Page 75 of Veil of Lies

“Make sure you study hard. It’s important to get a decent degree.”

The guy at the next table kept looking over at Dad, cracking his knuckles loudly while his wife, girlfriend, or whoever she was, chewed gum and examined her chipped magenta nails.

Don’t trust Michael.

A bell rang, the sound jarring. Dad jumped as if he’d been electrocuted. He leaned forward, pushing his hands toward mine until we were almost touching. One of the guards noticed how close we were and frowned.

“Visiting time is over, folks!”

“Estella, I love you, whatever happens, don’t ever forget that.”

The grumpy guard strode over. “Time’s up.”

Dad stood, his shoulders dropping. It was as if he’d aged 20 years in the last 30 minutes. The healthy, dynamic man he’d been before all this happened was long gone. In his place, a shell remained. I wanted to cry, but I forced the tears back. This wasn’t a place for weakness.

“I love you, Dad!” I whispered as the guard dragged him away. He passed through the sliding door and disappeared. The big guy at the next table stood and stared at me for a few beats. The teardrop tattoos on his face, along with a swastika across his throat, told me all I needed to know.

I was about to turn toward the exit when he chuckled softly. “Take care, sweet cheeks.”

Fear flared deep in my chest and I snapped around. He leered at me, eyes raking down my body, lingering on my breasts. Why wasn’t he being told to leave?

All the other families were filing back out, heads down, kids’ hands held tightly. The few remaining guards ignored me and the psychopath. His wife slash partner had already dashed away, probably desperate to get her next nicotine fix.

Still smirking, he leaned toward me, the muscular bulk of his body towering over my smaller frame. He was so close I could smell his fetid breath. I gagged slightly, my feet frozen to the sticky floor.

“Better make sure Daddy keeps his mouth shut, sweet cheeks, or that cute little ass off yours might not stay sweet for long. I got some buddies on the outside who’d like nothing more than to ride it hard.” He licked his lips and I fought the urge to vomit.

One guard stood nonchalantly by the sliding door, apparently oblivious to what the psychopath was doing.

I managed to take a step back.

“Elroy, time’s up.”

“Sure thing, boss man.” Elroy nodded and then smiled sweetly at me. “Have a nice day, sweet cheeks. He strolled away whistling like we’d just had a nice chat about the weather.

I was left shaking like a leaf for several minutes, unable to move a muscle. Eventually, another guard walked in. He scowled at me. “Visiting time’s over. You need to leave.”

“That prisoner threatened me!” It was an effort to spit the words out, but I had to say something. Surely this wasn’t allowed to happen!

“What prisoner?” he asked in a bored voice.

“That…that big man, the one with the swastika tattoo on his throat.”

“Oh, Elroy. Yeah, he’s a nasty fucker. White supremacist.”

“Aren’t you going to do something?”

“Like what? I didn’t see or hear anything.” He tried to herd me closer to the exit.”

“You’re not listening! He threatened me!”

“Look lady, my shift ends in 20 minutes, can we hurry this up? If you have a problem, put in an official complaint. You can collect a form from the reception.”

“There was a guard in here, he saw it all!”

It was obvious I was getting nowhere, but now that the shock of Elroy’s threats had faded somewhat, anger consumed me, and I wanted answers. How dare that man threaten me!

I was starting to understand why Dad looked so ill and defeated. If someone like Elroy could issue threats against me in front of an actual fucking guard, Dad had no chance of staying out of trouble while he was in here. He was lucky he hadn’t been shanked in the shower already.

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