Status: Still a work in progress.
Juvie in New Jersey
Are You Always So Jekyll and Hyde?
"It was flippin' self defense!" I screamed as they stitched my busted head together. I had dislocated my left shoulder and scraped up both knees. Not the worst I'd ever taken.
"A fight is a fight."
"But they started it!" The other girls sat silent as they had their wounds assessed.
The guard looked at the other three. He sighed and shook his head. "Get those three to the hospital. Miss Catoma, you are to stay in your cell unless otherwise escorted."
I breathed a sigh of relief as they walked me back. Four officers for one, tiny girl. It was laughable. So I laughed as they locked the door of my cell. Once that subsided, I listened for Fate. Normally, I could hear her steady breathing, aside from the occassional gasp of a horrific nightmare. Tonight, I heard nothing.
"Fate?" I asked quietly. In response, I heard silence. I was about to say her name again when I heard soft sobs eminating. "Fate," I gasped in shock. "What's wrong?" I was concerned for someone else for the first time in my life. I had someone to be worried for. Someone besides myself, not that I much cared for her anyway.
Fate shrugged in response.
"Don't give me that. I know better. C'mere." She crawled into the bed beside me. "I'm not gonna leave you alone until you tell me. You're the closest thing I've ever had to family. Something's up. What is it?"
She gasped for air and her sobs increased as she told me the entire gruesome story. My eyes widened then filled with tears as I wrapped her in a hug. She shuddered against me, and my heart broke. There was nothing I could do or say.
"A fight is a fight."
"But they started it!" The other girls sat silent as they had their wounds assessed.
The guard looked at the other three. He sighed and shook his head. "Get those three to the hospital. Miss Catoma, you are to stay in your cell unless otherwise escorted."
I breathed a sigh of relief as they walked me back. Four officers for one, tiny girl. It was laughable. So I laughed as they locked the door of my cell. Once that subsided, I listened for Fate. Normally, I could hear her steady breathing, aside from the occassional gasp of a horrific nightmare. Tonight, I heard nothing.
"Fate?" I asked quietly. In response, I heard silence. I was about to say her name again when I heard soft sobs eminating. "Fate," I gasped in shock. "What's wrong?" I was concerned for someone else for the first time in my life. I had someone to be worried for. Someone besides myself, not that I much cared for her anyway.
Fate shrugged in response.
"Don't give me that. I know better. C'mere." She crawled into the bed beside me. "I'm not gonna leave you alone until you tell me. You're the closest thing I've ever had to family. Something's up. What is it?"
She gasped for air and her sobs increased as she told me the entire gruesome story. My eyes widened then filled with tears as I wrapped her in a hug. She shuddered against me, and my heart broke. There was nothing I could do or say.