On the Outside Looking In

We had a new arrival today, so I decided I'd go check out the halls, see if he was cool or not.

I liked talking with the guys; I know they'd done stuff wrong, but you gotta just look past that and get to know them.

This new guy, Gerard, or something, had been tried for attempted murder and found guilty. Damn! I wanted to find out if he was crazy or just scorned.

I've seen a lot of scorned lovers sent down for murder.

I kept a steady pace walking down the dimly lit hallway. This place always reminded me of an asylum.

I made sure I didn't make any unwanted eye contact; being a possibly gay guy that wears eyeliner, it was particularly worrying walking through a prison. But I loved my job.

I walked past a few people I remembered, Jack in cell 39, Ben in the opposite. I waved to them as I passed, my keys clanging together as my arm brushed past.

They just stared but, you know, they're tortured souls. I never really made conversation.

I trotted past a few more cells, relieving an itch that was irritating my tattooed arm.

My sneakers rubbed against the floor as I ran to the last few cells wanting to talk to this guy. He sounded cool with a name like Gerard.

I reached the last cell and stopped running.

I had to stop my jaw from dropping.

A man with short red hair was sat holding his head in his hands on his bunk. He was alone, there was no cellmate for company. I felt sorry for him; he looked like a pretty nice guy.

A lot like me actually; into the same kind of music no doubt.

"Hey," I started. "Name's Officer Haner, but you can call me Syn. You are?" The red head looked up.