The second day would be the true test.
It was the first time Yang Yi had ever been to prison. Thus, he didn’t manage to get a good night's sleep even though he was tired. He kept waking up in the middle of the night.
Yang Yi was feeling groggy due to not sleeping well. His mood was horrible because of this.
Yang Yi took out a half a finger long toothbrush from his toiletries bag and stood for quite a long time in front of the sink before brushing his teeth. Once done, he continued to stand in front of the sink dazed.
“Are you done? Can you step aside for me to wash up if you’re done?”
Yang Yi stored his toothbrush before he looked at Chris and apologized, “Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts.”
Yang Yi had recalled a movie where a toothbrush had been turned into a weapon. Alas, his toothbrush was too small.
He would have to think of a way to obtain a weapon. Yang Yi wouldn’t be able to harm his opponent too much if he fought unarmed. He also couldn’t depend on attacking the opponent’s eyes since it wouldn’t work every single time.
Up till now, Yang Yi was still unable to come up with a good solution for acquiring a weapon.
After Chris finished washing up, he went and stood in front of the cell’s door. His timing was quite precise because right after a buzz sounded and the cell door opened automatically.
*****
The first event of the day was breakfast. The breakfast menu was oatmeal porridge, a small bottle of milk and two pieces of bread. Compared to the beans Yang Yi had yesterday, he felt the food provided for breakfast was much better. He wasn't entirely sure if was it due to him being hungry or if the meal was really delicious.
The Boxing King was collecting food from the other people again today. It was milk this time but Yang Yi didn’t handover his food again.
Since hostility had already been formed, a fight was unavoidable. So, Yang Yi finished up his meal very quickly this time.
This time around, Yang Yi made sure he sat facing the Boxing King. After finishing his meal, he started monitoring the Boxing King’s gang in case they took any action.
Chris was also sitting at the same table as Yang Yi. He quickly finished up his meal and whispered to Yang Yi without looking at him. “I’m going to work now. Before that, I would like to remind you to be careful today. If the Boxing King plans to exact revenge, it will definitely happen today.”
Yang Yi asked in surprise, “You’re going to work?”
“Yes. I help take care of garbage disposal. Today’s my turn. It’s not a popular job but at least I’m doing something. Besides, it’s better than being stuck inside the cell.”
Yang Yi quickly asked, “What does garbage disposal work entail? Do you send all the garbage to a garbage truck or do you dispose of it here? If it’s done here, do you bury or incinerate it?”
“A portion is incinerated, another portion is sent away while the remainder is buried. There isn’t any municipal garbage truck that comes. So, we have to manage most of our garbage on our own.”
After a moment of pause, Chris said, “Good luck to you.”
Chris stood up and spoke to one of the guards, “Sir, I’m going to work. It’s my turn to dispose of the garbage.”
After the guard gave Chris approval to leave, he hurriedly left the canteen.
Breakfast passed peacefully without the Boxing King causing any problem. There was an hour of free activity after breakfast. The inmates could take a stroll, exercise or play basketball.
*****
The recreation field wasn’t big and every group of inmates occupied their own section of the field. The basketball court was occupied by the Blacks. The Whites occupied the corner with the fitness equipment. The Latinos were happily chatting amongst themselves. Those without any gang affiliations gathered as a group to spend the best time of the day together.
Yang Yi leaned on the fence. He felt rather safe where he was as there was a guard armed with a rifle standing near him.
When Yang Yi saw Buddy amongst a group of Black inmates, he immediately yelled, “Buddy! Buddy! Please come over!”
Buddy was actually laughing and chatting in the midst of the group of inmates. Yang Yi didn’t dare approach Buddy just in case one of Boxing King’s men would try to use it as a chance to stab him.
Buddy soon arrived in front of Yang Yi and smiled at him, “What’s up bro. You need something?”
Yang Yi then lowered his voice and said, “Yes. I heard we can make phone calls here?”
Buddy turned lively and said in a hushed tone, “Of course. I have a phone. Do you want to make a call? Not a problem but it’ll be ten dollars a minute.”
The price was exorbitant. Yang Yi bit his lip and said, “I don’t have money right now.”
Buddy tilted his head and said with a helpless expression, “Are you joking? No money? I can’t help you then.”
Yang Yi softly said, “I can definitely get the money. I will be able to get you the money if you allow me to make the phone call. I will pay you back once I receive the money. In fact, I will pay you an extra fifty dollars. How about it?”
After giving it some thought, Buddy asked, “You’re sure you can get the money?”
“Of course, bro. I don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble. I wouldn’t give you my word if I wasn't confident I could get the money.”
Buddy shrugged and said, “Follow me.”
Buddy brought Yang Yi past quite a number of inmates before they arrived at one corner of the prison. The corner wasn’t even a blind spot since there were no such places in this prison. However, Buddy still dared to bring him to the corner which meant he wasn’t worried about them being discovered.
Although the prison also provided phone services and Yang Yi only needed to apply for it, all calls made via the prison were monitored and recorded. It was because of this issue that Buddy’s phone service was very popular amongst the inmates.
Buddy took out a phone which was actually just slightly larger than a thumb. The phone was a imitation, made in China.
After Buddy mysteriously took out the phone, he whispered, “Your usage will be determined by the phone’s call log. Your usage time will be rounded up to a minute even if you only exceed it by a second. So, make sure to keep track of your own usage.”
Yang Yi took the small hand phone and asked, “What about international calls? Are those still ten dollars a minute?”
Buddy was surprised by what he heard, “International calls? This phone can’t make calls abroad.”
Yang Yi was dumbfounded by the answer given, “Why? I can pay you more for it if necessary.”
“It’s not a matter of money. The phone doesn’t have the option to make international calls. The service would need to be unlocked first.”
Yang Yi was almost in tears. His plan was to call either Danny or Kate. Now that he couldn’t call abroad, how was he going to ask them for money?
The second day would be the true test.
It was the first time Yang Yi had ever been to prison. Thus, he didn’t manage to get a good night's sleep even though he was tired. He kept waking up in the middle of the night.
Yang Yi was feeling groggy due to not sleeping well. His mood was horrible because of this.
Yang Yi took out a half a finger long toothbrush from his toiletries bag and stood for quite a long time in front of the sink before brushing his teeth. Once done, he continued to stand in front of the sink dazed.
“Are you done? Can you step aside for me to wash up if you’re done?”
Yang Yi stored his toothbrush before he looked at Chris and apologized, “Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts.”
Yang Yi had recalled a movie where a toothbrush had been turned into a weapon. Alas, his toothbrush was too small.
He would have to think of a way to obtain a weapon. Yang Yi wouldn’t be able to harm his opponent too much if he fought unarmed. He also couldn’t depend on attacking the opponent’s eyes since it wouldn’t work every single time.
Up till now, Yang Yi was still unable to come up with a good solution for acquiring a weapon.
After Chris finished washing up, he went and stood in front of the cell’s door. His timing was quite precise because right after a buzz sounded and the cell door opened automatically.
*****
The first event of the day was breakfast. The breakfast menu was oatmeal porridge, a small bottle of milk and two pieces of bread. Compared to the beans Yang Yi had yesterday, he felt the food provided for breakfast was much better. He wasn't entirely sure if was it due to him being hungry or if the meal was really delicious.
The Boxing King was collecting food from the other people again today. It was milk this time but Yang Yi didn’t handover his food again.
Since hostility had already been formed, a fight was unavoidable. So, Yang Yi finished up his meal very quickly this time.
This time around, Yang Yi made sure he sat facing the Boxing King. After finishing his meal, he started monitoring the Boxing King’s gang in case they took any action.
Chris was also sitting at the same table as Yang Yi. He quickly finished up his meal and whispered to Yang Yi without looking at him. “I’m going to work now. Before that, I would like to remind you to be careful today. If the Boxing King plans to exact revenge, it will definitely happen today.”
Yang Yi asked in surprise, “You’re going to work?”
“Yes. I help take care of garbage disposal. Today’s my turn. It’s not a popular job but at least I’m doing something. Besides, it’s better than being stuck inside the cell.”
Yang Yi quickly asked, “What does garbage disposal work entail? Do you send all the garbage to a garbage truck or do you dispose of it here? If it’s done here, do you bury or incinerate it?”
“A portion is incinerated, another portion is sent away while the remainder is buried. There isn’t any municipal garbage truck that comes. So, we have to manage most of our garbage on our own.”
After a moment of pause, Chris said, “Good luck to you.”
Chris stood up and spoke to one of the guards, “Sir, I’m going to work. It’s my turn to dispose of the garbage.”
After the guard gave Chris approval to leave, he hurriedly left the canteen.
Breakfast passed peacefully without the Boxing King causing any problem. There was an hour of free activity after breakfast. The inmates could take a stroll, exercise or play basketball.
*****
The recreation field wasn’t big and every group of inmates occupied their own section of the field. The basketball court was occupied by the Blacks. The Whites occupied the corner with the fitness equipment. The Latinos were happily chatting amongst themselves. Those without any gang affiliations gathered as a group to spend the best time of the day together.
Yang Yi leaned on the fence. He felt rather safe where he was as there was a guard armed with a rifle standing near him.
When Yang Yi saw Buddy amongst a group of Black inmates, he immediately yelled, “Buddy! Buddy! Please come over!”
Buddy was actually laughing and chatting in the midst of the group of inmates. Yang Yi didn’t dare approach Buddy just in case one of Boxing King’s men would try to use it as a chance to stab him.
Buddy soon arrived in front of Yang Yi and smiled at him, “What’s up bro. You need something?”
Yang Yi then lowered his voice and said, “Yes. I heard we can make phone calls here?”
Buddy turned lively and said in a hushed tone, “Of course. I have a phone. Do you want to make a call? Not a problem but it’ll be ten dollars a minute.”
The price was exorbitant. Yang Yi bit his lip and said, “I don’t have money right now.”
Buddy tilted his head and said with a helpless expression, “Are you joking? No money? I can’t help you then.”
Yang Yi softly said, “I can definitely get the money. I will be able to get you the money if you allow me to make the phone call. I will pay you back once I receive the money. In fact, I will pay you an extra fifty dollars. How about it?”
After giving it some thought, Buddy asked, “You’re sure you can get the money?”
“Of course, bro. I don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble. I wouldn’t give you my word if I wasn't confident I could get the money.”
Buddy shrugged and said, “Follow me.”
Buddy brought Yang Yi past quite a number of inmates before they arrived at one corner of the prison. The corner wasn’t even a blind spot since there were no such places in this prison. However, Buddy still dared to bring him to the corner which meant he wasn’t worried about them being discovered.
Although the prison also provided phone services and Yang Yi only needed to apply for it, all calls made via the prison were monitored and recorded. It was because of this issue that Buddy’s phone service was very popular amongst the inmates.
Buddy took out a phone which was actually just slightly larger than a thumb. The phone was a imitation, made in China.
After Buddy mysteriously took out the phone, he whispered, “Your usage will be determined by the phone’s call log. Your usage time will be rounded up to a minute even if you only exceed it by a second. So, make sure to keep track of your own usage.”
Yang Yi took the small hand phone and asked, “What about international calls? Are those still ten dollars a minute?”
Buddy was surprised by what he heard, “International calls? This phone can’t make calls abroad.”
Yang Yi was dumbfounded by the answer given, “Why? I can pay you more for it if necessary.”
“It’s not a matter of money. The phone doesn’t have the option to make international calls. The service would need to be unlocked first.”
Yang Yi was almost in tears. His plan was to call either Danny or Kate. Now that he couldn’t call abroad, how was he going to ask them for money?
