k a i t l y n

There was a way he captivated the room as he walked in. It wasn't in a good way or a bad way, just that he was new, and everyone who was right in the head took a notice to him, but there weren't many. He walked strange, as if he'd already gotten into trouble with Sister Jude.

Shelley walks from the shadows and slaps his ass.

"Hey!" He yells at her.

"Can't make the welts go away, but I can make you forget you have them"

"Nurse already gave me a salve"

"A salve can't cure you like I can" She pushes back in front of him.

Sighing, I push myself up, pulling the robe like cloth I was forced to wear across my stomach as I moved to grab a cigarette. He shoves her, "he's mine! He's mine!"

He looks around, taking in the sounds that would soon become background noise. Pursing my lip, I walk over, holding out a cigarette to him.

"I'm Kaitlyn" My voice came out rough, handing him the stick. He only stares at it.

"You don't smoke? It's good for you"

"No, I smoke" He says, accent thick.

"Jude got to you already. Can tell by your walk. I suggest just standing somewhere and staying. Don't want to raise any more reason for welts"

The man stares before pushing past hard enough for me to have to catch myself.

"Hey! Bloodyface, out there you could get away with what you did to girls out there" Spivey moves past me. My eyebrows furrowed, he did not seem like a bloodyface.

"But in here, you better believe you can't lay a finger on any of them, especially Kat"

My body shifts watching as he forced the man closer to the record player.

"You don't know nothing" He fires back.

"The last one was a colored girl, guess you didn't like her color" Spivey continues.

The newcomer shoves him backwards, earning a punch back.

"Shit" I mutter, inmates moving past me, none touching me as they flocked and screamed with joy over the violence.

Moving backwards, I start out the door and find an orderly.

"There's a fight"

The record stops, two more come marching down, soon followed by Jude, she stops and raises an eyebrow to me.

"Spivey and Bloodyface are going at it"

She send the men and puts her hand on my shoulder, "you do the right thing every time"

Her whistle blows, causing everyone to remove themselves from the circle. I lean against a pole, the cloth resting against my stomach.

"He started it" The man points, nose bleeding.

Jude restarts the dreadful music.

He glanced over, meeting my eyes. He looked distressed, and scared.

"Sister-" I break the silence. Jude glares back at me. I fall silent again, looking down as the orderly's stick makes a thud sound.

Once he was gone, everyone resumed what they had been doing before. I remain in my place, staring at the door.

"You just aways have to find a way to get her involved" Grace walks over, hostility in her voice.

"They fucked up. I'm not falling from my place for nobody" I shoot back, not moving my eyes as I spoke to her.

She'd convinced herself of her own innocents.

"You've proven that multiple times" She moved away.

Arms crossing, I move to a rocking chair, staring mindlessly. The French song danced around the room. An older women began her movement once more. Mindlessly the world leave my mouth, staring at the unlit cigarette he hadn't accepted.