Purgatory Games, Part Two

iv.

“Hey boy. Where the fuck you been? JT’s looking for you.”

Kyle nearly fainted with relief at the sound of Calvin’s voice. The men turned, opening a hole between their bulky bodies. 

Calvin was as big as the men there. He wore a sleeveless t-shirt that stretched tightly across his heavily muscled chest. His arms were thick slabs of deadly muscle. His face was deadly serious and his hands hung loose by his sides. He looked like hell’s advance scout, scooping up souls for the Devil. The way he stood in the doorway, his body tense and ready to move at a second’s notice, told the men all they needed to know.

“Get over bitch,” Calvin said, ignoring the way the men were glaring at him. “You know JT don’t like it when you keep him waiting.”

Kyle didn’t hesitate. He darted through the hole that had opened when Calvin walked in. As soon as he was close enough Calvin grabbed Kyle’s arm and pushed the boy behind him.

“Go on,” Calvin said, not taking his eyes off the men. “He’s waiting for you.”

Calvin shoved Kyle roughly toward the open door. The whole thing had happened so fast that the men had been silent and unmoving. Until now.

Desmond took a step toward Calvin and said, “Hey Calvin. Tell JT not to let his bitch go wandering around. It’s dangerous.”

“Tell him yourself,” Calvin said and grabbed Kyle’s arm, pulling him back through the open door.

Calvin walked fast, without running, pulling Kyle along. They turned a corner and Calvin stopped so suddenly that Kyle ran into him. Calvin shoved Kyle to the wall and peeked around the corner, looking back the way they’d come. Nothing. Good.

He turned to Kyle. “Next time I tell you to go, get the fuck gone.”

“I didn’t know my way out,” Kyle said in a quiet voice.

Calvin ran a shaky hand across his forehead and wiped away sweat. He gave Kyle a stupefied look of utter puzzlement.

“What the fuck you doing down here boy?”

“I heard screaming,” Kyle said, feeling lost and afraid.

“Shit,” Calvin said, shaking his head. “Let’s go.”

“Why didn’t JT come?” Kyle said.

Calvin looked back at Kyle as though the boy had turned incredibly stupid. 

“Boy sometimes you just dumb as a stone boat. If JT came down here into Tyrone’s territory, he’d start a turf war.”

Kyle hadn’t considered that. 

“Is he really waiting for me?” Kyle said.

“Yeah,” Calvin said, guiding Kyle down the dark stone corridor. “And he’s gonna kick your dumb bitch ass.”

Kyle’s mind returned to its old familiar theme – I’m fucked. Oh God. . .

He followed Calvin through the gloom of the narrow corridor, spooked by the phantom echoes of their footsteps.

“You sure they’re not following us?” Kyle said, glancing over his shoulder.

“No,” Calvin said, not bothering to waste time looking back at Kyle.

After that, Kyle followed Calvin in silence, trying not to feel the way the dark stone walls seemed to press closer with each step.

After endless corridors, twisting around too many turns to count, Calvin stopped in front of a giant black iron door with square rivets. He took a big key out of his pocket and let them into the darkness beyond.

Suddenly Kyle looked back the way they’d come. He was sure he’d heard something.

“Calvin, I think - ” Kyle started to say.

“I know,” Calvin said, pulling Kyle through the door. “Shut up and get in here.”

As soon as Kyle was through the door, Calvin banged it shut and locked it. There were two stairways; one going up, the other leading down. Kyle headed for the steps leading up, but Calvin pulled him back, pushing Kyle to the stone stairway leading down.

“Where are we going?” Kyle said.

“Shortcut,” Calvin said.

By the time they reached the bottom of the stone steps, Kyle heard banging on the door behind them.

“They have a key Calvin?” Kyle said. 

This was really fucked up. All he’d wanted was a smoke. What the hell?

“I don’t know,” Calvin said, pulling Kyle along.

“You don’t know?” Kyle said. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

Calvin stopped and looked down at Kyle. His impatience with the boy boiled over. “It ain’t my fucking day to guard the keys, alright? Now shut up and let me find my way out.”

“Are we lost?” Kyle said before he could stop himself.

They both heard the ratchety sound of the door behind them banging open.

“Fuck,” Calvin said. “Now you know. Yeah. They got a key. Come on.” He grabbed Kyle’s arm and led them deeper into the darkness.

Suddenly Calvin pulled Kyle into a corridor that seemed to lead nowhere. They ran up the stone steps at the end two at a time until they came to another iron door. No locks here. Calvin banged through the heavy door, pulling Kyle behind him.

Kyle’s knees didn’t buckle when he saw what waited for them on the other side, but it was a near thing. 

Calvin looked at the five gladiators facing them, blocking their way with a wall of solid muscle. 

This isn’t happening to me, Kyle thought.

“Go on C.,” the man closest to them said. “We got these assholes.”

Kyle and Calvin slipped through the men, leaving the sound of running footsteps echoing on the stone stairs behind.

Kyle recognized the opposite end of the cell block where he shared a cell with JT. He stopped suddenly, pulling away from Calvin.

“What is it boy?” Calvin said, looking back past Kyle.

“What is it?” Kyle shouted, looking at Calvin with wide eyes. “I can’t go back there,” Kyle said, pointing toward the end of the cell block.

“You got no choice boy,” Calvin.

“I can’t. I’ll end up like Jimmy,” Kyle said, voicing his worst fear.

“He ain’t gonna do nothing like that to you,” Calvin said.

“How do you know?” Kyle said, his voice cracking with fear. He looked back at the distant sound of fighting. “Look what I caused. I’ll be in traction for weeks when he’s done with me.”

Kyle’s lips trembled, his knees threatened to buckle again. He was the picture of a man with one foot over the edge of a roaring volcano.

“You like being JT’s girl?” Calvin said.

The unexpected question sideswiped Kyle.

“How can you ask me that?” Kyle said. “What do I look like?”

Calvin shrugged. “A bitch.”

Kyle shot him a furious look. “Yeah. That’s all I am to you and him.”

Kyle tried to walk past him, but Calvin caught him easily and pushed Kyle back.

“I don’t mean nothing by it boy. I talk straight, like I see things. You’re a bitch. You like getting it up the ass. You like JT being your man?”

Kyle shrugged. “He’s not so bad when I do what he says,” Kyle said. He looked down at the floor, a blush of shame rising to his soft cheeks.

“Alright then,” Calvin said, as if he’d reached a sudden decision. “I’ll help you.”

Kyle looked up at him. “How?”

“Do exactly what I say. He’ll probably still beat you, but you won’t get it so bad if you do what I tell you.”

Kyle nodded. “What do I do?”

After Kyle had listened for a while, Calvin said, “Remember boy. No matter what he says, don’t mouth off to him. Keep your mouth shut.”