Page 38 of Diamond in the Rough

Maddox lashed out at the wall, and his knuckles pulsed with fire.

“Okay, what sounds do you like?”

Maddox frowned. “What?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself, you know I hate repeating myself.”

Classical music—

“I’ve caught sight of that tattoo of yours.”

Maddox rubbed at his chest, then looked at the back of his hand. “Beethoven.”

“Looks good now, but imagine what it’ll look like when you get to my age. What other sounds?”

“The rain. The wind and the sea, birds…”

Ernie nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

“My lighter clicking, the sound of ice knocking together in a whiskey glass.”

“You have your whiskey with ice?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s odd.”

Maddox’s mind went to Jake and the gasps and moans that left his lips. The begs, the pleas, and the soft sounds of relief when Maddox finally gave him everything. He thought of Jake’s laugh, his gentle sighs when he was deep in sleep, and the shallower ones when he was drifting off in Maddox’s arms. It was torturous to think about, and he bashed the wall again.

“Why not picture the sounds of the things you like?”

“Picture sound?”

“You’ve got those notes and score all over your body. When you run your fingers over it, you must remember the music.”

“I do.”

“Then why not visualise the sound instead of covering your ears and gritting your teeth? Visualise it, run those sounds through your head.”

“Have you been talking to a shrink?”

“It’s a coping mechanism.”

Maddox sighed. “If I do that, it’ll just remind me of the sounds I might never hear again. It’s depressing.”

“So it’s between rage or depression.”

Maddox ran his thumb over his split knuckle. “That sums me up.”

Ernie laughed, then spun back towards the sink and spluttered. Maddox watched him for a few minutes, then lay back down. He covered his ears, closed his eyes, and pressed his teeth together as the noises of the prison pushed him closer and closer to the edge.

The red of Maddox’s inner eyelids turned to black, and he knew it was 21:30. He heard the guards performing the first roll call and he shouted his name and number when they banged on the cell.

When the prison fell silent, Maddox typed in Tom’s number and pressed the small phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

“It’s me.”

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