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I answer his challenge as we swing on each other. Another guy jumps in, and I’m being overwhelmed. Two straight hits send me to the ground, where the second guy kicks me in the ribs and the one in the boxer stance supervises.
A shrill whistle plays over the air. Immediately, everybody disperses. The guys who have circled around us to watch the fight and LaTessa’s group who have jumped in. Aside from the handful I’ve knocked out cold, I’m one of the last on my feet.
The guards are shouting from across the yard that exercise hour is over. Everybody has to return to their cells. I’m collected personally, made to walk side by side with Sandberg, the same officer who booked me in.
“You’re a headache,” he says. “You seem determined to wind up in bigger trouble. You’ve got one more strike, then it’s the Box.”
“Tell that to the assholes who start with me.”
“No. I’m telling you, and you only, Mancino. One more strike. Then you’re out.”
12
salvatore
The dynamicsin jail are different. No doubt the dynamics in prison will be intensified times ten. If I’m getting into fights now, finding it difficult to stay out of trouble, the same’s going to happen if I were to go away to prison.
Over the next couple days, I work hard to keep my nose clean.
I even go back on my decision to eat alone. I join Elmer and his guys at their table.
During our exercise hour in the yard, I stick it out in my cell, and workout there. I only go to the yard for a brief walk to catch some fresh air, and I make sure the guards see what I’m up to.
In a facility like this, where men are locked up together 24/7, there’s too much testosterone. Too much masculine energy.
At night, my head fills most with thoughts of Delphine.
It’s only been two weeks, and I’m already going crazy. Not only do I miss simple things like sleeping beside her and holding her in my arms, I miss having her.
Her softness. Her curves. The feminine energy she exudes and how she feels.
The scent of her.
My dreams are vivid. So real, more than once I wake thinking they are.
On a night where Elmer is taken to the infirmary for some stomach pains, I use my privacy in the cell to my advantage. I wait ’til lights out and then I get myself off.
It’s not at all ideal. The strangest place I’ve ever jerked off at, but what other choice do I have when I’m being driven crazy by my hunger for her?
When I see her on visitor’s day, it’s like the sun pushing through clouds on a rainy day. I walk into the room with the glass partition separating her side and mine, rows of chairs and telephones set up for talking.
My pulse races and I dart straight for the lane she’s selected. Though I keep my face neutral, I show how relieved I am to see her with my eyes.
She gets it. I can tell by how her expression softens. She puts her hand up to the glass and I do the same, picking up my phone.
“I love you,” are her first words.
“You’ve been crying.”
She sniffles, then nods. “Your cheek. You’re bruised.”
“It’s healing alright.”
“Jon, please… no fights. It jeopardizes your standing, and it’s dangerous.”
“That’s easier said than done.”
At the way her natural glow dims in reaction, I feel compelled to fix it. Make her understand I am trying. I hurry to elaborate.
