Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in Man's Prison by T. Parsell (ready to read books TXT) 📕

I avoided the punks, like Bottoms, because I didn't want to be compared with them. And on the other side, I didn't trust the drag queens because they gossiped too much.

I was surprised how quickly I forgot about Brett, the stuck-up prick who wouldn't even look at me. Scatter was breathtaking, the way he held my head in his powerful grip and gently stroked my face. I turned toward the wall, knowing all the trouble that he'd already caused me. I placed my hand inside of my pants and pulled to relieve the tension. The light from the hall cast a silhouette on the wall in the shape of my secret lover. The excitement of it, and the danger of being caught, turned me on even more.

When the guards cleared the 9:30 count, we had an hour and half before we had to return to our cells for the night. In the shower room, I squeezed toothpaste from a tube while Miss Pepper stared at me from three sinks away. I tried to ignore her, but her focus on me was intense. It was as if she was sending energy rays that were burning my face. I struggled to stifle a grin, because she was making me feel kind of silly. I didn't want to encourage her more, so I stuffed the toothbrush in my mouth and started to brush.

Chet came in and placed his cosmetic bag on the sink next to mine. He hung his blue robe on the hook and stared at himself in the mirror, picking at something in his fake teeth. Slide Step told me to steer clear of him, so I ignored him.

"So what's up with you and Scatter?" he asked without looking at me.

I hesitated for a second, but then tried to hide my reaction.

"What do you mean?" I said with my mouth full of toothpaste.

"I noticed you two are getting tight. That's all."

I spit in the sink. "We're homeboys," I said.

Chet gleamed at me for a moment, and then stared back at himself in the mirror. He took a plastic denture cup from his bag and filled it with water.

"So what's going on with you and Slide Step?" I asked.

"You have to ask your man," he glared. "But basically, it's none of your business."

I cupped my hands under the water and rinsed. "Fine," I said. I regretted having engaged with him in the first place, but he had rattled me by asking about Scatter.

"What's happening with Brett?" I asked.

He ignored me at first, placing his teeth in the soapy dish. "Why? Do you want to swap up with him?"

"hope."

"Are you sure?'Cause I can set it up, if you want." He stepped closer to me.

I knew he was just taunting me. He had no intention of setting it up.

"But you'll have to do me a favor, first." He rubbed my ass.

"Stop it," I said, slapping his hand away.

"Or what?" He grabbed my ass again and squeezed. "You'll tell Slide Step?"

I wrestled with his hand. "Don't think I won't, Chet."

"Go ahead, and tell him what? I wouldn't let you swap with my boy and you're so desperate that you'll do just about anyone?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He twisted my fingers and was bending it backwards. "Stop it!"

"Are you all right over there?" Miss Pepper asked.

"Stay out of my business," Chet said.

"Oh, I'll get in your business," Miss Pepper said. "Don't even try it with me, Chet, because you're all up in Slide Step's business now."

"Yo!" Someone in the doorway yelled. "Y'all need to hurry up. The line is halfway up to the control center."

There was usually a wait to get to the sinks at night.

"Just be careful," Chet said, letting my fingers go.

"Be careful of what?"

"Just be careful, that's all." He grabbed his toiletry kit and robe and headed to the showers. "You're not the only one who's got something to tell."

"What does that mean?"

His slippers sounded like sandpaper as he crossed the floor.

Miss Pepper came over and asked if I was OK.

"Thanks," I nodded. "I just wish he'd go off and die somewhere."

"Like a mangy-ass, no-good-dawg," Pepper sneered.

"And he can take his pretty little white boy with him," I added.

Miss Pepper looked at Chet's teeth that he had left soaking in a tray at the base of the mirror. She smiled and gave me a devilish look.

When I came out into the hall, I ran into Slide Step and nearly dropped my bag. "There you are!" he said. "I've been looking for you."

"I was just brushing my teeth and about to go to bed." I explained, nervously.

"C'mon back down and see me. I need to talk to you."

"OK," I studied him for some kind of a clue as to what he was thinking. "Can we talk in the morning?"

"Are you OK? You seem kind of nervous."

"Nervous!" Red said, passing us in the hall. "The boy is shaking like Don Knotts."

"I'm not feeling very well, but I'm sure I'll be fine in the morning."

"OK," Slide Step said. "But we need to talk first thing in the morning."

"OK," I said. "Good night."

I scurried away, with a small trail of water dripping from my bag. I made a quick pit stop in the bathroom and went down to the last stall. I had been avoiding that one, nearly since I first got there. It was the stall where I sat on the floor and hugged the bowl, resting my head on the rim, watching the fruit from the spud juice floating on the surface of the water. But this time, it was Chet's teeth in the toilet, resting at the bottom. I pulled the handle and smiled as I watched his dentures whoosh away.

A few minutes later, when the guards flashed the lights for nightly lockdown, I heard yelling from the end of the hall. I ignored it at first, but then there was laughter, which made whoever was screaming even madder.

"Whoever took 'em, you dirty cocksuckers, you better put them back 'cause