A Life Less Broken (21 page)

Rocky Adams

In One Section of Cell Block C at 5:55
p.m.

I’ve been
here for two days now, and nothing has happened. I keep to myself and have only
copped one beating.

I’ve sussed
out the dealer here and I’ve watched him. He’s protected by a strong formation of
prison thugs.

But I’m dying
for one little hit, just enough to get me though these next few days. I’ve gone
too fucking long without anything. Of course, the motherfucking jail doesn’t
allow us to bring in anything. Jail isn’t supposed to be a comfortable place, but
it’s fucking tough as shit. I need a hit before I lose my goddamn mind.

I carefully approach
the table where King J’s sitting. His goons form a barrier around him and stop
me from advancing any further.

“Can I see
him, please?” Fuck the ‘please’ bullshit, but if it gets me a line, I’ll do it.

“Let him through,”
I hear the deep grumble of King J from behind the huge buffoon in front of me.

The guy
steps aside and King J motions for me to come closer.

“What do you
want?” he asks gruffly.

“I hear
you’re the man to come to when I need something to take the edge off.”

“Fuck off
before I beat you to death,” he says disdainfully and looks away from me,
totally disregarding my presence.

One of his
henchmen starts pushing me away.

“Please, I
just need a little.” I shamelessly beg for anything he can give me.

 “Wait,” he
says and the gorilla takes his hands off me. I brush his hands away and give
him a ‘eat shit’ look as I step closer to the table.

“Follow me,”
King J says as he stands and starts walking toward the cells.

I follow
eagerly, ‘cause I can’t fucking wait to get a taste of the magic white powder
that makes me come alive.

We get to
his cell. As he stands with his back to the wall, his army forms a protective barrier
around us, blocking us from the guards’ sight.

Fuck,
what have I gotten myself into?

“What are
you gonna do for me in exchange for what you need?” he asks as he crosses his
arms in front of his massive chest.

“Um, I don’t
know. What do you want?”

“My cock
needs sucking,” he says flatly.

Whoa – I
don’t do guys.

“I’m not
gay,” I say, taking a step back from him.

“Neither am
I, but my cock needs someone’s lips wrapped around it. Seeing as my spine’s not
made of rubber, and you want something I have, you’d best get on your knees and
wrap that pretty little mouth of yours around my dick.”

“Are you
fucking serious?” I ask, completely horrified.

He shrugs. “Do
you want a hit or do you a want a beating? Either way, I don’t care. Your
choice.”

I close my
eyes and swallow the huge lump in my throat. Bile starts creeping up behind it and
will soon be all over the cement floor. But fuck, just one little taste will be
enough to get me right.

Slowly I
sink to my knees, close my eyes tight and open my mouth. I feel his cock slide
in and I dry retch while trying to stop myself from gagging.

He grabs the
sides of my head and holds me still while he fucks my mouth hard.

Roughly, he
keeps slamming into me as I gag. Finally, I feel his cum spurt down my throat.
He locks his hands around the back of my head and holds me there until I
swallow all of it.

Disgusting,
salty, vile-tasting shit, that is.

I sit back on
the floor and I’m disgusted with myself for stooping so low.

Thank God it’s
over. I’ll never do that shit again.

When I look
up, King J has placed the smallest line I’ve ever seen on the back of his hand.
It’s not even half a line, maybe only a third.

“What the
fuck? I just sucked you off and that’s all you’re giving me?” I say angrily as I
stand and point to the pathetic excuse for a line on his hand.

“You want a
full line, you have to bend over,” he says, completely confident.

“I have to
what?” I ask, stunned.

“You want a
full line? Then you let me fuck you up your ass.”

What the
fuck?

“I’m not
gay,” I say again in the smallest of voices, more to convince myself than King
J.

“Neither am
I.” His face is completely devoid of emotion.

Fuck. I take
the step toward him and snort the shit off his hand. If I’m going to do this, I
need to be flying so at least I can forget.

I drop my
pants, turn around and bend over for King J.

He rams into
me without warning, without even spitting on his cock first to ease the way. I
scream out in pain as he hammers hard into my ass.

The torment
is barbarous as he continues to slam into me. He grips my hips, and I’m about
to lose everything in my stomach as he angrily pounds into me.

He comes
deep in my ass. I feel used, degraded and disgusting.

I pull my
pants up and turn around to see a full line on the back of his hand.

I snort it
all up and lick his hand, getting every last particle of powder left there. I
just got fucked in the ass for it, so I may as well take what I deserve.

I turn to
walk out of the cell, but my asshole burns with severe, brutal pain with every
move I make.

“This time
every day, you meet me here,” King J says.

Fuck,
what have I gotten myself into?

Michael Greene

In Another Section of Cell Block C at
5:55 p.m.

“Well, look
who we have here,” I turn around and see six guys surrounding me. I recognize
all of them as guys who may have taken a beating or two from me when I arrested
them.

They’ve trapped
me in a quiet corner of the cellblock. I hold my hands up in surrender and try to
push past them.

“Hey, it’s
that dirty cop that likes to kill pretty young girls,” another one of them says
as he takes a menacing step toward me.

“We’re all
the same in here, boys,” I say as I try to brush past the tight-knit group of
guys closing in on me.

“Ha, seems
he thinks he’s the same as us.”

The first
punch lands on the side of my head, stunning me and knocking me off balance.

The next
punch follows rapidly after the first and I know immediately I stand no chance
against them.

The third
punch hits my stomach and a swift kick behind my knees puts me down.

Feet keep
kicking into me, fists pound hard into every part of my body.

I feel a
snap in my arm and I scream out in agony. Someone laughs roughly and the
beating gets more aggressive.

I try to
protect my head but I can’t move my arms. They feel so heavy and the pain is
unbearable. One of them turns me on my back, and the barrage of blows continues
to intensify.

Finally I
get turned on my stomach again. They prop my chin out, fully extending my neck.

In that one
moment, I know what they’re going to do to me.

“I’m so
sorry for all the girls I hurt,” I whisper as my tears drip to the cold
concrete beneath me.

A hard shoe
stomps on my neck.

Goodbye,
Faith.

Oscar Shriver

In a different Section of Cell Block
C at 5:55 p.m.

“Two
thousand a week,” he says as he looks at me.

“Two
thousand a week?” I ask in sheer shock.

“Protection
is two thousand a week. You’re the hot-shot attorney that mommy and daddy kept bailing
out. So for two thousand a week, I’ll protect you.” This guy is huge, and by
huge, I mean he’s easily twice my size, scarred, and scary as fuck.

“Who do I
need protection from?” I ask. I’ll find out who I need to worry about so I can
barter with them individually.

“First there’re
the white supremacists. They don’t like people raping white girls. Then there
are the Asians. They don’t like Asian girls being tortured. And there’s the
black pack who don’t like colored girls being mauled and cut up. Then there’s
me. I don’t like rapists, period. So two thousand a week will protect you
against them, and me, for now.”

“I don’t
have that sort of money,” I say earnestly. “All my assets are frozen, and my
parents are under investigation so they can’t get me any money either.”

“Hmmm, seems
you have a problem then.” He smiles menacingly. “This is really your only
option. I’m a reasonable man, so I’ll give you twenty-four hours to give me
your answer. Ha, that is if you survive that long. I heard the blacks talking
with the whites, seems now they’ve got a common goal – killing you.” He turns
around and leaves me,
alone
.

This is so
much worse than hell.

I’m truly
fucked in here.
If I survive that long
. Fuck.

Who the hell
am I going to turn to? The only person I know that’s not in shit as deep as me
is Dominic, but he won’t accept my calls.

I tried to
call him yesterday, but he’s changed his number. He’s changed all of his
numbers.

I’m so
fucking alone.  

Six years later

“Where are
we going?” I ask Dominic as I try to peek from beneath the silken blindfold
he’s tied tight around my head.

“Are you
trying to cheat?” he says playfully.

“No. Well, yes.”

“It’s not
too much further.  You’ll just have to wait and see.”

The car
turns and the road becomes very bumpy, like we’re going down a trail of sorts.

“Come on,
we’ve been in the car for
hours
,” I whine and draw out the last word.

“Mrs.
Shriver, you are officially a pain in the ass.”

“Daddy said
a naughty word,” Chloe chimes in from the back seat.

“Yes, Daddy did
and he shouldn’t have. Sorry Chloe,” Dominic tells our eight-year-old daughter.

Chloe is a
blessing. Dominic took me to China for our honeymoon, and while we were there,
we visited an orphanage to offer our help. The most beautiful little girl came up
to me and sat on my lap. Her right eye had been gouged out when she was a baby,
her own short life a horrific case of torture. She placed her hand on my left
eye and smiled at me. Though language and age was a barrier, she was silently telling
me what I already knew – that we were the same.

Dominic and
I fought hard, jumped over every hurdle and followed every instruction we were
given. Three months later, we bought Chloe home with us.

She’s our
rainbow and the most perfect daughter, completing our beautiful family.

As I reflect
back on the miracle of Chloe, I can’t help but think how truly blessed Dominic
and I are. Even though Dominic never spoke to his parents again, mine have been
an integral part of our family. They’ve been nothing but supportive of us, and
when we adopted Chloe they became the most appreciative and supportive doting
grandparents.

Dominic and
I are also close to Faith and her husband, Joshua, and their twin sons. We
stood beside Faith and Joshua on their wedding day, and we were honored when
they asked us to be godparents to their boys.

Life really
has taken a different direction in the last eight years. I was once held
captive by fear, only living my life in beige. Now I live with brilliant,
vibrant colors, all because I found the courage to open my door.

The car
engine shutting off snaps me out of my reverie. “Stay there ‘til I get you
out,” Dominic says to me. “Now remember what we talked about, Chloe?”

“Oh yes I
do, Daddy. I promise not to say a word.”

“Good girl.”
Dominic gets out and shuts his door.

What is
going on?

I hear Chloe’s
door shut and the silence in the car tells me that I’ve been left alone.

I’m tempted
to lift the blindfold, but I know that Dominic’s been planning whatever this is
for months, and I don’t want to ruin his surprise.

He
disappears when his phone rings, he hides his tablet, and once he yelled at me when
I was doing laundry because I was checking his pockets for anything that wasn’t
supposed to go through the wash. He bolted in and grabbed something from his
shirt pocket, kissed me on the forehead and ran out again.

“Okay, give
me your hand,” he says when he opens my door. I offer him my right hand and he
entwines our fingers and helps me out. “The ground is a little unsteady, so
we’ll go slow.” He wraps an arm around my waist.

The fresh
spring air is so crisp and vibrant, and the sound of different birds singing
together is heavenly. I breathe deeply loving the freshness.

“Three more
steps and we’re going to stop,” he says.

Chloe is by
my side and I can feel her holding onto my skirt as I take those daunting three
steps.

“Okay.  I’m
going to take the blindfold off now.” His hands are at the back of my head as
he unties the smooth piece of material.

It skims
with a whisper across my skin as he removes it, and my eyes blink a few times to
adjust to the brightness of the day.

In front of
me stands a tall, regal horse, with dark brown hair and black pointy ears. He’s
as beautiful and stunning as I remember him to be.

Mr. Boss.

Tears fall,
and I start to breathe heavier. I’m completely stunned.

“How did you
find him?” I ask as I step slowly toward the beautiful animal who’s calmly munching
the grass in the paddock.

“It was a
little hard, but I did.”

I swipe at
the tears, a lump of happiness lodged in my throat.

“Are you
sad, Mommy?”

“Oh no,
darling I’m not sad at all. I’m really, really happy. What you and your daddy
have done for me is just perfect. Thank you.” I kiss the top of her head, and
turn to kiss Dominic too. “Are you sure it’s okay that we’re here? The owners
may not like us trespassing like this,” I say to Dominic.

“Oh, the
owners aren’t going to mind,” he says with that cheeky smile. “Because, as of
yesterday, we now own this land and everything on it, including Mr. Boss.” His face
beams with pride.

My heart
thumps with the biggest jolt of joy and love I’ve ever experienced. I throw my
arms around Dominic and kiss him with so much vigor and intoxication I almost
knock him down.

“Tell her, Daddy!
Tell her now!” Chloe shrieks in excitement as she pats Mr. Boss through the
fence.

“Tell me
what?” I ask as I pull back to look at Dominic.

“The
adoption agency called this morning. They’ve found us a baby girl. We’re going
to meet her tonight,” he says as he pulls me into a tight embrace.

“We’re
adding a second perfect daughter to our beautiful family,” I squeal in
excitement. As I reach out for Chloe it’s then that I see him, the beautiful blue
jay soaring freely through the crystal clear skies.