One
**Please don’t mind the grammar, punctuation, and everything else to do with that beyond this point. I’m editing the chapters here now. **
Happy Reading!
“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that’s all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure.”
Stephen King, Rita Hayworth, and Shawshank Redemption: A Story from Different Seasons
8 months ago...
“Cooper! We need you in the ward’s office.” One of the guards says.
“For what?” I ask, sitting up from the floor. I was drenched in sweat from doing my normal workout.
I walk out of my cell when my door buzzes open. One of the guards grabs my arm and pulls me towards the office. I make a growling sound as I pass some known enemies giving me the look. They look away, and I laugh. Once I’m out of eyesight from the others, the guard lets go of me. He throws me a bag full of clothes and pushes me into the office.
“You get to go free,”
I change out of the orange jumpsuit. Man, I’m so happy to be out of this hell hole. You don’t understand what this means for me. It means I’m out. I’m out. No more undercover, no more blood on my hands. I can officially stay away from this negative shit and focus on myself.
Yay, am I right?
Well, let me introduce myself. I’m Cooper Marie Johnson. Some people call me C.J, but that is highly rare. Especially since she ruined me. Who is she, you ask? She is better known as Jessica. She’s the one who got me in this shit in the first place.
But that is a story for another time.
Back to me. I’m part Haitian and Italian. And I’m a lesbian. Yeah, I can see the little wheels in your head, turning. Jessica and I? Yes. There once was a Jessica and I. Anyways, I’m involved in a lot of gangs around the state. I’m the most ruthless of them all, me being in the game since I was in grade school.
“Come on, Cooper, let’s go!” My favorite guard yells at me. “It’s not like your talking to any friends, you switch.”
I slip on the hoodie that was left for me. I pull on the sweatpants before saying, “James, you know I can kill you, right?”
James laughs. “You’ve been saying that since you got here,”
“And how many times have you been attacked, since I’ve gotten here?”
The silence that follows the question causes me to laugh. I walk out of the office I was in to see James leaning against the wall. He looks up when I stop in front of him. He arches an eyebrow.
“So all of those, were you?”
“Mhmm,” I say a smirk on my face.
James rolls his eyes. I start walking away from the spot leading the way out of the building. We stop at the gate ignoring the car full of my old gang members. I look over at James.
“This has been a fun ride, man.” He smiles.
I pat his back and walk off to something I’ve been looking for, for a long time.
Freedom.
“Mama, I’m okay.” I groan for the hundredth time. She’s been asking me if I’ve been raped or if they were in danger for the last 10 minutes.
“But-”
“Well if it isn’t Cooper Johnson,” A familiar voice says from behind me.
I get up, a smile on my face. Ryan stood behind me smiling like an idiot. She runs towards me wrapping her arm around my neck. I laugh. I wrap my arms around her waist picking her up.
“Well, you filled out just fine,” I comment placing her down on the grown.
She rolls her eyes. “Shut up, Cooper.”
“Non sei più quel piccolo battito a petto piatto, eh?” I whisper to her.
She blushes before attempting to punch my stomach. She cradles her fist in her other arm while whining. I laugh at her, falling back on the couch.
“Have you heard from Jes-” Mom starts.
“No, I haven’t heard from her,” I say, cutting her off.
Ryan snuggles up against my side, while Mom sits on the other side of me. I smile and start playing in Ryan’s hair. Mom grabs my other hand intertwining our fingers. She rarely shows any affection to me. I look at her.
She smiles as if saying, Just for tonight. I look down at Ryan. She was snuggled up into my side her hand resting on my chest. I smile down at her. I lay my head back with a sigh before finally closing my eyes.
This was all I want, after all. To be with my family.
