The next morning started calmer than the day before. Even Antonio left him and Tucker alone. Still, the mood seemed depressed. When David took a first walk through block A, he discovered the entrances to block B and C. Curiosity seized him, but the armed guards prevented him from just walking over there. So he turned around and went to visit Tucker at work.

"Maybe you should go find something," he says, packing small bottles of dye into boxes. With instructions, conditioner and gloves. "Time flies and you can earn a little bit money."

"I don't really need any money," David said, watching Tucker pack as if he were hypnotized.

“You don't smoke, but maybe you want to buy a coke or something. Or magazines.”

David had to smile. Tucker, the tough guy, was actually a pretty nice guy. He was really lucky that he got into a cell with such a teddy bear. An Antonio would have destroyed him.

"What else is there to do here?" David asked absently, looking around the room. Most of the men who worked here were the nice guys. Like Tucker. They sat at their tables and packed the utensils into the boxes. Everyone presumably regretted their crime. These guys were not repeat offenders.

Tucker paused briefly to think. Finally, he continued packing, keeping his eyes focused on the packaging. "Do you have an education?"

David pressed his lips together. He hated lies. That's why he decided to lie lightly. "None that could be used here."

“Then maybe you could do one. As a carpenter or something. You have to apply for it, however, and it can take up to two years before you get your turn. But you can think about it.”

“That is probably not an option. I'm looking for something where you can kill time with. As I said, I don't really need money.”

Tucker smiled and pushed a pack of dye away. "Are you rich? Does someone send you money?”

"No. I thought it was forbidden. Sending money,” David said.

"Well," Tucker shrugged. “Actually yes, but it's also forbidden to take drugs or drink alcohol. Nevertheless, everyone here is regularly high and drunk.”

David nodded cautiously. "Are you into stuff like that as well?"

"No," he laughed again. "I'm dry and I sold drugs, but the first rule in drug trafficking is: don't take them yourself. Otherwise you'll eventually become your own best clientele."

"You're right," David murmured, tapping his fingertips on the table. It was too boring for him to sit here. It didn't help him. He was looking for important information. "I'll take a look around."

"Don't get in trouble, Bub," Tucker said, winking at his buddy. David just smiled wearily and stood up.

At dinner, Antonio and his troops naturally came up to him again. "Hello princess," he actually only greeted David. Tucker was invisible to them. "Did you wash the blood off well?"

David tried to ignore him and ate his noodles. They didn't taste good. But served their purpose.

"You know," Antonio began to think and, once again, sat far too close to David. He put an arm around his waist. “I figured I'd hate to leave you to Candy. Better come to me. I treat you well. Give yourself sweets whenever you like.”

His slimy accent made the offer even more unattractive than it already was.

"Thank you, but no thanks," David politely declined and just continued eating.

"I don't think you understood me completely, sweetheart," Antonio laughed, running his free hand over David's leg. “You will be mine or Candy’s. And believe me, you don't want to be Candy's property.” He nodded at the group of men sitting around them. “They've already made bets on when you're going to leave us. Apparently, Candy already has an eye on you.”

"Does he want to fuck me or kill me?" David asked calmly, close at the border to being annoyed. Tucker didn't get a bite and just sat frozen across from David.

Antonio's gold teeth glittered in the dim light as he grinned crookedly. “You never really know that with Candy. Maybe both? Maybe he first tears your intestine out, fucks it and then shoves it back in for you. And when they sew you together, he'll knock your teeth out and use your cheeky mouth as a shitty cunt.”

The men around them, who used to have quiet conversations, now fell into complete silence. David eyed his troublemaker and moved the corners of his mouth.

"Your eloquence is really fascinating."

"Mine what, you son of a bitch?" Antonio asked, not knowing what eloquent meant. David didn't want to start a fight, even though he felt that he was about to earn a fist.

“I'm not going to be your whore or Candy’s. Why does everyone here think I need a sugar daddy?”

"You're new," one of Antonio's men said. His accent was even stronger than that of the others. “Everyone belongs somewhere. Your friend here? He belongs to the pussies. They get fucked a few times and then you drop them because they're boring. Look at him, a muscle man, but nothing behind it. What do you want with that?”

When David squinted at Tucker, he looked sadly at his food. It may have sounded like an insult at first, but David knew that the decision to be 'boring' was a good one. Because he would survive. Neither Candy nor Antonio would put their fingers on Tucker. And that seemed to have been gold in the current prison situation. It's a shame that David wasn't given the time to be 'boring'.

"You are interesting, princess," Antonio purred, moving his hand up on David's leg. "You are cute. A little used up, but good looking. You must have a nice woman waiting for you at home.”

David said nothing.

“If you want to see her again, you should stick to me. I promise you will survive the whole thing here.” His warm hand went into David's crotch. And squeezed. "As long as you do what I tell you."

If they hadn't been in prison and wouldn't have had heavily armed men around every corner, David would have slapped his face. With full force. And then maybe kicked him in the butt.

Maybe the man in the shower had been right. It was time to fight back.

"Stay away," David said in a calm but vibrating voice. Tucker winced. It was the first time David had sharpened his tone.

"Or what?" giggled Antonio, biting his lip as he ran his fingertips over David's penis. Rejection apparently turned him on.

"Or I feel compelled to do something about it," David replied, grasping Antonio's wrist. He felt all eyes on them. "Last warning."

"Oho," the greasy guy sneered, running his tongue over his lips. "Show me what you'd do, you little dirty hoe!"

So he was also into degradation. David had to admit that it was an interesting mix together with his character.

"These fingers," David said, lifting his wrist very gently, which was previously in his crotch. Antonio allowed it, thinking David was just bluffing. "You touched something only someone with my permission is allowed to touch."

The air became stuffy. Tucker had probably stopped breathing. Only Antonio seemed excited enough to let David go on. His stiff dick was already clearly visible through the thin grey pants.

"That has to be punished, hasn't it?" David asked rhetorically, raising both eyebrows while not breaking eye contact with Antonio. Instead, he brought his hand closer to him. Finally he grabbed Antonio's hand a little more tightly and raised his middle finger. Antonio's eyes followed David excitedly. He even opened his own mouth in anticipation. David gently stuck out his tongue to lick Antonio's middle finger. Salty. Smelled like smoke and tasted bitter. Not a pleasant thing.

Just when David thought he had already given Antonio an orgasm and was willing to finally bite down, a hand reached for his shoulder.

"Enough now," the guard said, pointing to the group of men all around David and Antonio, watching intently. “Eat up and go back to your cells. The curfew is coming soon.”

Interestingly, everyone got up and went their own way. Antonio turned around again and licked his lips. David cursed himself for not being faster. Now Antonio thought they would continue this soon.

But maybe that also played in David's hands.

"That was crass," Tucker breathed when they were on their way to their cell. "You wanted to bite his finger off, right?"

"That was the plan, yes," David said unimpressed, and immediately grabbed his towel when they reached their room. "I'm going to take a quick shower."

“Now? It's curfew. The guards already saw you walking around yesterday.”

"Antonio touched me," David said with a pinch of truth. “I don't want to take that to bed. I would also like to wash my mouth with soap. His fingers were disgusting.”

He left their cell and went to the showers with quick steps. In fact, the corridors thinned out the closer he got to the premises. A pleasant smell of soap spread across his nose. Mango.

When he reached the locker room, he heard the soothing splash of a shower.

The black bathrobe was hanging in the same place again.

David undressed and went past the shelf to take the shower, which he had occupied the day before, but there he was. The man.

A little surprised David took a step back and blinked on the white back of the man. He turned slowly, smiling broadly when he saw David.

"Hi," he said cheerfully, blinking a few times. “Here again? Today, however, without ketchup, I see.”

"Yes," David replied stupidly and went on to the next shower. "Today without ketchup."

"Did you speak to the guys?" the brunette man asked with the small waves in his hair without starting some small talk.

David switched on the shower next to him and looked into his eyes. They were blue. At the hairline on his forehead he already had isolated strands of grey hair. His age was difficult to estimate. However, when David noticed that he was staring, he looked at his soap and started to foam it up in his hands. "I have. Unfortunately, it didn't have the result I was hoping for.”

"Well," the man began, rubbing his hair a few times, "I could have predicted that."

There was a brief silence. David felt the blue eyes on his hands.

"May I?" The man finally asked, pointing to the soap in David's hands.

"Sure."

Their hands touched briefly when he handed over the soap.

David didn't quite understand why he wanted his soap when he had one that smelled so much better of mango.

"Exactly what," the man began to say, spreading the already foamed soap over his torso, "did happen today?"

"Antonio sexually harassed me again," David said, and was surprised that he mentioned the name of his tormentor for the first time. He actually wanted to remain neutral. But the will to bite his finger clearly showed that the other will, which was initially in Antonio's favour, was slowly weakening. "Then I warned him to keep his hands off me."

The man kept soaping himself as if he had all the time in the world. His eyes were strictly on the floor, while his hands ran the soap over his skin. David only watched him through the corner of his eye.

"Of course he didn't," the man concluded quietly when David didn't speak.

"Yes. So I wanted to bite his finger off.”

Any normal person would have looked horrified. Like Tucker, who would still be as white as a sheet if David returned, even if nothing had happened in the end. But the man who had a really nice smile grinned as broadly as if David had told him the best joke in weeks.

"You wanted to bite his finger off," he repeated, amused, and finally put the soap back on the holder next to David's shower. “But you didn't. In any case, there was no ketchup or blood on you.”

"No, a security guard interrupted us."

"How lucky," he sighed, cocking his head to put some water on his face. He closed his eyes and seemed to enjoy the warmth on his skin. "That could have ended badly."

"Probably," grumbled David, watching the man unabashedly. After all, his eyes were closed.

“Do you know what would have happened? Because I don't think you know.”

That made David turn his eyes in a circle. "Enlighten me."

The man stepped out of the water jet and wiped his eyes. Eventually, his eyes hardened. “Antonio's men would have grabbed you and probably stabbed you in front of the guards. In the end, a few shots would have been fired and maybe there would have been a few dead. Everyone would have rioted.”

As he spoke, it sounded like he was speaking from experience.

“You would have been taken to the infirmary. There you would have been patched up and brought to court again. Statement against statement, as it always is. You would have had a few more years and your release due to good behaviour would have been even more distant.”

He took a few steps towards David and examined his chest. But it was more of a thoughtful stare. A small frown line spread across his forehead.

“They would have put you in block B or C. And I tell you: there are no rules. Everyone does what they want. „

"I heard that," David muttered, watching the man. The mood suddenly became oppressive.