Solitary suited Sadie just fine. Her cell had cement walls and floor, a sink, a toilet, and a bed that was simply a metal platform bolted to the wall. There was no window. The door was a huge steel affair with a slot through which food could be passed. Once a day, she was taken out by two guards into what looked like a glorified dog run and allowed to walk back and forth along its length for an hour.
She’d lost track of time, but was pretty sure her court date was coming up soon. Her court-appointed lawyer assured her she wouldn’t get much time, and the days she’d already spent here in the Kikimi County Young Offenders Correction Facility would be counted against her sentence. Whoop-de-do.
With the constant fluorescent light turned on overhead, and no window, the only way she could tell time was by the regular routine of breakfast, lunch, walk in the dog run, and dinner. She’d taken up an exercise regime because expending energy on push-ups and sit-ups eased her cravings for her knife and distracted her from wanting to bash her head against the wall until it bled.
She already hurt all over. Her orange jumpsuit hid a patchwork of bruises, and every time she stretched a muscle she could feel the pain in her cracked ribs. Sometimes it hurt just to breathe.
The jumpsuit didn’t hide the cut on her temple, her swollen lips, or the blue-black bruises that raccooned her eyes. Those bruises might be going yellow by now, but there was no way to tell. There were no mirrors in solitary.
There was plenty of time to think.
Too much time.
Breakfast was watery lukewarm porridge with maybe three raisins, but no milk or sugar; lunch was stale white bread, usually with a wetish slice of bologna or some other mystery meat, plus an apple or another fruit past its prime; and dinner, a congealed mess of instant potatoes, some sort of flaccid, overcooked vegetable and another gross meat, along with some lumpy pudding-type thing for “dessert.” Sadie had yet to recognize what kind of dinner meat since they all tasted the same, even if they vaguely resembled chicken, beef or pork.
Tonight’s meat had looked mostly like chicken. It had come served with the usual potato paste and a watery green purée, which she decided had once been broccoli. Her dessert might have been rice pudding, but it looked more like maggot pudding, so it remained untouched.
After dinner, she’d spent her time lying on the bed staring at the ceiling and then doing a series of sit-ups. She finished her count of fifty before she got on the floor to do a bunch of push-ups.
Her ribs throbbed with a sharp ache that helped her get past the need to cut herself. There was nothing in her cell that could be used for cutting.
She got up, and was about to pull down her coveralls to have a pee, when she realized that there was someone sitting on the bed.
“What the hell?” she said.
She banged up against the wall beside the toilet, trying to put some distance between herself and the intruder.
“Don’t worry. I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Manny?” she said, suddenly recognizing him.
His words didn’t register. All she could think was, fuck, the old woman died and now he’s here to kill me. Just when she was actually trying to get her life on track.
He stood up and seemed taller than ever in the confines of her cell.
“Who did that to you?” he demanded.
“What?”
“Who hurt you?”
His voice was hard and cold.
Why should you care? almost popped out of her mouth, but she remembered what Aggie had told her about which spirit a person should feed if they want to be a better person, so she stopped herself and took a deep breath instead.
“Some girls,” she said. “They were 66Hers.”
“I don’t understand.”
“66 Hermanas,” Sadie said. “The putas that run with the 66 Bandas.” She spat into the toilet bowl. “Turns out the spell the witch put on me had a best-before date. They jumped me in the can after I got into a fight with one of them in the exercise yard.”
“That’s the problem with an hechicera. Their spells wear off unless you keep them topped up.”
“Whatever.”
Manny sighed. “What were you fighting about?”
“Hey, don’t sigh at me. I was minding my own business. The wannabe ’banger was just testing the new girl. Plus I’m white—not a popular skin colour when most of the kids in here are brown, black or Indians.”
“Tell me their names.”
“And you’ll do what?”
“Teach them some manners.”
Sadie almost smiled. “Yeah, it doesn’t really work like that in here.”
“So they can beat you, but you get punished? And that’s okay with you?”
“Pretty much. I told the guards I started it. I kind of like being in solitary. I’m not really a people person, as you’ve probably noticed.”
Manny shook his head and sat down again. Sadie perched on the toilet.
“So why are you here?” she asked. “Is Aggie okay?”
“I’m not here at her behest. Steve asked me to see you.”
Oh crap. She remembered the disappointment and anger in Steve’s eyes the last time she’d seen him. “If he wants to tear a piece off of me,” she said, “he’s going to have to wait in line.”
Manny didn’t respond. He sat there on the bed, staring at her. Waiting.
“Okay,” Sadie said. “Why did Steve ask you to come see me?”
“One of the ma’inawo owes him a favour. She has a medicine that could fast track you out of this place.”
“You mean some kind of magic?”
Manny nodded. “Something like that.”
“So what’s the catch?”
“There’s somebody else he knows who’s also in trouble, and it could help them.”
Sadie cocked her head. “Why are you telling me this?” she asked.
“He wants you to decide which of you gets the benefit of the ma’inawo’s medicine.”
“You’re serious? Why would he want me to decide? I think I’d be the last person he’d pick.”
Manny’s stoic features gave none of his own opinions away. “I don’t have an answer for that,” he said.
“Well, my answer’s easy. Have him help the other person.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because, a—” She managed to clip the “asshole” that wanted to spring from her lips. “—I’m trying to fix my life, and busting out of here is not going to be a big help.”
“But you’d be free.”
“Maybe. But Aggie wouldn’t help me.”
Manny didn’t say anything for another long moment. Sadie thought she saw a hint of a smile in his dark eyes.
“Is that it?” she asked. “Are we done?”
“We are. And you just won me five bucks.”
“What? This was all some stupid game?”
“No, Morago said that you’d jump at the chance to get out of here.”
“And you didn’t think I would?”
He nodded. “Steve and I both said you wouldn’t.” He smiled. “Morago’s down ten dollars.”
Sadie scanned his face. “Steve said that too? After everything I put him through?”
Manny nodded. “He sees the best in people.”
“No shit. Now I feel even worse for what I did to him.”
Manny shrugged.
They sat in silence for a few moments. Sadie found herself wishing he’d stay for a while, keep the sudden loneliness at bay.
“So, five bucks?” she finally said. “That’s a pretty cheap bet.”
“It’s all I had in my pocket.” He paused, then added, “Tell me the names of the girls who beat you up.”
But all Sadie would say was, “Tell Steve I’m sorry.”
Manny tried to wait her out. Finally, he stood up. “I will,” he said.
And then he was gone.
Sadie had the pee she’d been holding, then went and lay down on her bed, her arm across her eyes.
That was weird, she thought, but she was proud of herself for doing the right thing. It was kind of a first for her.
Maybe Aggie was right. Maybe you got to be a better person by doing better things.
As she fell asleep, she wondered who was going to get the benefit of the help she’d turned down.