Chapter 169: Understood

[Short Flashback: Maximum Prison]

Penny lay flat on the upper bunk bed. Her body and the ceiling were only an arm’s length away from her, making her pick up the habit of stretching an arm. She planted her hand on the ceiling, her chapped and bruised lips curling up.

Despite the darkness in the cell, she could see everything perfectly. Perhaps it was because this had been her life for the past months.

"Hey," she called quietly, but with the small cell, her voice still echoed. She winced a bit as the cut on the side of her eyes ached. "Didn’t you kill your family?"

Her question was intended for the person lying on the lower bunk bed. Grace didn’t answer and kept her eyes closed, but she heard her question.

"Do you regret it?" asked Penny and for a moment, Grace smirked.

"Regret?" Grace scoffed as she slowly reopened her eyes. "Not even a second."

Penny chuckled weakly. "Why?"

"That motherfucker is better off dead."

These were the type of people Penny had to blend in everyday. They said they lock people up and hope they would change or repent. But alas, it wasn’t like that at all. Many in this prison had been coming in and out of this place. The majority were monsters hiding underneath human skin. Although there were some kind people and innocent ones, this place would teach any soul to fight for survival.

"How about you?" Grace returned after a moment. "Do you regret taking the hit for someone else’s crimes?"

"They did no such thing."

Grace snorted. "Really, huh?"

"Why, Grace?" Penny touched her fresh bruise from earlier’s fight. "How can you kill and not feel remorse for it?"

"Hah. Back to me again, huh?" Grace ran her tongue across her inner cheeks. "That’s what happens when you know even the justice system can’t protect you."

"But he is your family."

"No." She shook her head. "He was never a family to me."

Penny’s brows rose, her eyes sliding to the corner. She couldn’t see Grace from the upper bunk bed and she had no energy to roll and see the face her cellmate was making. However, just by Grace’s tone alone, she knew the first crime Grace committed was something she had never regretted.

"Why are you asking?" asked Grace out of pure curiosity. "Planning to kill someone and wants to know if you can do it?"

Penny didn’t answer and closed her eyes. "Those bitches are gonna get it tomorrow."

"Heh. You’ll be back in the hole."

"And I’ll keep coming back to the hole until my anger is quenched." Penny slipped her arm underneath her head. "They better digest their breakfast quick enough or they’d end up throwing it up."

"You’re crazy," Grace chuckled while shaking her head. "I’ll be here if you need help."

"No need. I like the hole better without you in it."

"Haha. Penelope," called Grace solemnly after her laughter subsided. "I’m not trying to stop you since there’s nothing we can do. You’re already in here, whether you’re innocent or not. All I’m saying is... there are just some things — some people in life who’d push you to insanity."

A moment of silence fell in the cell before Penny’s voice was heard again. "Do you think things would be different if you were given a chance to have a choice?"

"Who doesn’t think things would be different if they were presented with more options?"

****

[PRESENT TIME]

Hurting someone without any remorse out of anger and vengeance was something Penny understood. But a part of her heart seemed to never grasp the depth of Grace’s anger toward her first victim. Only today had she understood the reason Grace turned out to be that crazy and fearless woman Penny once knew.

"What — what the fuck do you think you’re doing, brat!?" Grace’s father harrumphed and pointed a finger at Hugo. "Why are you butting your fucking noses in someone else’s business, you brats?"

The man tried to get up once more, stumbling down a little as it seemed he already had a lot to drink so early in the day.

"Second Brother!" Penny called worriedly, but Hugo remained steadfast.

"Penny, move back a little," Hugo spoke without casting her a look. "I won’t let him touch you or these women."

Penny nodded in understanding before she faced Grace. "Let’s move away. The police will be here any moment. My brother will block him until then."

Grace’s eyes shook, equally confused and scared at this moment. But instead of letting Penny assist her, she turned to her mother.

"Mom!" Grace yelled. "Mom, the police will soon come. Let’s get out of here."

Her mother peeked up at them. The second Penny saw the bruises and the woman’s swollen eye, Penny’s breath hitched.

’This is not just a simple hitting,’ was Penny’s immediate thought. ’I’ve had those kinds of bruises and swollen eyes in prison from vicious brawls. Those things hurt like hell.’

"Hah." Grace’s mother tried to push herself to sit up.

At the same time, her husband lunged toward Hugo. But against a well-disciplined and trained Hugo, he missed when Hugo dodged it. Hugo didn’t fight back but instead flung his foot behind the man’s feet to make him lose his balance.

"Ack!" the man yelped as he found himself on the ground again. His face twisted until it turned red. He then glared daggers at Hugo again. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"Mister, please just stay down and don’t try anything until the authorities come," Hugo politely remarked, but one could detect the repressed anger in his voice. "I’m not trying to fight you, but I won’t let you hurt this poor auntie and the young lady."

"Hah! That poor auntie and that brat are my family! This is a family matter and you shouldn’t butt in!" the man harrumphed. "Whatever I do with them, that’s up to me to decide! They’d be dead anyway without me in their lives! So, you don’t have any right to butt into someone else’s family business."

The vein in Hugo’s forehead protruded, his vision turning red. "Is that so?" he breathed out, taking a step to fight this man even if he was three times older than him. But just as he took a step, Grace’s mother hugged his leg.

"Please..." Grace’s mother begged Hugo. "This is nothing. Thank you, young man. But this is nothing."

"Mom! What are you doing?!" Grace shouted while Hugo gazed down at the woman’s beaten face.

"That’s nothing?" Hugo whispered, his heart thudding as his pupils dilated like an aperture of the camera. "That doesn’t look nothing to me. Let go."

The woman clasped his leg even more, shaking her head. "Please. Don’t hurt him."