After two hours of annoying game shows, dude guarding the rec room took pity on us and changed the television to CNN.

I shifted in my seat to get my circulation going. A few of the other men, disgruntled by the channel change, struck up a game of spades.

Jay, my cell neighbor, sauntered into the rec room. His face lit up when he noticed me. I nodded as he made a beeline for me.

Jay was a cool dude. Thanks to being the wrong color in the wrong place at the wrong time, he was doing a 5-year bid for transporting illegal substances.

He insisted that one-time had set him up, just because he happened to fit the description of the suspect.

I had a pretty good sense of people, and I really believed the young brother. He had been doing everything he could to keep his nose clean, hoping for an early release.

In this joint, that was difficult to say the least.

"What's up, bruh?" He gave me some dap, before squatting on the chair next to me.

"Same ole, same ole, man. You just finished kitchen duty?"

"You bedda know. I'll hit you up with a few 'snacks' when we get back to the block."

"Bet." My mind drifted back to a block, just not the same block Jay was talking about.

"So, who you think gon' take home the election? I say we 'bout to have a brother in the 'white' house." Jay grinned, glancing back at the TV.

"Maybe so, maybe so. But right now, I'm thinking locally."

"Locally?"

"Yeah, man. I got a family to worry about. This whole election thing is going to be what it be."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It ain't like nothing gon' change. They'll still be arresting black men just because they fit the description."

"Right, right. You hear anything new from your PD?"

"Nah, you know they don' do shit more for you than you do for yourself."

"Got that right."

"I'll tell you this though—I ain't never gonna wear another red sweatshirt as long as I live."

I chuckled. "So, is that how they ID'd you?"

Grimacing, Jay nodded. "It's gonna be hard finding a job when I finish this bid. Nobody wants to hire a felon."

"When you get your walking papers, I'll make sure you don't have that worry," I said.

"For real, man? You got it like that?" His voice rose with excitement.

I placed a finger to my lips and nodded.

"So, if you got it like that," he said, lowering his tone, "why you in here? You deep cover or something?"

I laughed and shook my head. "'Nah, just somebody who got caught between a rock and a hard place," I responded. I was about to add something else to that, when the guard signaled to me.

"You got a visitor," he grunted, obviously displeased that I'd been given special visiting hours at the direction of Yanni's pops.

My heart grew lighter, as I pictured Starlet in the visitor's room waiting for me. I stood and stretched, gave Jay some dap and followed the guard.

I strolled into the room, fully expecting to see Starlet and even more surprised to find a fidgety Terry instead. She scanned the cold room, her entire demeanor signaling her fear.

"What's up, Terry? I would have never expected to see you here."

She broke into a wide grin, her deeply etched dimples and freckled nose reminding me so much of her mother.

"Alex! I hope that it's OK that I came here." She rushed over to me, with open arms.

"No touching," the guard warned.

Terry stopped in her tracks, the nervous look returning.

"It's OK," I reassured her. "Here. Have a seat." I pulled out a chair, which she quickly flopped into. I slid out another and sat down across from her.

"So, what brings you here?"

"Well, you are my mother's best friend. And you did save Jean."

I laughed and said, "So, you came because of that."

"No, I came because maybe I can help you get out of here."