Silence reigned along the hallways of the South wing, one hallway in particular, as its residents gazed in utter confusion at the man who had not stopped crying for the past ten minutes.
     
Sebastian had always kept a soft spot for the big man on the floor. Ernest Valenciano was a six-foot, big-built, but silent man. He was jailed due to the murder of his sister. Sebastian had asked the big man about it, but nothing came out of all his questioning because Ernest remained silent about the whole murder case.
     
The youngest of the inmates was named Kennedy Alejandro. A twenty-eight-year-old man who was incarcerated because of his involvement in a burglary, which resulted in the death of five people, knelt and patted Ernest on the shoulder while saying, "It's alright, whatever it is, it will pass."
     
"What the hell are you, a priest?" sneered Lawrence Velasco. Among the five men that stood in the hallway of the South wing, he possessed the longest sentence of them all, and that was life imprisonment, driven to San Fernando Correctional due to a street shooting in their neighbourhood, which claimed eight lives.
     
"Hey, get your acts together; we're supposed to be escaping, remember?" Noah Fisher scoffed. He was the eldest of them all, imprisoned because of arson. His deed resulted in the death of six children and their mother. Although Noah swore that he had nothing to do with the crime, having all the evidence pointing at him, made his lawyer lose the case. He was sentenced to thirty years to life imprisonment.
     
Sebastian Akihiro, a half-Japanese, half-American man locked up because of two counts of murder, threw both Noah and Lawrence a patronizing look. "Leave the big man alone." he warned before he knelt in front of Ernest while saying, "Do you want to talk about it?"
     
His question immediately received a loud growl from Lawrence. Immediately, Sebastian got to his feet, and despite the obvious difference in their size—Lawrence being a few inches taller than him—he grabbed the man by his collar and then brought him down, level to his face. Sebastian, with eyes reminiscent of a predator, whispered, "I will kill you right now if you don't shut that trap of yours."
     
Lawrence raised both hands, surrendering to the smaller man. "Hey, I'm just being realistic here. We were trying to escape remember, but we have lost a lot of time due to that letter, not to mention it might have broken Ernest here, he explained, whilst pointing a finger towards the man on the floor.
     
Sebastian released a heavy sigh. He understood their predicament, but something was telling him that they would not make it out anyway. The entire facility went into lockdown. Sebastian had heard rumours about the iron doors that usually encased the entire prison when a full-out riot happened, or similar to the current case, where the prisoners were able to take control over the building. Those who had seen it happen, though, had either been released or dead. So, no one could fully confirm its validity among the prisoners. It was said that the last time a lockdown of such magnitude happened was during the late 1980s. Amidst their current failure to escape, Sebastian couldn't help but marvel at the intelligence of the engineers who built San Fernando Correctional. They truly have done justice to the word maximum security prison.
     
"I had a Maria, she was taken from me," Ernest murmured. His sudden release of words took Sebastian out of his musings.
     
Lawrence, having no patience for the big man decided to turn his back and walked a few feet away.
     
"Tell us about her," Kennedy coaxed.
     
Ernest raised his face and, without batting an eyelash, said, "My sister mistreated her; she killed Miranda and buried her in the backyard."
     
This time, it was Noah who took a sudden interest in the big man. He asked him what happened.
     
With his tears falling nonstop, and shoulders still shaking, Ernest began to tell his story.
     
My Maria, her name is Miranda Ocampo. She was my schoolmate back in high school. She was an average-looking woman, but her charm was beyond anyone I had ever met. She was kind and loving. She had a bright smile and brown hair. It was so brown, they looked like strands of chocolates. She loved me, but my sister hated her. I don't know why, but she kept mistreating my Miranda.
     
"Wait, did you live with your sister?" asked Noah.
     
The big man bobbed his head in agreement and went on to say, "I had a hard time looking for a job. I was not able to finish high school."
     
"Well, did you at least pitch in with the expenses?" Lawrence asked. He may have been standing a few feet away but he was able to hear Earnest.
     
"What's that got to do with anything?" Sebastian argued.
     
Lawrence, who at that time was leaning his back on a wall, fixed his stance, walked up to them, and asked, "This guy killed his sister right? Don't tell me it was due to her, mistreating your Miranda?"
     
"Well, what kind of a fucked-up head do you have? If someone mistreated the person I love, I would probably do the same!" yelled Kennedy.
     
Lawrence glared at the young man and answered, "Maybe the woman got fed up with them. If someone was leeching off of me, I would..." he did not finish his words, because, at that moment, Ernest had sprung to his feet and gave him a heavy blow on the jaw.
     
The punch sent Lawrence stumbling to the floor. The others immediately grabbed Ernest when he attempted to give the man another jab. "She killed our baby, she killed my child and my wife!" Ernest screamed, amidst the hands that snaked over his body and arms.
     
"Miranda was pregnant, but my sister pushed her to the kitchen counter because she forgot to do the dishes. Dishes! My baby died due to a bunch of cutlery! Miranda followed soon after, she died of excessive bleeding because my sister and her husband stopped me from bringing her to the hospital, the big man yelled again. His voice bounced off of the walls, creating an echo that assaulted their ears with fury.
     
After a few minutes, Sebastian managed to calm the big man down. Shaking his head with his fist still clenched on both sides, Earnest went back to his previous location. He sat on the floor, tears still streaming down his face.
     
After a deafening silence between the tensioned prisoners, Kennedy began to speak.
     
"I guess I had a Maria too." the youngest man declared.
     
Lawrence scrunched up his nose while saying, "Great, let's all forget about escaping and talk about the women in our lives!"
     
Noah shook his head upon hearing his co-inmate's words, then proceeded to ask Kennedy about his own Maria.
     
"She was the head cheerleader," Kennedy began. A high-pitched whistle from Lawrence immediately greeted his words.
     
"Man, if you don't stop, I swear I will kill you!" Sebastian warned again. Lawrence, though, didn't bother with the warning. He gave the rest of them a grin and walked away, leaving his four companions to brood over their lovers.
     
Kennedy cleared his throat and continued to relay his story. "Her name is Amanda Griffin. She was the most popular girl in school.
     
"I bet you were too," Sebastian teased. It was not difficult to say the words because Kennedy was blessed with an Adonis-like face.
     
Kennedy chuckled and said, "Well yeah, I was. Anyway, Amanda and I dated for about three years. Everything was fine until she decided to study in England."
     
"Well, that's too bad. Did the two of you break it off after she left?" pried Noah.
     
"Nah, we tried for a long-distance relationship, but I fucked up. I got drunk one night, and boom, a chick got pregnant."
     
"So, you married her, and broke it off with Amanda? Sebastian asked.
     
After shaking his head, Kennedy said no.
     
"Then what the hell happened?" both men questioned.
     
Kennedy took a deep breath, ran his fingers over his hair, and said, "That chick agreed to an abortion, but I didn't have the money needed. So, I joined a bunch of thieves to get some, unfortunately, I found myself here. Amanda found out and I never heard from her since then."
     
"Well damn, you got bad luck, son," replied Sebastian.
     
Kennedy smiled, masking the pain he felt. He regretted the one nightstand. Not only did it cost him Amanda, but he lost his freedom as well.