The Return to the Block
After the hole, everything looked different.
The walls were the same gray, the cells the same size, the guards the same barked orders — but Jayden carried the echo of silence in his chest, a constant reminder that this place could erase him if he let it.
Rico was still watching. His smirk said unfinished business. His crew whispered in corners, waiting for their chance.
Jayden knew he couldn't do it alone anymore. Not here.
---
The Conversation
That night, with the lights dimmed and the hum of the building filling the silence, Dre's voice came low through the wall.
"You survived the hole. That's something. Most kids don't come back the same."
Jayden stared at the cracks in his ceiling. "I don't feel the same."
"Good. Now you know. This place doesn't care if you live or break. That's why you need people."
Jayden frowned. "People get taken away. They get moved. Or they betray you."
Dre chuckled softly. "True. But you're already a target. Alone, you won't last. Together, maybe we make it out."
Jayden was quiet a long time before answering. "So what's the plan?"
---
The Rules of Trust
Over the next few days, Dre started pointing people out in the yard, mapping the unspoken alliances like a general planning a war.
"See him? That's Malik. Not your Malik. This one runs with Rico sometimes, but he don't like him. He's useful, but not loyal."
He nodded at a smaller boy leaning against the fence. "That's Spider. Quick hands. Good for stealing, bad for secrets. Never trust him with your back."
Jayden watched, listening, learning. It was like discovering a whole other system inside the system — invisible rules running beneath the guards' shouted orders.
Finally, Dre said, "There's one more rule of survival you need to know. Don't trust too many. Pick one. Maybe two. The rest? Keep them close enough to watch, far enough they can't stab you."
Jayden smirked. "Guess that means you're one."
Dre's grin flashed sharp. "Guess so."
---
The Pact
That night, they made it official. Not with handshakes, not with words. Just silence, and a shared understanding that went deeper than anything else in this place.
Dre had saved Jayden once already. Jayden knew he'd do the same if the chance came.
For the first time since Miguel in juvie, Jayden didn't feel like he was fighting alone. He had someone who saw the fire in him and didn't fear it.
---
The Warning
But alliances painted targets. Rico noticed.
One afternoon in the cafeteria, Rico leaned against the table where Jayden and Dre sat. His lip was still bruised, but his smirk was sharper than ever.
"Cute," Rico said. "Scrap found himself a babysitter. Think that's gonna save you?"
Dre leaned back in his chair, calm as ever. "It'll save him from you."
Rico's eyes narrowed. "We'll see."
He walked off, his crew trailing behind, but Jayden felt it in his gut: this wasn't over. It was just the beginning.
---
The Vow
That night, Jayden opened the hidden corner of his sketchbook — a place where he could still draw when no one was watching. He sketched two figures standing back-to-back, flames on one side, shadows on the other.
Underneath, he wrote:
Alliance. Fire and shadow. Together we survive.