Chapter 10

Joe wouldn’t ask Dubois what Williams had said. He wouldn’t humiliate him any further.

With his jaw set, Dubois stood by the bars, looking out again. That seemed to be his favorite spot to stand in. “Please don’t that again,’’ he said, turning his eyes Joe’s way. “You mustn’t stand up for me.”

“My leg was asleep. I needed to stand.”

Dubois nodded his head and looked back at the hall. “Because you see, Joe, I’ll be released from here today or perhaps tomorrow, and I wouldn’t want you to…to get into any trouble.”

“I said my leg was asleep.”

“Yes, of course, I understand.”

Joe brought his hands together, leaning in on his knees. “Listen to me, when they come for you, and they will come for you, you have to fight back. You go at them with everything you have. You don’t let them, you can’tlet them, you know, do that to you. Because once it happens, you’re finished in here. Might as well walk around in a skirt, do you understand me?”