incarcerated

12.

(warning: rape/sexual assault mention)
    all hell broke loose at the staff meeting later in the day. eddy had been extremely agitated ever since brett's lips had briefly come into contact with his skin and then left his office along with the rest of him. the fact that he had to deal with a room full of COs that had been failing to do their job for at least the past week didn't help. the overwhelming fear in the room was almost tangible as the guards sat in their chairs, watching eddy pace around the front of the room and waiting for his deep voice to break the silence.

    "can anyone tell me what your job is here as a correctional officer?" the warden began. his tone was almost belittling. CO hernandez raised his hand as if he was a student in a classroom. eddy glared at him.

    "what?"

    "our job is to keep the inmates safe and follow your orders, sir," he said, voice shaky. eddy nodded and thought for a moment.

    "the part about following my orders was an obvious effort to kiss my ass, hernandez. don't. but i did like the first thing you said. what was that again?" the warden replied. everyone in the room could tell he was getting ready to explode.

    "keeping the inmates safe, sir."

    "right. and can anyone tell me what safe means? what about you, CO lynn?" eddy asked, turning his attention directly to one of the men who'd been working brett's unit the previous night. lynn's eyes widened and he took a deep breath. he knew what was coming.

    "out of danger and harm's way, sir," he said. a sarcastic smile spread across eddy's face.

    "well," he began, "it's a fucking miracle. you do know what safe means. i wasn't sure if you did. any idea why?"

    "yes, sir."

    "oh!" eddy shouted with fake excitement, "goody. how about you tell me why i would think you and CO aguilar here have no fucking idea what the word safe means or what this job entails?"

    everyone in the room besides the two men eddy singled out was so relieved that the focus wasn't on them. lynn and aguilar, however, were absolutely petrified. lynn took a deep breath again before replying to the terrifying man at the front of the room.

    "an inmate was sexually assaulted under our watch, sir."

    "bin-fucking-go, genius! i want you all to listen to me. what happened last night was an absolute disaster. for those of you that haven't been listening to the gossip today, here's what happened. officers lynn and aguilar sat in the CO bubble in the front of inmate yang's unit on their asses while another inmate led him out of his unit and raped him in a fucking closet. and do you want to know what my favorite part is? it wasn't the first time. i don't know what the FUCK is wrong with you people, but this is bullshit. absolute bullshit. do you think that this job is some kind of a joke? do you not understand that these inmates are fucking human beings and you have responsibilities here? i mean, fuck, guys!" eddy shouted, slamming his hands down on the table at the front of the room.

no one spoke as eddy stood with his head down and his hands on the table, chest heaving. tears stung his eyes as he revisited memories of what happened to brett and he blinked hard to push them away. he could not be vulnerable in front of these people. he ran his hands down his face in an attempt to subtly wipe his eyes and looked up again, his gaze met with 12 terrified faces.

"you two are fired. i hate to make an example out of someone, but your laziness crossed the line last night. you'll be paid through the end of the week. get your shit and get the fuck out of my prison," eddy's voice was cold and hard like a cement floor as he stared ahead, his irises black and emotionless. aguilar and lynn left the room without saying a word, leaving 10 terrified faces left for eddy to deal with.