Part 9

I staggered into my cell, totally worn out. I had so much tears in my eyes which was temporarily blinding me. I walked towards the bed I shared with Sebastian, and sat down. I covered my face with my hands and began to cry.

I was still crying when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped up then looked over to who had touched me. He was in uniform, a prisons officer's uniform. But, I don't think I have seen him before.

" Who are you?" I looked at him,suspiciously.

" I am sorry to have startled you. My name is Andre and I work here", he replied calmly

" What is a prison officer doing in my cell?" I asked again

" Listen, I am here to help you. I saw when one of General's boys brought you in here. I don't know what actually happened to you, but, I know General must have done something. It's not like this is the first time a prisoner has been dragged out of his office looking like this", he gestured to my face.

I remained quiet for a while before speaking again. " Why do you want to help me, when you know very well that general is not someone you can easily defeat?"

" Because I know what he did to other prisoners before you. General can be very ruthless and very fearful but it's time someone stood up to him", he explained.

I was suddenly feeling dizzy. Andre noticed it and help me sit down before I could even fall. I looked at him, I was very tired and worn out. " I don't think I have the strength to fight him, and I don't want to put the burden on any person".

Andre was quiet. It looked like he was thinking about something, then he asked, " What really happened? I was in here last night, but both you and your cell mate were nowhere to be found".

I sighed deeply. " He killed him... General killed Sebastian".

" What? When did this happen?" he seemed really surprised by the news.

" Last night. He tortured and killed him. He did it right in front of me, without any guilt. They shot him", I began to cry.

Andre hugged me, while I cried on his shoulder. He comforted me, till I was calm.

" Did he touch you?" he asked, in a tone that frightened me in a way

I broke the hug and cleaned my face with my shirt. " What do you mean?"

" Look, I should not be telling you this, but, I think you have to know. I have seen the general torture and rape a prisoner before. His name was Stephen. That day, General asked me to bring him to his office. Stephen seemed a bit shaken when I told him where I was taking him. When we got there, two other officers were already there. We all went into the other room, inside the office. That's where the poor boy was repeatedly molested", he narrated

Sebastian had already told me general did the same thing he did to me, to him. But, I would never have thought other prisoners had gone through that as well. I was quiet the entire time Andre was narrating that incident to me, trying to take everything in.

"...it was not just the general who had done that to him, the other two officers did same. They wanted me to join them but I felt very disgusted by everything. I tried to stop them. I begged them to stop. But, the general threatened to kill me if I interfered. I was a coward. I was scared of dying so I could not even help the poor boy", his voice sounded sad.

" So, where is he, the prisoner?" I asked

He looked up at me. He had unshed tears in his eyes, and those tears were threatening to fall but, he tried so had not to cry.

" He...he is dead. He committed suicide, three days later. He told me how the general had been molesting him, for a while. Sometime allowing his boys to have their way with him. That boy was in here for petty theft, but his life here was miserable", he said softly.

" Now I am afraid he is doing the same to me. And, I can't do anything about it. My parents don't care about me right now and my lawyer is out of town at the moment. How am I going to fight him on my own?" I felt defeated

Andre held my hand which made me look at me. " I don't want what happened to Stephen to happen to you. I could not save Stephen, but I will do anything to save you".

I gave him a weak smile. " Thank you, but, how are you going to do that? How are you going to help me?"

" I will think of a way. But, I want you to promise me that,you will stay strong till I am able to think of a plan", he assured

" I will try", I whispered. I could not trust myself to stay strong in here. What if I ended up like Stephen and Sebastian? I felt useless.

" You know what? Let me help you to the bath house to take your bath, then come back and have some rest, okay?" he gave me a small smile.

" But, is that allowed?" I asked in panic

" No, but I have my ways. Come with me", he stretched out his hand which I graciously took and left for the bath house with him.

He waited by the door as I took my bath. I was aching all over. And the pain I was feeling, I could not compare to any other. It took me a while to get my clothes off and get under the shower.

When I finally did, I opened the tap, and the water quickly hit my skin making me wince in pain. The water was cold, yet it kind of relaxed me at the end. I got out of the shower after I was done and cleaned myself up. Andre brought clean uniforms for me, which I was grateful for.

I quickly changed into them,then stepped out. Andre then helped me back to the cell, and allowed me to rest. I was surprised no one had disturbed our conversation or even come looking for me. As soon as my head touched the pillow, I closed my eyes and dozed off to sleep.