Plenty More Fish / Law

The next morning, both Keith and Kara woke up to find official-looking documents in their cells' letterboxes. Kara's was a long legal form, complete with a little ballpoint pen clipped on. Keith's, though, was a single page of print. He read the title and glared, almost ripping the paper to pieces. East Prison Relationship Policy, it read. As you are most likely aware, East Prison is a piloted co-ed facility. As such, we believe it is integral for inmates to understand the legalities surrounding relationships while imprisoned.

Keith put the page down on his cot, stood up, and stretched. He and Kara had only been together for a week, and the prison was already getting in the way. He walked out into the empty hallway, debating slamming the heavy metal door behind him. In his head, it would have felt good, but it would have also woken the others. He looked up at the dazzling ceiling lights. Kara had been complaining about them yesterday. Keith wanted to go find her and hug her and tell her everything was going to be alright, but he wasn't so sure himself.

Even though it was early in the morning, Lena was already awake and in her office when Keith knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" she said sleepily, still in her night robe.

"Keith," Keith responded. Lena opened the door. Her office was one of the nicer rooms in the complex, with some wooden furniture and potted plants, though still painted in industrial off-white. It smelled of coffee, proper coffee, not the cheap watery stuff at the mess hall breakfast every day. Keith sat down at the table at the same seat as he so often did.

"What's bothering you?" Lena asked, toggling into her counselor voice and sitting down next to him.

"I got a message in my letterbox. Did you put that there?"

"Yes, I had to give that to you according to prison policy. I was talking a bit with Kara last night, and it sounds like you two have something going, which is great to hear. Would you agree?"

"I don't know. I don't feel like I can have a proper relationship with her, not here," he started to feel his eyes grow wet. It was too early in the morning for this. "There's always someone watching. Like I know we're in prison and all that, but I feel like I've been holding back, since I don't think I can truly love her in this place."

Lena sighed. "Have you told her how you feel?"

"I can't. I mean, I don't know how. I don't know what she'll say. I want to love her, but I feel like this can't end well for either of us, and I feel like I'm going to do something stupid, and…" Keith's words dissolved into tears.

"Shhh," Lena put her hand on his shoulder. "You should tell her about this. That might make you both feel a lot better. Besides, I think she's got some good news to share."

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" Kara greeted Keith as he entered the mess hall. Most of the other inmates had finished eating, their scraps of breakfast dotting the tables. Besides Kara, only Nelson and Pete remained, chatting with Terrence the guard in the corner.

"Good morning," Keith grabbed a bagel, stuffed it into his mouth, and sat down beside Kara, giving her a squeeze on the shoulder. "I was talking with Lena."

"Is everything alright?"

"I guess so," Keith mumbled, looking away. "She said you had some good news?"

Kara paused. "Oh, yes. I'm up for parole in two weeks, and I'm so excited. I'll finally be able to get out of this place. I've got all of the forms and everything." She watched for Keith's reaction. "Do you know when you're up for parole?"

Keith shook his head and took a deep breath. "Probably not for another few years. I don't know what I'm gonna do without you once you're gone."

"What're you two lovebugs doing over there?" Pete yelled from across the room.

"Yeah," Nelson shouted. "When're you gonna make a baby?"

"Nelson, Pete, shut up," Terrence the guard stood up and walked toward Keith and Kara's table. "Is everything okay over here? Anything that I need to report to the supervisor?"

"No sir," they both shook their heads.

"Alright, but I'm keep'n an eye on you two. You've seen the relationship policy, right?" Keith nodded and Terrence sauntered back over to his corner.

"The relationship policy?" Kara whispered.

"You didn't get it? Lena gave it to me this morning."

"How do they think we're meant to have a relationship if I'm leaving in two weeks?"

"I don't know, Kara," Keith looked her in the eyes. "I don't know."

Before he knew it, Keith was back in Lena's office, sitting in the same chair he'd been at in the morning. He knew he could probably figure out this issue himself, but it felt better having Lena at his side to guide him.

"Did Kara tell you her good news?"

"Yeah," Keith nodded slowly. "That's what I wanted to talk about. You say it's good news, but it's only making me feel worse. I don't know what I'm going to do once she's gone."

"I thought you weren't sure if you even wanted a relationship with her."

"I love her, I really do. I know I want a relationship. Just not here in prison."

"I see. That's not really an option for you right now though."

"It's so dumb," Keith banged his fist on the table. "Why did I have to go and get locked up in the first place? If only I hadn't done the thing, and if we had met under different circumstances, maybe none of this would have happened." He hit the table again.

"Keith, you can't change the past, so don't dwell on it. I don't want you in here any more than you want to be here yourself. As for Kara, I know you just got to know her and you love her, but it might be best for you to move on. There are plenty more fish in the sea."

While not the quickest way back to his cell, Keith had lately gotten in the habit of walking down the womens' hall on his way back from Lena's office. For all practical purposes it was identical to the mens' hall, but to Keith, it felt different. Every time he walked down it, he would pause and put his ear to Kara's door, listening to see what she was doing. This time, it was silent other than the low whir of the ventilation system. He thought about what Lena had said, advising him to move on from Kara. Lena's words had wisdom, but somehow they didn't feel quite right. There had to be a way to keep Kara in his life.

Just then, Keith noticed the paperwork in Kara's letterbox, waiting for pickup, with the little ballpoint pen clipped to the side. East Prison Parole Eligibility Form, the title read, the remainder obscured by the box. He slid the paper up to read the rest of it. Everything was filled out in Kara's neat curly handwriting, and it was signed at the very bottom of the last page. He couldn't find any reason why her request wouldn't be accepted. Unless nobody ever sees the form, he failed to fight his intrusive thoughts. If nobody ever gets her request, then she can't leave. Before he knew what he was doing, Keith took the packet fully out of the letterbox and slipped it under his shoulder, adjusting it so that the blank side was facing out. Then he went on towards the mens' hall.

"Yo, Keith," Nelson sneered as he entered. "Where's your girlfriend? What's that paper?"

"Go away, none of your business," Keith turned so there was no chance of Nelson reading it.

"Are you getting married?" Nelson snickered. "Is that a marriage form?"

"Shut up." Keith went into his cell and closed the door. He hadn't thought so far as to figure out what to do with the form now that he had stolen it. He knew that what he was doing was very much wrong, but he couldn't imagine a future with him in prison and Kara not there. After much internal debate, he tore the form into shreds, crumpled them up, and flushed the whole thing down the toilet.

"Kara Radcliffe, please report to the security office immediately." Kara felt a pang of anxiety course through her stomach. She'd never been called over the loudspeaker before, and she'd certainly never been to the security office. Still, she did as she was told, making her way down the bright halls into the administrative wing. The security office was a stark contrast to the rest of the prison, sparsely lit to make it easier to view the security camera feeds. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Kara took in the room. A large screen was displaying security footage from the camera right outside of her cell door. Terrence the guard was at a computer, presumably operating the display, and Lena was sitting in a plastic chair next to another guard Kara had never seen. And sitting along the opposite wall, handcuffed, was Keith.

"Keith! What are you doing here?" Kara stared in shock. Keith looked back at her meekly, not saying a word.

"Keith has some explaining to do," Terrence the guard said flatly, turning toward Kara. "He demanded to see you."

"I…" Keith stammered after a while. "I took… your parole paperwork… and destroyed it."

"You what?" Kara said softly. "Why?" She couldn't fathom what could have made Keith do such a thing. She'd thought he loved her.

"I… I don't want… you to leave." He reached to wipe away tears but couldn't with his cuffed hands.

"Oh, Keith," Kara leaned in, wiped Keith's cheeks and then gave him a quick hug. The unknown guard reached out, trying to pull her away, but Lena stopped him. Kara looked Keith in the eyes. "I don't want to leave you either, but I've got to take this opportunity. I'll miss you when I'm gone, but you've got to promise me that you won't get mad at yourself for letting me go, okay? There are plenty more fish in the sea."