Nick walked down the long corridor with one of the guards, his hands secured with handcuffs. It was lunch time and most of the guys were heading for the cafeteria. A noise caught Nick's attention and he looked into the cell on his left. It was Brian. Nick sighed -- he had thought Brian was the new guy ... he'd just had a feeling about it. Brian must have been moved from another prison ... maybe his trials were finally over, and it hadn't gone so well for him. Nick had one more trial to go to ... and then that would be it.
"Bri, man," Nick whispered, walking over to Brian's cell and placing his hands on the bars. The guard surprisingly waited silently for him. "Come to lunch, okay? We'll talk then."
Brian looked over at Nick and Nick shuddered. He looked numb ... numb and dead. "Okay," was all Brian replied before standing up on weak legs and waiting for the guard that had been leading Nick to come and unlock his cell.
At lunch they ate the incredibly horrible excuse for food and Brian explained what had happened. His last trial had finished yesterday and they'd sentenced him to life in prison in this particular one. That was all he said about it and Nick didn't press for any details.
~ * ~ 7 years before ~ * ~
Hattie dropped the phone to the ground with a horrified cry. California had just called her and told her all that Nick had revealed to her. Once Cali had called the police Nick had confessed everything to her, knowing that it was over. There was no more running, no more hiding. It was over ... the police were coming and he would be gone in a matter of minutes. Now Hattie had to deal with Brian's side, because Nick wasn't going to rat his best friend out. That's one thing that he wouldn't talk about. Hattie headed towards the staircase on shaking legs. She could hear Brian playing the guitar upstairs, and as she got to the open bedroom door she looked in on him almost frightfully.
"Did you beat a woman to death, Brian?" Hattie's voice wavered as did her step as she walked into their bedroom and looked down at him.
Brian's head whipped up from his music, and his fingers seized their movement, "What?? No ... I-"
"Nick confessed everything, Bri. The police are probably there now. It's over, Brian," Hattie began to sob. "You thought you could run from this?! Well, it's over. As far as you're concerned, the cops may as well be here too. Because they're gonna be in a second. You helped Nick beat that young girl to death, didn't you?! DIDN'T YOU?!"
Brian had his hands dug deep into his hair, his head was shaking back and forth. He was losing his mind with her screaming at him, and he didn't know what to do. His life was over, just like that?
"ANSWER ME!"
"Yes! Yes! I did ... but you don't understand, Hattie! We freaked out, okay?! Nick shook the baby because he didn't know what else to do, and Amity and Nick continued to stay friends and tried to just put the whole thing behind him, but then Amity got mad at him one day for something completely different and threatened to go to the police about the baby ... It was just Nick and me and Amity there, and we just flipped out and ... Hattie! We were so young..."
Hattie was already down the stairs and in the kitchen, dialing the police. Brian came up behind her and grabbed her by the waist, "Put the phone down, Hatt. Put it down!"
"No! You will not get away with this!" Hattie screamed trying desperately to call 911, but her fingers were shaking so hard she kept dialing a two and having to start over. They struggled for a while and finally Hattie whispered to him, "You think Nick won't tell everything?? You think he won't rat you out?! You're wrong, Brian!! He'll do anything to make his own punishment less ... Forget it; you're over!! This is all over!!"
A shudder ran through Brian at her vicious words and a moment later he had released her and walked up the stairs, shutting his bedroom door behind him. Hattie panted for a breath to breathe and finally regained her composure enough to call the police. Once she'd hung up, she walked calmly into the downstairs bathroom and locked the door. Reaching into the cabinet under the sink she pulled a gun out from below a bundle of hand towels and slowly put it up to her head.
Brian heard the shot but stayed in his room, knowing what had happened, and knowing that he would only make the situation worse for himself if he went downstairs and was with Hattie when the police arrived. Hattie had killed herself, he was going to prison for the death of a young lady 5 years before, and now most likely for the death of another. Slowly, one by one, a million tears began to fall.
