Tyler is happily engaged when his life takes a turn. After a couple bad decisions, he ends up in California State's Prison. Surrounded by bad boys, hot guards, and a lot of testosterones, is Tyler going to manage to keep himself out of troubles?
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My First Year in Prison
Chapter 2: New roommates
I had not talked to Austin in a while, last time we saw each other was at his wedding two years prior.
Seeing him marrying someone else was as heart-breaking as it was healing for me.
Finally, I was able to have a full closure on our story. Austin had truly been my first love and I had struggled to let go of him for years. Witnessing him, kissing his beautiful bride, had been a much-needed wake-up call.
I guess this is not much of a surprise that I met Griffin shortly after and that I committed myself in a long-time relationship for the first time in my life.
"Tyler? Is that really you?"
"Yes, it is really me."
"How are you doing man? Wait! Are you actually calling me from jail? What the fuck Ty?"
Austin laughed over the phone.
"Austin, stop it. It's not funny, it's all real."
"You? In prison! What could you possibly have done? You ran over someone?"
"God! I don't even know why I'm calling you. I just did not want to talk to Griffin or Ryan right now. You'll ask my brother why I'm here. He'll explain everything to you."
He was more serious now:
"But Ty, what is happening? Do you need help?"
"No... I guess I just wanted to talk."
"To talk? We have not seen each other in over a year. You are telling me that you have been convicted of God knows what crime, you are calling me from prison and you just want to... talk?"
"Come on Austin, be nice, I regret calling you already!" I smiled though, too happy to hear his voice. "I did not kill anyone, it was just... well, embezzlement, and drug trafficking."
"Tyler, I never knew you were such a gangsta! "Just" drug trafficking! You're killing me man!"
"You better not laugh too hard or I'll send my gang right at your door!"
I snapped back semi-laughing, too self-aware of the surreal nature of this call.
"Look bro, I'm sorry but this just sounds too crazy to me! If someone told me that Tobias or Martin had been sent to jail, I would not be surprised. But Tyler Braxton! I did not think nerdy doctors or therapists were going to prison these days!"
"They are! Although, to be fair, I did lose my license to practise so I'm no longer a therapist."
He laughed harder, probably still wondering if I was kidding or not.
This was the effect Austin had on me.
Some way, somehow, I could be stressed out, straight-out panicking, he would always made me relax. I just had been through one the worst experiences of my life a few minutes before, but with Austin on the line, I forgot all about creepy guard Falcon or the fact that I was about to get confronted to the other inmates.
We discussed like this for 10 minutes as if no time had spent by since we had last spoken.
I ended up explaining pretty much the whole situation to Austin and he promised he would talk with Griffin and Ryan to make sure he could come and visit me.
Austin was working as a salesman for a big sports company and was traveling a lot in the country to negotiate deals with big stadiums and arenas. To this day, I am still not sure of what he was selling, some stuff relating to bleachers I think, all I knew was that he would make sure to spend some time in California to see me and it warmed my heart.
"Ten months. This sure is going to be tough but think about that man, once you'll get out of there, you'll get married and..."
"And what? What do I do with my life then? An ex-con with an interdiction to do his job!"
"Well, you'll figure it out! Knowing you, you'll do porn or something!"
"Fuck you, Austin."
"Come on, you're one tough cookie Tyler. You always bounce back."
The line abruptly cut. I had used up all my coins. I hung up the phone and was snapped back to my sad reality. I took a long look at the depressing grey environment I was in. Several guys were coming in, new inmates, they seemed less nervous than I was.
Guard Falcon was talking with an older man in a suit. When he was done, he walked towards me.
"Ready, inmate?"
I did not respond. I did not want to say a single word to this asshole.
I was about to be scolded when the younger (and much cuter) guard Foster came in, he was accompanied by an inmate. The con was wearing the same blue uniform that I was, except it was a bit washed up. The clothes, not the guy.
"Hi, new guy. I'm Xander."
He extended his hand to me. I shook it.
Xander had short blond hair which were kind of curly, he looked roughly my age, maybe a bit younger and seemed friendly. He looked fit but was rather slim, not really the image you have in mind when you think of prisoners.
"Hi." I just replied, still very cautious.
"Inmate Dantons will be sharing your cell. He is going to show you around the facility, the commodities, he'll explain the way things work around here. If you don't behave, he will be held responsible as well." Explained Falcon.
"Ok." I spoke.
There was an awkward silence until Xander said:
"Follow me?"
The guards nodded and we passed two big metal doors together, I heard the doors being locked behind us, I felt a lump in my throat. I could have busted into tears right there. This was all becoming very real, very fast.
"You did not tell me your name. You have a name I suppose?"
Asked Xander, apparently unaware of my inner breakdown.
"Sorry, I... I'm Tyler."
"First time in here?"
"Yes..."
"I figured. You look like a first timer."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Relax man, we just can tell."
He smiled at me. Maybe I should not be that defensive. I would need allies in there. Friends even. Ten months is a long time.
"How long have you been here?" I asked while we were walking in yet another grey corridor. The paint was falling from the walls and ceiling at some places. This place was really demoralizing.
"Two years. And one left to go. You'll see, you'll get used to this shithole. How long do you have?"
I wondered what he had done to be sentenced to three years. It must have been a pretty serious deal. But probably not a murder? I knew better than asking this question though.
"I have been sentenced to 16 months, but I hope I can leave in 10."
"Fingers crossed, mate."
He smiled at me again. He seemed too nice to be true.
We were now advancing in the facility and passing by other inmates and what seemed to be recreational rooms. There was a couple of ping pong tables in one of the rooms.
Most of the guys were minding their own business, some were looking at me.
It was not a legend, most groups seemed to gather by ethnicity, there were more older guys than what I was expected. One group was playing with cards on a table near us, laughing loudly, making fun of each other. I avoided looking at any of the inmates directly. Truth is: I was utterly terrified.
I still remember my first day in prison vividly. Not something you forget.
It was smelling like males around there, like a locker-room after practice. Probably the testosterones floating in the air.
A lot of those guys wore tattoos, a few of them were shirtless, not minding showing off their muscular chests. The majority of the inmates were wearing their uniforms trousers with a white tank top. I was trying not to look at those biceps, armpits, nipples, but they were everywhere.
A group of buff guys competing with each other in some kind of arm-wrestling competition caught my attention but I tried to remain as discreet as possible, closely following Xander. He was telling me everything I should now: when to get up, when to shower, to eat, to sleep, to shut up, who to avoid and where to go. I tried to ingest all of the info.
"Basically, we are free to move around during the day but we can go outside only a couple of hours in the afternoon. Unless you work outside."
"Work?"
"You did not think you would get to be in bed all day, did not you? Everybody works to get this place running. I would go to laundry if I were you. Pretty easy."
"Ok."
I did not talk much, only nodding to everything Xander was saying.
I was surprised there was no one from the system doing this introduction, but it made sense, it was a bit like at the university, when other students would show your around.
We walked through another round of corridors, some guy was screaming in one of the cells we passed by, a lunatic according to Xander but not dangerous. That did not reassure me much.
Finally, we reached our cell.
It was pretty much what I was expected, a bit worse maybe. 110 square feet, two bunk beds against each of the walls, a curtain behind the beds on the right side, it was torn up and we could see the toilets and the sink behind it, on the other side, there were 4 small lockers.
And that was it.
"We are supposed to be 4 by cell but there are too many of us in here, so we sometimes have to be 5 and someone sleeps on a mattress on the floor." Explained Xander.
The mattresses seemed only a few inches thick. Ouch.