iv.
That night, after dinner, Kyle sat on his bunk, looking out onto the empty tier. In the cell next to him, he heard the breathy sound of a man either fucking or getting his cock sucked. He lay down and tried not to think about what would happen if Tyrone won the fight tonight. Kyle would belong to the man who won the duel. Tyrone's words came back to Kyle with the frightening clarity of coming doom -
if you was my bitch I would of raped your virgin ass already and made you scream real loud.
JT walked into their cell and picked up a black bag.
"Come on boy," JT said, looking at Kyle. "Game time."
Kyle jumped down from his bunk, looking up at JT, puzzled.
"We can't leave the cell," Kyle said. "It's almost lights out."
JT took his hand. "You're with me now. Come on. Let's go."
Kyle followed JT past guards who acted like they were both invisible. One guard nodded to JT and asked him how he was doing. No one tried to stop them.
They left the tier, went down old stone steps that smelled of sweat and urine, past the first floor. Kyle counted two flights below the first floor before a big, black iron door blocked their way.
"Where are we?" Kyle said, looking around in the darkness.
"Old part of the prison," JT said, slipping a key from his pocket.
He slid the skeleton key into the ancient looking lock and the door opened with a soft creak that spoke of well oiled hinges. The corridor beyond lay in pitch black darkness.
Kyle hung back, looking into the darkness. JT pulled a powerful flashlight from his black bag and took Kyle's hand again. On the other side, JT locked the big door. Now they stood in near total darkness, except for the narrow beam of the flashlight. The only sound was their breathing and Kyle's wildly beating heart.
"Where are we going JT?"
"You'll see boy."
JT led Kyle through dark corridors, past closed doors, deeper into the musty scent of disuse, until finally, they heard the low murmur of voices up ahead.
They turned a corner and Kyle saw a giant cell that stood in the middle of a stone floor. Hurricane lanterns hung from top of the cell on iron hooks, casting a shifting yellow glow all around. No one was inside the cell yet. Men crowded around the cell made way for JT and Kyle. Calvin and Terence waited near the cell door.
A blond man who looked as big as one of the original Vikings, came up to JT and clapped him on the back hard enough to send another man sprawling.
"You show him what's what JT. He's made trouble for all of us."
"He won't make no more trouble after tonight, Sven," JT said quietly.
"Good," the blond man said, and walked off, trailing a slender blonde man behind him.
"You ready?" Calvin said, taking JT's bag.
"Yeah," JT said. "Take care of my bitch. Keep him close."
"Don't worry," Calvin said.
JT took the short handled knife Calvin handed him from the black bag, then he slid his t-shirt over his head. His body rippled with solid muscle in the flickering light.
Calvin pulled Kyle back as JT opened the door to the giant cell and stepped inside.
"Where's Tyrone?" Kyle said.
"He'll be here," Calvin said.
Terence walked through the crowd of men and stood on the other side of Kyle.
"You stay close to us boy, hear?" Calvin said.
Kyle nodded, looking into the cell. Men clung to the outside of the bars, making a living wall around JT. He stood in the center of the cell, holding his knife. The crowd buzzed with excitement.
"Where's the guards?" Kyle said. "It isn't like this on TV."
Terence and Calvin both laughed. "Those games are for show boy. This is the real thing."
Silence went through the crowd in a wave, and a path cleared to let Tyrone through. Two men came were with him. He took off his black t-shirt, staring across the crowd at Kyle. He took a curved knife from the man on his left, then slowly, so that every man there saw what he did, Tyrone blew Kyle a kiss.
Kyle looked at JT standing in the middle of the cell. He'd seen what Tyrone did, but his face showed no sign of anger. The only sign that showed the fury Kyle knew JT must be feeling was a slight tension that made his sculpted muscles stand out even more in the flickering golden light.
Tyrone walked into the cell, followed by the blonde Viking that Kyle had seen earlier. When all three men were in the cell, silence fell.
"Tonight is a dark game," the Viking said in a strong voice that echoed down the dark halls, "to settle a duel between gladiators. The man who frees himself with this key, wins."
The Viking held up a large, black skeleton key. He walked out of the large cell, locked the door with the key, and hung the key beside the lock where it would be easily reached by a man standing on the other side of the bars.
JT and Tyrone circled each other in a low crouch. Both held their knives easily. They were nearly matched in size and strength. JT was only about an inch taller than Tyrone. But he was lithe with hard muscle and graceful on his feet.
Tyrone didn't move with the same grace and ease as JT. Fear made his movements jittery. His eyes flicked behind JT, distracted by noises from the crowd. JT's eyes never left Tyrone. His face was impassive, smooth, as if he were spectator with nothing to win or lose.
When JT struck, no one, including Tyrone, expected it. JT's knife came in under Tyrone's extended arm in a rapid swipe. Tyrone jumped back and twisted away, but not before JT's knife left a light flesh wound. The crowd hooted and hollered, cheering them on, yelling the names of both men.
