Riot

The guard was shouting at us to gather at the table in the mess hall. I made my way there cautiously.

Mealtimes were the worst in jail. Food was always some hurried slop delivered by the surly guard. Today especially, I was more wary than normal. There was a tension in the air. The place was like a powder keg ready to blow.

I looked at the other inmates, Lady, the skinny kid, glared at the plate before her as if someone had served her rats droppings. She was one I had been keeping an eye on. Always pushing the boundaries, I think she had designs on being top dog around here. Well, she would have to get through me first.

The other inmate was the cause of the recent tension.

The fat kid, fiercely strong under those layers of fat. He had a rep as being a difficult customer. So much so that the guard had placed him in a special chair high off the ground with straps to hold him in if he went off on one.

He looked at me and gave me a happy smile tinged with madness.

I smiled back uneasily.

The guard banged a bowl down in front of me and another in front of him. Lord knows what he had done but he was on some kind of green gruel.

The guard placed a plastic spoon in Fat Kid's hand and stood to watch him. I watched too, my gut writhing with the tension.

The bowl was pushed toward Fat kid who obliged by sticking his spoon in the green gruel and then thrusting it at random points on his face. Some of it got in his mouth. The rest dripped off him.

He hooted with an animalistic joy.

We all started to relax.

Then Fat kid, jerked back as if stung before slumping forward. The guard moved toward him uncertainly.

I tilted back slightly, I had seen it all before and I knew what was going down. The skinny kid too looked up from her fish fingers.

Oh oh.

She muttered.

Fat kid yelled and thrust up from under the guard who reared back in shock. The spoon with the gruel on it flicked out splattering the guard's face.

She skreeked, pawing at her eyes.

Oh my lenses, it's in my bloody lenses!

Clever. Fat kid was obviously a tactician underneath that simple face and those innocent eyes. I noted now that he had reached out triumphantly and grabbed his bowl. More gruel was spooned and rapidly flicked out.

I flinched but it flew past me and hit skinny kid.

She yelled in rage and flung a fish finger along the table.

Mummy, little boom just got me in the face!?!

The guard was still dabbing at her streaming eyes muttering about her lenses.

The fat kid seized his chance. The bowl of food was launched across the table to hit the wall. Food splattering everywhere. Skinny kid was in full on meltdown. Shrieking like a banshee. Fat kid, having run out of ammunition, started yelling too.

This was it. It was kicking off just like I thought. I looked about for some toilet paper to burn but couldn't see any.

The guard had wiped her eyes and face clean and shot me a venomous glance when she noticed that I was the only one un-splattered by food.

Fat kid was unceremoniously unstrapped from his punishment chair and dragged off by the guard to solitary. I heard her threatening him with booby.

I shuddered. So far I had escaped booby but I knew my luck couldn't last forever...