Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
We glared at each other. I figured he was getting ready to shoot out of his bunk and yell, “I FOUND HIM! LEGEND IS IN HERE!”
To my surprise, he didn’t do it. We just looked at one another like two mice locked in a cheese-less kitchen. Me on the floor, my heart beating a mile a second, and him in his bed, his resolute bright blue eyes shining almost like a cat’s, in the pale light of the window.
Giving a slight nod, he turned on his side and lay back down, his back towards me. I slipped away, my anger and disgust just as strong as it had been that morning during the final altercation. The one that broke the camel-faced fucker’s back. Major Greenwald had gone to the point of no return.
I was told to cool down. I was told there would be repercussions to my actions. I was told I’d been called a lot of shit. Those are just words to me.
But I didn’t care if I was going to be strung up high and turned to the wind to dry. None of that mattered. It would all be worth it. Every guttural scream. Every time he begged for mercy. Each second closer to his life slipping away would be another feather in my gotdamn cap.
I got to my feet and took careful steps, slinking about in the night. My chest burned as Bobby V.’s ‘Slow Down’ played inside somewhere; the tune suspended in the air like a faint remembrance. I swallowed, grippin’ the knife tighter as I got closer to the officer barracks. The adrenaline never slowed but grew into a mountain of hurting, hot, dripping loathing.
At the same damn time though, I’d thought shit through. I never flew into situations without a plan. I knew everyone’s schedules and habits. This was second nature to me. When you grew up the way I did, you paid attention to movements, patterns, schedules. Prediction was how you survived, as you planned your escape.
Grabbing the keys I’d stolen earlier in the day, I entered the barracks, the lights dim, that music much louder now. Soft feminine laughter echoed from down the hall.
I passed a bunch of rooms where the officers were relaxing for the night. Their quarters didn’t smell like piss and semen. They smelled like hot coffee, food, and lemon Pledge spray. My nostrils filled with the odor of glossy magazine pages. To my right, I spotted a stack of Army pamphlets about mental health lying on a desk. How ironic.
I’d left Portland, Kentucky, seeking a fresh start after juvie, and this was how it was going to end. This mothafucka left me no choice. I’d made peace with that. The front door creaked open as soon as I unlocked Major Greenwald’s sleeping quarters.
I stepped into a small, dark living area, then made my way toward the bedroom, the door to which stood ajar. I peeked inside. His back was to me, and the ember of his cigarette blazed between his fingertips as he looked at his computer, engrossed in a game of solitaire. The glow of the screen shone bright. Careful to not block the light, I crouched down, creeping toward him. It seemed to take forever, but one thing I had plenty of was patience.
Once I was a few feet from him, I stood to my full height. I stood there for a few seconds, but it felt like minutes. I realized he’d seen me when his finger began to twitch, and with a careful glide of his hand, he rested his cigarette in the ashtray.
“What the fuck are you doin’ here, Vidal?” he barked, his attention focused on my reflection on the computer screen. “Oh? So you won’t talk, huh, boy? What you got that knife for, bonehead?”
“I told you not to call me what you called me again.”
He laughed, real slow and easy like, and reached for his cigarette to take a long drawl. He placed it back in the ashtray, and then I could see the shadows in his eyes on the screen, laying bare all the hate he had for me.
“I told Jones and Hornung that you were trouble. Somethin’ is wrong with you half breeds, and it doesn’t matter what the mixture is. Black and White. Asian and White. White and Hispanic. Y’all all end up crazy. This isn’t what God intended, and you are the result of a bullshit decision made from lust and self-hatred. An abomination. With a record like yours, you should’ve never been accepted into the Army. They said you were strong. Aced your physical exams… your test scores were through the roof. Smart kid, they said, with a memory like a steel trap. I told them all that may be true, but you can’t teach a roach, no matter how smart it is at hiding in the fucking dark, to be a soldier!”