Safe Place
1119 Words
“Recorded Call #24
Malik: “Hey, Trouble.”
Alina: “There you are.”
Malik: “Long day?”
Alina: “It was.”
Malik: “Tell me about it.”
⸻
People always assumed our conversations were dramatic.
That every phone call was about prison.
About appeals.
About release dates.
About lawyers.
Sometimes they were.
But most of the time…
They were about life.
Real life.
The little things that nobody else would think mattered.
Those became our favorite conversations.
⸻
It had rained all afternoon.
The kind of rain that made everything outside look washed clean.
By the time I got home, I was exhausted.
I kicked my shoes off at the front door, tied my hair into a messy bun, and changed into one of my oversized T-shirts.
The house felt peaceful.
I lit the vanilla candle sitting on my coffee table before curling up beneath my favorite blanket.
Some people poured a glass of wine after work.
I waited for the phone to ring.
Right on time…
It did.
I answered before the second ring.
“Hey.”
A familiar chuckle answered.
“I was finna complain.”
“About what?”
“You ain’t answer on the first ring.”
I laughed.
“It was one ring.”
“Too long.”
“You dramatic.”
“I learned from you, Trouble.”
“I refuse to accept responsibility.”
“You should.”
⸻
“You sound tired,” he said.
“I am.”
“What happened today?”
I let out a long breath.
“One of my students had a rough day.”
“What happened?”
“He got overwhelmed.”
“So we sat on the floor together for almost thirty minutes until he felt safe enough to talk.”
Malik didn’t respond immediately.
Finally he said quietly,
“You’re good at making people feel safe.”
His words caught me off guard.
“I try.”
“No…”
“You don’t just try.”
“You do it.”
I looked down at the blanket in my lap.
“How do you know?”
“Because you do it for me.”
The room fell silent.
No one had ever described me that way before.
⸻
“What about you?” I asked.
“How was your day?”
He sighed.
“It was one of them days.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing really.”
“You sure?”
“I got into my own head.”
I frowned.
“About what?”
He hesitated.
“You.”
“Me?”
“I started wondering why somebody like you keeps answering my calls.”
I smiled softly.
“Because I want to.”
“I know.”
“But why?”
“Malik…”
“I’m serious.”
“I know you are.”
He laughed quietly.
“I be looking around sometimes…”
“At these walls.”
“At these bunks.”
“At these grown men.”
“And I think…”
“What in the world do I have to offer somebody?”
My heart broke a little.
“You wanna know what you offer me?”
“What?”
“Peace.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“I do.”
“You don’t have to buy me expensive gifts.”
“You don’t have to take me on vacations.”
“You don’t have to pretend to be somebody you’re not.”
“You listen.”
“You make me laugh.”
“You respect me.”
“You tell me the truth.”
“Those things matter.”
He didn’t answer.
I could hear him breathing.
Slowly.
Steadily.
Almost like he was trying not to let emotion creep into his voice.
⸻
“You know…” he finally said.
“I’ve spent so much of my life trying to prove I’m worth something.”
I stayed quiet.
“I never realized somebody could make me feel valuable just by showing up.”
A tear slid down my cheek.
“I don’t show up because I have to.”
“I show up because I want to.”
⸻
The automated voice announced,
“You have ten minutes remaining.”
“I hate that lady,” I muttered.
He laughed.
“I think she hate us too.”
“I think she enjoys interrupting us.”
“Probably.”
“If I ever meet her…”
“You gon’ do what?”
“I’m gonna ask her nicely to stop ruining our conversations.”
He laughed so hard I heard another man in the background ask what was so funny.
“See?” he said.
“You got me over here laughing.”
“I’m okay with that.”
“I know.”
⸻
After a moment, his tone changed.
“Trouble.”
“Hmm?”
“You know what my favorite part of the day is?”
“When you eat mystery meat?”
He groaned.
“I walked right into that one.”
“You definitely did.”
“My favorite part…”
He continued.
“Is when I don’t have to think.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I’m talking to you…”
“I’m not inmate number 48291.”
“I’m not my case.”
“I’m not my sentence.”
“I’m just…”
“Malik.”
I closed my eyes.
“And when I’m talking to you…”
“I’m not carrying the weight of the whole world.”
“I’m not worried about tomorrow.”
“I’m not trying to fix everybody else’s problems.”
“I’m just…”
“Trouble.”
He smiled.
“I like Trouble.”
“I like Malik.”
⸻
The recording interrupted again.
“One minute remaining.”
Neither of us rushed to speak.
Some moments deserved silence.
Some feelings didn’t need words.
Finally he broke it.
“You know what I realized?”
“What?”
“You’ve become my safe place.”
The words settled over me like rain.
I swallowed hard.
“You’ve become mine too.”
The line stayed quiet.
Not because we had nothing to say.
Because we’d finally said the thing we’d both been feeling.
The recording returned.
“This call has ended.”
I lowered the phone slowly.
People thought prison walls were made of concrete.
They weren’t.
Some walls were built from fear.
Some from shame.
Some from believing you weren’t worthy of being loved.
Maybe…
Without either of us realizing it…
We were helping each other tear those walls down.
- Writer
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