Page 88 of The Right to Remain

Jack looked up in time to see the officers escorting his client through the exit. His gaze met Elliott’s for a moment, and then he was gone.

Chapter 31

Elliott’s “day in court” ended with a ride on a green and white jail bus. Felony inmates were assigned rear seats, where mesh-covered windows made it virtually impossible to see the outside world. The bus returned to the detention center at dinnertime. After a quick pat-down by the intake guards, the inmates were funneled to the cafeteria. The line was long, which made Elliott anxious. The best way to survive a jailhouse cafeteria was to get through the line quickly, grab an empty table, and let others fill in as they pleased. Latecomers had to finagle a seat at a “taken” table, which was a risky proposition with the wrong women.

“Close the gaps,” one of the guards said as he passed, meaning that the inmates needed to tighten the line.

Elliott shuffled forward, but he had one eye on the cafeteria seating situation. There were only two empty tables left, and Elliott wasn’t in a gambling mood. He skipped the hot-entree line and headed across the hall to the canteen. The food for purchase through the commissary was even less healthy than the cafeteria menu, but it was quicker.

“You don’t like the fish patties the kitchen cooked up tonight?” the server asked.

Her name was Lucy, and she was one of the few who was nice to Elliott. Nice enough that he was willing to bend the rules of his “speech strike” with her, if only to allow for nonverbal communication.

Elliott pointed at the printed menu, indicating the burrito.

Lucy made a face. “Don’t recommend it.”

He pointed again, harder this time, as if to say, “I’m really in a hurry.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” said Lucy. “Lemme heat it up for you.”

Elliott shook his head with an exaggerated motion, trying to convey the urgency of the situation.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. “You want a cold burrito?”

Elliott glanced again at the cafeteria seating. Just one empty table remained. He gave Lucy a thumbs-ups on the cold burrito. She placed it on a tray.

“Some Rolaids with that? Extra strength. Mint. Three bucks.”

Elliott paid on account, hurried back to the cafeteria, and grabbed the last empty table. The sense of relief was short-lived. A tray landed on the table, and the uninvited inmate took the seat opposite him.

“How goes it, Elle?” she asked.

Elliott’s jaw dropped, but not because the inmate had called him by his dead name. He was sitting across from his mother.

“Yeah, it’s me,” she said. “Do I look that different now that I can’t dye my hair blond?”

Elliott’s mother was an attractive brunette in her early forties, and the dye jobs had only made her look cheap. Elliott was in no mood to send any compliments her way, but it was hard to hide his surprise at seeing her.

“Why’re you looking at me like that? You don’t like my hair? Or you just don’t like me?”

Elliotthatedher, but he chose not to clarify the matter.

The last time Elliott had laid eyes on his mother, his name was still Elle, and Serena Carpenter was in handcuffs. It was bad enough that she’d lied to the Pollards at the hospital, told them Elle had changed her mind, and extorted them out of more cash to close the adoption. But Serena hadn’t stopped there. She’d turned that first con into a business model, brokering three more scams using eighteen- and nineteen-year-old mothers-to-be who had no one to turn to except Serena, who could be quite good at pretending to care. An anonymous tip to police led to her arrest. She’d pleaded guilty and last he knew, she had been serving a ten-year sentence at Lowell Correctional Institute for Women in central Florida.

“Look at you,” Serena said with disgust. “I barely recognize you, and I’m your mother. It’s revolting, what you’ve done to yourself.”

Elliott wanted to get up and leave, but he knew Serena would make a scene, which would be worse than sitting quietly and taking the abuse. Elliott looked off toward the serving line, as if Serena weren’t even there.

Serena rested her forearms on the table, lowering her voice as she spoke. “I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, honey. You didn’t have to become a man to fuck women. Ask half the inmates in this joint.”

It was enough to draw a reaction from Elliott, and he looked right at Serena, his eyes smoldering.

“Ah-ha!” she said with a chuckle. “I almost got you to say something, didn’t I? I heard you was on some kind of ‘speech strike.’ Won’t even talk to your own lawyer. But I saw you communicating with Lucy over at the canteen, so I know you aren’t a zombie. Lord knows you never shut up when you were a girl. So, consider this one last opportunity to talk back to your momma and tell her to fuck off, like you used to.”

Elliott would have loved to say it but held his tongue.

“All right,” said Serena. “You don’t have to say nothing. Just listen to what I have to say. And then I’ll take my tray and go. Deal?”