Page 100 (1/2)

“You crazy?” Ta back “I don’t knohy I care about you ”

“I don’t either I never asked you to ”

“Her “I kno much it hurts ”

“Do you? A year ago today I killed my best friend ”

Two guards stepped in between them and pushed Lexi away from Tamica “Back up, Baill ”

“I fell,” Tamica said

“Nice try, Hernandez,” one of the guards said “I saw the whole thing Come on, Baill ”

Lexi knehere they were taking her, knew and didn’t care Yesterday she would have said that nothing scared herto The Hole, but now, on the anniversary of Mia’s death, in a world where Lexi had had a child and lost her, it barely warranted a sigh

They led her down one hallway after another, finally coot a whiff of urine and filth and she started to panic, to turn away

“Too late,” the guard nearest her said, giving her a shove inside There was a rough steel-gray blanket on a metal bed The mattress and pilloerein the door was the size of a TV reh that slot three times a day

Lexi stood in the darkness, shivering suddenly, although it wasn’t cold The stench of the cell washer eyes water

“You’re here,” one of the guards said “Learn so ”

The door clanged shut, and she was in the dark

Lexi stood there, freezing already She opened her palm It was too dark to see the pills, but she felt them She put them in her mouth and sed them without water It took a while for them to take effect, but finally a calot all about Mia’s off-key singing and Zach’s pro baby sounds She sat on the cell’s rubber , just passing through time that felt interminable

Part Two