I looked back over to Zeke who watched us from across the table, and the clock at the back wall came into focus. “Dammit,” I breathed out. “I have my phone call for the week in ten minutes.” I kissed the side of her head before standing to my feet. Ethan was posted at his usual place, and I looked down at Mia and ran my palm over her head to lift her focus back to me. “You gonna be alright?”
“Yes. Quit worrying so much.” The volume in the mess hall spiked, and my head snapped up to see a punch thrown in Liam’s direction. Ethan sprang to action, pulling the kid off him and Mia’s hand landed over mine. “Go, Ollie. I have a session with Conway, anyway.”
“Yeah, alright,” I mumbled and pointed the finger at Zeke, “Look after her.”
Zeke signed, always.
I rushed down the stairs, the halls empty, and made it to the closed chamber in time. A guard sat right outside the door with a clipboard. “Name?” he asked, not bothering to look up from his small desk.
“You know my name, fuck-face.”
Jinx lifted his head and grinned. “Ollie, my man,” he stood and lazily shook my hand, “feels like I haven’t seen you in a minute.”
“It’s been a week,” I laughed, “Got what I asked for?”
Jinx was an interesting character. Dark skinned, missing teeth, but a heart I wished people could see. He knew of my brother and despised him. It took some time for him to see I was nothing like Oscar.
“You owe me hot-shot,” he pulled the gum pack from his pocket and tossed it over to me.
I looked over the already opened package to see two missing. “Send my bill to my new address. I’ll take care of you.” Travis used to mail me cash until the cash started disappearing. I had to fuel my gum addiction a new way without the funds. Jinx was my only option.
“You’re on fire on The Amazon, brother. Just looked you up a few days ago. You’re in stores and online. People are buzzing.”
“It’s not ‘The Amazon,’ mate, just Amazon,” I shook my head, “Thanks, means a lot, but it’s only a start. My first publication. Something small. I’ll be able to do better once I get out of here.”
Jinx chuckled, flashing his missing teeth. “Damn, brother. You don’t take compliments well. Don’t be so hard on yourself, yeah? People are eating that tosh up like it’s candy. Everyone on the outside is dying to know who Oliver Masters is. Soon enough you’ll have so much fanny, you won’t need to recycle.”
I popped a piece of gum in my mouth and smiled over at him. His remarks were innocent, something every bloke would say or want to hear.
Mia and I haven’t made love since the beginning of the school year, our quick fuck not counting in the least bit. She mentioned she already forgave and looked past the whole Maddie situation, but she needed to know what I did was unacceptable. I had to earn the chance to be intimate with her again. My choice. “You know I’m not into it. I’ll pass them over to you, big man.” I patted him on the shoulder before pushing through the door, charging for the phone.
Jinx’s laugh bounced through the closing door. “My man!”
I lifted the phone off its receiver and brought it to my ear, thinking about Jinx’s words. People were talking about my poetry; my words were out there in the world while I was isolated in here. The irony laughable, but my vision still blurred from my eyes glossing over.
And then it hit me …
I’d touched hundreds of souls.
After punching Travis’s number into the receiver, I pinched the bridge of my nose to fight back the waves threatening to crash.
“You’re a fucking legend,” Travis greeted.
My hand found the wall as I leaned into it, my legs growing weak. “What are the stats looking like?” I managed to get out, “hundreds?”
“No, Ollie. Thousands! They want to do merchandise. I told them no merch until you’re released, but they’re getting antsy. Wanna get it out now while people are talking and schedule a signing.”
“You know I can’t do anything for another six months. They know where I’m at.” I didn’t intend for all this to happen. All I wanted was to make a little money for the house—for Mia. Get enough funds together to travel and collect people’s stories from around the world. “Go ahead and approve the merchandise. You have the okay from me. But, don’t go overboard.”
“Alright, alright. I have you, my friend.”
There was a deep sigh on both ends of the phone.
“How you holding up,” he asked. “You sound different.”
Travis had never heard or seen me at my normal self, and I was surprised he’d noticed as soon as he did. “Things are good. Can’t say much, calls recorded, but I’m exactly where I want to be.” Off the pills, no withdrawal, with Mia.
“You sound happy … you sound good. Summer wants to paint the walls at the cottage. She understands it isn’t ours, but she’s excited for you. Wants to help out any way she can, you know?”
A thousand questions went through my head, starting with if Mia liked to paint, and what color Mia would choose. This was her house as much as it was mine, though Travis did not know of that. “What color are the walls now?”
“A rubbish orange. It has to go.”
“Paint everything white. Brighten the place up, alright?” Mia would decide once she stepped foot in her new home. As long as she was standing beside me when I walked through the door, I could care less what color the bloody walls were.
The door closed behind me as Travis agreed into the phone. Lifting off the wall, I turned my head to see Maddie pick up the phone beside me. “I have to go. I’ll ring you next week.”
“Just to be clear, yes on—
I hung up the phone before Travis could finish his sentence. The last thing I needed was for Maddie to listen in on my conversation. “What are you doing here?” My eyes slid to the window to see Jinx relaxed in his chair. “This isn’t your scheduled time.”
“Had it changed.” She took a step closer, and I took a step back. “Why ya so jumpy?” she asked, and I shook my head and trudged past her. Nothing good ever came from Maddie and me in the same room alone together, and as if I spoke too soon, her arm slithered around my waist to stop me. I pulled back and turned to face her, my face reddening, and my jaw clenching. “See? So jumpy.”
Sinister thoughts crossed my mind, a thousand things I could say to belittle or hurt her, but Maddie’s eyes shifted, and I’d seen something inside I’d never noticed before—desperation.
But I couldn’t put a finger on why she was so desperate.
She didn’t look like she wanted this—any of this.
The four walls around us inched closer as I studied her. “What do you want with me?” I finally asked, getting to the bottom of her intentions. Her forehead creased and arms folded over her chest as if she was hiding from the question. “Don’t make me ask you again.”
Maddie’s gaze dropped to the floor, and she dragged in a breath.
When she looked back up, her features twisted into the rat I’d always seen her as.
“Come on, let’s get out of here and talk in my room. Mia’s with Conway.”