THE ROWS OF EMPTY CELLS were on the third tier of F-Block — except for one — that was occupied by a blond Adonis, who had turned eighteen a week ago. He was shirtless and was into vigorous sit-ups regime on the floor.

He was the only occupant on that highest floor with some other foreigner inmates on tiers below. He could only hear their spoken foreign language coming from the tier below, and they prayed out aloud too — he assumed they were Middle East Muslims.

Marlin had been isolated from everyone in the prison's gen-pop — he had not spoken to a living soul of his fellow Intersexual species for a long period of time, except for the guards — which was close to five deleterious years of being alone in his cell...

He seemed to be the forgotten inmate of Tombscradle in Texas — detached from everyone — and he had even lost hope that his guardian, Dr Jane Morris would someday drive up through that prison main gate — and take him back home to Washington D.C.

At times his thoughts wandered in apathy of Sonia Petrov — his maternal mother whom he last saw years ago in hiding with the status of a terrorist. He also sometimes remunerated debonair fantasies that he would be part of The Three Kings Project that Sonia was involved — that would someday find the cure vaccine to the deadly Medusa Virus.

He had lost the count of days, months and even years — time was just a daily phase in the measurement of periods of sunlight and darkness that came and left his prison cell grilled window. He dwelled the timeless hours by speaking out his thoughts — and more frequently he was still quiet — lingering on pleasant amiable memories of his past life in the outside world to retain his sanity.

The rest of the times, he spent hours observing the other inmates afar in the big-yard from his window — particularly at the bald-headed youths who self-accoutered in blanket-robes, and preaching their faith to the rest of the prisoners in the prison yard — he had identified them as monks, just like those in his own Buddhism faith.

His instincts told there was tension mounting in the presences of many outside in the big-yard — fueled by one particular monk who was recently dragged naked and punished openly in the Hispanic compound yard.

It seemed like a warning served to every denizen of Tombscradle.

Marlin finished his exercise routine and he yanked himself up before collapsing on his bunk bed in exhaustion. He wiped his dripping sweat on his face with a small rag and then proceeded to wipe his neck and his arms. A pleasing memory then distracted him when seeing one of his three brandish tattoos he had — particularly, the Japanese character tattoo on his left arm...

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He recalled Suki's smiling face.

*

The twelve-year-old blond regained consciousness from the Taser shock — that the mall-guards shot him which voraciously knocked him out cold before he was arrested. His head was still spinning when he looked at the other lock-up, a partially concrete fenced cage — where Suki's cousin Kenaki Kimura and three other Japanese boys were separated from him were in.

Kenaki was there in pain from two broken fingers that Marlin ablated — during their brawl at the mannequin exhibition hall earlier. They were all speaking in Japanese, and the conversation was interjected by the short guy pointed towards Marlin...

"He is awake now!"

Kenaki stood up and approached the lock-up's fence and scoffed in malediction...

"You bastard! I warned you many times to stay away from Suki!"

Everyone at once turned to the sound of the main door opening — a jailor, stepping into the lock-up area. Two other women stood outside the door and were conversing. Marlin peered up and caught a glimpse of a Japanese woman in her thirties attired in a black suit.

He could not see the other woman — but she sounded Caucasian.

"Isn't there any other way to resolve this, Madam?" asked the Japanese woman.

The Caucasian female voice answered her...

"I am afraid not, all the four boys fought with dangerous weapons in a public area — and now the media have the footages playing in the 6 o'clock news. This will be a bad press for the Ambassador and the Japanese Embassy on the whole if the boys remained here any longer. It is best we proceed as planned, Ms Kobayashi."

"You are right Madam — this incident is a real loss of face," the Asian woman echoed with regrets before she nodded to the jailor — who used a key to unlock the cage door to release the four Japanese Intersexuals.

Marlin eavesdropped to the Japanese woman further saying...

"So the four of them and the niece of the Ambassador — will proceed on the next flight back to Tokyo."

'Suki?' The blonde androgynous thought of his lover being mentioned.

Kenaki Kimura too overheard the Japanese woman — and he also spoke up in English...

"What is the meaning of this — return us to Japan? What about our school here?"

"You should have thought of that Ken before you landed everyone here into this mess," Kobayashi retorted — it embarrassed Kenaki — who arrogantly challenged her back, in a deep growling voice and replied her in Japanese...

"Why am I talking to the family lawyer? Call my mother now! I demand to speak to her!"

The woman also replied back in Japanese...

"Returning you all back to Japan or be jailed here without bail — that was what your mother's decision was when we spoke just now! It is finalized, Ken — so you better decide now!"

The four Asian boys looked whitewash — and they stepped out of the lock-up in defeat.

Kenaki turned and pointed at Marlin in the linked adjoin cell, he was asking back in English again...

"What about him?"

The Caucasian woman finally stepped insight — and Marlin saw her for the first time when she then replied...

"Him? No worries, he has got much bigger problems of his own."

Marlin later encountered her that day — and learned that she was from the White House — and went by the name of Lucinda Gates.