Jailbird Tango

Part 10 - The Jailbird

'Uh, I'm here to see a, Yancy?' I mumbled quietly.

The man, who I assume was the Warden at the penitentiary, leant forward after adjusting his glasses. 'Right. And WHO are YOU?' He raised his voice. I shrunk back, curling into myself as much as possible.

'I'm his cousin, Sir. Uh, um, my name is Evan Morgan.' I replied, trying not to whisper. I handed over my identification, that I had luckily swiped from home as an afterthought.

'Well, Eevannn, as Warden Murder-Slaughter at Happy Trails Penitentiary, I decide who goes in, and goes out.' He paused for a moment, I think he was looking me up and down to see if I was being truthful. 'And you, can go in. Fourteen minutes only!' He continued and I let out a breath. He handed back my ID card and gestured to an intimidating guard.

The guard came towards me and began pushing me towards the visitation area. He kept prodding me with the baton and I was wondering why I even agreed to this? What would Laura think of me being here? Would she even care, considering the new crowd that she was associating with. If she wasn't worrying about me, then it was my responsibility to worry about her. Even if Dark was scary beyond all hell.

He looked at me, and I looked down at the ground. The guard pushed me into a chair, before going behind a door to get into the area behind the glass booths. He clomped off down a corridor but I'm sure everyone around could hear the command of 'YANCY'. He dragged out a scowling black-haired man, who leaned back in the chair, legs spread - his arms crossed. Predictably he looked the same as Dark and Wilford. He raised an eyebrow.

'Who are youse? I got no cousins, I aint one of those family types.' He scowled.

I stammered, unsure what to say, 'I um, you're right. I'm not your cousin,' I winced as his eyebrows furrowed.

'Then why are youse here?'

I sighed. It was almost like he was hurt.

'I was sent here by a friend, he wants to meet you and has a safe place for you, once you get out.' I smiled. His frown didn't lift. What could I do?

'Right. But, I don'ts wants parole. So youse gettin' youses hopes up for nothin. But why did youses wants to meet me?' He asked, there it was - the little bit of hope in his voice.

'Uh, um. My...friend asked me to, I guess? I owe them a bit of a debt, so this is how I'm paying them back.' I shrugged, Yancy didn't look convinced. It did seem like a lie, agreeing to visit a prison on behalf of a friend. 'That's the truth.'

Yancy nodded, his expression still skeptical, 'Alright. I help youse, youse help me? Got it?' He leant forward, an eyebrow raised and his hand on his chin.

'I suppose I have no other option?' I asked tentatively. I really had to stop making deals with men who looked alike, that I owed things too. With a sigh, I fiddled with the hem of my jacket. The chair was uncomfortable and the guards around were scary. There was one that kept glancing suspiciously at Yancy and I. There were about eight prisoners with a visitor, all speaking very quietly. Were we being too loud?

'Nope. Youse get me somethin' that I want, and I help youse with this friend of youses. Got it?' He asked again, gruffly.

I rubbed my face gently. Damn, I needed to shave. I had no other choice. Shifting in the chair for a moment, I looked back up at him. He had a brow arched and was waiting for me to say something. Instead, I nodded my head.

'So, youses get me chocolate. And caramel sugar cookies.' He said quietly.

It was hard not to laugh. The hardened, tattooed criminal, who seemed to have no interest in being anywhere other than prison, wanted cookies and chocolate.

'Youses shouldn't be laughing!' He huffed, frowning again. I bit back my smile and nodded, quietly agreeing. The smile dropped off my face as soon as the guard who was staring us down marched over. He yanked Yancy out of his chair and began to drag him back into the corridor. I hoped that he would be alright.

Another guard walked behind me, 'Your time is up.'

Timidly I walked out of the prison, nodding respectfully at the warden on my way past. He said nothing and let me walk out of the doors unaccompanied. All I could do was sigh in relief, until it began to rain.

At least I had my phone for the walk back? No headphones though. There was a single text. I wasn't sure who it was from, all it read was Return soon. It had to be Dark or Wilford. All I wanted to do was run back to my shared apartment, confront my sister. Make sure that she was okay. What was she even doing right now? Moping? Worrying?

No. She wouldn't be worrying, she hadn't called. But that didn't mean she wasn't worrying, did it? Maybe, if I had the courage, I would ask the Host. He seemed nice enough. Kicking a stone, all I could feel was the impending cold, or was it just the rain?

I didn't want to be trapped in that room again. But I'm not sure I wanted to roam the house either. Even my socks were wet.

A crash of thunder. Lightning shooting across the dark sky. Was the ringing an echo from the thunder? A cold hand fell onto my shoulder. After the shock, I whipped around to see the flickering form of Dark. They lowered their hand and cracked their neck.

'I couldn't trust you not to run off. Wilford did want to meet you, but, he had a goose problem to look after.'

I blinked. A goose problem? What about a, Dark scares me but happened to appear, escorting me back to the house from prison, problem? They shook their head, as if reading my thoughts. Their black eyes made me want to turn around and run.