ASCENSION (32 page)

“Do that.”

Martin leaned
in
closer
, “Your uncle says
due to your crisis
t
he
board’s decision is
sfavorevole
.
”

Alfo
nzo’s face transformed to stone. His Italian was better and he understood the decision was
unfavorable
. His uncle was informing him to watch his back,
“Work faster.”

“You have my word Don Alfonzo.”

***

Later, after a
nother
week of
crappy fucking institutional meal
s
he sat in the
Rec
H
all with
other
detainees
for
‘Movie Night
’.
They were showing his favorite movie
,
Any
Given Sunday.
He usually stayed clear of the general population, especially since he received word
about
the IBD
but he needed a break from the cold unattractive cell.

He
chose a seat in the rear of the room where could view
the other
detainees
. He was careful to leave
a huge gap on either side of him, just in case
then
settled
back
i
n his chair as t
he intense locker scene unfolded
. This was the best
part
, the one when
the
coach
gives
an
inspirational pep
talk
to
his team.

“…
I made every wrong choice a middle aged man can
make,
I pissed away all my
m
oney, believe it or not. I chased off anyone who’s ever loved me and lately I can’t even stand
the face I see in the mirror
. You know when you get old in life, things get taken from you, but
you only learn that when you start losing stuff. Then you find out life’s this game of inches
…”

A
late arriving detainee slipped into the empty
seat on Alfonzo’s left.
A
stern face
Simmons
folded his
arms
across his chest and turned away.
Alfonzo sized him up
, placed his feet firmly on the floor
then turned his
attention to the screen.

“…
w
e claw with our fingernails for that inch…
”

The inmate slowly reached
a
hand ben
e
ath the chair
and felt around until he touched the
sharp object
secreted there.

“…
it’s the guy who’s willing to die for that inch, that’s what living is.
”

He
grasped the sharp weapon
then
without
a sound
lunged at
Alfonzo
.

Engrossed in the scene’s intensity, Alfonzo’s reaction was delayed. He heard the chair scrape but when he turned in the direction in which the noise
emanated he was met with a flash of metal and a massive body hurling toward him.
The metal he
spotted
was
a
piece of sharpened
Plexiglas
wrapped
with tape around the handle
.
A shiv, an inmate’s home-made version of a knife.
The
sharp object
penetrat
ed
Alfonzo’s
collarbone
only inches
from an
old
b
ullet wound
. It may
have struck
his heart if
Alfonzo hadn
’
t shifted his body
to the side in an attempt to deflect the blades direction
.
Everything
after
occurred
extremely
fast
.
The element of surprise worked to the man’s advantage
.
The momentum
of the
man’s body
sent
Alfonzo
toppl
ing
backward
over the chair
and his head struck the hard floor then
the
entire
room
spun upside down.

A
aaaaah
!!
The
p
ounds
to his face
and the
h
ellish pain brought him
fully awake as
the
sharp
object
dug and twisted in his
flesh.
The man straddled him p
ress
ing
down with
his
weight
on the
makeshift
knife.
The shit hurt so bad he nearly passed out
.
Alfonzo
’s nostrils flared
as
he sucked in air. He
grabbed hold of the man’s
wrists
to
push…p
ush…push…push…until the blood soaked
blade dislodged from his body
bringing parts of skin with it
.
Adrenalin pulsed through Alfonzo
as
he blocked the
pain
. He shut out the excruciating
hurt to
focus on
his
counter-attack.
D
eath
wasn’t an
appealing
prospect
,
especially
when he had so much to live for.

Someone kicked him in the head and another threw a sucker punch as he
lay on his back.
The sound of s
tadium crowd
roars
echoed
above
Alfonzo’
s head.
Peripherally
he
noticed
the
m
onochromatic canvas
sneakers
of
the detainees
as they
jostled
to get
a
front row view
of the deadly brawl
.
The random strikes ended when
Alfonzo swiveled on the floor and his body sprung to
life
indicating
the fight
was not over.

Exertion
to
his muscles caused a burning in his arms
. H
e fought against
g
ravity to
r
everse
the
blade
s direction
away from his face.
D
etermination
and raw strength prevented the weapon from
reaching his throat
as the attacker pushed back.
Alfonzo knew he
could
not continue this fight
in a prone position. Blood was pouring from
everywhere and nowhere. He slid around in it, used it to move and unbalance his
attacker
as well as prevent any further phantom blows.
His opponent was determined not to release
the
weapon
.
Alfonzo
clamped
down harder, squeezing
his hands
tighter
over
his adversaries
. With
every
o
unce of
strength
he rotated his attacker’s wrists.
It was difficult to do with
such
weight
upon him but he had no other choice. He strained his upper
body
to
the limit and beyond to
angle the blade in the opposite direction.
Veins
protruded from his
neck
, shoulders and biceps
as
he
grunt
then made his move.
Rubber soled feet
gripped the floor
and
he u
s
ed
his
buttocks
as a fulcrum
to rock forward
. He
wrapped his legs around the man’s waist for leverage
then
thrust his torso forward in one explosive
sit-up.
The synchronous
movement knocked the man off balance
and
Alfonzo
slammed the shiv in
to
flesh. He
shoved hard
er
and
with
calm precision
twisted
counter-clockwise
. T
he
scored
plexiglass
suddenly
snap
ped
between
his fingers
sending
a fountain of red liquid
pouring atop
his abdomen
.
The
aggressor-turned victim
stopped
fighting
, his lip twitched as he looked at the cold face of the man beneath him before toppling
sideways to the
floor
;
the
broken blade protruding from his chest.

Bo
isterous whoops and hollers filled the
room
followed by an
emergency
horn
which signified a high alert lockdown.
Al
fonzo
slumped down to the floor and
closed his
weary
eyes
then opened them again.

I’m still alive
!

He
rolled on
his uninjured sid
e
to
rest as blood
poured
from
his face,
body
and hands.
It
pooled around him
.
H
e tucked his
chin
to his chest
to
examine
his injury. It
didn’t look good.

Damn!

The shiv opened a section of
his
skin
expos
ing
white-yellowish tissue
.
His hands were covered in blood and his head throbbed ferociously. The warm bodily fluid sliding down his neck told him why.
He worried he might
bleed to death if he didn’t get medical attention
soon.
H
is thoughts were of his son and he managed a weak smile.

‘
Dad you left yourself open!’

Sal playfully warned him about
doing that
and
he hadn’t listened. Now
look
at the
cost
.
He
coughed blood and the
pain of it put him down. G
ood
m
ovies
transport you somewhere else
and make you forget your problems
.
All he wanted was to forget his problems
even for a short time.
The throbbing
ache
reminded him
of life and how quickly death
comes
calling. He wished himself home with Sal and his wife but wishes
were
simply unfulfilled dreams of children.

Uniformed
guard
s finally arrived
.
S
uddenly
Officer Simmons
began
moving and
ordering
the inmates
back
.
Alfonzo wondered how much
he was paid to look the other way and swore if he lived
the guard
would die.
Then came m
ore shouting and
curious
faces circling
then
closing in
.
T
oo
weak to
m
ove
he
wondered why they stood around clutching fists to their mouths
instead of getting
him medical attention. Or were they waiting for him to
take his final breath
?