smell too! Sweat does that to people. I doubt I smelled as bad as Charlie, he was just gross, but I wondered when I would get a chance to take a shower. Is this something I can ask to do? My cell mate wasn’t around, go figure so my next choice would be to go out and ask the guard that was sitting at the desk facing our cell block.

I rose up on my arm as I debated going to ask and then quickly dismissed the thought when I realized I would have to walk down a flight of stairs to get to the man. My hip was too sore to walk two feet let alone a flight of stairs. I’ll wait and ask CJ when he comes back.

“Carter, get up!”

A man’s loud voice woke me up from my safe haven. I had literally just fallen asleep! What the hell! Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes.

“Come with me.”

That’s it? Come with me? No explanation?

“Where are you taking me?”

“Visitors lounge.”

Visitors lounge? Who the hell would come to see me now?

“What time is it?”

“A little after two p.m.”

Before I was led to the visitors lounge, I was led into another windowless room as before when the attorney came to see me and like before, I was asked to strip down for a search. Why were these people so obsessed with strip searches?

After the inspection, I was taken to a large, new area that resembled a doctors waiting room. The guard directed me to a couch. “You can sit here, your visitors are being processed.”

I jerked. “Processed?”

“They get patted down and checked, its standard procedure.”

I involuntarily shuddered. Someone was getting searched to visit me? That made me feel like complete shit.

“Don’t get all excited about this room to see visitors. Normally you would be going into a room and talking to them through a plate glass window. Feel lucky you can see them here today.”

Once the guard stepped away, another door opened and the next thing I knew, I was crying. Brian came to see me.

 

 

And he brought Kevin!