Page 4 of The Care of Broken Things
He decided to leave the answer up to Eli’s imagination.
Chapter Two
Zero Contact
"So what's the plan?" Jenny asked the next day. His sister always visited three times a week, the maximum allowed.
“I was hoping you’d have some ideas.”
She was nearly four years younger than he was, but wiser in many ways. “I can’t help until you decide what you want from him. If it’s zero contact, there are ways to go about that, but from what you’ve said you’re sending mixed signals.”
He didn’t often feel embarrassed around Jenny, but this, with Eli, embarrassed him. “I do think zero contact is the way to go, but whenever I’m around him, I can’t help but react.”
She tilted her head. “React? Like arousal?”
Unlike him,shenever experienced the slightest bit of embarrassment about anything.
“It’s more than that. I’m constantly thinking about him, and when he’s around, I can’t even think. My heart pounds so hard. This isn’t romance, it’s—"
“Fear.” She said it softly, so as not to spook him further. “You’re afraid.”
He nodded, feeling like an infant. The prison baby.
She squeezed his hand. They weren’t supposed to do that—touch. But Jenny got away with things. She’d been coming for so long, and she was so beautiful, that even COs like Jameson,who had the rulebook shoved up their ass, rarely said anything when she took his hand.
“How bad is it? Do we ask for a transfer?”
After the initial war period of his arrival, the warden had promised he could apply for one if he wanted, and she’d do her best to fulfill it. But a new block or even a new prison wasn’t likely to be better, and he’d already done all the legwork to establish himself in this one.
“No transfers.”
Jenny’s shoulders relaxed, but she didn’t let go of his hand. “You’ll let me know if he tries anything? Even before he touches you. If he starts looking at you like—”
“He’s married.”
“You’re the one who told me a minute in prison can destroy twenty years of marriage.”
But he shook his head. He could usually tell a predator when he saw one—like gaydar, but for creeps. But Eli didn’t set it off, everything about him screaming “too-nice-to-function.” He couldn’t imagine what the man might have done to land his ass behind bars.
“Let’s talk about something else,” he said, even though he’d been the one to bring up the subject. “How did your meeting with the new vendor go?”
But Jenny didn’t want to talk business. She wanted to discuss her favorite subject—her brother. Was that tattooed guy still trying to schedule his showers at the same time as him? Had he cut down on the shitty ramen like he'd promised? Was he still having trouble with the midnight wakeups? It was the same as always. He hated the interrogations, but he had to get them out of the way, or she’d knot herself up in worry.
They were practicing their Russian—language being the closest thinghe’dever get to travel—when the familiar call came. “Time’s up! Visitors, dispose of your garbage. Inmates, return to the gate.”
Jenny clicked her tongue and shot Jameson a glare he pretended not to see. He had his thumbs hooked in his belt as usual. Thanks to the processed cafeteria food and all the junk in commissary both prisoners and COs had a tendency toward badly placed weight gain. Fortunately, Samuel had inherited the powerful Fuller build that even the sedentary life of a prisoner with minimal access to workout equipment couldn’t diminish.
“Until Thursday,” Jenny said and pulled him in for a hug. “Don’t panic. He can’t hurt you if you don’t let him.”
She pecked his cheek, even though she wasn’t supposed to, and clung to him for a moment longer. “I love you,” he told her, as he did every visit. Five years of visits, and goodbyes still felt like a fresh trauma.Thursday, he reminded himself.
“To thegate, inmate.”
Jenny reached behind herself and touched the back of his hand. “Stay out of trouble.” She said it gently, but it was still a reminder. At any moment his visiting privileges could be revoked.
He forced his fingers to let go. “Jen—”
“Think of me when he’s around. I’ll protect you. I promise.”
