Lord of War: Chapter 3

[Bored]

Chapter 3

Three weeks went by and I wasn’t feeling any worse than on my first day. But then again, it’s not like I was pissing sunshine and rainbows either. Prison, from what Peters told me, isn’t that different from war; you’re bored shitless for most of it, and times you aren’t bored stiff, you’re wishing you were. When I wasn’t bored, I was watching guys have their throat slit while they were taking a leak in the urinal next to me. None of the things I saw while I was in that shithole of prison involved me, but I still didn’t even want to be near to what was happening let alone watching it. However, aside from a few… abnormalities, prison life was pretty normal. You woke up, had breakfast, exercised, got inspected for contraband, avoided a stabbing or two, showered, ate again, and then went to sleep. Then you’d wake up and do it all again.

I got to know Peters pretty well, when he wasn’t kicking the shit out of people. The guy is a certified nutcase, who thankfully wasn’t trying to kill me. It turns out he was a Corporal in the Terran Army, which explained all his tattoos. He served in an outfit led by a Colonel named Travis, another certified nutcase from what he told me. Apparently Colonel Travis made a habit out of crossing into New Conglomerate territory, finding remote towns and laying waste to them entirely. The men were killed and the women… well, you can imagine. This was all conducted without a peep from Terran officials, all of whom considered Travis a maniac. However, as long as he remained a Terran maniac they would turn a blind eye to his actions. But it wasn’t until Travis and his cohort decided to raid a town governed by the Republic that the Terran higher ups decided to do away with him. It was all very hush-hush. He was shot in the back of the head in a private execution room while his men were hauled off to jail. Peters was with him since the beginning and followed every order. I can’t say I blame Peters for doing all the things he did serving with the man, as Colonel Travis tortured anyone who disobeyed orders, but still… it didn’t make my opinion of Peters any less hazy. Sure, I enjoyed his company seeing as he wasn’t trying to kill me… but he wasn’t the kind of guy I’d have a beer with, you know?

Anyway, it was nearing my fourth week in jail when a guard approached our cell with two messages:

1) That I had a visitor who was paying for my release, and
2) That Peters had an appointment with the Slaughterhouse.

At the time I thought - who the hell would want to visit me let alone pay my way out of this hellhole? And Peters? I don’t even want to know what he was thinking. He didn’t look scared or anything, he just looked… Well, he looked insane. Just hearing the screams come out of that Slaughterhouse… still gives me shivers today and yet he looked almost serene.

The guard dragged me and Peters out of our cell. We waited in silence before two guards came and took us our separate ways. Peters had one last thing to say to me before we were hauled off:

“I’ll see you soon, Taylor”

Of that, I wasn’t so sure. Not where he was heading from the sound of things.

-----

As I was dragged away to the oddly large visitation room all I could hear was the sound of the cellblock getting quieter and quieter; a welcome change from usual cursing, shouting and clanging. When they sat me down and left the room however, everything went eerily quiet. The kind of quiet you hear when you realise you’re very alone. Aside from the sound of the neon lights above me humming away, there was complete silence.

I waited for what felt like hours before the door at the far end of the room behind me opened. The sound of the door slamming was followed by a CLAK, CLAK, CLAK of dress shoes slowly edging themselves nearer to my table. Finally the owner of these shoes showed themselves.

It was a guy. Couldn’t have been older than 50. A smooth operator, I could tell; sharp suit, suave looking sunglasses and air of coolness which really threw me off balance. He sat down, took off his sunglasses and looked me over. I looked on, stunned.

A few minutes passed before he spoke...

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” He said smiling.

“With all due respect, no fucking clue” I replied

“Why am I not surprised? Well, I know all about you. You remember that Terran official that who locked you up? He’s a customer”

“A customer?” I said, surprised.

“Yes… and he’s loyal one, which is why I know all about you. Here’s the thing kid, what you were doing was harmless. It’s a pretty common crime really. Every group of dumbasses from here to Searhus thinks they can be gun runners, until they get killed or in your case, locked up. But what surprised me the most was the fact that a kid… a fucking kid was doing it. I respect that, it shows you have initiative. There aren't a lot of people around today with initiative like that. Sure, you conducted your business like an amateur, but I appreciate the fact that you’re young. I was too busy getting laid and getting high to care about making money when I was your age. Why weren’t you doing the same?”

“Who says I wasn’t?”

He laughed

“I like you, Taylor; which is the reason I told that customer of mine to lock you up”

“Wait, you’re the reason I’m in here?”

“But I’m also the reason why you’re getting out, remember that. You’re a terrible businessman. And terrible businessmen get locked up. Let’s call that your first lesson”

“Right. So you’re a teacher”

“And I aim to keep it that way for the time being. If you accept my offer” He said

“And what offer would that be?”

“That you come work for me”

“I don’t even know who you are” I replied, more stunned than ever.

“You’ll find out soon enough”