Page 62 of Diamond in the Rough

Jake pouted. “I threw them over the hedge…”

Billy gripped his head with both hands. “Idiot.”

“Go get ’em, Benny…”

Jake turned around and started walking away. The adrenaline faded from his body, leaving him sluggish. He’d forgotten what the sudden loss in his veins felt like, the slow of his heart and the emptiness it left behind. God, he missed Maddox. Maddox didn’t leave him empty. He felt Maddox for days after, physically and mentally, then the anticipation of seeing him again filled the empty space in his heart.

“The thing about expensive cars like that…,” Billy shouted, and Jake stopped to hear him. “They give you more than one key!”

He heard the revving engine and spun around. Billy had his back pressed against the hedge, making way for the red Porsche. Jake couldn’t move out the way—impact was inevitable—and he closed his eyes just before it hit him.

Chapter 11

Maddox stared down at his bare feet. He flexed his toes as he waited for the guard to unlock the gate. The clunk echoed, and Maddox frowned. It was noon; the prison should’ve been a hive of activity, but instead it was silent. He forced his gaze up as he walked inside and was confronted by a prison full of statues. They’d all paused and attached their attention to him. He saw fear in some faces and respect in others.

He ignored them and headed towards his cell.

“If you want lunch, get it now.”

Maddox didn’t reply to the guard. He jumped up onto his bunk and lay down. He picked at the stitches on his knuckles and prodded the swollen flesh. He heard the creak of the door, then the wheeze that signalled Ernie had entered.

“You’ve been down there three weeks. What the hell were you doing?”

Maddox lifted his bruised hands. “Me and the wall had issues.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“I have issues with him too.”

“How was it?” Ernie asked.

A concrete room, no windows, and a small hatch that opened three times a day. A cold floor, a blanket that reeked of sweat, and Maddox’s disturbing imagination. Sight, smell, touch, sound had all been compromised, and he’d endured three weeks of hell imagining Jake’s last moments. He’d vomited every meal, leaked tears like a child, and attacked the wall like a punching bag. Maddox couldn’t put the true horror to words, and instead made a noncommittal noise and shrugged.

“You know they had to perform lifesaving surgery on that guy you pummelled.”

“I honestly don’t care.”

“I’ve heard of people punching teeth out, but you punched them in, up through his cheekbone and into his fucking eye socket.”

“Am I supposed to feel something?”

“I dunno, perhaps.”

“He deserved it, and when I get out of here, I’ll do the same to the guy that started that fire.”

There was a knock on the door, and Ernie mumbled, “Not now.”

“But I’ve got this…” Gavin stepped inside and pulled Maddox’s phone from his pocket.

“Why have you got that?” Maddox asked.

Ernie sighed. “After you went all apeshit crazy, they searched your cell, convinced you’d taken something. Gavin hid it first.”

Gavin’s hand shook as he held the phone out for Maddox.

He took it and dropped it on the mattress next to him. “Thanks.”

“It’s—um, it’s switched off.”

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