Keith DeCandido: Four Walls

So they went through a routine. The CO was given a box full of razors. He handed them to each con in his group as they went into the bath area, and then when they were done shaving, they handed them back, and the CO would put them in a plastic recycling box. In maximum security, they made the cons put the razors on magnets to prove that there was really a razor in there. Cons were fond of substituting tinfoil for the blade and keeping the razor for themselves as a weapon. It was harder to do that with a safety razor, but cons could get damned ingenious when they decided they wanted a weapon. Why they couldn't put that ingenuity into getting off the charges against them, Ciccone never understood. But he didn't give much of a good goddamn, either, especially today.

Uncle Cal used to work in max security in Sing Sing. He thought the magnets were a good idea, and he somehow talked the bosses into shelling out for one off the books. The COs were supposed to use them every once in a while, keep the cons on their toes. Today, Ciccone was supposed to use it in light of yesterday's brawl, but the goddamn magnet made this humming noise that made it feel like someone was drilling right into his left eyeball. No way he was gonna be able to make it through the day with that thing going.

So he didn't bother. He checked some of the safety razors at random, but otherwise, he just wanted to get the whole thing over with. Once this task was done, he had library duty, which meant air-conditioning. The humidity of the bathroom was killing him.

If he could just make it to the library shift, everything would be fine.

Jack Mulroney couldn't believe his good luck. Mostly because he hadn't had very much of that type of luck lately.

It had all started at work. How the hell was Jack supposed to know that Billy, the new supervisor, was a fag? Billy had heard Jack and Freddie making a comment-it was some stupid joke about how you don't drop a coin in front of a Jew or a fag-and Billy went ballistic. Jack got put on probation, got a letter from HR saying that the bank didn't appreciate such commentary, that it was bad for business if the customers heard such talk-never mind that it was in the goddamn break room; he'd never tell jokes in front of the customers, he wasn't stupid -and if such comments were heard again, he would be suspended.

So he was a good little boy, did everything the fag told him to do. But that wasn't enough for Billy, oh no. He started leaving flyers in his in-box, brochures and other garbage-all gay-rights crap.

One night, after he got off work, he went out for a walk to blow off steam before hopping the subway home. Eventually, he got tired of walking and had a serious need for a beer, and he went into the first bar he could find-some dive on Thirty-fourth. He got a Bud Light-they had it on tap and everything-and gulped down half the pint right there. Already he was feeling better.

Then two guys sat next to him. Crew cuts, goatees, tight T-shirts, equally tight jeans, black boots, and one of them called the other " girl friend."

"Jesus Christ," he said, "can't you fags get your own island or somethin'?"

One of them-the one wearing eyeliner, for God's sake-looked at him like he was peering over his glasses, except this guy wasn't actually wearing glasses, and said, "We have our own island. It's called Manhattan. "

That was when Jack beat the shit out of him.

It had been stupid in lots of ways. For one thing, if you were gonna beat up a fag, you shouldn't do it in public. Public meant witnesses. Goddamn ADA who prosecuted must've brought half the damn city onto the witness stand. And if you had to do it in a bar, do it in one where they knew you and might cover for you. A stranger beating up one of the regulars wasn't gonna fly.

So Jack was stuck, especially since the DA had been on a hate-crimes kick as part of his reelection campaign, so they were going full-tilt boogie on Jack's ass.

But at least he showed those fags what for. It was worth it just for that.

After he arrived at RHCF, it didn't take long for Jack to figure out that he needed to pick one of three sides: the Muslims, the skinheads, or the victims. (There were also lots of gangs represented inside, but you had to have been one of them on the outside first.) No chance with the Muslims. Jack never had a problem with black people-hell, the guy he'd told the coin-dropping joke to was black, and he'd busted a gut laughing-but Jack was still too pale for them. And no way he was gonna just sit on the sidelines and be one of the fish they all stepped on.

Besides, when they found out he was in for "fag assault," the skinheads welcomed him with open arms.

But it was hard being a white guy in any prison-suddenly, he was the minority, which, as a white male Christian, Jack wasn't really used to. And then at the baseball game yesterday that asshole Barker had to go and do the takeout slide.

You just didn't do that. When Jack was a kid, he used to watch the Yankees' second baseman Willie Randolph jump over guys who tried that. Jack had always liked Randolph-in fact, he started paying attention to baseball again when the Mets hired Randolph to be their manager.

But Jack was no Willie Randolph. Barker's foot slammed right into him, and Jack couldn't leap out of the way fast enough. His shins still hurt.

Then they had to go and put him in the goddamn box. He spent the whole night in solitary confinement, with no windows, no light except when they opened the food slot. It was a nightmare. It was torture. He could barely sleep, mostly because closing his eyes and opening his eyes were the exact same thing. It was like living with a blanket over his head.

In the morning, they let him out. That was the first piece of good luck, as usually you were in the box for at least twenty-four hours. But Sullivan said something about how everyone thought the ball game was stupid anyhow, so they only gave him and Barker an overnight stay. Jack was grateful, as just the one night had left him exhausted, sweaty, and hyper.

They'd put Barker in the box, too, and he looked just fine coming out of it, like it was a day at the goddamn beach. Sweat plastered Jack's short hair to his scalp, but Barker only had a few dots of sweat on his dark forehead, and his hair was dry. Bastard.

From the moment of the takeout slide, Jack had wanted Barker dead, but it wasn't until the other man came out of the box pretty as a picture while Jack was a total wreck that Jack decided he needed to kill Barker himself.

First thing he did was go to Karl Fischer, as he couldn't retaliate without permission. Jack hated talking to Fischer, though. A major -league skinhead, in for murder, Fischer was only in RHCF because he was in the middle of a long appeal.

But nobody white did anything in RHCF without talking to Fischer first. Fischer had pull, and he had people. Most of the few white folks in RHCF banded together under Fischer, giving them strength in numbers, and part of that was protecting each other. Fischer had given Jack his blessing, and Jack knew that Fischer would have his back.

His good luck held: Ciccone was the CO in his block today. He'd pulled the razor out already and was pretty sure he'd be able to sneak it past Ciccone. If it had been Bolton or Sullivan, or that new guy, Andros, Jack would've been worried, but Ciccone didn't know jack or shit, so he figured he was clear.

Then Jack saw the magnet and panicked. He'd shoved the razor under his tongue, which was fine as long as he didn't talk.

But the magnet wasn't on. And Ciccone looked like hammered shit in any case. Sure enough, he took the empty safety razor, left the magnet off, and dumped it. He didn't even acknowledge Jack.