Life and Trials of a Former Assassin

Chapter 24

Prison was, and Zoro felt that was odd, calmer than the jail. He expected it to be more dangerous, louder and over all worse. In the week they had been there he was absorbing all aspects of the place. He heard a term for that it was called situational awareness, to be aware of your surroundings at all times. He just had it beaten in to him when he was younger. His sensei had told him to always be aware of the world around him that an attack or opportunity could come from any point. His friend Kuina took advantage of that and would sneak up on him just to punch him then laugh as she walked away telling him to "pay attention."

Her constant reminders helped him to be aware of all things. Such as the smells that wafted through the cell house. It always had a smell of old steel, of a place built from metal and rarely aired or cleaned. Then there was the smell of body odor. It seems that while they had access to a shower every day some people chose not to use it. Then there was the smell of new sweat from people working out in their cell or fresh from recreation in the yard. That he was used to. He spent hours each week in the gym or working out at home. He smelled ramen noodles often enough or other assorted foods cooking. Rice seemed to be a staple with ramen noodles as the top contender of prisoner made food. There was the smell of burnt hair once and he learned it was because someone was using the electrical plug to get a flame going. He had also smelled the scent of pine and learned that was the synthetic marijuana known as toochee. He had smelled pot and cigarettes as well. He had even smelled rotting fruit with a hint of rubbing alcohol and learned it was prison wine processing.

There was the feel of the place. The walls of his and Sanji's cell were not wide nor tall and had peeling paint in places. There were two bunks one stacked on top of the other with old coarse sheets and a scratchy wool blanket. Each mattress was lumpy and thin and the pillow not much better. There was a stainless steel toilet with a sink on top where the tank would be. There was no lid or seat and would be cold at times when he had to sit down. There were two locking cabinets one for each one of them so they could put their things in them. There was nothing special about them just metal with shelves and doors that locked but the top was a flat surface and he thought that would be handy. The cell houses were all metal and concrete with doors with bars everywhere.

The look of the place was institutional as it was one. Grey was the decorating scheme as well as black. Multiple variations of grey covered all the walls and the floors. All the bars were painted black. The guards were dressed in black and white and the inmates were in khaki colored jumpsuits. Overall a drab place.

The sounds he heard didn't bother him. More often than not it would be people yelling from one cell to the other and playing music. Sometimes they would talk crap and try to start something but once the doors were open it was another matter. He had heard the sounds of flesh slapping as he walked down the range to his cell one day and didn't know if it was from a fight or something else.

The food Zoro felt was a crime. Maybe he had just been spoiled after two years with Sanji but the food they served was awful and never left him feeling full. It had been worse for Luffy who had an insane metabolism and was used to eating so much more in a day. He learned they could buy commissary and that included different food stuffs and planned to do that once they had money on their accounts.

Zoro was never more thankful than after their arrest that he used to listen to all the stories from the Baratie staff. Him and Sanji had learned a lot of the do's and don'ts of prison life that way. There were the prison's rules. The biggest thing for them was no relationships. Him and Sanji had to hide theirs or be immediately separated. Of course no fighting, drugs, assaults or intimidation. No jerking off either which fine he understood that wasn't something you did in public but if he felt the need he would have to hide. One thing that had gotten him into trouble once was that you were always supposed to be where you were scheduled to be. He had been given a pass to medical for a physical. Like he knew where that was. Sure the guard gave him directions but the walkways and building were not where he said they were and Zoro found himself in the machine shop irritated.