The slow drip from the leaking tap in the corner echoes through the illuminated space. The sound rings hollow as drops of water land in the metal sink. Above it, the constant buzzing of a fluorescent bulb. “Lights out” is just a euphemism around here. Although muffled by the distance, the screams coming from somewhere in the adjacent block still reach me. The heat is brutal; the humidity is even worse, clinging to me with a sticky sheen. The putrid air is heavy, and there’s no way to escape its suffocating weight. I turn onto my side, facing the gray wall of the cell, and start counting the cracks in the old paint.
Rusty hinges squeak as the door opens with a clang behind me. Rushed steps, drawing closer. I leap from the bunk and face the man holding a shiv formed from a shard of glass ti
