Chapter 8

~Courtyard, Chicago prison~

After breakfast, the courtyard was made open for the inmates. It was littered with rough and malnourished looking guys in blue vests and pants.

Some were chatting in groups, some were hanging around the metal nets while looking outside towards the gate, probably wondering when in forever they would pass through that gate again.

Lewis sat peacefully on the bench while playing with some stones in his hand. Not really playing, because his mind was completely elsewhere. So he missed when Chun Li and his followers stepped in his space.

It was only when he saw their shadows that he looked up and noticed them. First he noticed that Chun Li had shaved the dirty stubble on his face.

Chun Li gave a tight smug, “Hello, little pauper. I bet the prison food is feeding you real good than outside, huh?”

Lewis just scoffed. Since the past few days, he has somehow managed not to fall under Chun Li's attention by following another path whenever he sees him coming or avoiding being in the same space with him.

Not that he was afraid of him but it was better not to build an army of enemies for himself while dealing with his life problems here.

He lowered his face and continued playing with the rocks.

Chun Li stepped on his shoe, crushing his toes as Lewis hissed in pain.

“Count your days here, many are willing to pay for your death.”

He applied pressure, putting his whole weight on poor Lewis's toes.

“I would start plotting an escape if I were you,” he scoffed. “Oh! it slipped my mind that you are resented everywhere. City and prison loathes you, there is no place to run to, nowhere.”

“Fuck off,” Lewis spelled out through gritted teeth.

Chun Li patted his shoulder and pushed down the rocks in his hand before turning to leave.

Lewis cracked the toes of his leg, immediately he was gone. He wondered maybe the next time he speaks with CEO Connor, he should report Chun Li.

*****

Not too long, the alarms in the courtyard started blaring, giving warnings for inmates to remain in their positions.

Everyone remained immobile as policemen started pouring into the courtyard carrying loaded guns while taking positions beside the inmates and closing in around the courtyard net. The gun in the guard tower automatically angled to inmates.

If any of them moves without permission, it would go off.

“What is happening?” Lewis asked.

His hands were behind his head like other inmates and he stood rooted to his position, not quivering but his heart was slamming heavily.

“Shit! I don't know. When the alarm goes off, it gives notice of an escapee or...”

“Or what?” Lewis asked, sounding impatient as he was sweating hot under his pants.

Nash breathed heavily, “Or it's time for ransack. Something was stolen,” sweat trickled down Nash's neck.

An inmate was already pissing in his pants at the other side.

“Something was stolen?” Lewis repeated.

Immediately warden Lee entered the courtyard carrying a detector and two horse whip tied together. As usual no smile was lingering on his face, his expression was cold and dread slithered into the inmate's heart.

“A fucker broke into the guards ward and stole a key. You must know that this is not the first time we have had this case but today,” he clutched the detector tighter, setting his lips in a thin line, “this one will be dealt with in the most inhumane way.”

The thumping of the inmate's heart could be heard loudly because no one fucks with Warden Lee and goes Scot free.

And the thief had to break into their ward, and steal a key.

“Form three straight lines!” Warden Lee commanded, his voice vibrating through the walls of the prison.

The alarm has stopped blaring. However, the atmosphere carried a blanket of danger.

Inmates started forming three straight lines. Lewis happened to fall in behind Chun Li, not even noticing that until he spoke up.

“Tsk tsk, I feel pity for the thief. Have you witnessed where they skin a pig alive?” Chun Li lowered his voice to Lewis's hearing only.

Lewis just threw him a glance that questioned ‘who asked you to speak?’ before moving his gaze.

Inside, he couldn't feel his heart, it's like it has disappeared and for some reason he has this unsettling feeling churning in his stomach.

Chun Li craned his neck and whispered in a very low voice, “Mercy mercy they sang,” and then he smirked before facing front.

Lewis just rolled his eyes.

“This detector will point out the thief, once it comes in contact with the key, it will make a sound!”

Warden Lee used the detector to scan every inmate. One by one, the scanned inmates made their way to their cellrooms and when the lines had reduced drastically, Warden Lee gritted his teeth, knowing he would have to take it to each cell room.

*****

~Unit 5, Cellroom~

“Check under the mattress!”

“Raise your pillow arsehole! Shift your drawer! Fast!”

“What about your clothes basket?”

Inmates were running up and down disarranging their stuff to make sure the key was not found in their cells before Warden Lee would do the inspection.

In Lewis's cell, his cellie, Nash tossed his pillow aside and raised his mattress, scanning everywhere his eyes could fall on.

Meanwhile, Lewis sat comfortably on the floor still playing with his rocks.

Abuelo was folding his clothes slowly as his strengths could carry him.

“Fuck, we got no time. Raise your mattress, king Lewis,” Nash said, drawing close to Lewis's mattress.

“We have nothing here, don't bother yourself. I am sure they will find the key in the thief's cell,” Lewis smiled gracefully, knowing that he is innocent.

Nash narrowed his eyebrows, “Have you not heard of finding stolen something in your territory, something you didn't steal but it was found with you.”

Reality occurred to Lewis, as this was the same issue that brought him to prison in the first place.

He stood up and brushed his trousers. However, a heavy footstep approached their cell before they could make a move.

“Hey, dumb bunnies! Open your cell!” The deep voice echoed.

They shot their head backwards, to find warden Lee standing outside their cellroom with his two giant horse whip and a detector.

His expression was nothing to joke with as the lines on his forehead creased to a pattern.

Nash sucked in a breath, and drew back to the window.

Abuelo had opened the cell as warden Lee stepped in, not minding whatever he steps on.

He pinned them with a deadly glare.

“Holy heaven, let's assume I find this key in this cell, your backs will bleed for my koboko.”

“Empty your baskets and raise your mattresses now!” warden Lee tightened the whip around his fist.

Nash's mattress was already up, so Abuelo and Lewis pulled their own.

Nothing was found.

However, warden Lee was not satisfied. He would have gone to the other cells after they had raised their mattress.

“Step back!” he commanded, and they did so.

He moved to each mattress with the detector, scanning the whole thing and finally, it beeped.

The atmosphere went cold.

“Who owns this mattress?” he asked.

And everyone turned to Lewis, who was staring dumbfounded.

Warden Lee scoffed, “Ten rules only and in less than a month, you have broken how many?”

Lewis straightened and squared up his shoulders, he moved closer to the bed and squatted.

“What the fuck are you doing? Move back inmate 167,” Warden Lee roared.

However Lewis was confident and made sure to plug out the mattress zipper before rising up.

He brought it forward to warden Lee and raised it his face with an amused smile plastered on his face.

“I bet you couldn't wait to use that horse whip on me without confirming if it was really your key or a zipper,” he then threw it at him.

Nash and Abuelo heaved a sigh of relief.

Whoosh! Their heart was up in their throat the whole time.

Warden Lee swallowed his pride and the embarrassment on his face was obvious.

He picked the zipper and felt it, so it was this bullshit that made the detector beep? He thought and squeezed his face in anger.

As soon as he pocketed the zipper, the detector beeped again, this time it was louder than the last one and it was blaring red.

Warden Lee threw them a glance and carefully scanned the bed that was tucked in a bed cover. When he got to the part that had the detector beeping, he called out.

“Inmate 167, pull out your bed cover!”

Lewis rolled his eyes and stepped forward, patiently waiting to prove him wrong again.

He held the end of his medium sized mattress and started removing the cover. Something slipped out and fell on the floor, with a clunk sound.

The guard key that fell out from Lewis's bed glinted under the strip of the detector light falling on it, and the detector changed to color green before the beeping sound slowly died down.

The key has been found.

Warden Lee, “How would you like us to start? Horse whipping you while doing a squat or stripping out of your uniform and walking out of here naked?”

He wore a mischievous smile as he stared down at Lewis's shocked and confused expression, already knowing what coy coy Lewis would go for.