Adam
I got out of bed at dawn, feeling hungover like never before in my life. I threw up, showered in cold water, and drank a bunch of coffee. I’d barely started to feel human again when it was time to go.
I met Jordan at the gates of the Smitsville Penitentiary, which was our starting point. With a duffel bag on his shoulder and determination in his eyes, he looked less anxious than I’d expected. The only other people present were the warden and two guards. After we boarded the prisoner transport vehicle, we were on our merry way.
We were the only ones who got on in Smitsville, and it made the entire experience even more surreal. It seemed almost as if we were driving in a bus, only it had bars and armed guards, and we had handcuffs on our wrists. Along the way, we made a few stops, which lengthened our journey. Those stops were courts and jails in the county, so soon we got some company. Most of them were sorry-looking individuals with desperation pouring out of their pores. Luckily for us, they seemed numb enough, so I hoped our ride to Grangetown would pass without incident. After a while, a few of them got chatty, spouting nonsense.
“Cops set me up.”
“I didn’t do it.”
“Of course I’m innocent.”
“Two years is easy, bruh.”
“This is still better than rehab.”
Jordan and I were silent. What was there to say, anyway? We were in a dangerous, shitty situation and on our way to a moredangerous and shittier situation. Hell, it was an understatement because I hated every aspect of it. I hated having to enter a snake pit and befriend the biggest snake in there. I hated being in a position where I wouldn’t be able to look over my annoying partner. Speaking of Jordan, sitting so close to him made our bus ride a ride from hell because I could feel him everywhere. Not just his thigh brushing against mine, his arm grazing mine, his foot accidentally hitting mine... no, no, no. I could feel him under my skin, like a million bugs crawling all over me. I could smell him, that citrusy scent I knew so well that I could make perfume based on it. I considered sitting somewhere else, but it seemed like a cowardly thing to do, so I decided against it.
Halfway to our destination, they gave us sandwiches. I ate mine, only to regret it ten minutes later, because it sat like a brick in my stomach. After Jordan finished eating, he, surprisingly enough, fell asleep. After he fell asleep, somehow, his head found my shoulder. My first impulse was to push him away and take a shower, but he felt so warm. It occurred to me that maybe he had a fever, so I felt his forehead. When he murmured something like, “smell good,” I started panicking, but then I felt his breath on my neck. It was the strangest sensation ever, so I let him stay where he was, trying to figure out why it felt so strange. Then, after a while, I fell asleep too.
Another fact… I was a self-diagnosed insomniac. I had trouble sleeping, sometimes for nights on end, but after Jordan fell asleep, I fell asleep too. Not only that, but I also slept like a baby for the rest of our journey. After I woke up, I felt so invigorated that I would have agreed to ten rounds with a heavyweight boxing champion. I would have climbed Mount Everest with a tree attached to my back. Hell, I even considered hugging Jordan Slade for helping me sleep after weeks of agony, which said a lot.
When we finally reached our destination, it was almost evening. Jordan gave me a sleepy look before we left the vehicle one by one. Once outside, I scanned my surroundings. Grangetown Correctional Facility looked more like a fortress than a prison, which was to be expected considering its residents. It meant tall stone walls, barbed-wire fences, and guard towers with armed guards. It was smaller than the Smitsville Penitentiary, but it had more dangerous inmates.
What followed was a routine admission process. After the documentation review and a photo session, we got a prison number and a PIN for phone calls. One by one, we went through a strip search, which was super fun and made some inmates cry. After a health assessment, we were offered and refused a phone call because we didn’t need it at that point. After they had given us the bedding and some extra clothes, they took us to our wing. And that was that. Our fate was sealed; only at that point, I didn’t know it would be in more ways than one.
“I never thought I would see myself in an orange jumpsuit, but here I am,” Jordan murmured after the guard left.
I laughed despite the ridiculous situation.
“That’s the first thing that leaves your mouth. A fashion statement?”
He shrugged. “I hate the color orange.”
I pointed at the bunk beds, deciding to be chivalrous for once.
“Which one do you want, princess?” I said ironically. “Upper or lower?”
“Lower, pumpkin,” Jordan replied, looking anxious. “I’m kind of acrophobic.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I can’t stand heights. Not even the little ones, hence the lower bunk.”
“And I thought I had a problem,” I muttered, looking around our cell, which wasn’t much bigger than a parking space.Apart from the bunk beds and mattresses, it contained a small desk and a chair that were built into the floor. Our five-star accommodation also included a steel toilet and a sink in the corner.
“Which reminds me,” I said, glancing at Jordan. “I don’t want to see your hairy ass while we’re here, so when you need to shit, do it while I’m not here.”
His cheeks turned pink so quickly that I almost laughed. I made a mental note to fuck with him more often because he looked ridiculous while flustered.
“Likewise,” Jordan said without meeting my eyes. “And my ass is not hairy.”
“Good to know.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
