Lights Out

Eddie entered the library. There was no one inside but El Rojo, bent over a law book. He had new lines on his face and gray roots in his hair. He didn’t look up as Eddie approached, so Eddie said, “This isn’t a bullshit macho Latin thing.”

El Rojo looked up then; and Eddie was on the move. “It’s a bullshit crazy inmate thing.”

El Rojo was quick: quick to pull a homemade knife, quick to shout for help. The C.O. was quick too. But none of it was quick enough. El Rojo died on the library table.

Eddie saw Prof in the yard a few months later. “Hey, Nails. Want your watch back?”

“Don’t need it,” Eddie said.