Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
The sight hits me harder than I expected. Me and Rock try to help him but we’re not always successful, especially surrounded by so many triggers. But Lory has this way about her, this quiet strength that anchors him in a way nothing else has.
Rock makes a low hum in his throat as I close the door, and we return to the other room, shuffling as quietly as two men our size can achieve.
“She’s worked him out,” I say, shaking my head.
“She’s not what I expected.” Rock rubs his thick beard. “She’s going to get under our skins, Kinkaid.”
“She already has, by the looks of it.”
Rock nods. “Hyde needs this, but what the fuck is going to happen when she has to leave?”
I don’t even want to think about returning to the main prison block and dealing with the rest of the assholes in this place, but most of all, I don’t want to think about letting Lory go. In a few brief hours, she reminded me of everything I’m missing outside these walls. “Maybe we need to keep reminding him that this shit is only temporary.” And ourselves. I don’t say that part, though.
Rock shrugs. “What’s better? Reminding him so he can’t enjoy her while she’s here or letting him forget and have him crash after?”
There’s no right answer to that question.
I sit down on the edge of the bed, running a hand through my hair. The room is suffocating, the weight of the situation pressing down on me from all sides. I keep it to myself that I’m just as worried for me. How will we go back to our cells and our shitty lives after having this time with Lory? I need another cigarette but rationing them is the only way.
Eventually, I lay on the cot beside Rock’s bed, staring at the ceiling. Rock’s quiet, lost in his thoughts, just as uneasy as I am.
Sleep doesn’t come quickly, but eventually, exhaustion pulls me under.
***
When I wake, the early morning light filters through the small window, casting a pale glow across the room. I rise, still carrying the tension in my muscles, and find Rock is already up, pacing by the door with a restless energy that mirrors mine. There’s a knock and then a series of beeps as someone enters the code from outside the unit. The door creaks open, revealing Warden Grady, carrying a box of supplies.
“Morning,” he says gruffly, setting the box on the table. “Brought you some things to keep you going.”
I nod in acknowledgment, my mind still clouded from sleep. Rock moves to inspect the box, pulling out some food, clothes, a deck of cards, and some more cigarettes. It’s not much, but it’s enough to get by.
“Lory?” Grady asks, glancing toward the door.
“Sleeping,” I reply. “With Hyde.”
Grady’s expression flickers, but he quickly masks it. “Good?”
I don’t respond, my thoughts still tangled up in the image of them together. He’s not asking about the sex. He’s not that kind of man. He’s asking if she’s settled in and if this plan will work. I nod curtly, and the warden lingers for a moment as if he wants to say something more but doesn’t.
“Trouble last night?” I ask. It’s weird to not be wired into the gossip mill in this place.
“The usual suspects. Solitary is full today.”
I nod, relieved to have missed getting dragged into something that’s none of my business.
He eyes the closed bedroom door, hesitates, then nods and leaves, the door clicking shut behind him.
Rock and I go about the morning routine, each of us lost in our own thoughts. It’s not until Lory emerges from her room, looking slightly disheveled, that the atmosphere lightens.
Hyde is quiet as he follows her into the common area, his usual energy replaced by a wary calm. He looks at me, then at Rock, as if searching for some kind of reassurance that everything is okay between us. I’m not mad about how he behaved last night. It’s impossible to be mad at him when I know where he’s coming from. If he’d hurt Lory, it’d be a different story.
“There’s cereal for breakfast,” I tell them. “And coffee.”
“Sounds good.”
Lorry folds her arms over her chest. “I could do with a change of clothes.”
I lift the small bundle that Grady provided for her to look at. There’s a pair of black leggings and a woman’s shirt that looks like it might be too big for her. There’s also some underwear. “I’m going to shower,” she says, heaping the bundle into her arms, then eyeing each of us.
“We’ll be out here,” I say, so she understands she'll have some privacy. We need time to talk without her around.
When she disappears into the bathroom, I fix four mugs of coffee, and Rock and Hyde sit at the table, cradling the steaming mugs in their oversized hands.