Page 22 of My Ex's Roommates
I curled onto my side and forgot for a second where my brothers were and why they were there. “Casey is Carter’s twin. She’s great. She wanted me to go out but I’m not up for it tonight. And Silas would probably feel entitled to burst into the governor’s mansion. The audacity on that one is incredible.”
“Tell me more.” Matt heard me start to onject. “I’d like to just listen to you talk about your life for a while, Harp.”
Tears peppered my eyes but I kept them contained. “I can do that.”
It was the way I knew that being in prison got to them at times. They were so strong but they were only human. At times they just wanted to hear me talk while they listened and it was the least I could do for them.
I started talking, telling him all about the football team, the plays I’d helped with, my sports medicine classes. He listened quietly while I switched topics and told him about Casey and everything else that had been happening in my life, minus the stuff about Dylan.
“You should go out with your friend, Harper. Life is too short to just stay in.” Matt’s voice was strained. “Be careful, though, obviously. Take that Silas with you. He seems like he’s eager to protect you.”
“Are you okay, Matty?” I listened to the silence that came back at me and felt my lungs constrict. “Matty?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. We all are. The whole prison was in lockdown for so long that we all just really felt it this time. I hate this time of the year in here most. I want to be out, doing anything else.” It was the most he’d ever let me see into his suffering. “We’ve been thinking, Harper… Maybe we’ve been a little too harsh about you not visiting.”
“I can come?” I said the words so quietly, like I was afraid if I spoke too loudly, he’d taken his back.
“Once, Harper. We just… I think we need to see you and see that you’re okay. What do you say?”
“Yes! Yes, a million times!” I jumped up and went to my closet. “Are there any rules I need to know? Things I can’t wear? Stripes, probably.”
He laughed, which was what I was hoping for. “Dress like you have three older brothers who would murder anyone in here who stared at you for too long. Got me?”
“Dress like a nun. Got it.”
“I love you, Harper. We all do.”
“I love y’all more than anything. Thank you for letting me come.” I thought about Silas’ offer to drive me. “Would it be okay if a friend came with me? He would drive. Or I can take the bus.”
“Stay off the fucking bus. Bring your friend and we’ll check him out while he’s here.”
21.
***Harper***
Silas looked at me from the driver seat of his truck and smirked. “You look ridiculous.”
I looked down at the oversized t-shirt I was wearing with a pair of baggy pants. I probably did look ridiculous but I wasn’t going to push my brothers on their rules when they were finally letting me see them. “Youlook ridiculous.”
He didn’t. He looked as good as ever in a fitted black t-shirt and black joggers. He looked exactly like a guy who had to go home after we visited my brothers and go straight to a football practice.
“Nervous?” He got out of the truck and met me in front.
I nodded, unable to even bother lying. “I’m terrified. I just need to see that they’re okay.”
“You think they’d have you come if they weren’t?” He nudged me with his elbow as we walked towards the entrance of the prison. “Get your head on straight, princess.”
The gray cinderblock building housing my brothers was as depressing as a building could be. Tall fences surrounded the property with rolls of barbed wire on top, discouraging anyone from trying to climb them. I could see armed guards in three different guard towers, their guns massive and ready to take out whoever toed over the line. The inside of the visitor’s center was cold and just as gray as the outside of the prison. Metal tables with metal stools bolted to the ground waited for me just past two security check points. The longer I stared into the room where I’d see my brothers, the more depressed I felt. They didn’t belong in prison, deprived on sunlight and the freedom to live without threat of being shot at any moment.
“Harper.” Silas’ firm hand on my back eased me forward in the short line of visitors who’d arrived before us. He left his hand there, the warmth seeping through some of the cold I was feeling. “Where’s that plastic smile when you need it, princess?”
I swallowed and looked up at him, surprised to find him watching me with concern in his stormy eyes. He didn’t look like the same man who’d reluctantly allowed me to move in with him weeks earlier. Gone was the cruel smirk and cold gaze. “How can the gray in this place be so depressing and cold but the gray in your eyes so wa-”
“Ma’am? I need your ID and name of the prisoner you’ll be visiting.” A stern guard cut me off and stopped me from waxing poetic about Silas’ eyes, thankfully.
Silas was a solid presence at my back as we made it through a metal detector and an invasive pat down before we were allowed access to the big room. There were already people sitting with the men they’d come to see, the dirty tan jumpsuits differentfrom the orange I’d expected. No one bothered looking our way as we sat at a table in a corner and waited.
Silas rested his hand on my thigh under the table and stared at me until I looked back at him. “Breathe. Show them that you’re okay coming here to see them and they’ll hopefully let you come more often.”
