A Different Set of Rules (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 1 - A Long Trek

Payton

When I was a little kid I always knew what I wanted to grown up to be. The answer remained the same from age five to seventeen.Now, however, if asked what I'd said, I wouldn't remember. That time in my life seemed so far away. I stared out the bared windows of the van, cars passing by us, all in a rush. None of us were in any rush to arrive at our final destination. The other drivers couldn't see inside the van but their eyes still judged without knowing who we were. Without knowing our stories.

I took the time to examine every aspect of the world around me. To the south east was an old Nissan driven by a girl who seemed to be in her early twenties. She was pretty, or at least would have if she didn't look so tired. Her soft blonde hair was thin and messy. Her eyes had bags underneath them from lack of sleep. Beside the girl was a little boy, perhaps no more than five, and looked like he belonged in a car seat, was fast asleep. Behind them were several boxes.

Directly behind was an unmarked, black police car which had been closely trailing us since we'd left North Ridge County . That was over two hours ago. I couldn't read the road signs, which was almost the most depressing part of the ride.

When I was younger reading road signs had been my favorite part of driving. When my sister would take me along with her while she ran errands, she'd pretend to be lost and let me read the signs to get us back on track. I always knew we weren't lost, but it was nice to feel useful.

The van smelled like must, vomit, and old poop, left to bathe in the august sun. Some one had told me to enjoy the odor, where I was going was far more putrid. As often as possible I would lean toward the window and try to take in outside air. It smelt of gasoline and air pollution, I would actually miss that smell.

I would also miss the sounds. Although the van was silent, all the men lost in their own thought and reflection, the outside was full of sound and excitement. Their lives continued and our were at a stand still. The sounds ranged from the rumbling of motorbikes to the honking of horns from trucks, and drivers leaning out their windows to cuss at one another loudly.

I'd never learned to drive. It'd always been my dream to sit behind the wheel of a car and just be in total control. I'd imagined myself with my left hand on the wheel and my right arm draped over the passenger seat. I would be wearing my favorite sunglasses and just slowly cruising. I was never one to rush, I took my sweet time. Sighed, remembering my slowness was part of the reason I would never drive. Hell, I may never see another car.

I continued taking in the sounds, the smells, and just the sight of the free world. My hands were cuffed and my ankles shackled to the row of men sitting beside me. I turned to look at them when the van pulled off the main road to the private compound. It was the first time I realized that there weren't many of them, perhaps five in total, and I made six. They were all far larger than me, all in their mid thirties to late fifties. As well I realized a few were looking a me with undecipherable looks, crossed between anger, confusion, and one more unreadable look.

I had no time to try and decode their looks. The van stopped and the doors were pulled open. A man stood there, looking as though we were the scum of the earth. "Out! Line up to the right!" He ordered. When no one made a move he said again "Move it ladies!." looking directly at me. I stood and jumped off the van, the others following in suit. We lined up, shoulder to shoulder, and he stood in front of us, glaring and looking us all from head to toe.

I dared, look at the facility before us. We had entered a large yard with numerous vehicles inhabiting it. There were several surrounding buildings inside the barbed wire but all the doors were locked securely and with guards standing at each one.

"Eyes on me!" The loud man called back the attention of the inmates who were looking around at their new home as well. "My name is Officer Kent Dominguz, and you ladies are in my hous. You live by my rules. You do what I say, when I say without argument." The man addressed us. I resisted the urge to role my eyes, who is this guy trying to kid?, I thought to myself. Ii'd only been incaserated for six months and I knew that his whole speech was bull crap, He continued his tyrade foor another few minutes, none of the other men believing him either.

Finally he seperated us into pairs, and each pair was sescorted into a different building. I was paired with an older man in his sixties, a white man, who looked as though he couldn't care less about what was going on around him. It seemed like he knew enough about his place by the was he greeted our escort by name. The guard nodded at him.

"How long you in for this time?" The guard addressed the man. He looked bored as well, I suppose I would be too if this was what I delt with daily.

"Five years, not too bad." The man shrugged, as though losing five years of his life was nothing.

"Guess not." The guard chuckled before addressing me, "How about you kid? How long you stayin?"

"Kids probably in for a year. Pretty boys don't do much." The man laughed out at me, the guard joining him.

"Life without." I said, for some reason wanting to prove to them us 'pretty boys' could do bad. It was a stupid point to prove but it managed to silence their laughter.

"Damn kid, " The officer shook his head "Better get comfy." he said as we arrived at booking where he handed us off to two other officers, one man and the other a woman. We were told to follow the man into a cell. We stripped and were throughly seached inside and out, before given new prison issued clothes. Outsid ethe woman took our photos and finger prints. We were both handed extra uniforms, sandals, soap, and bedding with a thin blanket wrapping everything into a convinent bundle.

The man lead us down a white corridor, me walkin gbehind the older man, into a pod. It was about two in the afternoon but the pod was on lock down. From their cells inmates shouted. The older man was escorted to a cell on the base floor while I was taken up the stairs to another cell. Once inside my feet were unshakled. Tthe door was slammed shut.

Before I had the chance to pick up my bedding, I was grabbed from behind and my scream muffled by a large hand.

The photo to the right is of Payton Lorry, age 18. The song playing is Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus,. Thank you for reading. Make sure to tell me what you think, should I continue? If you're gonna come and correct my grammar and spelling im telling you now to fuck off. This isn't english class. Got it? Great. Please comment, votes, and enjoy :)

~Chioma