Page 81 of Caged In

What kind of a man can’t stand up for himself and stop . . . what happened . . . from being done to them?

“I could mark you.”

. . . mark him?

What does Sinn'ous mean by‘mark him’ . . .? Like some weird animal marking their territory type of thing? Izz’s not sure he’s on boardwith any . . . What is it called? Waterboarding—no, isn’t that a torture technique?—Whatever it’s called, he isn’t sure he would like it.

He’s experimental, yes. But he isn’tthatexperimental—

Maybe if he’s wasted drunk—nah, not even then. It’s not his thing. And kind of weird for someone to raise so casually . . .Humans also don’t have a sense of smell like dogs so how would peeing on someone do anything to mark their territory.

Izz must have pulled a face becauseSinn'ous clarifies, “I can have my mark tattooed on you. No guards or inmates will dare touch you, they’ll know whose wrath it will invite, if they so much as disrespect you.”

Ohhhhh . . .

A tattoo.

Izz’s cheeks light up as if it’s their sole job to warm the entire prison—the entire country—

He’s glad Sinn’ous can’t read minds. With where his thoughts immediately jumped to . . .

Why had his mind gone so dirty?—probably because he hasn’t touched himself since he got to prison. He’s pent up and his mind’s eating away at itself, finding ways to turn anything dirty.

A tattoo makes sense.

A tattoo would be logical.An easy way to show others he’s untouchable. He’d be safer, less on edge, and not scaredshitless every minute of the day. No more walking backwards to watch who’s following him, or hiding away in his cell, or using The Gang as a shield to avoid getting caught alone—although it had helped save him in the past. Kind of.

This would be different. Sinn'ous is different. A type of protection nobody wants to fuck with. And Izz wants the defensive shield. If he bears the mark of the prison’s notorious serial killer. . . no one will attempt to mess with him.

Decision secured in his mind, Izz smiles softly at Sinn'ous, “yes. I’d like that.”

25

Breakfast.

Similar to previous days. It’s a time of gossipamong the inmates, and The Gang is not above it. Everyone shares stories they learnt from their cellmates during the forced hours locked up in their cells. Today is no different. However, today the gossip is a little more interesting. Izz’s stunned into silence as Sinj continued with the bombshell he’d dropped.

“Guards are calling it a pact-suicide. The evidence to link them to the death of that guard was in their cell. The knife that killed him, wrapped in a shirt hidden under their mattress.”

Izz can’t believe what Sinj is saying. It’s absurd. The suicide of two inmates, who killed—only they didn’t. They didn’t kill the guard they are being accused of killing. He killed the guard. And he sure didn’t use a knife to do it.

So why are these two random inmates being called murderers? Why are they being blamed for the guard’s death? They hung themselves in their shared cell, but why? He knows they didn’t kill the guard and they surely knew they didn’t do it.

So why are they dead? And why is the knife found in their cell being called the murder weapon?

The guard was killed with a broken wooden broomhandle. Not a knife—how did they even get a knife in prison? Did they steal it from the kitchen?

“Mark and Harry killed the guard?” Blake’s exasperatedvoice chimes in like he, too, cannot believe it.

“Who are they?” Izz ponders out loud. Who are they blaming for the death he had caused?

Izz hadn’t expected an answer, Reni fills him in anyway. “Those two from our Wing—dude with the ugly dragon tattooand his friend. They didn’t have the balls to kill a guard, if you ask me, it was . . . Well . . . You know,” Reni glances over at Sinn'ous.

Guess again roommate.

Sure, Sinn'ous may have framed the inmates—he’ll ask when they’re alone again—but Sinn'ous sure as shit did not kill the guard as Reni is insinuating.

The Gang went back and forth discussing the suicides and guard’s death. Theories are tossed around with others dismissing them. Meals eaten absently between banter. It’s not long until they are done and ready to head off to start their day in the prison yard.

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