Tragic Loss
AJ held the payphone to his ear in complete awe. Case and Fields had to stand behind him to make sure no one tried to hassle him off of it. They could see on his face that whatever he was talking about with whoever was on the phone was quite a big issue.
“So you mean, I may get out of here? There’s a chance?” He asked. Both Case and Fields grew completely silent. Whereas they were laughing and joking around before, waiting for AJ to finish his conversation and clue them in on what was so important.
“Yes, baby! It turns out that Carrie had a best friend who she told everything to. This girl, Kaitlyn Shoats, she’s willing to testify. BUT! Not before she gets some sort of confession from Carrie. The detectives are so hopeful. And sweetie, I feel it in my bones. Kaitlyn is gonna be the key to your freedom. But they need your help as well.” Reneé informed him.
“What do you mean ‘my help?’ What do I have to do?” He asked. When he heard his fiancé sigh, he prepared himself for the worst.
“You have to talk to Carrie. Right now, at this very moment, Kaitlyn is getting back on Carrie’s good side. She’s going to convince her to come to the prison and visit you. When Carrie comes, unfortunately, you have to pretend that you’re sorry for denying her. You have to feel bad about the loss of the baby. Push come to shove… you have to make her believe that she is the only one for you. And baby, you have to act your ass off for this girl. You know that she’s a conspiracy theorist, if you show any signs on insincerity; she’ll pick it up. And there is no telling what she’d do!” Reneé explained. AJ inhaled deeply, and then exhaled in the same fashion, which altogether came out as a sigh of reservation.
“I don’t know. You have no idea how much anger I have pinned up for that girl.” AJ retorted.
”Alex! Think of what you’re saying. You have a chance to get Carrie to incriminate herself for you! And all you have to do is act as though she means at least half as much to you as you mean to her. You understand? This could be your ticket home! You could be home right now! With me! With Denise! The guys, they all miss you terribly. And honey, you should see how many fans still support you. We’ve got gigantic teddy bears tied to the gate. Bouquets of flowers with the loveliest letters from fans thrown over the gate. There are balloons. Fans are picketing outside of Carrie’s house. I heard she had to get a police officer to watch over her because young girls were trying to jump her and tear up her house. It’s crazy! You haven’t the slightest idea how badly you are wanted back! Especially by me, because being without you is slowly eating me away. I miss you so much. I need you here, AJ.” AJ felt his eyes burn with tears. It was such a breath of fresh air to hear how loved and supported he was, even in light of all the disgusting allegations.
He tried to push back his tears with his fingers; his thumb on his right eyes, the other fingers on the left. His entire face was red now and he felt a little soft being in the company of such hardcore felons as Case and Fields, who were still behind him, quietly listening in.
“Alright, I’ll do it. When will she come, do you know?” AJ asked, sniffing and getting over his body’s desire to release his excitement through tears.
“Hopefully tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed, and pray.” She advised. People were banging on the glass now, wanting desperately to use the phone.
“Ok baby, I have to go. There’s about to break through the glass………… I love you so much.” He finished.
“I love you too, take care of yourself.” AJ waited for her to hang up before he did. Then he left the large phone booth (which was shaped more like a walk-in closet made of glass) with his too companions.
As AJ explained all that Reneé had informed him of, Mike was being escorted back to his and AJ’s cell. AJ stopped mid-sentence and stared up at him. Of course, he was still bitter about being cut across the stomach. And of course, he stomach still irritated the hell out of him as it healed. He was not at all happy to see Mike returning, and so soon at that.
“How the hell did he got out of the hole so fast?” AJ asked. Fields took the initiative to answer the question.
“The Aryans, you know, all the skin-heads and shit… well, they pull strings. It’s only about 8 of them in this whole section of the prison, but even still, they work over the warden pretty well. It’s fucked up, but that’s how it goes. But you better watch out. They may have kept him out of their little group thus far… but after the little incident between you two, they know that he’s true to his sick little beliefs. They’ll back him now. So be careful.” Fields warned AJ. AJ then turned to Case who was twirling a straw around in his mouth. Case nodded, agreeing with Fields. And all three just stood there, looking up at Mike.
“Yep. It’s been too damn quiet ‘round here lately. Shit is definitely about to hit the fan. I just hope it ain’t with them.” It was then that all three turned towards the Aryans who had been eying AJ down since the second he stepped out of the phone booth. AJ, already pissed off with Mike’s return, stared right back. Even harder than they did.
One of the Aryans, Simms, stood up. He welcomed AJ to a confrontation when he stood. Daring AJ to take as little as a step towards him. He was obviously the leader. He couldn’t have been a day over 32, and what he lacked in size, he compensated for in the intimidation of his appearance. He had far more tattoos than any of the others. And a long scar down the side of his face, from his left eye nearly to the corner of his mouth.
Fields patted AJ’s shoulder, and then pulled him away.
“Not now, man. Not yet. You’re too close to flying this place. if shit has to go down, let them make the first move. Then you’re not instigating problems, you’re only defending yourself.” AJ knew that Fields was right. So he went along with them, out of the way of the Aryans.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaitlyn went up to Carrie’s room, her hands shaking uncontrollably. As she approached the bedroom door, she stopped and peeked through the crack. Carrie was sitting on her bed, brushing her hair, in a trance-like daze. Kaitlyn took a deep breath and pushed the door completely open. Carrie looked at Kaitlyn’s reflection in the vanity mirror from the bed and smirked. Yet she still did not move. She just sat there, continuing to brush her hair.
“Hello Carrie. Your Mom let me in. How are you feeling?” Carrie said nothing in response.
“I came here to apologize. I realized how wrong I was for causing you so much pain. It was all my fault that you lost the baby.” When Carrie heard the last part of Kaitlyn’s sentence, she threw the brush at the vanity mirror with so much force that the mirror shattered. Kaitlyn’s heart climbed up to her throat and got stuck there, that was just how startled and afraid she was.
“But I have good news! I went to see AJ, in prison.” Kaitlyn hadn’t really gone to visit. It was just what she felt she had to say to relax Carrie’s nerves. And it did just that. Carrie had clenched the sheets after throwing the brush, but when she heard AJ’s name, she let the sheets go and started to breathe more regularly.
“He told me that he’s sorry to, for denying you. And he said that he was so looking forward to having that baby with you, he was just afraid, because you’re so young.” Carrie turned suddenly to Kaitlyn…
“He doesn’t have to be afraid! Age doesn’t matter! All I wanted was to know that he loved me and that he cared about me and our baby! That’s all I wanted!” Carried shouted, tears collecting in her eyes. Kaitlyn tensed up, she was all too nervous being in the room alone with a girl who she knew was mentally ill, on so many levels.
Down the street from Carrie’s house, in a van disguised to look aged and rusted like the van that usually sat there, were 5 police officers listening to every word. Kaitlyn was wired, and Carrie had no clue. As they listened, they knew that AJ’s story was starting to make sense. Why would a rape victim care if her assailant loved her and they baby she was carrying in result of the rape??? It made absolutely no sense.
“He does love you! He told me so. Reneé left. And he’s alone. And he said that he couldn’t stop thinking about you. He’s worried about you. And he wishes that you would make some kind of contact with him. He said he would feel so much better if he saw you.” Carrie hopped off of the bed and started to fumble around like she had to find something to where. All the while she was mumbling to herself.
“So, you’ll see him?” Kaitlyn asked.
“Are you fucking kidding me? This could be my big chance. This could be the beginning of a new life for us! If I go to that prison and find out for myself how he really feels about me, we can start all over. We’ll work something out, lower his sentence. Then, when he gets released, we could leave the country, get married, have more beautiful children!” Carrie ranted on. Then, she came down from her love cloud and her face soured. She turned to Kaitlyn with suspecting and distrusting eyes.
“…and why are you helping me now? You deserted me. You left me when I needed you most. Why the hell should I believe you?” Carrie approached Kaitlyn slowly. And with every step she took, Kaitlyn feared that she would break down and ruin the whole case.
Carrie suddenly grabbed Kaitlyn around the back of her neck, squeezing hard. Not choking her, but cause her unbearable discomfort.
“How do I know you’re not lying?” Kaitlyn remembered the prop that the detectives gave her just in case Carrie needed proof of some sort. Kaitlyn reached into her pocket and pulled out a folder piece of notebook paper. She gave it to Carrie and struggled to say what it was, considering the pain she was in.
“He gave this to me to give to you. Read it! Y-y-y-you’ll see!” She managed to say. Carrie took the paper and then kissed Kaitlyn on the lips, so rough that Kaitlyn nearly cut her lip on her own teeth.
“You always were the perfect friend.” Carrie said, in a sinister voice. Then she let Kaitlyn go, pushing her away as she released her. Kaitlyn stumbled back slightly and landed in a desk chair. It was there she sat down and stayed seated there.
Carrie started pacing, reading the fake letter. A professional did the handwriting and Carrie couldn’t tell the difference. Being that she was highly familiar with AJ’s signatures, having had several autographed memorabilia from previous concerts in the past.
“He does love me! Oh God! He does! This changes everything! Dammit! Why the fuck didn’t I see it before?!?!?!” She asked Kaitlyn as if Kaitlyn could possibly answer that question.
“I should have known that he was just afraid of his career falling apart and losing his friends and their respect for him. it had nothing to do with his feelings for me. He was just saving face! He loved me all this time. And to think, I went through so much trouble to be with him, to have his child…” Carrie confessed, unknowingly.
The officers down in the van were all smiles. They all quietly cheered and patted each other on the back.
“I’ll go see him today! I have to!” Carrie exclaimed. Kaitlyn stood up in protest.
“No! You can’t! I already saw him today. He can only have one visitor a day. I’m sorry that you’ll have to wait. But just think, we can do your hair and get you all fixed up to go. And I’ll even get Tim to drive you in his truck! You have to ride in style when you go see your man!” Kaitlyn suggested. She was getting the hang of acting now. She was all too convincing. She felt the tiny battery pack behind her, under her shirt, start to vibrate. That meant that they had all the audio they needed and that she should make an excuse to leave. Otherwise, staying to long with run the risk of being discovered.
“That’s a good idea, Katie. He hasn’t seen me in so long. And I had to dress in those God-awful dresses during the trial. That was certainly no way for him to remember me. In a loose sundress. Yuck! I want him to go to sleep at night thinking of me in the sexiest content ever!” Carrie said, again--- ranting.
“Well, in that case, I need to go get Tara. She’s a master of make-up and fashion. We’ll have you looking like a princess, if not a Queen by tomorrow morning. Ok?” Carrie nodded and started twisting her fingers around her hair in anticipation. Kaitlyn left the room and rushed down the stairs. She nodded to Carrie’s mother who knew what was going on, and was scared out of her mind that something would go wrong.
Kaitlyn went outside and scratched her nose. The van started and drove off in the opposite direction that Kaitlyn was going, even though they were both going to the same place to unwire Kaitlyn. They were both headed to Tim and Tara’s house.
Once Kaitlyn reached his house, the van was already there and the police were waiting in the van with the sliding door open. Kaitlyn went up to the van and they retrieved the mic and wires from her. Then they thanked her for cooperating beautifully. Tim smiled as the police drove away. Then he kissed Kaitlyn on the forehead, showing how proud he was of her courage.
~*~*~*~*~*~
It was about five minutes to 7 p.m. so AJ figured that he’d better head over to the kitchen. He had to serve, and clean that day. So he figured he should go ahead and get started. He got up from the bench and stretched. They had been playing cards and talking trash just about all day and his body was numb and sore. He told the guys he had to go, except for Kimbro who worked with him. And the two went off to start preparing for the last mean of the day.
As they went through the corridor to the side door of the kitchen, five Aryans showed up in front of them, blocking their passage. They started to just turn and go the long way to the kitchen, but another three Aryans stood behind them. One cracked his knuckles which told them that they were in for it. From behind the five in front of them, Mike pushed towards them. That made nice Aryans total. AJ swallowed hard.
“Well, well, well… a nigger and a spick.” One said.
“No where to run, no where to hide.” Another said from behind them.
“Look, leave him out of this. You have issues with me, we’ll settle them. But he’s out.” AJ said, referring to young Kimbro. One of the guys from behind them agreed to AJ’s terms by pulling Kimbro by the collar and pushing him back down the hall, out of their way. Now it was AJ alone against nine. Kimbro walked away cool, and once he was out of the corridor, he ran up to where Case and the others were. They were still playing cards, and were quite alarmed to see Kimbro running up to them in such a manner.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Case asked, sitting up in his seat.
“It’s McLean! He’s in the 5th Corridor, the neos have him cornered! Nine of ‘em!” Case, All eight of them jumped up and ran to AJ’s defense. When they reached the corridor, AJ was being held by two of the Aryans while the others took turns beating and kicking him in the stomach and ribs. They had hit him so much that his wound had re-opened and blood seeped through the white bandages. Case and the rest of the guys jumped right into the fight and started beating up on every skinhead they could get their hands on.
Mike, who was not in the much larger fight, backed away to keep from getting hit. A shank, made from one of the bedsprings that had been sharpened down to a fine point, fell from Simms’ pocket. Mike quickly picked it up from the concrete floor and waited. AJ fell against the wall, not able to throw another punch, or accept one. He was bleeding from numerous cuts and his face was already swollen from being hit so many times. He was just picking himself up onto his feet when Mike jousted towards him with the shank.
Mike closed his eyes and didn’t open them until he felt the sharp end of the shank dig into flesh. He first saw the thick red blood all over his hands, and then he looked up. It wasn’t AJ. It was Case. Case saw what Mike was about to do and took the stab for AJ.
The stab was deep. Deeper than Mike thought. The wound, which still had the shank protruding from it, bubbled a little and Mike knew he had punctured the lung. Case fell slowly down the wall until he hit the floor. He pulled the shank out and clutched his chest, his breathing labored.
“Case! Man, don’t die on me! Wake the fuck up!” AJ yelled. His yelling, along with all of the previous fighting, alerted guards who finally reached the corridor to break up the skirmish.
Johns took his shirt off and balled it up, pressing it tightly against Case’s chest. But it was far too late. The blood still ran from the wound like water. Case felt his life slipping away. AJ looked at his fellow inmate with a heavy heart.
“Why?” He asked.
“I’ve killed 4 people in my life. And much more than that with the drugs I sold. I deserved to be in prison. Why not die here? You… you were always innocent…” Case would have continued, but he could not. he had spoken too much as it was. Johns started to scream for the doctor as he felt Case’s pulse speed up then slow to a stop.
AJ stood up and hit the brick wall with both of his fists. Nothing he could do could bring Case back. Case, who he had only know for a very short time. Case, who saved his life. Case, who recognized that AJ deserved freedom and died to help him achieve it. The CO’s had Mike now and were taking him back to the hole when AJ charged toward him. He balled up his fist and smashed it into the side of Mike’s face as hard as he possibly could.
Mike fell completely unconscious, two of his teeth falling out of his mouth in bloodstained saliva. Another CO restrained AJ and held him back until Mike and the other Aryans were gone.
The next few hours were a blur. AJ’s entire body felt numb. Death was already a hard enough thing for him to deal with. But for someone to die in his arms… especially when that someone died to save him. He felt thankful, yet angry. Sad, depressed, dejected, forlorn. He felt a thousand different emotions at once.
Every inmate in that unit lay silent that night. Though Case was not everyone’s friend, he was respected. And he lost his life that day. And to think that a young punk ended his life. A young punk who hadn’t even worn in his bed there yet. The whole event was enough to cause that eerie silence to last for weeks.
AJ rubbed the new bandage across his stomach and chest and thought about Carrie. He promised himself that he would convince her more so than ever that he loved her. He would get out of that place. He wouldn’t allow Case’s death to be an act done in vain.
Chapter 11 ~
Contents Page ~
Stories ~
Home