Epilogue

Eighteen year old Joshua Strayer, inmate number 8318514, was being escorted to his new cell in the state penetentiary. As they reached the cell, the guard stopped and took off the handcuffs he was wearing. With a gruff voice, the burly guard ordered him into the cell, "In here, Strayer." Josh looked at the small room that would be his home for the next six months. A rough looking older man was lying in the bottom bunk, and he turned to look at them when the guard spoke. The guard withdrew and locked the cell door behind him.

Josh was scared. As a football player, he was a tough guy, but this was a whole new level. The man approached him with a look in his eye that reminded Josh of a tiger stalking its prey. He tried to make nice, "I'm Josh. I guess I'm your new roommate for a while." He extended his hand.

He was surprised when the older man took it and shook it with a smile. "Name's Carmine," he answered. "So, what're you in for?"

Josh had seen enough police shows to know this is where you had to play it up and act tough, "Aggravated Assault with Extenuating Circumstances."

"Small world," Carmine replied, sounding impressed. "Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Assault with Intent to Kill," he explained, pointing to himself. "Extenuating Circumstances, eh? What'd you do?"

Josh took this as a positive sign and cranked it up a notch, "The court called it a hate crime. I beat up a couple of dykes."

The older man nodded appreciatively. At that moment, a female guard appeared at the door. Carmine turned to look as the woman shouted, "Puckett, you got visitors!"

Josh's face went white at the mention of the older man's last name.

Carmine turned back to Josh, malice evident in his eyes, "I gotta go, Josh. My favorite niece Sammy and her girlfriend, Carly, are here to see me. Sweet girls," He paused, and Josh could feel the room get colder as he spoke again, "Don't worry, though, you and me are gonna have a long talk later…"

The End