Page 87 of The Manny

He grimaced. “I don’t mean like a lover. My cellmate was a middle-aged guy named Lionel. Apparently, I reminded him of his son.”

“Oh.” I laughed awkwardly. “Did he… uh… protect you?”

“Not exactly.”

“Sorry. All I know about prison is what I’ve seen in movies.”

He grunted. “Yeah, it’s not like in the movies.”

I smoothed my hand over his chest, wishing I could take all those bad memories from him. “Did Lionel help you somehow?”

He cleared his throat. “I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this.”

“I’m glad you are. I want to hear it.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know… I guess because everything you went through made you who you are. I like getting closer to you.” I sighed. “Even if you don’t want me to.”

He exhaled. “I just don’t want you to pity me.”

I frowned. “Pity you? I don’t pity you. I hate that you had a rough life. I wish I’d known you then, maybe I could have helped you.”

He gave a hard laugh. “You couldn’t have helped me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Well, I’d have wanted to help you. If I’d known you, I’d have tried my best.”

“Nowthat, I believe.” He kissed my head. “You’re one of the few people I know who isn’t all talk.”

We fell silent, but after a few minutes, I asked, “What did you mean when you said you were luckier than most?”

He took so long to answer, I thought he was going to ignore me. But then he said, “Lionel was respected and feared.”

“Okay.”

“Just like on the outside, there are the weak and the powerful. Somebody gives the orders and someone takes them. It’s just how life is, no matter where you are.”

“Did Lionel give the orders?”

“A lot of the time.”

“I see.” I was dying to probe further, but didn’t want him to get mad at me.

“Lionel was an odd guy. I said I was luckier than most because he had a soft spot for me.”

I nodded. “I see. And that was because you reminded him of his son?”

“Yes. Lionel tried to help me steer clear of certain things.” He cleared his throat. “It’s easy to get yourself in trouble if you don’t know the rules.”

“I see.”

“I was young, so that made me vulnerable. Youth equals weak to a lot of those guys.”

“And weak makes you a… target?”

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