Chapter 13. Free but not free

Days passed, weeks bled into months, and Jason's stay in prison was already adaptive. Although it was a mixture of sweet and bitterness, the friends he made gave him a wonderful company, his story part which was a depiction of 'Belle's journal', as he calls it. The bitter experience however ranged from the bullies, the prison lords. At a point during his first month, he was stabbed and subsequently, beating, but of course, he'd gotten used it and was no longer much of a problem to him, as matter of instance, he had a black eye. 

That sunny afternoon, he sat with his two books, the journal and hand covered exercise book where he reflect his story. About a few minutes shortly, two of his friends, Fwangmun and Nathan joined him. The two have been friends way before they were jailed for cyber crime.

"Hey," Fwangmun spotted the eye. "What happened to your face?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Nathan replied. 

"Please don't interrupt me, I'm trying to get something right here," Jason demanded eyes stuck in his books. 

"Ehen, that reminds me. When was the last time your girl visited?" Nathan asked. 

Jason shut the books, exhaled and then faced them. 

"Why do you wanna know?" He reciprocally asked. 

"It's been like over a year last you mentioned it, you barely even talk about her again," said Nathan. 

Instantly, Jason became moody, he couldn't suppress it any longer. The pretends, the twist of thoughts and feelings away from her, and even his crave to see her once again. 

"It's been eleven months," he said. "And it's okay, it's best for the both of us. I specifically banned her."

"Banned?" Fwangmun shocked.

"No, I mean, I told her to stay away and visit in longer periods. Maybe when necessary. She's probably a graduate now waiting for youth service."

Nathan placed a hand on his shoulder sentimentally. 

"Look man, I really respect you for what you did for that lady, and I really think you should be out there with her not here alone."

"He's right, Jason," Fwangmun added. "It's been a year and six to seven months, how long?"

Jason quickly flipped the pages of the journal.

"Speaking of that, look," he pointed in the journal. "When I was going through her narration of arrest, she explained every instance in details."

The two were still struggling to get his point. 

"And according to her," he continued. "They were before traffic lights then a police officer directly walked to their bus and instructed the driver to move away and park over. Then that was how they started searching them randomly and she was nabbed."

Jason lifted his sight on them like he was expecting a comment from them, but instead, the two friends stared in each others faces and then back at him, looking rather quizzical. 

"It means they knew what they were looking, so. . ."

"So the question is how did they know it was in that bus?" Nathan deemed. 

"Yes," Fwangmun took on. "There were several other busses, and why that one?" he chuckled softly out of impression. "Someone must have tipped them."

"Bang!" Jason exclaimed jumping up. "And that someone planted the heroin and wanted her to be caught so called the police, gave them description of the bus and that was it."

Jason further calmed them and they all sat back down to stratigilize . 

"Now all we have to do is find the officer that was called and definitely he must as well be dirty," Jason deemed the first idea. 

"True," Fwangmun supported. "And if we're able to get to him, we might as well know the culprit and then he or she replaces you here."

"But it's been almost two years, how can we figure that out?" Jason asked. 

"Leave that to me, us," Nathan said. "I and Fwang can hack through any firewall. We'll hack the road safety and reflect the security footage of that very date and we'll see the police officer that approached first. Even if he's not the one, he sure will know who called him and gave the order to search."

"You guys are insane," Fwangmun said. 

"What?" Jason and Nathan asked in a voice. 

"We're in prison, don't pretend you forgot that," Fwangmun replied. 

Like the question they were waiting for, Nathan and Fwangmun concentrated their sights on Jason as if he was the leader or had the key to their freedom. From the compliance on Jason's look, he sure knew why they were staring and what he must do. 

"I never thought I would comply to this but, I'm ready for the escape you've planned months ago," he opened up, with a serious face. 

The two men complied to a high five raised to the air. Jason however sat smiling as his thoughts scaled beyond all the risks associated to his anticipated moments with Akwa. And of course, how can he forget, he rewind back to the dangers involved and all he could do is hope it goes well, because worry and fear will only discourage and weigh him down.

"Don't worry, it's gonna go perfect, we've been planning this a year before you got here," Nathan assured. 

"And you'll get to be with the love of your life, the lucky girl," Fwangmun added. "And you won't hide for long, because we'll help you investigate and clear you out, we promise."

They further scheduled to make the plan effective at nightfall. 

Jason taking a nap on his bed imagined and programmed his life once more outside the tall walls of the prison with Akwa. Her first reaction and response at the sight of him was what he couldn't wait long for, it however bolstered his mind's strength and zeal to make his escape work. He was also able to convince himself he wasn't breaking any rules, after all, he shouldn't be in there, neither Akwa but the culprit. His heart was over joyous, filled with desperation not minding where he is at the moment and what he needed to do to satisfy his desires. Only flashes of her face overwhelmed his mind, replacing them with the paranoid which was socially appropriate to such circumstance.

Just like a dream, just like a wish fulfilled, just like one of those benevolent imaginations, Jason was out, and so was his two friends. The world looked bigger and wider, the noise louder, the air fresher and the sun hitting on the skin could not be compared with another, for expect that which will be felt in the arms of his love. 

On that brawl morning, the neighbourhood was quiet, the street swept free of leaves from the cool air, dogs barked from several angles and birds chirped. Jason had just dinged the door bell at the entrance of his known house. His left hand held a plastic container, his right hand the two books, not forgetting his face. His lips drawn neutral, no smile or frown and his eyes had all the twinkle qualities. Thoughts however ran very fast, uncertain on which gesture to wear or what to say or do. 

Suddenly, he heard a squeak on the door and his heart beat faster, and then the door finally opened. Behold, Akwa's face revealed with laughter, but at the lucid comprehension of his face, drastically her lips shrunk from its width to a still, closed, little lips. Silence took preeminence, almost like they could hear each others heart beat if not for the whooshing air. He breath in and a smile followed, he then made a move as his knee joint bent but stopped as his feet had barely raised from the ground. 

"Who's at the door, Belle?" A male like voice came from within, and after it followed a man which explained Jason's postponed move. 

Jason however pushed the door slightly and her body revealed, standing in her underwear, though a light shirt on. The man behind had held her waist. She only mouthed as no word backed her intended speech. Next, a sound made below as the plastic from his hand collided with the hard surface of the steps, sandwiches had splattered all over. He couldn't stare away and likewise she, their faces reflected in each others eye balls, but himself wasn't what he saw, in his sight he saw nothing but a Stygian emptiness. His lips trembled and a tear, just a tear dropped down his mustache, nosediving to his mouth. 

"Olie. . ." Air floated freely from her lips. 

Gradually he retreated, drifting away from the door as she stretched a hand at him to compose a fitting speech, and just before she could he bolted away. 

"No, Olie!" She gushed out. 

"What's the matter?" The young man within went at her. "Who's that guy and why are you out in these?"

She ignored him rushing back into the house in search of any nearest cloth to put on. He kept asking and speaking but she was deaf to him dressing, eventually just as she made for the door in rush, he held her arm back, and in unprecedented rage, she pushed him with great force that he hit his back so hard against the wall. Stepping outside she observed the scattered around sandwiches and further giving a closer look, she saw a tiny, shiny ring amidst it, so she bent and picked it up. It then occurred to her of its significance, and without a waste of time, she ran after Jason's route in tears.

At dawn, Jason sat in a bar room ordering another beer. He had filled his belly with alcohol and his table bore witness as several bottles were scattered on it. His mustache and beard wet from tears, his eyes red and forehead covered in veins stripes.

Just as he finished the last bottle he emptied his pocket of all his money in the waitress' hand. 

"Sir, this is more than the bill," she said. 

He lifted his face upon her and scoffed. 

"Do me a favor, get me a pen with the remaining change," he said faintly.

"Is everything alright, Mr?"

"Not at all," he forced a smile. "She let another person call her 'Belle', I was supposed to be the only."

"Are you talking of your girlfriend?" She bent to sit. 

"Don't," he declined the company. "Just get me a pen, please."

She went on and was back with a pen. He appreciated and began to write in his hard covered exercise book from where he stopped his story. With every twist of wrist he moaned, every single letter tears dropped on the pages, with every complete word he wrote, his pain escalated as it brought back earlier memories. His hands shivered and the pen fell, yet he bent, picked it up and kept on writing, writing till to the very moment he sat.