Page 1 of Malice and Surrender
MALICE
ELEVEN YEARS AGO - FLORIDA STATE PRISON
Kaivan
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
I internally groaned as the annoying voice barked behind me. It was fitting since everyone called him Big Dog. The guy was big but he was more growly asshole than actual bite. I decided to think of him as Clifford, with his bright red cheeks, dopey expression, and overly round face that made him look like a bulldog. The bigger issue with Big Dog was that he was Red’s lackey and did his bidding, specifically fetching. I was praying that was not the case today.
“Answer me, kid. Where the fuck are you headin’?”
I slowly turned around to stare at the burly man sporting the Mr. Clean pose. With all the willpower in the world, I kept the sarcastic look off my face as I pointed toward the laundry cart I was pushing.
The laundry always smelled bad, but fuck, I didn’t want to know what these assholes did this week. It reeked like rotting canned-tuna mixed with sloppy shit with the underlying scent of ‘I jacked off too much’. If there was a scent you could bottle and call it Eau de Prison, this was it.
“Laundry,” I said, keeping my voice even. “Why, do you have something you want to add?”
“Naw, but Red wants to see you,” Big Dog said.
Nightmare initiated. This wasn’t good. You wanted to avoid Red, not end up in his crosshairs. I learned that the first day I watched him and his pack of goons attack a guy who looked to be doing nothing but minding his own business. They messed him up so badly that the guards had to ship him to the hospital. That dude never came back, and Red’s crew never got in trouble.
For the last six weeks, six days, and almost six hours, I’d kept my head low and under his radar, or at least I thought I had. It was a bad omen to be summoned at this time of day. He would want to see me for only three reasons, and I wanted nothing to do with any of them.
Option one, Red wanted to recruit me as part of his group. He would demand that I fuck someone up—and preferably kill them—to prove my loyalty. I had no interest in being part of his goon squad and didn’t want to kill some random guy just because he told me to.
Option two, he wanted to use me as bait for someone else to get their stripes, then I would have to defend myself. I was pretty big for eighteen, and I could hold my own in a fight, but adding time to my sentence was on my Fuck-No list.
The only other option…he wanted to make me his bitch. There was no way I was letting that happen. I would rather die than let that man—a walking cesspool of disease—stick his cock up my ass. Not that I ever wanted any cock tearing my ass apart, but definitely not his. I didn’t care if a dude wanted to fuck another dude, but it had never been my jam.
“No, I gotta get this to the laundry room,” I said, and turned away from his shocked expression. The wheels squeaked as I pushed the cart, but I was immediately whipped around by a meaty hand gripping my shoulder.
Yanking out of Big Dog’s hold, I snarled at him, standing nose to nose as I clenched my fists. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
Big Dog had eighty pounds on me easily, but I wasn’t letting him intimidate me. This place was eat or be eaten, and I refused to be someone’s meal.
“You have big kahunas, kid, but Red will knock you down a peg or two.” Big Dog leaned in, but I refused to back down. “You need to learn your place.”
“I think you mean cojones, and you need to learn to brush your teeth. Your breath fucking reeks, man. Get out of my face.” His eyes narrowed into slits. “My place is to be left alone, and that’s what I want you to do.” I glared back and heard his neck crack as he tilted it from side to side.
“Oh, I’m gonna have so much fun with you.” Big Dog stepped off to the side and pointed in the direction he wanted me to go. “Walk. Now. Or I tell Red that you disobeyed a direct summons, and you won’t last another day.”
I was fucked either way now. If I ignored him and stayed in the laundry room, I could avoid whatever Red had planned for tonight, but I would be labeled a pussy, and it wouldn’t save me tomorrow. If I went…well…it wasn’t like I was going anywhere for another five hundred and thirteen point four weeks, so I might as well get it over with.
Looking longingly at a pile of dirty clothes was not something I ever thought I would do, but I did now. Sad when handling men’s cum splattered clothes was a better option than where I was headed. Then again, there were many things I didn’t think would ever happen in my life. Being tossed in prison to rot for a crime I didn’t commit was currently sitting in first place. Hopefully, whatever Red had planned wouldn’t knock that into number two.
I glanced up as we walked and shook my head when I spotted that the camera’s light wasn’t blinking, which meant that it was turned off. It seemed to be a conspiracy all on its own that random hallways at all hours of the day would no longer be recording. It was even more mysterious that the heads of the different groups that ran this place all seemed to know when they would be down.
I felt like I was walking the plank as we weaved through the maze that took us to the far side of the prison and the set of showers that were barely ever used, at least not for washing. I’d already spent an entire week cleaning and mopping in this section, and the constant grunting and moans coming from this disgusting tiled hole in the wall would’ve made you think it was filled with farm animals.
I swallowed hard as I stepped inside, and the three goons I’d seen beating the random dude were standing around with their arms crossed. All eyes turned my way as I stepped inside. My muscles flexed and twitched, ready for the fight that was coming.
It was easy to spot the red-headed man whose beard matched the vibrant shade on his head. The scraggly strands looked like shit, but it made him stand out among the crowd.
Red was sitting on the counter by the sinks. I knew without him even opening his mouth what he wanted with me. Red’s eyes openly roamed over my body, and I fought the urge to fidget under his stare.
“What are you in for?” Red asked as he leaned back on the counter and spread his legs wide. Any other guy, in any other place at any other time, I would’ve said he was simply relaxing, but that was not what was happening here.
The goons in the room began to do their slow shuffle as if I wouldn’t notice them blocking my only escape route.
