I snort. “Sure, only because my trip to Vegas got cancelled.”
I plug my earbuds in and do my best to get comfortable on the unrelenting hard plastic chair. A lot of the women get so excited over movie night, and I never understood why when I first got here but after the first week, I got it. The opportunity to escape into a movie from the depressing humdrum life if only for ninety minutes or so is something you look forward to. You learn to sit with fifty other inmates and sometimes you manage to forget they’re there. I treat it like I’m going to the movies. Instead of popcorn, I have Doritos from commissary.
An earbud is ripped from my ear, and I spin around in my chair and three Six-Nighters are sat behind Lori and I.
“Don’t touch me,” I snap, ripping my earbud back.
“You should be more careful where you sit, Haynes. These two rows are reserved.”
Lori scowls at me like I’m the one to blame for the interruption.
“It’d be a shame if movie night ended early cause someone had to be taken to medical.”
“Yeah, word on the street is Madden has made himself untouchable… which means you’re the only way to get to him.”
My heart jumps a beat and I clench the bag of Doritos.
“Darius isn’t my business,” I say, trying not to appear afraid.
“You’re his baby momma, he’s your business for the next eighteen years. My man tells me Madden spends a lot of time driving the kid around when she can’t sleep.”
Another Sixer chips in, “Imagine if they happened to be driving by the wrong people at the wrong time.”
Shoving up out of my chair, their desire to scare me is officially working. Their laughter follows me until the door closes behind me.
I dump my food and earbuds on my bunk and make my way down to the phones. I punch Darius’s number and wait for him to accept the call.
“Amelia? Hey, how are you doing?”
His shock of me calling him is evident.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing driving Elsa around to get her to sleep?” I snap quietly.
“Huh? You wanna explain what the fuck you’re talking about?”
“Apparently, you’re untouchable to the Six-Nighters…”
“Watch what you say over the line, babe.”
“Fuck you. I just had to listen to some bitch tell me how her man knows when and where you’re driving our daughter around.”
“Amelia, calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down, I’m freaking out and I need you to tell me that you’re not going to take her out anymore. Can’t you just sway her in your arms when she’s fussing?”
“Okay, okay, I’ll figure something else out, okay?”
“I can’t have another thing to worry about in here, I just can’t.”
“I get it, but you know I’d never let anyone or anything touch our daughter.”
Resting my forehead against the cold wall, I close my eyes and force back the tears.
“Did something happen tonight?” he asks.
“It’s movie night, we sat in the wrong chairs,” I explain. “I freaked out.”
The weight of making this call falls on me and I take a deep breath.
