I destroy my enemy when I make him my friend
-Abraham Lincoln
Christian pov
The walk back to my cell seemed like forever. It seemed like the hallway was getting longer and longer for me. I had guards on both sides of me dragging me down the noisy hall. I can't believe that just happened.
Once we finally approached my cell, they pushed me in and locked my cage. I fell on the floor and the first person I looked to was Jamal. He wore this look that I couldn't even read. It didn't look like he was angry. It almost looked like a smirk was forming upon his face.
"What the fuck man?!" I yelled. He stood up and got closer to his cell. He watched me as I crawled onto my bed and screamed in my pillow.
"What's wrong? Did she say something you didn't like?" Jamal asked. I looked up at him and he was fully smiling now. The nigga was smiling.
"You said you would help me, not ruin my life." I said.
"You're more naive than I thought you were. This is prison my brother! You don't make friends in here!" Jamal snapped causing the entire cell block to get quiet.
"She doesn't want you." I told him. He laughed this evil laugh.
"Wrong. She doesn't want you. I get out in about two days for good behavior. Let's see how much she really considers your feelings." He said. I couldn't do anything but stare at the dark walls. Deep down I knew he was telling the truth. I'm a joke to that girl.
"She doesn't care about you." I still wanted to fight with my words.
"Keep telling yourself that if it makes you sleep at night." He walked away from the bars and sat on his bed. He was wrong. That didn't make me sleep at night. Not in this hell hole. I could never fully sleep. My vision got blurry as I continued to stare at the dark walls. It's like my eyes got adjusted to looking at nothing. I had to blink a couple of times to get my vision back right.
My eyes focused on the toothbrush that was sitting on the edge of the sink. I started getting ideas. Ideas I wouldn't normally think about. I looked over at Jamal and saw he was laying in his bed reading a magazine. I quickly grabbed the toothbrush and turned my back towards him. I began scraping the handle of it against the metal bed. This nigga is better off dead.
"Inmate!" Someone yelled at my cell door. I jumped and instantly dropped the toothbrush. I quickly sat up and was met with a guard sliding my doors open.
"You have a visitor." He said. I knew it couldn't be anyone but Laney. She wants to know why I lied to her. She wants to know if Jamal is really here. He cuffed me and shackled my feet before escorting me out. I took one long look at Jamal as he smirked at me. The guard pushed me down the hall causing me to stumble a bit.
We walked through the doors but I didn't see Laney. Matter of fact, I didn't see anyone.
"Is this a -"
"Hello Chris." That voice spoke to me. I knew who it was. I turned around and was met with Lori. My twin sister Lori. I missed looking at her face everyday. I instantly let tears fall when I saw her. The guard to the cuffs off me and sat me in the chair.
"You look skinnier than usual." She told me.
"I'm not eating this bullshit in here." I told her. She laughed and looked behind her as if she wanted to see who was listening and looking. She turned back and leaned in.
"We can get you out of here?" She whispered.
"We?" I asked confused.
"Laney and I." She said. A smile formed upon my face. I was excited to hear Laney's name. She probably doesn't care now. She probably just wants Jamal out of prison.
"But I'm not trying to get in trouble." I told her. She looked at me like I was a pussy ass nigga. It's fucked up when your own twin know you ain't bout that shit.
"Fuck that, Chris. You want to get out right?" She said.
"What y'all gone do?" I asked.
"Laney getting with Black to get some good shit. I already got some white girl from Mexico. It's easy to bribe these fools. " She winked at me and smirked. I stared at her to see if she was playing. I started looking around and it seemed like we were the only ones in the room now. All eyes were on us.
"So what I got to do?" I asked.
"Just sit tight." She stood up because our time was up. I watched her disappear behind the glass and out the door. I feel like they about to get me even more time behind this shit!
Laney pov
I had to go back home. I can't wait on Christian. I have to hold things down while he locked up. I know there's something he's not telling me. Maybe like me thinking I heard Jamal. I mean what's the odds of that?
"I want to teach you something." I told lil Jamal. He looked up from the paper he was writing his name on.
"Yea?" He asked.
"What do you do when an officer ask you about me?" I asked.
"Tell him mind his business because I don't talk to pigs." He said. I have a long way to go with teaching this boy.
"No Jamal. You tell him she's working to pay her bills." I told him. He looked at me with this lost look.
"So you want me to lie?" He asked.
"Duh!!!" I said. I got to teach him things. Not because he has to be careful with me, but because life is a bitch and she will fuck you before you have time to say stop.
"Okay, so what would you do if someone owed you some money?" I asked. I was prepared for the craziest thing coming from this child. He was street smart, but he has to be slicker than me to be prepared for this.
"I kill them." He shrugged.
"Noooooo!! Your ass gone be in jail!" I snapped. He looked surprised like I offended.
"You do it, mama." I instantly calmed down. It just warms my heart when he say that. He makes me feel like I have a purpose on this earth. He makes me feel wanted. I found myself just smiling at him.
"I'm not your mom little man." I told him. I didn't want him to grow up confused. Didn't want him to grow up thinking I'm his real mom when I'm not.
"I know who you are." He corrected me. Well excuse the hell out of me.
"Since you talking about killing somebody, how would you do it? Would you shoot him? Stab him? Drop him in the ocean?" I asked curiously. Sometimes I want to know what's going on through his five year old mind.
"I wouldn't do any of that." He laughed. Thank God. I thought I had a sociopath on my hands.
"I would burn his body alive in a car and let his family watch." He finished. He then continued writing on the paper. My mouth fell open. What did I get myself into? I slowly stood up and walked over to the window in the kitchen. I looked down at all the prostitutes and drug dealers in the alley behind the apartment.
I need to find somewhere else for us to live. Just seeing the crackheads beg for drugs did something to me. It reminded me of my trifling mom. She would do anything to get high. She would give me to her boyfriend and watch. She would let him hurt me, then get mad at me. How could a mother treat a child in such a way?
I thought mothers were there to protect us?! Mine didn't! She protected Jory! She didn't care about Laney. She didn't care about how many times I contemplated on killing myself. She didn't care that I would cry myself to sleep, praying that God didn't wake me up in the morning. She didn't give a fuck about all the times her boyfriend snuck in my bedroom at night. I know she heard us.
Why mama?
A girl's best friend is supposed to be her mom.
"Someone's at the door!" Jamal called. I dried the few tears I shed on those dark memories. I didn't want to hurt anymore. I didn't want to feel sorry for myself anymore. I just want to be happy. Happiness is so hard to find in this world! People think because you have love and money that you're happy. No, you have to find that shit within yourself.
"Who is it?" I walked back in the living room and Lori was there with a big briefcase. I knew exactly what was in it once she put her gloves on to bag it up.
"Ready to get my brother out of jail?" She asked. Jamal eyed the cocaine as she opened the briefcase. She picked one of the bricks up and smelled it through the plastic wrapping.
"Where did you get it?" I didn't know Lori had connects like that. Thought she was this dumb prissy girl. Shit she still a dumb prissy girl if you ask me.
"From Mexico. My family is rich bitch. I can make moves." She assured me. I grabbed some gloves and started cutting a brick open. I didn't like how Jamal's eyes lit up as he watched us.
"We can really make money off this." Lori said. She out her damn mind if she think I'm selling this stuff for the hell of it. I just want to get Christian out of prison. That was the plan she told me, and we're sticking to it.
"Go in the bedroom and watch tv." I told Jamal.
"But-"
"Aye bro get to the bedroom!" I snapped. He slowly walked to the bedroom and jumped up on the bed.
"Ummmmm am I missing something?" Lori asked. Her eyes never left the scale that she was weighing everything on.
"To be honest, I feel like we both missing something." My mind went back to the voice I heard when I was talking to Christian. I swear it sounded like Jamal. It sounded like he wanted to be heard.