Episode 121

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            Incarceration

 

 

            The steel bars of the prison cell cast diagonal lines over Alex’s face.

            He stared up at the ceiling of his holding cell, his intense eyes filled with dark thoughts.  Dressed in a nondescript light gray jumpsuit, he practically matched the prison walls that surrounded him.  Lying on the narrow and thin bed that hung from the wall by chains, he rested his head on his hands, staring, thinking.

            There was a flash of light and he looked to the tiny window that faced out of his cell.  He could see the rain pouring down outside, the fresh cold air refreshing against the stagnant lukewarm swelter that the prison perpetually suffered under.  As he stared, another flash of lightning coursed by, followed by an unremarkable and distant roll of thunder.  He fixated again on his ceiling, thinking.  He closed his eyes, slowing his breathing as his mind worked.

            There was a soft tapping.

            Alex’s eyes opened and he rolled to his feet.  The light over his cell was out, as were most of the lights in the prison facility.  He quietly rose and approached the cell door, watching for the guards.  He spotted three uniformed men at the far end of the cell block.  Seated around a card table, they sat with a stack of bills in the center, each holding five cards.

            Alex leaned against the bars and held out his hand, extending two fingers.  He watched the other cells on his line, waiting.  After a moment, he spotted Eliot’s hand extend, holding out two fingers as well.  Alex sighed and stepped back.  He picked up a tiny mirror from the sink next to the toilet and sat down against the cell bars.  He held the mirror out and angled it towards Eliot’s cell.  Eliot’s mirror became visible and they both worked to angle them so they could see each other.

            ‘I have the second bar loose,’ he mouthed to Alex.

            Alex looked astonished.  “Already?  We’ve only been in here a week,” he marveled quietly to himself.  He gave Eliot thumbs-up, eliciting an enthusiastic nod in response.

            ‘Any word on the girls?’ Eliot asked.

            ‘Jason says Irene and Lisa are fine.’

            This time, Eliot gave the thumbs up. He glanced back into his cell, then back out at Alex. ‘What’s the plan once we get out my window and onto the roof?’

            ‘Isaiah’s on that,” Alex mouthed back. ‘Just like Til is on how to get the doors open.’

            ‘And what are you doing again?’ Eliot chided harmlessly.

            Alex smirked, a dark look coming to his eyes. ‘Dealing with after we make our escape.’

 
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