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? (Erotic Drama - sequel to My First Year in College).
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My First Year in Prison
Chapter 21: Toss my black salad (back to the classics!)
"Ty, I don't know... My mom cannot sleep since the shooting, knowing I'm stuck in here. I cannot do that to her. My girlfriend is worried sick too. Bro, we're supposed to get out this hell together, in just three weeks. We cannot rock the boat now."
Ralph and I were alone in our cell. I had just talked to him about my plan to expose the corrupt prison system and the warden's behavior during the hearing to come.
Ralph had witnessed front row what the warden was capable of, I figured that if he were to testify as well, we could have a much bigger impact.
"Ralph, we cannot let them blackmail us like this! Kurtis is still locked up because he refused to fuck with the warden. That's messed-up!"
"This is what it is about, then, your boyfriend?"
"Come on, Ralph. You know that's not true! Don't let them pin us against each other! They let Romano run this place because the warden was involved in his traffic. The guards had let him, fuck... no, rape Kim, right in the open! And now that people have died, that Xander is gone, they just try to cover their tracks, saying Kim was just a lunatic and there is nothing to see. That's bullshit!"
Ralph was pacing around our tiny cell.
"Don't go there, Ty. Don't mention him." He looked at the bed above me. "You really believe that I don't constantly think about Xander? How he ended up dead on the cafeteria floor?"
"Ralph..."
"You know what comes to mind when I think about that, about everything that led up to his death? You appear in my brain, Ty! You, not the warden! I did not forget about how you were getting fucked by Will Torres as he was smuggling drugs into this prison and trying to sell his stash to Trevor."
That hurt more than a punch in the guts.
"That's not fair, Ralph, putting it all on me like that. You know that I hate myself for this and I will probably regret what I did for the rest of my life, but you also know the system is rotten! The administration should be held accountable!"
Ralph stopped his pacing and looked at me. He seemed to soften-up, just a little.
"I regret some things too. I could have stopped Kim or maybe stop the fight altogether. To be honest, a part of me was just happy that we had a good occasion to go after Romano's crew. Punch some of his stupid goons! We were all responsible. That was just..."
"Chaos... For sure." I ended his sentence. "But the guards should have been there to protect us."
"Protect us? Really, Ty? They despise us! We are treated worse than animals in this place!"
"And don't you want to change that?"
Ralph sat on Fernando's bed. As most of the times, he was shirtless, flaunting his impressive body. He was scratching his back because he was stressed.
"Ty, you really believe that we can change the system? Dude, you have spent nine months in here, look at what the prison has already done to you. That's just the way life is. It's just not fucking fair for people who end up in here. Unless you become the damn President of the United-States, your testimony won't change a thing, you might just get stuck in here a little longer... or much longer! It's not worth it, man."
I sat down next to him, defeated.
"I'm not that naïve, Ralph. It's just... I simply cannot do nothing! This is too frustrating, infuriating. Seeing Falcon wander around as if he owns the damn place. The warden keeps on playing mind games with us, after all that happened, that's just sick!"
"Look, I'm really sorry." Ralph said, putting one of his big arms around my shoulders. "I know that you are trying to fight the good fight. And... Like, of course, you're right. The system is corrupted, rotten. I had to prostitute myself to get out of here, is it ok? Hell no. Did I do it anyway? Hell yeah! I just learned to deal with the cards I was given in life."
He held me closer, almost squeezing me.
"I'm sorry, dude, but I'm not ready to lose the chance to finally get out of this shithole. Every time I am lying on my stupid mattress, looking at Trevor in Xander's bed, I want to punch the walls. You have no idea, man. I need to get out of here!"
His eyes were full of tears. It was always a surprising and touching moment when the bodybuilder showed his vulnerability.
"I understand. I really do, Ralph. I don't want you to jeopardize your release for this." I felt selfish, all of the sudden. "I won't mention anything about you, I promise. At all. I'll just explain what happened to me and my own truth."
"If you think that's the right thing to do, you can go ahead and truly, I admire you for this. But please think about the consequences for yourself."
In a weird big brother move, Ralph kissed my forehead.
"I'm sorry about what I said, bro. It was not your fault. What happened to Xander, I mean. And the others. That shit that happened, it fucked me up. I'm just trying to get over it and go back to my life."
"I'm a shrink and I still have no idea how to get over the trauma." I replied with a light smile.
"We're cool, then?"
"We are."
He smiled at me and pulled me in his huge arms again. Since when Ralph had become such a hugger?
"Ok. Just be careful, man. Don't get lost in this prison drama, you have a real life outside of this, remember that."
He stood up to leave the cell but stopped at the door, giving me a finale piece of advice:
"I know Kurtis is hot, heck, I'm straight as an arrow and I still can appreciate that he is a stud, but no matter how good he fucks you, he is not worth staying here, Ty."
Ralph left, probably not aware that he had hit a very sensitive cord. Was part of my plan to expose the prison a desperate attempt to stay locked up with Kurtis?
Maybe. In some ways, Kurtis was the only good thing in my life at this point and I could not see myself renouncing to him.
In the end, whether staying with Kurtis was part of my decision making or not, testifying was still the right thing to do.
The following Saturday, Janice and Austin came to see me at the parlor. They had brought photos of my nephew Noah with them, but also of his two bigger brothers and the entire family. My heart melted. It was always a strange feeling to realize that the world kept on spinning outside of the prison, that some people could still enjoy a somewhat "normal" life.
We were in February, but I was glad that Austin had not given up on wearing tight t-shirts. He had gone for white that day and his nipples were poking through the fabric. Just the kind of details I could not help myself from noticing...
"Are you feeling better, Ty? I bet you cannot wait to get out." Janice said, hugging me warmly.
She had always been a good friend and she had proved it once again in the past few weeks, sending me tons of letters after the mass-shooting, offering me her help and support.
"Yeah... I am feeling better, really."
"You can count the days now, only twenty left!" Austin continued, enthusiast.
I was still feeling weird about getting out, but I must admit, seeing my friends, hearing about my nephews and family, taking my mind outside of the prison's life for a couple hours, that was really helping to bring me back to reality.
What I was living with Kurtis, was that even real?
I had heard a lot of stories about inmates making promises to stay in touch while they were locked up but disappearing as soon as they had put a foot outside the facility. Who could blame them though? Who would want to remember their time behind bars?
Although, I certainly would want to remember Kurtis, I thought.
"I'll go get some coffees from the machine, you want some?" Janice said, after a while. Neither Austin nor I drank coffee so that was a strange suggestion.
"Not for me." I spoke.
"Neither." Commented Austin, with a quick wink directed at Janice.
She left to go get her coffee on the other side of the room, she passed by Pope and was visibly impressed by his size. I smiled to myself. A few tables behind, Trevor, Ray and his wife Sabrina were chatting. Trevor was showing his history books from the class he was taking inside the prison.
The second Janice was gone, Austin's face became more serious. It was quite unusual for him.
"Actually, Ty, I wanted to talk to you in private."
"What was that? A setup?" I asked as I understood Janice had left us alone on purpose. "What's going on, Austin?"
"Nothing... Well, no... It's a big thing, but I did not want to bother you with that before. But I think it's time that you know."
"What? Spill the beans! You're freaking me out!"
"Cassie and I, we're getting divorced." Austin sighed.
That was rather unexpected. But at the same time, not that much.
"Oh, fuck. I'm so sorry, Austin. What happened?"
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Nothing specific. I was working in all parts of the country, often far away from her. I think I've had some problems adjusting to marriage's life. She always wanted me to be more committed but the more she was asking of me, the more it was driving me away."
"Shit. I really thought that you two would make it... How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine. I mean, I think it is a good thing it happened sooner rather than later. We don't have kids. We're not even thirty yet, this is not the end of the world. We both just have to learn from this."
