Prisoner of Circumstance | ✔️

9 | Inception

NINE – Inception

"Hey..." Sami greeted, taking a seat next to me on the bleachers, overlooking the basketball courts.

"Hey." I replied curtly and sighed deeply, my eyes focused on the three inmates standing in a circle close to the fence with a guard, plausibly making a shady deal.

"You were gone when I woke up." Sami said, looking at me cautiously.

"They opened the cells very early today and I needed fresh air." I told him quietly.

"How are you?" he asked, concerned. I looked at him and exhaled heavily, gazing up at the buff, dark-skinned inmate that just shot the ball in the hoop.

I didn't know how long I took before I responded but once I opened my mouth, the floodgates opened. I couldn't help it. I couldn't help it anymore much less anyone and the burn was bat-shit excruciating as Sami would say.

I didn't know what to feel anymore. All the pent up anger, the rage and anguish... I was suffocating from it all. The guilt was eating me up, slowly from inside out.

It was all my fault and knowing that, did irrecoverable shit to my sanity.

Did I know how to answer his question? Nope. Not a clue but I went with the obvious one even if I knew deep down I didn't mean jack-shit.

"I will be okay." I lied. Why did I lie? Because that's what I knew he wanted to hear. Because come hell or high water, I was never gonna be okay. I was fucked. That was the reality of the situation. That was the reality of my situation and the most fucked up part of it all was that I didn't know what to do make it all stop.

To make it all bearable, to cease the shed of blood in my name. Being arrested for crimes I didn't commit was something else but people dying in my name because they believed in my innocence and wanted the best for me... that was where I drew the red line.

"You don't have to fake it with me Xan— "

"Alex!" I cut him off sharply, my jaw clenched.

"Sorry... Alex." Sami sighed. "Sorry." He whispered.

"I am sorry too." I looked up at him apologetically. And really, I was.

"It's okay." He said and kept quiet.

"It's okay. You can ask the question." I finally said when I couldn't stand his heavy calculated gaze and his darn fidgeting.

"What happened?" he questioned softly. "What changed? You're finally talking."

"What changed?" I chuckled dryly. "Everything. I am finally talking? So it seems. As to the why all of a sudden? I guess I just needed time to wallow in my misery. I don't know. For the what happened?" I scoffed, my head tilted upwards, eyes pressed shut with my index and thumb holding the bridge of my nose. "Shit-storm." I answered. I didn't elaborate for a while before I deadpanned and told him what happened. "Melinda is dead."

"What?" he gathered his eyebrows. "What do you mean she is dead? What happened?"

"She was killed. Premeditated apparently." I stared into his brown eyes sullenly.