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Prolouge
Terrance
Q. Hyatt Federal Penitentiary in Northern California was the closest thing to
hell on earth for the 1500 inmates it housed.
T-Hy, as it was commonly known, was an infamous and dangerous maximum
security prison for the most hardened of criminals. The facility sat on 38 acres of land in the
middle of a redwood forest. It was
encased by a daunting 12-foot electrified fence topped by razor wire as well as
in impenetrable outlying 20-foot brick wall.
Prison guards escorted by trained and vicious German shepherds patrolled
T-Hy’s perimeter. An array of motion
detectors and cameras kept a watchful eye on all inmates, and remote-controlled
steel doors kept them confined. There
was no escaping T-Hy. As a prisoner at
T-Hy, if the confinement and ever hostile environment didn’t drive you mad, the
lack of central heat and air in most of the facilities could snap even the most
iron-clad psychos.
Abdullah
found solace in the Quran. The holy text
kept him sane. He was serving a life
sentence for a slew of charges including drug trafficking, extortion, and
capital murder. The year was 2013. Abdullah arrived at T-Hy in 2000 when he was
21 years old. On this particular day, Abdullah
sat alone in his cell reading scriptures.
Over the past 13 days, he got to enjoy a bit of extra alone time. Abdullah was assigned a new cell mate named
Trey Zack Li two weeks ago. Trey was the
target of endless and aggressive ridicule from the get-go. This problem was compounded by the fact he
gained his fame as a fighter. Trey Zack
Li was not just a fighter, but the most renowned martial artist of his
generation. There were plenty of egomaniacal
psychopaths in prison with nothing to lose that yearned to prove their toughness
by squaring off against someone who had to register his hands and feet as lethal
weapons every year like Trey.
Trey‘s first
physical confrontation occurred during his second day of incarceration at
T-Hy. The other inmates had been
clamoring about Trey Zack Li upon his arrival.
They dubbed him Mr. Mixed Martial because Trey had a prolific career as
a big ticket professional mixed martial artist.
However, the inmates made it clear that Trey’s prowess in the caged ring
as a prizefighter wouldn’t ensure his survival in the unforgiving and
unrelenting pen. Basically, Trey had a
huge target on his back, but he was used to that. The first bold prison contender to confront
Trey was Robert “Blobby” Jones, a 6’2 ” 271 pound monster of a man whose
aggression was fueled by his insatiable appetite and greed. Blobby accosted Trey in the mess hall after
lunch.
“Mr.
Mixed Martial, you owe me a tray a day or,” Blobby began to say.
“Or
what?” Trey quickly retorted.
“Or
you’re going to be in a world of p….gaaaaah!”
Blobby
violently gagged mid-sentence because Trey caught him with a swift crane punch
to the Adam’s apple followed by a thrusting right cross to the chest that he
put his hips into. The bruising blow
took Blobby’s breath away, made his heart skip a couple of beats, and broke his
sternum. Blobby collapsed in a heap on
the concreted floor. Trey mounted Blobby
in a ground-and-pound position that was all-too-familiar to him. Then Trey raised his left arm to deliver a
hammer punch, but a corrections officer named Griggs appeared and caught his
arm to mercifully prevent further damage similar to the way a referee would
intervene in the caged ring after a knockout during an MMA bout.
“God
dammit, Li. He’s had enough!” Griggs
cursed. He pulled Trey off Blobby and
said, “We were hoping you wouldn’t cause problems like this. You’re going straight to the hole, Karate
Man.”
So
that is what warranted Trey’s first 14-day stay in solitary confinement. Trey was whisked away to a 12 x 12 ft concrete
box in the basement of T-Hy on a long corridor that housed a dozen identical
cells. Trey was only permitted to leave
his cell to shower or phone his attorney, 23 hour lockdown. The monotony of solitary didn’t get to Trey
at first. A disciplined workout regimen
and meditation helped pass the time.
After the first six days, Trey decided to phone his attorney. Trey’s attorney was Chauncey Levin, an old
friend who was his roommate in college.
“Hello,”
Chauncey answered the phone.
“It’s
me, Zack” Trey said.
“I
know it’s you, Zack. The first hint was,
‘You have a collect call from a Federal Correctional Facility from Trey Li’,” Chauncey joked.
“That’s
funny,” Trey laughed at how Chauncey mimicked his voice. “I’m guessing you’ve heard about my little
spat here.”
“Spat? Is that what you call it? You damn near put that guy in cardiac arrest
and caught another serious charge. I’m
guessing you were trying to send a message.”
“Exactly.”
“Well,
how are things going besides that?”
“They
got me down here in the hole. I been
thinking about my daughter like crazy.
How is Faith?”
“She
misses you a lot, Zack, but she’s fine, a budding and bubbly four year old.”
“What
about Madison?”
“She’s
still a bitch.”
“Hey,
that’s still my wife, for now.”
“You
know I never liked that slut. She called
me to inform me that I should be receiving those divorce documents soon.”
“Yeah,
our relationship was doomed from the start.”
“You’ll
be better off without her. I’m filing
your appeal. I’ll do my best to get you
out of there ASAP.”
“Do
what you can. Keep me posted. My times about up on the phone. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Okay,
Zack. Keep your head up. Bye, love ya bro.”
“I
love you too, Chance. Goodbye.”
Time
in solitary confinement lulled by for Trey.
Eventually, his time in the hole was up.
A guard came to release Trey.
Griggs told Trey that the warden wanted to see him, so Trey was escorted
to the warden’s office. He sat across
the desk from Dr. Nelson Norris. Dr.
Norris earned his doctorate in criminal psychology and was a widely respected
warden who was known for his unconventional methods.
“Good
afternoon, Mr. Li. Welcome,” Dr. Norris
greeted.
“Dr.
Norris,” Trey nodded.
“After
two weeks, I generally meet with new inmates to discuss how they are coping
with and adjusting to prison life.
However, it seems like a run-in with Big Robert Jones landed you in iso
for your first two weeks here at T-Hy.”
Trey
just grinned and shrugged his shoulders.
Then he said, “That run-in you speak of was fairly anti-climactic.”
“Regardless,
reports say you were the primary aggressor and instigator.”
“I
felt like I was provoked.”
“This
is prison, Mr. Li. Every gesture and
every word uttered is a provocation. Big
Blobby has quite a reputation on your cell block. He’s put his fair share of people in the
infirmary. It’s nice to see him get a
dose of his own medicine.
“I
only did it to prevent a problematic pattern from developing.”
“I’ve
been running this prison for a long time and studying criminal minds even
longer. I understand, Mr. Li. You are not the first professional fighter or
boxer to reside in T-Hy.”
Another
sly smirk ran across Trey’s face. This
time he simply smiled and nodded.
Dr.
Norris continued, “The inmates in here can be savages. Not only are you fresh meat, but you’re a
sultry piece of meat because of your reputation.”
“That’s
irrelevant. That’s not my fault,” Trey
stated.
“I
didn’t say it was. Nonetheless, my
responsibilities as warden entail providing a safe and structured environment
to rehabilitate hardened criminals into functional and productive members of
society.”
“I
know what a warden does, Dr. Norris.”
“You
must not consider yourself a hardened criminal.
Judging by your dossier, you’re definitely not a career criminal, but
you have this one serious man slaughter charge.
Still I can’t have you going Kung Fu on everybody that looks at you
funny.”
“I’m
willing to deal with the consequences of my actions, Dr. Norris.”
“I
can respect that, but I cannot keep you in solitary confinement for fifteen
years. Like most of America, I followed
your trial very closes because of your celebrity. In the interest of objectivity, I won’t
reveal whether or not I agreed with the verdict. When you were sentenced though, I was hoping
they would send you to my facility to serve your time, Mr. Li.”
“Why’s
that?”
“I’m
in the midst of developing a special and innovative work-release program that
would be perfect for you. I’ll go into
more depth about it with you at a later date.
There are still some details I have to hash out with my superiors.”
“Hmmm. Work release?
$1.10 an hour? Even after paying
all my legal bills and with my soon-to-be ex-wife’s spending habits, I haven’t
blown my whole fortune. I’d only
consider something like that if I could get time off my sentence,” Trey said.
“Of
course. That’s about all I have to
discuss with you for now. Try to stay
out of trouble.” Dr. Norris pressed the button for the intercom on his desk to
beacon the guard waiting outside and said, “Griggs you may take Mr. Li to his
cell.”
In
mere moments, Griggs had taken Trey to his cell block. Griggs called out a number which was followed
by a loud buzzing sound that triggered the automatic mechanism to unlock and
open the cell door. Abdullah was inside
sitting in his bed on the bottom bunk reading the Quran. He looked up briefly when Trey entered. This was nothing like two chummy college
roommates reuniting after spring break.
The two simply exchanged cordial nods before Abdullah refocused his
attention to the holy text.
Trey
took a seat in one of the cold metallic stools that sat across from one another
near a small table that was affixed to the cell wall. His personal affects were still sitting on
his side of the table where he placed them two weeks prior: a composition book,
bible, two pencils, a toothbrush, and a comb.
There were also four pieces of mail addressed to Trey Li that must have
arrived while he was in solitary confinement.
The first letter was from Kelly Lynch, a deranged groupie that stalked
Trey since 2001.
Hello my love. I want you to know that your incarceration
will not abate the feelings I have for you in my heart. I want to see you, so please make sure you
put my name on your visitation list. I
miss you so much. I often reminisce
about all the moments we shared.
Memories of those moments are what I think of when I lay in bed
pleasuring myself. In fact I’m
pleasuring myself as I write this letter.
Oh! Oh! Trey! Oh! I’m cumming!
Oooohhh! I will love you until the end
of time. Your’s forever, Kelly Lynch-Li
The
second letter was from Vinata Concord, Trey’s best friend and confidant. Vinata met Trey in 1985 when they were in
kindergarten at Bradley Elementary School in Trey’s hometown, Ponte Vedra
Beach, Florida. When they were in high
school, they both earned their lettermen as four year members of the varsity
wrestling team and Nease High School.
Surfing was another common hobby they shared. They caught countless waves together. Besides dating for a couple years in high
school their relationship remained mostly plutonic except for one night when
they hooked up in college at UCLA. They cared deeply for one another. Vinata’s
letter brought a smile to Trey’s face.
Zack, you can rest assured that this will be
the first of many letters I send you. I
will always be here for you and in your corner through thick and thin. I’ll come see you as soon as I can. You don’t deserve to be in there. I’ve started collecting signatures for a
petition that should help with your appeal according to Chauncey. Things aren’t the same without you
around. You’ve been missing some big
swells. The waves have been awesome
lately. I also want to thank you for
giving me the opportunity to oversee your companies while you are away. I never thought I was CEO material. Your record label is doing well. The Blazers will be going on a big national
tour next year, and I’m close to sealing the deal on a couple of big contracts
for the clothing line. Make sure you
take care in there. I’ll write you again
soon. Love, Vinata.
The
third letter was from Pedro Sanchez, commonly known as El Ladrillo (The Brick).
Pedro was the ruthless leader of a Mexican drug cartel. Pedro followed Trey’s career for many, many
years. He was really impressed when Trey
defeated Orlando Fernando, the pride of Mexico, in Trey’s first championship
pay-per-view fight. He also had to
respect the bravery of a man with morals who could turn down the enormous bribe
Pedro offered him to throw the fight.
Pedro was a bit of a bookworm who racked up several online degrees under
the guise of his aliases. He snorted and
smuggled copious amounts of cocaine, but he was a lonely and reclusive man for
obvious reasons. Pedro and Trey
eventually became friends through some extenuating circumstance.
Greetings, amigo. I was most disheartened to learn about the
unfortunate events that landed you in prison.
I recently received news from my cohorts behind bars about an
altercation you had in there. You need
not worry about anything like that in the future. Anyone who has a problem with Trey Zack Li
has a problem with El Ladrillo, and anyone with a problem with El Ladrillo as a
problem with LLH. I’ll make sure they
watch your back. If there’s anything you
need while you are locked down, let me know.
Best wishes, Dro.
The
last letter was from the Wrigley Publishing Company. It was concise and to the point. Wrigley wanted the rights to Trey’s life
story. They urged him to pen his memoirs
and promised him a hefty advance with respectably royalties for a complete
autobiographical manuscript. This offer
intrigued Trey. During his last session
of therapy before he reported to prison, his doctor told him that writing and
journaling would help him cope with being incarcerated. Trey decided to get started right away. He grabbed a pencil and opened his
composition book…
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