I stretched my height up from the wonky chair I was sitting in and crossed over to him. I recoiled slightly. His breath stank like a thousand deaths. “What’s the message?”
“Social worker is coming to visit tomorrow,” he said with a disgusted look on his rotund face. His bald head glistened as he spoke, and I focused my eyes on the shine from the light.
“Okay. Great. What time is she coming?” I asked.
“She’s coming when she is, boy. I’ll come and get you. I’m on duty, so it’s your lucky day tomorrow. Don’t be getting fresh with me, or I will send you to solitary confinement.”
I said nothing and eased back to the desk. I knew who to talk back to and who not to talk back to. Raymond waited, poised for the verbal retaliation. When he was satisfied that there would be none, he moved on with his noisy boots.
Errol gave me a knowing stare from the top bunk, swinging his legs. Once Raymond was out of earshot, he said, “That guy needs a royal ass-kicking. Someone needs to put out a jail hit on him. Could make it so that he accidentally slips and falls in the laundry room. Death by laundry liquid. What you think?”
I belly laughed so hard I had to cover my mouth. I was lucky enough to have a great cellmate for my five-year stay in the hellhole hotel. “Sounds like a winning plan to me. Let’s execute.”
Errol jumped down to sit beside me on the chair. “You want me to torture you in spades again? I’m bored.”
“Nah. I have to meet somebody in the yard. There’s some unfinished business I have to take care of.”
“Unfinished business,” Errol repeated as he slid the playing cards out of the deck and shuffled. “Anything to do with Anna?”
Shocked, I stared hard at Errol. “How’d you know?”
“Something told me you’re not the type of man to let something like that slide.” He pointed to the picture of Bella and Anna on the wall.
I cracked my knuckles in silent rage. “You’re not wrong. They killed my woman and left Bella with no mother.”
Errol tapped me on the back with his long spindly fingers. “Don’t end up back here in the process. I’m rooting for you. I want to sit talking to you when I get out of here. Do you need back-up on anything? Cover?”
I rubbed my fingers a few times. “No. I’m fine. The old-timers will have my back.” Doom settled in my voice nonetheless.
“Okay.” Errol nodded. “You got a real treat for the day. Two outings. You get to see that pretty social worker again. Blondie.”
I tried to hide the smile, but the blood pumped through all my body parts when I thought about running my hands through her hair and overtaking her pretty mouth. I wondered how many times I could make her moan.
“Yeah. I get to see her. I don’t know what she wants, though. I hope everything is okay with Bella. I mean, why else does she need to see me?” I asked, secretly hoping it was because she was feeling me.
“Beats me, farm boy. Wait and see, I guess,” Errol responded dismissively.
The yard bell rang, and I stood up, waiting for the cell to unlock. The customary click came. Another prison guard came to let us out. Thankfully, it wasn’t Raymond. I walked to the yard and, like always, breathed the limited oxygen into my lungs. I ran my eyes over the scene. No one was at the weight bench today. A few guys gathered around on one side, though. One of the prison inmates was performing. Singing. His melodic tones floated all the way over to me. I nodded my head. The guy had some pipes. He wasn’t half bad.
Austin and another beefy dude with full tattoo sleeves were sitting on top of one of the benches. His face held the look of a man you wouldn’t want to mess with. His eyes were as cold as steel. His lips were held in a thin line. His face was clean-shaven, and he had a tattoo on the side of his thick neck. Heavy eyelids gave one of his eyes a slanted appearance.
“Hey. Colt, right?” he posed.
“Yep. That’s me,” I responded.
Frank slid his eyes both ways to look at the guard. His eyes were on the group crowded around the yard singer of the day. Austin sat serenely next to him and started humming. Frank nodded.
“All right. Austin tells me you’re good people. Any friend of Austin’s is a friend of mine. So what’s the score?” Frank asked.
“Thanks. Look, I need some help. My girlfriend died from an overdose, and I know for a fact that a Las Balas member sold her the drugs. Can you sew that situation up for me?”
Frank’s cold eyes looked through me. “I heard about it through the grapevine. I’m sorry for your loss. You’re Outlaw family, too. I’ve been the eyes and ears for the crew for a long time now. We’ll put a stop to this sucker. Give me a little time, and I’ll send out word about it.” He gazed away from me as he spoke.
“Thanks. I appreciate it. What do I owe you?” I asked pensively.
“Nothing at all. That’s what we Outlaws do. We stand for the brotherhood of all our riders. You got a daughter. I have one, too. We have to protect them from street slime.” Frank spat on the ground, and it landed two feet away from him.
I nodded with respect. “Agree. Respect the code. Check you later.”
