Another Monday

Prologue

It was 5 am, and the sun was slowly waking up, leaking through a small window when I opened my eyes and made my way down to the small kitchen I have created over the last 10 years.

I could not own the kettle, so I turned the tap to the hottest water possible and waited until it warms up to pour over the instant coffee in the mug and stirred until it melted.

I already stained the plastic from the coffee residue, but that made the coffee taste better, as the coffee has been something that kept me going this early in the morning.

Water was finally steaming hot when I topped up the already melted coffee in the mug.

Satisfied with my brew, I had made my way back toward my bunk and opened the book I was reading the past couple of weeks.

Reading has become one of the most important parts of my mornings.

I could spend it by dull things most of my fellow neighbouring inmates did as it is sleeping in or moaning around, but I have never found a value in the complaining this early in the morning. And so I blocked out all the external sounds dividing into the story.

There was a restricted area of books we could read, but I didn’t mind. I could always find something there. Or traded books with other inmates around me.

Six am hits and that’s when I made my way down to do a quick phone call. Mom was the main person I have spent my mornings with, as I was only seventeen when they closed me in here.

The conversation was as usual; just figuring out what was going on-on the outside, letting my mom to gossip a bit and then head over to the breakfast. She, although, sounded much more chipper this morning. “Hey mom? Why do you sound so happy today?” I asked, and she became silent, cutting of the half of the sentence she was about to talk. Something about our neighbours’ affair.

“Uh, I had a great breakfast,” she said with not very convincing sound of voice and change the theme right away. If I have learned anything in my time in here, is to read my mother’s voice as the books which became my best friends. But I let it be. She will tell me once she’s ready.

The call finished and so I had finally made my way up to the dormitory for breakfast. Had my usual; two pieces of the toast, scrambled eggs with no salt and square of butter together with a parched sausage and something that tried to look like a bacon. I have never questioned food; grateful just to have something to put inside of me this early in the morning.

My mornings have been a routine. It reminded me of the movies where the main character relive the same day again and again.

With that thoughts I made my way down to medical wing to help with the injured inmates as the fights have been happening most of the time over here.

Today was not a different.

Two of my regulars, as I liked to call them, sat down on the opposite sides of the room, both with broken faces.

“I assume there was a fight. Again.” I said towards Tommy, who gave me a snarky look.

“That motherfucker jumped in line and got in front of me to do the call. I have missed the time slot as he stole it again. I wasn’t able to call my wife. It really pissed her off, mate.” Tommy growled towards a guy sitting on the opposite side of the room who just gave him a grin through the amount of blood covering his face; both his and Tommys.

I rolled m eyes ass I dipped the cloth in the bowl of water and cleaned his wounds.

“Careful mate, it hurts like a bitch!” Tommy hissed as I cleaned his wound on the forehead.