Learning the Hard Way 1 Read online

  Keelan stopped and thought for a moment, looking at Mike.

  “I seem to have trouble getting a hold of some materials,” he finally said.

  “Oh, what kind?” Rainer asked.

  “I’ll give you a list. See what you can do?”

  Rainer stared at him puzzled for a moment before nodding.

  “Oh, and that first job. The last two Blood Brothers. Kill them. You get first dibs on their belongings, the rest is mine.”

  Keelan nodded and returned to his seat, where he began sorting through the heap on Mike’s tray to see how much of his food was salvageable.

  “The lesson of today. The Blood Brothers’ lesson.” Mike sat down. “When shit hits the fan, you only think of number one.” Mike fished out a drumstick from the pile of food.

  “Depends on the people, I guess. If they had just a fraction of moral conviction, then swapping blood with someone wouldn’t be necessary. A promise is stronger. So, today’s lesson must be, if you don’t intend on keeping your word, don’t give it,” Keelan said quietly, scraping jam from a waffle off of yet another salvaged drumstick.

  Mike stared at him for a long time, contemplating whether Keelan was really a man of that strong a moral code. With what he’d just witnessed, it was a possibility. If not, then he was a lot more dangerous than he assumed, because then he wouldn’t just be a turncoat. He would be a turncoat one would trust even if it contradicted common sense.

  Back in their cell, Mike reclined in a chair. Keelan paced the floor, looking irritated.

  “Why do you all of a sudden have to kill the Blood Brothers?” Mike asked. Keelan stared at him warningly. “Okay, okay, just seems a little coincidental? As if he’s making up the jobs as he goes. Why do you owe him three jobs, don’t you work for him in general?”

  “Don’t you think I’ve been wondering about that myself? And my job description is none of your business.”

  “Job description. Fancy word. I can just picture the ad.”

  Keelan growled at him, so Mike chose silence.

  “One good thing about the Blood Brothers’ little stunt in the canteen is that Rainer’s the only one with enough pull to give us library access. You’ll be able to teach me without anybody figuring out what we’re up to,” Keelan said, reclining on his bunk with pen and paper. Mike watched him. “What is it?”

  “Are you ever sorry when you kill?” Mike asked. Keelan looked at him in disbelief.

  “Were you sorry when you killed the judge’s nephew?”

  “Guess so, I mean. I’m in here, right?”

  Keelan didn’t answer. He just stared at the paper in his hands.

  “I’m good at it,” he finally said.

  “You didn’t answer.”

  “I don’t know! Never thought about it. The first time it went so fast, I hardly had time to notice. There was just a lot of blood all of a sudden. And very, very quiet,” Keelan said.

  Mike kept silent and watched Keelan, who’d turned his attention back to the paper in his hand. But his eyes said differently. His thoughts were far away.

  “You ever need to take an edge off?” Mike asked.

  “Like how?”

  “When I needed to take the edge off after those long runs, having to stay awake for days at the time, I usually got a hold of some of those crystals. You know?”

  “I’ve heard of them.”

  “That note in your hand. That’s what you can have as payment for saving Rainer’s life, right?” Mike asked, pointing. Keelan nodded. “Could you fix me up?”

  “What the hell for? You’ll be too dozed out of your mind to teach me anything.”

  “Oh, get off it. It’s not like I’ll be high for the next ten years,” Mike argued.

  “Really? Where did you grow up?” Keelan nearly catapulted himself upright and swung his legs over the edge of the bunk.

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “I grew up in foster homes and juvie. I’ve seen what that take the edge off once in a rare while will do to you. I promised that I’d look after you if you taught me a few things about your trade. But if you think I’ll put my own ass at risk to carry around your dozed ass and babysit, you’d better think again!” Keelan snarled.

  There was no doubt that Keelan’s temper had reached a dangerous level, so Mike quieted down.

  “So you’ve never taken the edge off?” he asked calmly. Keelan didn’t even look at him as he resumed his position on his bunk. The silence in the cell became uncomfortable.

  “Once,” Keelan said in an oddly low voice. Mike looked up, surprised. “But I’ll skip the story and go straight to the morals of it. Stay alert... the only one who’s got your back is you. Besides, Rainer doesn’t deal drugs.”

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t know why he doesn’t deal drugs—”

  “That’s not what I meant—”

  “I know! Now leave it!” Keelan’s tone of voice left no room for discussion, so Mike once again kept quiet. “I’ll be right back.” Keelan got up and left the cell.

  Grouchy bastard. Like this is wonderland? What are you? An Evo-race capable of forgetting a miserable existence? What planet are they from? Mike went about finding pen and paper. I’ll give you some happiness. Lots of homework!

  Mike was still drawing and writing when Keelan returned. He looked up briefly, but Keelan looked more irritated than when he’d left.

  “Homework.” Mike handed Keelan a stack of paper. Keelan looked at him and the papers wonderingly. He took the papers and lay down on his bunk, but he seemed to have trouble concentrating. “Hello, stay alert,” Mike echoed.

  Keelan gave him a cold stare and returned his attention to the homework. This time it was repetition questions on weapons that Mike had given him a thorough but theoretical lecture in. “Depending on how far we get with this, I’ll be telling you about the different types of ships there are and who flies them, what kinda weapons they carry, and so on.”

  The sullen tone earned him a frown from Keelan before he returned his attention to the homework.

  Shying away from conflicts or fucking indifferent, Mike thought, mostly inclined to believe the latter. That Keelan couldn’t lie still and was constantly fidgeting did register.

  “What’s with you?” Mike asked. Keelan growled and threw the papers on the bed, getting up.

  “I’ll be right back.” Keelan left the cell.

  Mike stared at the closed door and snorted. “What is so important, huh? I do what I can to uphold my end of the deal, and then you don’t even have time to look at it?” he snapped, gathering the papers again. Irritated he sat down and once again began putting the papers in order while contemplating Keelan’s mood swings. Did it really have to do with as trifle a thing as the dream crystals? Or was it earlier, when they’d discussed Rainer’s reason to all of a sudden want the Blood Brothers dead?

  The door slammed open, and Mike looked up, shocked. Keelan came in, and he looked at least as pissed off as when he left. But this time he also looked eager as he closed the door behind him and ran around the cell. It wasn’t until then Mike noticed that one of Keelan’s hands was smeared in blood.

  “What—” He didn’t get to say more as Keelan turned and rushed toward him with his arm raised. The pain in his cheekbone was abrupt and intense before darkness closed around Mike’s consciousness.

  Mike blinked his eyes and groaned as he tried to turn over. He quickly realized where he was, but how he’d ended up in his bunk, he didn’t know.

  “About time, come on. Come on, we’re going out,” Keelan said. Mike felt the pain in his cheekbone again and suddenly remembered Keelan’s fist on fast approach.

  “About time? How long was I out?” Mike asked, trying to get to his feet.

  “Not long, come on.” Keelan dragged Mike out of the bunk. Mike was fuming but at least a little grateful that Keelan had taken the time to put him in his bunk and not left him sprawling on the floor. And that he’d just take
n the time to catch him as he tried to get out of the bunk.

  “Where are we going,” Mike asked, dizzy.

  “Shopping.”

  Mike looked at him puzzled, but Keelan just dragged him out the door and down to corridors to Rainer’s cell, where he knocked.

  “Enter.”

  Keelan opened the door and positioned himself in the doorway.

  “I came to tell you that job number one has been completed,” he said. Mike stared at Keelan in disbelief. Keelan didn’t cover enough of the opening to block Mike’s view of Rainer’s surprised expression. It was so fleeting that had Mike blinked at the wrong moment, he would have missed it.

  Two murders? And he said I wasn’t unconscious that long. When the hell did he have time for that?

  “You work fast,” Rainer said.

  “Wasn’t that the point?” Keelan asked.

  Rainer nodded, impressed.

  “Thought you might want to be there. First dibs and all.”

  “Where are they?” Rainer asked, sitting up straight.

  “One of them had an accident in the toilets. The other one is in his bunk. Trouble with his lunges, I believe.”

  Rainer studied Keelan a short while. Sal crossed the room to whisper something to Rainer. Whatever it was, it seemed to have a positive effect, because Rainer smiled, got up, and walked to the door with all five followers in his wake.

  As they walked the corridors, Keelan fell into step beside Rainer. That impressed Mike. It wouldn’t take long for even a fish to know that by doing so, Keelan was demanding Rainer’s status. Mike chose to stay with the followers, but subconsciously he still tried to walk just a few steps ahead of them. He wasn’t far enough ahead to fail to notice Sal’s stolen glances at Keelan, though. For some reason that look annoyed Mike. Keelan was his protector... had he just become jealous? Nah, that wasn’t possible—a sense of ownership at tops, but the feelings were quite similar.

  Keelan steered Rainer directly for the toilets and one of the stalls where they found a man bent over and drowned in a toilet. The blood on the back wall told the tail of the impact between it and a skull. Rainer turned and nodded at Keelan, and they left the toilet.

  They ended up in another corridor in the maze of corridors, where Rainer walked into the Blood Brothers’ cell and steered directly for a bunk. There he ripped the cover aside and looked at the dead eyes staring back at him, but it was the two small wounds in the back that caught their interest.

  Pierced lungs, a silent kill, Mike thought, getting a bigger and bigger understanding of exactly how good Keelan really was.

  “Get rid of your blade just in case,” Rainer said, covering the dead convict again.

  “Already did,” Keelan said.

  “I promised you first dibs. Go ahead.” Rainer pointed at the room and retreated to the door along with the followers and Mike. Keelan nodded and began rummaging through the cell. “Sal, get the cleaners.”

  Sal left them immediately. Keelan looked up briefly before continuing his methodical ransacking of the Blood Brothers’ belongings. He held up a notepad.

  “Paper, strike that off the list.” Keelan stuffed it in a bag, also found in the cell.

  “Why do you need all that paper?” one of the followers asked. Rainer turned to face the follower and slapped him across the face.

  “You don’t ask that sort of question.”

  “I’m sorry, I forgot my place,” the follower said, quietly, and kept his eyes on the ground.

  Keelan looked up at Rainer and nodded his head in gratitude for the respect that was just shown him.

  “Kill-book. I’m building quite a record.”

  Rainer smiled at that, while Keelan continued his search. Under the madras, he found a small bag and with only a short examination of it everyone there knew what it was. Drugs. Keelan gathered the bag of drugs, tied it off, and threw it on the desk.

  “I have what I want,” he said while Mike was trying not to kick him. They were good resources or negotiation possibilities. Why did he have to be so damn stubborn that he couldn’t or wouldn’t see that? You didn’t have to use it yourself... or all of it! Mike looked discreetly toward Rainer, who seemed to scrutinize Keelan. And then it occurred to Mike that Keelan had just shown Rainer that he couldn’t be bought. Not cheap, anyway.

  “You got what you wanted. Good,” Rainer said.

  Keelan nodded and put his hand on Mike’s neck, steering him back to their cell. Keelan increased their tempo, and Mike had trouble keeping up, since he also had to avoid all the other convicts in the corridors. And a headache was threatening at the base of his skull. Probably from the blow earlier. While waiting for Keelan to finish his ransack, Mike had examined himself for injuries. During a check of his mouth, Mike had discovered a few sore teeth.

  Keelan opened the door and shoved Mike inside so hard, he had to catch the table to not fall over it.

  “What’s with you? Think you knocked a tooth loose. You promised to keep me safe. That means in one piece. That goes for you, too!”

  “Shut up, or you’ll get a matching eye, make your face symmetrical again,” Keelan answered without looking at him. Instead, his focus was at his new-found treasures, most of it being paper. Mike shook his head and approached him.

  “What did you find?”

  Keelan clutched the paper close to his chest and made a quick movement. Mike once again felt an abrupt and intense pain before darkness once again closed around his consciousness.

  Chapter Three

  Mike was angry with Keelan when he awoke from his second trip to wonderland. He found it safest to stay in his bunk where he lay facing the wall. Not until Keelan began moving about did he turn onto his back.

  “I’m not particularly fond of you right now.”

  “Are you trying to hurt my feelings?”

  “Why? Huh? Why did you hit me... again?” Mike asked, leaping out of his bunk. Keelan closed the distance between them with an expression of tried patience.

  “Rule number two, keep your hands off my stuff. If you touch them, you won’t survive your sentence.” Keelan waited a beat before he backed off and turned to pick a book up from the table. “I have a book here you can read. I’ll read it too. Maybe it has something to do with what you’re trying to teach me.”

  “Teach you? You broke your promise!”

  Keelan was on his feet and had closed the distance between them before Mike could finish the sentence. Whether Mike successfully managed to hide his surprise, he didn’t know, but Keelan once again inhaled deeply through his nose. Something told Mike he hadn’t been successful.

  “No one has harmed you. I’ve hit you, yes. You were bothering me. So, when I say you keep your hands off my things and leave me alone when I tell you to, do it, and I won’t knock you on your ass again. Deal?”

  Mike desperately tried to keep his breathing under control and maintain eye contact. The menace in Keelan’s voice shook him a lot more than he would have thought after they’d gotten to know each other so well over the past five weeks. He had to admit that Keelan hadn’t harmed him—not the way he’d feared. He wasn’t a slave, and Keelan hadn’t abused him.

  “Okay, I’ll keep my hands to myself and leave you alone when you want me to,” Mike finally said.

  “Good,” Keelan growled so close to Mike’s face, their noses almost touched. “Come on.”

  Mike followed Keelan into the shower room so they could wash up before breakfast. Mike stood in front of the mirror, studying his bruises. A nice one on left cheekbone and one equally as colorful, stretching from the right eyebrow and all the way around the temporal bone. His head felt like a tornado had been through it and right then the handy workers were trying to make sense of the mess in there. He didn’t even contemplate the fact that he was standing there alone and naked in the changing room before a man quite a bit bigger than Mike suddenly grabbed his arm and forced him brutally up against the mirror.

  “Aw, such a pretty face. Who’d wa
nna wreck that? Maybe you should find yourself a new boyfriend,” the man said, grinning. “With me, your bruises would be located somewhere very different.” A strong hand closed around Mike’s hip and squeezed hard enough to make him whimper. Mike tried to free himself and fight off the man. He quickly realized, though, that he needed both arms for support so his face wouldn’t be slammed against the mirror by the bigger man’s weight pressed against his back. Panic rose in Mike before he remembered Keelan. His pride disappeared in a fog of fear and humiliation as the man shoved his pelvis hard enough against Mike for him to feel the man’s erection grind against him through the fabric of the man’s pants.

  Mike screamed. “Keelan!”

  The man behind him froze shortly before disappearing so suddenly that Mike fell and banged his head on the sink on his way down. A blinding pain exploded from his eyebrow as it split open. Keelan’s angry roar was the last thing Mike had registered before he collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

  Mike sat up, holding his head. There was a strange commotion and mumblings from the doorway. Mike looked up and finally managed to focus on all the people staring down the other end. Turning his head, he tried to keep the blood from running into his eye. Through blurred vision, he saw blood on the floor. Keelan sat in it with his back to Mike, and behind him, Mike could see two legs. Seconds had passed before Mike remembered the humiliating experience and his own voice screaming Keelan’s name.

  Keelan moved slowly, as if he was assessing the damage to his body. He turned his head and looked at Mike, who gasped at his battered and swollen face. His eyes seemed empty.

  The people in the doorway mumbled even louder, and this appeared to call Keelan back to reality. He fumbled with something on the floor.

  “Don’t ever touch what’s mine!” he snarled. His deep voice reverberated between the tiled walls while he held out a severed head for all to see. The crowd split, and Rainer emerged, gaping at Keelan.

  “Sal, get the cleaners. Everyone else, disappear!” Rainer said. Keelan let go of the head. It hit the floor with an indescribable wet, crunching sound. Mike’s stomach turned, and he vomited. “Are you okay, Keelan?” Rainer asked. Keelan inhaled deeply and winced.