The Call Back
The morning after the yard fight, Jayden's name echoed through the block.
"Carter. Director's office. Now."
His stomach twisted. He already knew what this was. The fight with Rico hadn't gone unseen. It never did.
As the guard cuffed him and led him down the hall, every set of eyes followed. Some filled with pity. Others with hunger. Spider smirked. Rico's bruised face bent into a grin that said you're done.
But Dre's eyes, steady and sharp, locked on him from across the block. They didn't say goodbye. They said remember what I told you.
---
The Judgment Table
The office smelled of coffee and stale paper. The director sat behind the desk, file open, pen tapping. Beside him was Jayden's probation officer, flipping pages with disinterest. A guard leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
The director didn't waste time. "Another fight. You think we're here to play games?"
Jayden clenched his fists in the cuffs, forcing his voice steady. "He came at me. I didn't lose it this time. I controlled it."
The director sneered. "Controlled? You call knocking another boy down control?"
Jayden's heart hammered. This was it. The moment they decided whether he was finished.
---
The Turn
The probation officer finally looked up from the file. "Actually… witnesses said Carter didn't start it. Said Rico provoked him. And Carter pulled back before it escalated further."
Jayden blinked. For once, the file wasn't working against him.
The director's pen froze mid-tap. He didn't like it, but he couldn't ignore it either. "So you're telling me he showed restraint?"
The probation officer nodded. "For him? Yes. That's progress. Maybe enough to hold transfer. Temporarily."
The word hung heavy in the room: temporarily.
---
The Warning
The director leaned forward, eyes sharp as razors. "You get one more slip, Carter. One. And I'll personally drive you to max. Do you understand?"
Jayden swallowed hard, nodding. "Yeah. I understand."
But inside, the fire flickered with something new: victory. Small, fragile, but real.
---
The Return
When they brought him back to the block, the whispers hit instantly.
"Scrap's still here?"
"They didn't send him?"
"He beat the system?"
Spider's grin faltered when he saw him. Rico's jaw tightened. And for the first time, Jayden didn't just feel like prey.
Dre caught his eye, giving the smallest nod. Jayden nodded back.
---
The Fire's New Shape
That night, Jayden pulled out his pencil stub and scrap of paper, sketching with furious precision.
He drew the director as a towering figure of stone, a pen for a weapon. He drew Rico and Spider as shadows gnashing their teeth.
And in the center, he drew himself — smaller, scarred, but standing tall, a flame in his chest burning steady instead of wild.
Underneath, he wrote:
They wanted me gone. I'm still here.
---
The Horizon
The threat of max wasn't gone. It loomed larger than ever, a shadow at the edge of every day. But Jayden had bought himself something more dangerous than fear.
Time.
And he swore to himself: if they wanted to send him to max, they'd have to drag him kicking and screaming. He wouldn't go down as the boy they thought he was.
He'd go down on his own terms.