CHAPTER 3: ASHVILLE'S PRISON

With both hands cuffed, Edward walked through the narrow corridor of Ashville's prison, with two prison guards flanking his side. Each step he took further was him passing a cell locked with inmates. The 24 hours grace given to him to pay up the fine had elapsed without him meeting up to the charges. Where was he gonna get $10,000 from when he couldn't even come up with part of the money for his mother's surgery? His savings was barely up $2000 as he had taken out from it several times, trying to satisfy his wife's incessant quest for material things. Mr. Richard had intentionally caused this because he knew Edward wouldn't be able to come up with such an amount. Who was going to take care of his mom now when he's away? He had no friends or relatives. Who was gonna pay for his mom's dialysis in his absence? She wouldn't even last more than a week before the doctors disposed of her body. Life is indeed difficult for the poor.

As they guarded him to his cell, the noise that emanated from the cell rooms melted his heart, instilling a kind of fear in him as he began to fantasize what his cellmates might look like. He had heard several stories of new inmates being bullied by the old in cells and he wasn't ready for any trouble. What if the cell he was being taken to was occupied by notorious gang leaders who would hit him at the slightest opportunity they had?

They soon halted at cell number 315 and the warder uncuffed Edward's hands before opening the door, shoving him into the cell, and locking it back. An awful smell enveloped his nose, one that he was definitely gonna find unbearable. The cell was a portable one, had a toilet sitting at the side and a two-bunk bed with small mattresses, and on it were two people laying quietly. One of them kept staring at him the moment he walked in while the other was focused on his book. He didn't even bother to look at Edward.

"Hey, I guess you are our new cellmate," the first guy said as he got off his bed and gently walked to Edward.

"Yes, I'm Edward," Edward said, staring at the muscular guy in fear.

"My name is Rodney," the guy accepted his hand. Edward then averted his gaze to the other inmate laying on the bed and asked, "And what about you, bro?"

The guy laying on the bunk just shot him a glance and continued what he was reading.

"Haha! He's Junior, but you don't have to worry about him. He has been like this since the last brutal experience he had," Rodney said.

"What experience?" Edward curiously asked and Rodney motioned for them to have a seat on the bunk as they discussed.

"He was bullied last week during our sports hours by the Black Vipers. He just arrived in the cell some weeks ago without knowing absolutely nothing about how this place works. So he got into a basketball competition and he outshined everyone, winning against the opposite team. The opposite team wasn't happy with this and so they planned him. A week after, Junior was seen laying unconscious in an abandoned room in the prison. The Black Vipers had taken him to one of the lonely rooms in the cell and bullied him till he passed out. Fortunately, one of the prison warders found him laying there, bleeding from the nose and mouth in an unconscious state. He was rushed to the clinic where treatment was administered and fortunately, he was revived. Since then, he has refused to speak about what happened. He has also refused to leave the room or even associate with anyone; the only company he had is his book. The doctor said he is suffering from severe trauma and the beating must have caused it."

"Who are the Black Vipers you are talking about?" Edward asked.

"They are a group of 10 called the Black Vipers. The group is led by Marcus Santosh, a renowned gangster and drug lord who was very notorious for several crimes in the city. He was arrested 20 years ago for killing one of the biggest politicians in town. Marcus has been a bone to the neck of everyone here, even the prison warders are scared of him," Rodney said.

"So you mean he molested Junior and no one could do anything about it? I thought this place is supposed to be fair or is he bigger than the law?" he asked.

"Actually, he wasn't caught red-handed. We only suspected that they were the ones, which is true. Junior has been asked to confess what happened but he has kept calm, I guess it was because he was scared of what would happen next. I would do so if I were him. No one dares cross Marcus' path. It's better Junior remains quiet. Marcus has a lot of police officers working for him, including the prison warders that brought you here so I can say he is above the law here."

"Wow, that's terrible," Edward said and Rodney nodded.

"I'm telling you this so you won't make the same mistake Junior made. If your team is unfortunately picked to play in a competition with the Black Vipers, please make sure you do everything in your power not to win. Don't play your best, allow them to win and have the glory to themselves. If they notice you trying to outshine them in anything around here, believe me, you would be severely dealt with and you will get no justice, don't ever walk on the same path with them!" Rodney warned sternly.

"And how can I identify the Black Vipers gang?" Edward asked, already terrified by what he heard.

"They are always with a black durag on. That's their symbol," he said.

Before Edward could say another word, he heard the sound of a loud bell which began to be followed by the sounds of inmates hustling out of the cell.

"What's happening?" he asked confused.

"It's lunch break, and we are going to the dining hall," Rodney said and some moments after, he heard the rustling sounds of keys on their door and it opened.

"Let's go."

"What about him?" Edward turned to ask about Junior but Rodney waved the question off.

"Don't worry about him, he will join later," Rodney said.

They set out of their cell and Edward saw thousands of prisoners making their way through the door which they followed and led them to a wide hall with chairs arranged. The hall looked old and stank a little but it was really large. They both reached out for a plate and went to queue up for food. When it finally got to their turn, they served Rodney first and he took his food before serving Edward.

The moment Edward collected his food, he quickly headed to his seat but suddenly bumped into somebody. He raised his head to see a tall muscular man towering in front of him. The man wore a grin on his face, his fist clenched tightly.

"I'm sorry sir," Edward apologized as he brought his hand to clean off the stain he made on the man's cloth, but the man shoved his hand away.

"You're sorry?" he spoke in a Mexican accent.

"Yes I am," Edward said respectfully and turned to walk away but the man clasped his arm and dragged him back.

"Where the fuck do you think you are going boy?"

"I just said I'm sorry," Edward said to the angrily looking man who stared at him with no emotions.

"And sorry isn't enough," he hit the plate out of Edward's hand and the food dropped on the floor.

"You have to pay," he said, smashing and using his legs to smash the food on the floor.

"Hey, it was a mistake okay, why are you acting all troublesome—" as soon as he completed his words, the man punched him in his stomach and Edward staggered back.

"That's what I mean by paying." the man said.

Provoked, Edward sprinted towards the man and punched him in the face heavily. The man stood and stared at him with a surprised look. Amidst the drama between both of them, Edward noticed the hall had suddenly gone quiet and he quickly averted his gaze to notice what was happening, but he was shocked to see that everyone had suspended their meal and were looking at him in shock. They couldn't even say a word. He also sighted Rodney who sat on his seat shaking his head in disapproval, but why were they all quiet?

However, seeing Rodney's reaction suddenly took him aback to the discussion they had moments ago. He trailed his eyes over the head of the angry man standing in front of him and saw a black durag over his head. Before he could say another word, a group of rugged looking men, all heavily built, emerged and surrounded him.

"You asked who I am. I'm Marcus Santosh. The man who runs this whole place," he said with a vicious smile all over his face.