A Tortured Soul

Chapter 43

Jason woke up in a new cell, his head was pounding, and he couldn’t remember what happened. He sat up rubbing the back of his head, the lump his hand grazed was the size of a golf ball, when he touched it his head began to pound worse. It was soft and felt like it was full of liquid. A guard stood at the bar door looking at him blankly. “He is awake!” he yelled, to who Jason wasn’t sure of, but the loudness of his voice caused Jason to flinch with pain. Another guard appeared in front of Jason’s cell, “You have a visitor.” ‘A visitor? No one ever comes to visit me.’  Jason though. He looked up in time to see Justin step in front of the guards throwing an angry look in his direction. “Justin would like to apologize for his actions.” One of the guards said bluntly, almost like he was telling Justin to apologize as he nudged his side. “Bull shit! What is this pre-k?” Justin said turning his head to face the guard. “Apologize!”
“No!”
“Do it now!”
“Nope.”
“Justin don’t test me!”
“Test, test, one, two, mic check, is this thing on?” He said mockingly, patting the guards bald head as he spoke.
“Stop that!” The guard yelled slapping Justin’s hand away.
“I don’t have anything to apologize for old man! Fuck you! Fuck Marge! Go back to hell where you belong and leave me the fuck alone! Talk to me again and I will kill your ass instead of just knocking you out! I hate you!”

A single tear fell from Jason’s eye; he wouldn’t speak another word for the rest of his life. One month from Justin’s release he had a surprise visit from two people that were on their way, Justin was notified and was aloud to wait for them out front. The prison he was in was different from the rest. The trustees stayed in a trailer together away from population along with Justin (even though he was far from being a trustee) because he was no longer to be trusted in population due to all the fighting on a daily basis. The warden was one of his closest friends, Jaz, grandmother. She was lenient with Justin because she, like very few others, knew he wasn’t a bad person, he just simply had bad luck; trouble seemed to follow him around like a lost puppy dog. While he waited for his visitors to arrive the officer standing watch decided to tease Justin, “Stupid fuck! No one is coming to visit you! Your whole existence means nothing! Piece of shit!”, he would say, even packing in a few punches to Justin’s shoulder as he stood behind him. Justin closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths trying to stay calm, saying nothing as this dirt bag taunted him. “You are a waste of Life!” The officer whispered in his ear. That single sentence sent Justin’s mind flying into memory mode.

He watched as his parents strapped him to the wall in Miss Debbie’s antique shop, he watched them carve demining words into his skin, he watched as if it was happening all over again, except this time he was grown, standing behind Marge and Jason as they tortured his younger self. The memory sent rage pulsing through his veins and he began hearing that taunting voice again, “Kill him! Do it!” It whispered in his ear sending cold chills down his spine. It was so clear as if whoever it was, was standing right next to him. The voice was a familiar female voice, but he couldn’t place it. “Kill him Justin! I want you to slit his throat, he can’t talk to you like this and get away with it!” The voice continued. “Your mother should have swallowed!” The officer said followed by an evil laugh. Justin snapped, jerked his eyes open (which were glowing red by this point) and launched himself onto the officer as a black stretch limo pulled into the driveway. Justin’s two visitors had arrived and were now witnessing him beating a cop so bad that blood was spattering from his face creating abstract art all over the side of the trailer.  He was yanked off and turned to see Kim and Haley staring at him in disbelief. Haley had a huge heart for police, she believed they could do no wrong, and thought the same way about her dad. She couldn’t digest the scene at all. Why would her dad, her strong, amazing daddy, that she loved whole heartedly, beat up a kind police officer that was there to serve and protect? She couldn’t understand it; her mind was blown.
“Haley!” Justin whispered, shocked by her visit. They never told him who was coming to see him, and he wasn’t expecting it to be Haley. He knew her feelings towards cops and realized she had seen what he done. “Haley, I’m so sorry!”

She slowly backed up and got back into the limo not once taking her eyes off her father. Kim stood watching the reaction her daughter had, then turned to face Justin. “I had a free day and thought, what better way to spend it than with my family.”

Justin couldn’t find the words to say. His eyes were locked on Haley’s disappointed expression. ‘She is going to hate me for this.’  He thought, and he was right. Six months were tacked onto Justin’s time in prison for attacking an officer. The man had to have face altering surgery after the attack, but he (along with many others) learned not to mess with Justin.

Other inmates and guards stood clear of him when he walked into a room, and he didn’t have anymore trouble out of anyone for his remaining time. When he was finally released, he tried to make things right with Haley, but no matter what he did she pushed him away. He and Kim split up shortly after their ten-year anniversary of dating.  Realizing he had lost his family because of his anger he began drinking and partying heavily. JT, Jessie, and Tatiana were at his house so much that they eventually moved in with him to try and keep him out of trouble. It worked for a while until Tatiana’s ex began showing up. She didn’t seem to want he there, and all he was trying to do was get her back. Justin began working with Max Arnold again to distract himself from doing things he would regret later. Due to his history he was placed on house arrest, and his probation officer was instructed to make weekly visits, (that my friends is how he found out Max was dating his probation officer).