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Haven opened herin his pocket He pulled it out, his s as he silenced it

"Well, you’re in luck," he said "Duty calls It was nice tohis eyebrows curiously She realized she hadn’t yet told hi "You can call , whack, ping, whack

Corrado lay in his botto to the sound of paddles striking Ping-Pong balls on the tier outside his s, the noise loud enough to hter, trying to block out the corow louder as ti, he regretted requesting general population

There was little to do at MCC, nothing to look at, and no one to talk to Table tennis and card games seemed to be how most men passed the time, but neither activity interested Corrado He occasionally went to the rec yard for fresh air, but he spentout the others as he counted the days Three weeks down, God kno , whack

Corrado tried to take it in stride After everything he had done over the years, a few months should be an easy punishment The way he calculated it, it was less than a day for everyone he had hurt A measly few hours of incarceration for everyone he killed He would take his few ht back to his life

Today, however, he found being there insufferable The pinging of the balls, the babble of the in the tiers, barking orders and throwing their weight around--it was all too , he hauled himself out of the bed His cellmate looked up from his book on the top bunk and eyed Corrado cautiously as he stood They hadn’t shared more than a handful of short conversations in three weeks

"You all right, uarded

"I will be in a minute"

Corrado walked out of the cell, no hesitation in his step as he made his way into the common area A few of the inathered around the Ping-Pong ga out of his way instinctively as he headed straight for the roup, a large guy fro trafficking He clutched the paddle, laughing as he smacked the ball, oblivious to Corrado’s approach

Ping, whack, ping, whack, ping, whack

CRACK

The sickening crunch of Corrado’s fist connecting with the guy’s face echoed through the concrete roouy hit the floor with a thud, stunned, as blood poured from his nose The croas i, as whistles and lights went off on the tier

Corrado stood in place and raised his hands in the air as a horde of correctional officers descended upon therabbed hiainst the nearest wall His hands were forced behind his back, his wrists secured with handcuffs before shackles were attached to his ankles In a ht to solitary confinement

"Dumb le less cell, brightly lit by a flickering fluorescent bulb "You’ll be lucky if you don’t get an assault charge"

Corrado laughed dryly The DA wouldn’t waste his ties, seven assault charges, three counts of extortion, and a dozen weapons violations, give or take a few A punch was nothing, noticket

The officer shook his head as he released Corrado from his restraints, annoyed by his refusal to react "You’re not as infallible as you think you are If you were, you wouldn’t be in prison right now"

"It’s only te his hand His knuckles were already swelling from the force of the punch

"That’s probably true," the officer muttered "I’ll never understand"

"I’m not surprised," Corrado quipped "Co suit"

The officer ignored the jab as he locked the cell and walked away Finally alone, Corrado lay on the hard, thin ain draped his ar him in peace as sleep took hi in his head had dulled He sat up and glanced toward the door at the sa through "Mail call"

He slid in two envelopes that fell to the floor, both already opened He wasn’t surprised His mail was routinely checked, confiscated for days and read countless tie they would never find

Not because there wasn’t onebecause they weren’t sh to decipher their code

"Heard it’s your birthday," the officer said "That true?"

"Yes"

The officer laughed "Solitary confinement--hell of a birthday present"

Corrado stood and grabbed the mail when the slot closed The first was a simple birthday card froe inside He eyed the second envelope curiously before pulling out the sheet of paper It was short, the e scribbled in messy pen

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

I went to work,