A Different Set of Rules (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 2 - Its on the House

Micheal 

It had been a long day. The prison was on high alert, which only meant that new inmates would be arriving. I was one of the few who'd managed to avoid having a cellie. But this time I knew I'd be getting one.

There had been pod shake downs that day. They'd found a few shanks and a pack of crushed pills. Two of my guys had been thrown in the SHU (Solitary Housing Unit) while at least five other were also taken out. Lately, a lot of guys had been fuckin up. But it wasn't none of the convicts, just the inmates. The difference? A convict knew the rules, the inmates mindlessly followed. 

At that point we sat in the canteen, awaiting the bell to ring. We had an hour before we had head count and lock down.  Although the atmosphere was on edge, we had the same scheduel. 

"Mikey." Some one called back my attetion. I turned and looked around the small, six man table. Generally here sat me and five of my most trusted men.That day it seemed as though there was an imbalance. There were two empty seats.

One had been previously taken by my closest acquaintance in here, he'd been released the month before....and immediately shot. The man, Darryl, had planned on staying straight, we'd all been rooting for him. The man was forty, had three kids, and had spent all of his oldest daughter life in prison, twelve good years. 

The second had been taken by a kid, only about twenty six, who knew the trade inside out. Or so it had seemed. He'd only been there for a year and managed to gain respect from my boys and me alike. Jack, his name, however had slipped up. In here you didn't get too many chances. He'd blown his one and only chance by trying to show he was bad or something, by attacking an officer. That shit was just dumb. Not only was he shot, he was transferred, carrying an assault charge. Now instead of a three year sentence he added another sixteen. 

The man currently calling my attention was my closest ally, a man I could actually call a friend. Marshal was like my brother, we grew up together and got booked together. It had been my fault, but Marsh hadn't snitched. Instead of me getting life we both took 25 years. 

"What?" I finally answered him,  not angrily but with a bored tone. 

" Dayna got booked. Ain't nobody else gonna be comin in for us til she out. She got a year." Marsh informed me, almost agitated. He was the type of guy who always had to have things go his way. Being out of a business, was not according to his plan. In here everybody had some type of hussel. Either you had one, or you were the hussel. There was no gettin gout of it.

I shook my head, "It ain't a problem. Actually came at the right time." I said casually shrugging my shoulders. Tthe three men looked at me in shock. 

"Wuchu mean 'no problem'? How we gettin money? Y'all all know that half the shit we got don't be comin cheap." Another man, Germane, demanded. He'd been here for longer than me and Marsh but he knew who was in charge. Without us he was nothing but a coward. 

"Yeah I know,  but that ain't the only game 'round here." I chuckled and turned my back on them, leaning back to rest by elbows on the steel table top.  I looked around at the pod. There were about one hundred and twenty or so men currently incarcerated in that pod. With only one guard in at a time, people got away with a lot of shit. 

The pod was, on the surface, divided like any other pod. Whites stayed togeter, Blacks stayed together, Latinos stayed together, and everyone else.....didn't really matter. But then you broke it down even farther. You got different gangs too. If you was somebody tough, you find a gang who got your back, cuz somebody gonna wanna see how tough you really was. If you wasn't tough, still find a gang, cuz  people gonna still try to fuck with you.