Silenced Innocence

The sun shone down as the tense air swelled around everyone; all eyes were on the new prisoner entering the prison gates. Trapped within the walls of the exercise yard, the barbed wire atop the outer wall glimmered in the sun, taunting and mocking them. The quiet mumbles of prisoners and guards alike didn't help boost the confidence and hope of this new negro. The sweat on his raven brow and his wrists raw from the cuffs left him uncomfortable and uneasy under others scrutinising gaze. No matter how slim his chances were, he was going to conquer this final challenge.

He shuffled about the dirt yard with his head down, lost in thoughts of how his life used to be. The warmth of his home and love of his wife was calling to him, the smiles of his children were drawing him back through memories and taking him beyond the walls of the prison. He was so consumed by his memories that he failed to notice that the line dividing the coloured folk from the whites was now far behind him.

"Get outta 'ere you, 'fore I make you!" threatened one of the white men with a tall black and broad shoulders, built to survive this prison. Built to take men down.

"Sorry suh. I was only passin' suh. I'm not 'sturbing any o'you." Matthew replied politely.

"Sure an' I be th' mayor!" He and other real criminals laughed at his sarcasm, surrounding the innocent.

"You stay offa our side, nigger." He threw a right hook at Matthew, forcing him to the ground, the circle of white men crowding closer like a wall of prejudice and judgement.

Tom braced for what was coming, he knew no one would be helping him, he was a negro. The black man curled up on the ground trying to protect himself from the hits and kicks that were aimed at him. The final punch was about to come down on him when a new voice filled their ears.

"Somethin' th' matter here?" yelled one of the guards as he slowly paced over to the brawling group. His eyes stared down every face but his gaze lingered on Tom, who had risen with a split lip, and his assailant who could have been mistaken for a wild beast.

"This nigger 'ere crossed our side 'n' 'sturbin' the peace." The guard turned his attention to Matthew and grabbed him by his collar. Matthew felt his worn old shoes scuff the dirt as the guard dragged him back to the dividing line. The stones dug into his back after he was pushed again to the ground, this time by the guard. The taste of dirt and dust turning his mouth dry.

"You stay where you belong, nigger. Don't lemme catch you again," he threatened. Matthew lay in the dirt. He was blamed, bruised and bleeding. Time and time again this is where a negro ended. He wasn't going to fight it anymore, he was a black man in a white world. They won't acquit him, it was his word against a white man's, he was a lost case. He was done with a white man's chances, but he could get his freedom another way.

He looked up at the wire sparkling in the sun atop the wall; the final challenge, glistening like the tears in his eyes. On the other side of that wall was freedom, but he was never planning on making it that far.

The other prisoners weren't looking, the guards weren't caring, he could do it right now and end this battle. He ran at the wall like there was fire licking at his heels. His damaged left arm would be a disadvantage but it didn't matter. He climbed at a furious pace, not hearing the voices of the guards and their warning shot over the roaring of his heavy breathing and pumping blood. His heart was in his throat and his thoughts were jumbled as silence fell in seventeen bullet holes resting in his back. The ringing of the loud shots fell and left the prison in a frozen silence.

Matthew was free.