incarcerated

4.

    a week passed with no interaction between brett and the warden. he was convinced that the taller man had figured out that it would be in both of their best interests to stop whatever they had started—and fast. it was a relief to be left alone. the other inmates had already grown bored of bullying brett for his size and had moved on to another inmate who was on the exact opposite side of the weight spectrum, weighing at least 400 pounds.

    work at the library had become brett's favorite part of the day and he spent his time reading the books on the shelves, no matter their topic. there were two music books that he'd found amongst the piles of discards in the backroom and he kept them nearby at all times. he missed music more than anything and reading about it helped him pass the days away.

    on brett's 9th day in prison, he was called to the warden's office for the second time. his heart slammed against his ribcage as he shuffled along down the hallway, grimacing at the yellowed walls. the CO that accompanied him hadn't said a word for the entire journey. it scared brett even more.

    as the officer knocked on the door to eddy's office, brett thought his head was going to explode. he hadn't liked the attention that this situation had drawn to him the first time and it was going to be even worse after the second. he secretly hoped that the large man who'd had everyone's attention lately would do something notable to keep the focus off of himself.

    "what?" eddy's voice came from inside his office, slightly muffled by the wooden door. brett picked at his nails.

    "i've got brett yang, sir."

    "let him in. you can go back."

    the door opened and brett found himself staring at the top of eddy's head, watching him scribble his messy signature over and over on a mountain of paperwork.

    "close the door and sit down," the taller man said firmly. brett did.

    a strange silence filled the room for an uncomfortably long time as eddy continued to write. brett jiggled his leg impatiently and crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows as time passed.

    "you're not eating," eddy said finally, still not looking up from the pile of papers on his desk.

    brett said nothing. there really wasn't anything to say, seeing as eddy was absolutely correct and denial was brett's only defense mechanism at that point. the silence continued on for another period of time until eddy broke it, clearing his throat.

    "do you want to tell me why?" he asked. brett sucked his teeth and crossed his arms.

    "sir, i would rather eat my own vomit."

    eddy paused for a moment, resisting the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. he set his black pen down pushed his chair back from his desk, clasping his hands behind his head.

    "is it really that bad?"

    "it's disgusting, sir."

    "you know you don't have to call me sir in every sentence, right?"

    "yes, sir."

    the same stubborn smile attempted to spread across eddy's gorgeous face and he cleared his throat again. brett's arms remained crossed and he eyed the warden warily, a deep sigh escaping from his nose.

    "well, brett yang, i'm not going to let you starve to death. we're going to have to figure something out," eddy said decisively, standing up to return a file to its proper place in the file cabinet. brett found himself staring at his legs, muscles visible under the tight fabric of his jeans.