Incarcerator

Chapter Four

Garren

Darkness surrounds them. The roads seem far too quiet and long. Jacin sits at the wheel, his dark and calloused fingers gripping it firmly. His eyes remain straight ahead. Garren forces himself to sit his back against the damp seat of the car, cold from the night air leaking in. He wishes the air con wasn't broken. He can feel the late night chill in the marrow of his bones, or maybe it's what they're about to do that's giving him cold feet - and cold everything.

Garren looks over at his friend, his thoughts whirling more than he'd like. "So how did you end up in prison again?" he asks as casually as possible, without wanting to provoke him.

Jacin's wide, white eyes flick over to him and back to the road. "What do you mean?" he counters, his face only betraying a frown.

Garren swallows the dryness in his mouth. Are we really going to do this? "What happened?" he asks again, hoping for a proper answer. "You've told me before, but not with a lot of detail."

Jacin's chest thumps with a 'ha'. "Well, there ain't much more to say," he replies, before looking over at his partner in crime. Is he tryna back out? "Why you askin'? If ya' having doubts, then don't. We're both innocent, ain't we? I'm just getting back what I deserve after what he did to me."

Garren traces his tongue over his lips, avoiding the other's gaze. "So this cop arrested you for a drug deal you weren't a part of?"

Jacin chuckles, his bright white teeth flashing in the dark. "Nah man," he answers, still driving smoothly. "He arrested me because I'm black. And because I didn't have the drug money. Of course I fucking didn't - I was just standing by when it happened. The crook cop musta been tailing this dude, because as soon as they saw the cop parked up, they ran my way. Dude with the drugs handed them to me. Cop musta thought it was the money. Or the drugs. Maybe he wanted some, too." He laughs again, bitterly. Goddamn cop.

It's Garren's turn to frown now. "So what? He just arrested you because you had drugs?" He hates the thought of it being because of his skin colour, but that's hardly a surprise in a world like this.

Jacin raises his shoulders. "The fuck am I supposed to know?" he half-argues, half-jokes. "All I know is that the cop knew I was innocent and put my ass in jail anyway. Just 'cause it was easier for him. Someone to pin that package of drugs on - good ones, too."

But does that still justify this? Garren asks himself, the twist of his gut telling him the answer. "Why would -"

The car slows to a stop. "Oooh damn," Jacin whistles, killing the engine in front of this large, flash house. "Look at this white rich shit."

Garren raises a brow. Does he mean that the house is white or the people? Either way, he isn't wrong. Well, the walls are more of a smooth gray, but the pathway leading up to the house is a bright white, glowing even in the dark of the night. Most of the walls are made of slightly shaded, black-rimmed windows reaching each of the three floors of the building. If I had a place like this... he shakes his head at the thought. It would be nice, but he wouldn't know what to do with all the rooms. "It's pretty fancy," he remarks in agreement, despite the reason they're here.

Jacin's grinning like mad as he climbs out of the car. "Let's do this shit."

Garren's heart starts to speed up. He hurries out of the car, being careful to shut it quietly. Although, the whole street seems to be asleep, and there's only one house close to this one. The others are spaced a fair chunk away. All the new, two-to-three storey buildings make up the block. Everyone must be well off here, he thinks as he scans the lightless, dead street.

Jacin slams the car door of the black, dusty Nissan Versa. Basic 2011 piece of shit, he thinks, but then considers the cars he'll be able to buy if they pull this off. We better. "You ready?" he asks, tearing his stare from the house to his friend. If he's nervous, the cool and unreadable expression on his face doesn't show it. Man has fists and balls of stone - they'll come in useful.

Garren nods, gulping back his pounding heart which seems to have surfaced to his throat. "Ready as I'll ever be." We're actually doing this.

Jacin smirks and flips the dark hood of his jumper up. "Then let's go," he says, and starts swiftly sneaking towards the house. "Hopefully the crook cop left his guns for us."