[ WP ] You are sentenced to life in prison for murder . When in prison , you come to learn your cell mate is the brother of the man you murdered .

`` Get to your cells,'' the voice came over the loudspeaker, `` Lights out in five.'' Men in orange jumpsuits stood on either side of their doors as a pair of guards in blue did the night count. Jimmy caught a vaguely familiar outline in the corner of his eye. Marcus, his cellmate, he was sure was released today, and in any case this guy he would be sharing his cell with barely filled the space of half a Marcus. He must have just turned eighteen or he would have been in juvie. His memory had begun to jog when the main lights went out with an echoing thunk and the voice came back over the speakers, “ Into your cells. Good night inmates. ” The tower guard watched them enter their respective cement rooms before flicking the switch that slid the doors shut. 
 
 
 `` So what are you in for? ” Jimmy asked to the kid who had his back turned. 
 
 
 He replied almost tonelessly, “ They said not to talk about that kind of thing. ” 
 
 
 `` Bullshit. What ’ re you in for? ” Jimmy asked again. 
 
 
 `` I hurt a man, ” he replied after a pause. 
 
 
 `` Phwoah, ” Jimmy spat, “ That it? ” 
 
 
 `` The bum asked for it, ” he said coldly. 
 
 
 `` Don ’ t they all, ” Jimmy said. The kid made a noise and then crawled into bed. “ Is that what you told the judge? ” 
 
 
 `` I ’ m a bad liar, ” he replied. 
 
 
 `` There you go, ” Jimmy said, “ Hardest part about lying is you got ta keep it up. It ’ s a lot easier to let other people lie for you. ” He felt under his pillow for the jagged rock he kept secreted in the toe of a sock. “ What ’ s your name? ” Jimmy asked. The kid turned away. “ Alright, ” Jimmy said, “ Be like that. ” He stared up at the cell lights that were on longer than they should have been. The kid he now shared his space with annoyed him. Marcus hadn ’ t exactly been a friend, and the relation between them wasn ’ t exactly warm, but they knew where each other stood and what was on their side of the line. This kid comes in and suddenly everything is up in the air. That said it was a perfect opportunity to push the line. 
 
 
 He turned to his side and saw a pair of eyes staring at him wide eyed from over his cellmate's shoulder as though from a window. It was not until the cell lights went out that he realized it was a mirror. Something clicked. What was in those eyes, Jimmy thought. 
 
 
 `` What ’ re you in for? ” The cellmate asked from the shadows in his monotone. 
 
 
 `` Manslaughter. ” 
 
 
 `` Manslaughter? ” The cellmate shot back almost instantly – almost accusingly. 
 
 
 `` Like you said, ” Jimmy started, “ He asked for it. ” He laid back and put a hand under his head, “ He shouldn ’ t have done the things he did. ” He slid his free hand audibly up and down the frame of his bed, “ And I had to set things right. Now he didn ’ t see it that way, so he got a little angry, but I got more angry. He threw a punch, but I threw three. You see where I ’ m going? ” He said. The kid shifted in his bed. Jimmy heard, and he continued, “ Suddenly everyone ’ s screaming, someone ’ s calling the police, but I ’ m already on him. ” He slams his hand into the bed frame, “ You know the sound a head makes when it cracks? ” He could hear the kid pulling the blanket tighter. Jimmy grinned. “ It ’ s more like an egg than a walnut. It ’ s all wet inside, and it sure spills like an egg. ” 
 
 
 The kid rustled in his bed and, from what Jimmy could hear, he was pressed up as close to the wall as he could get. A patrol walked passed and a flash of light cut across the room. The kid wasn ’ t at the edge of the bed and Jimmy moved his hand a little farther down the sock. One swing would split the kid's head open. He smiled again. “ I take what I want, you understand, ” Jimmy started, “ A man stands up too high, I have to bring him down. I ’ ve just got to, because sometimes no one else will. ” Jimmy could hear a wet cough from the far side of the room. “ Two kids on a drunken bender set a homeless man on fire and walk away. They don ’ t care. ” The kid let slip a wet sob. “ Mommy and daddy hire a good lawyer and suddenly it ’ s the homeless man ’ s fault. The courts don ’ t care. They both walk, but one of them can ’ t help but fuck up again. ” He looked over to where the kid lay. “ What they don ’ t know is that even a homeless man ’ s got family, and they sure as hell care. ” The sobbing in the shadow was steady now. “ There were two things in this world I wanted, ” Jimmy said as he tightened his fist around the sock, “ And I already took one. Never thought I'd get the other. ” 
 
 
 Edit: Words n things. Also, I realized I took some liberties with the prompt.
