Page 46 of Caged In

It had to have come from Levis?

Izz crawls onto his bunk, too exhausted and mentally drained to reach over and pull the thin sheet over his body. He can’t even pluck up the energy to kick his shoes off. His eyes heavy and swollen, his throat raw and aching.His will is frazzled and his essence numb.

With his adrenaline dropping. He doesn’t so much fall asleep as pass out cold.

~~~

When Izz had woken, he was surprised a guard had not come to collect him for the morning meal prep. Instead, it wasn’t until the cell doors opened for the whole of A-Wing that a guard rockedup to inform Izz he was to go to the counsellor’s office.

That’s how he found himself here. Seated once again in the cushioned chair. Looking over the oak desk at a furiouscounsellor.

“So, you’ve been moved into laundry,” the counsellor grumbles. Biting off his words as if they offend his very soul to say them.

“Really?” Izz can’t restrain his excitement, even in the face of an infuriated counsellor.

Leaning forward in his chair in case he isn’t hearing correctly. He never considered he’d be delighted to do the laundry. Then again, he’s been put througha lot of things in this cage he never thought would happen to him. And he’s only been in this Hell-hole for . . . What? Six days . . . ?

Too much has happened in too little time. His mind is going to snap. He can feel it straining to hold on to his sanity. This place is going to break him.

Only if you let it.A small comforting voice whispers to him.

“Thank you,” Izz grins. Throwing away the crap from the past, already optimistic about his new job assignment.

“You could have come to me with the paperwork—” The counsellor’s angry voice does little to quell Izz’s joy in getting out of that vile kitchen. “—not gone to the Warden. Going around me. Now I’ve got the Warden all over me. I thought I was pretty nice to you. Now you go and do this.”

Do what?

Izz didn’t do anything. What is this counsellor going on about? Who went to the Warden to get him moved? He sure didn’t. Wouldn’t even know how to find the Warden in the first place.

This counsellor guy is insane.

“May I leave?” Izz glancesover his shoulder to check that he has a clear path straight to the door—

It’s clear, no unexpected roadblocks have popped up in the few minutes since he entered the office.

Refocusing back on the counsellor, Izz discovers the man glaring at him. He smiles in a way he hopes comes off as sincere and not mockery. Several long momentsof glaring later, the counsellor waves a hand towards the door.

He doesn’t stick around to make sure he interpreted the dismissal correctly. He springs out of his chair like the room is on fire. Diving for the door as if the last drops of water in theworld are on the other side. Practicallyslamming the door in his hasty exit.

Out in the corridor, he leans back against the door. Catching his breath, and composing himself.

What a weird guy.

Why is the counsellor so angry? It’s not like the man is being felt up in the kitchen by a gang member, while the rest of the inmates pretend not to notice. He’s sitting there, making it about himself. Like he has a right to get pissy at Izz for being moved to another job.

Someone else has apparently gone to the Warden on Izz’s behalf and requested he be moved. If he can believe a word that counsellor spouts. And at the current time, he believes the man as far as he can throw him. Which is not far.

What an entitled jerk.

When Izz returns to his cell after his brief talk with the counsellor, there’s more food. More snacks stacked on his pillow. A nice neatpile demanding attention, but there’s something else that has him stopping dead in the cell’s doorway. It’s a pleasant surprise, one he’s equally ecstatic and uneasy to discover.

Dull-faced and exhausted, his cellmate is sittingon the opposite bunk.

“Hey,” Izz greets Reni, delighted to see his cellmate out of The Hole—speaking of which, “how’d you get out of The Hole so soon? Didn’t I hear it was going to be two weeks or something?”

He could have sworn he heard a conversation when Reni and Zidie were being dragged away. Inmates whispering to each other how unlucky they were, how they’d be stuck in The Hole for weeks for being involved in a gang fight.

“Good behaviour,” Reni mutters dryly. Which tells Izz absolutely nothing.

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