The Eyes of a Stranger by Toye Lawson Brown

Author:Toye Lawson Brown [Brown, Toye Lawson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B01BG2KEJC
Publisher: BooksbyToye
Published: 2016-02-02T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The food the jail served was disgusting and inedible. The worn and chipped thick plastic compartment trays it was served on made the garbage taste worse. Alex picked through the slop trying to recognize if it was even food. He was no chef when it came to cooking but compared to this he’d take his signature grilled cheese and pickles over jail food any day.

He looked over at George scarfing down food hardly taking a breath to swallow. The man was huge, well over 300 pounds, so being picky about what he ate wasn’t as important as the quantity of what he ate. Two days of starving in jail, Alex felt he’d shed valuable pounds off his 6’2” frame. How George maintained his girth by eating crap not fit for animals was beyond him. But that was how it was designed. Inmates were considered lower than animals and unsafe to society regardless of the crime committed.

“You gon’ eat the rest of that?” George asked smacking his oversized lips and poking at the cube of mystery meat with a dirty spork.

Alex pushed the tray over to him. “Knock yourself out.”

“You gotta eat something until you get money to buy snacks or are you on a hunger strike?”

Alex frowned. “How can you eat this garbage? It looks like something a drunk threw up.”

“You get used to it. Better watch out leaving food on your tray. I asked for it; others will just take it from you. Look, I know you don’t want to hear what I have to say, but you’re a newbie. You are being watched. Right now, the actions you’re showing make you a prime target to pick on.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What are those actions? Staying to myself and refusing to eat?”

“Hey, lower your voice.”

“I don’t care who hears me. I’m not a punk and if anyone dares to challenge me; bring it on,” he roared. He didn’t know where that came from. Yes, he was angry and had been for the last several days but to make a statement like that in jail was asking for trouble. He might have just signed his own fight ticket.

George shifted his weight on the small stool. “For a straight-laced White boy, you got a big ass mouth. Look around, you need to recognize where you are, partner. Ain’t nobody gon’ run to your defense when you’re getting that ass-whippin’.”

Alex scrubbed a hand over his scruffy face. “I don’t give a shit anymore. If it happens, it fucking happens.”

“Pace yourself, Alex. You’ve been here two days. You got a long ways to go to let this place break your manhood,” he said putting a fat hand on Alex’s shoulder.

He looked around at the men seated in the mess hall mostly occupied by African-Americans, and then Latinos, followed by Whites, and a few others peppered in. Majorities were segregated by groups, some mingled, and others like Alex stood out like a sore thumb.

There were no manners among these men. The talk was obnoxious and lude.

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