Free King Perry by Edmond Manning

night guard arrives in the cement foundation, we watch his flashlight sweep in lazy circles. He wanders around a few debris piles, mostly ignoring the entire area, and eventually heads toward the Charlie Brown wall.
    “Have you thought of your Alcatraz name?”
    Perry refuses to answer me. He crouches with his hands over his ears as if to block the sound of our imminent capture.
    The guard ambles back toward the stairs, and soon we hear him clomping down the southern steps, beginning his return trip across the island.
    “Let’s go.”
    I have to pry his hands off his ears before I can get him to follow.
    Alcatraz is a fairly big island, but it’s less big when two people are carefully avoiding the third person while simultaneously chasing him. A few times during the next hour of our stealthy chase, Perry panics. I have to remind him to breathe occasionally, and once, when I worry he’s going to explode, I give him a math problem. “If I bought a 10K CD at 4.2% for a five-year return—”
    At this, he pushes me away, but the distraction serves its purpose; he cools down for a few more minutes. We chase the guard for another segment of the island, beyond the main prison gates, as he sweeps the northern buildings.
    During another moment of panic, Perry stands up straight, intending to turn himself in.
    “I can’t do this, Vin,” he says at a normal volume.
    Luckily the guard faces the opposite direction and Perry’s words are lost in the strong wind.
    I pull him down and quickly pull up his ski mask, then mine. I kiss him hard, kiss strength into him. My goatee rubs against his chin, and I massage the tight tendons on either side of his skull. I stroke behind his ears with my thumbs in gentle circles to calm him, soothe him, while sucking the air out of him.
    We break from the kiss, and he gulps in heavy breaths.
    “That was nice,” he says and takes a few more breaths. “We’re stalking a guy with a gun, but at least you’re a good kisser.”
    “Maybe that’s the good news, better than eggs. Though I do like eggs.”
    I grin against his face so he feels the contours of my smile and kiss him again, softer this time.
    “You’re a good kisser,” he says again and knocks his head gently against mine. “But you’re killing me. I’m not built for this. I’m an inv— ”
    “Investment banker. Yeah, I know. Be here. Be here with me. I’ve done this many nights, and I always spend two hours chasing the guard to see how he patrols the island, where he looks and where he doesn’t. I know what I’m doing.”
    I lean in and pull him against my chest.
    So far tonight, I’ve heard “I’m an investment banker” three times already. Sure, numbers dance for Perry. I know they do, because he calculated and whispered to me our respective ages after prison sentences of fifteen, twenty, and thirty-five years. The numbers dance is cool. But he has soaped and showered himself thoroughly with that job title for so many mornings, over so many years, that he smells nothing more.
    Perry breathes after our kiss and looks into my eyes. I can tell that the worst is over and he can continue again.
    He checks his watch. Good reminder.
    “I’ll take your watch for now, and your wallet and keys. I’ll let you know when it’s morning. Trust me. You got a cellular telephone? Really? I figured an investment banker would. My pockets have padding in them, and I don’t want you to lose stuff tonight.”
    “I won’t lose my wallet.”
    “Trust me on this one,” I say, chuckling. “I once spent the entire night hunting down my car keys after I dropped them. It’s not how you want to spend your night.”
    Perry makes grumbling noises but hands everything over.
    Wow, that went easier than expected. Push it.
    “Spare change? Yeah, that too.”
    I could have asked for this stuff earlier, but I want him to hand everything over while distracted. I need every subtle advantage I can muster for what’s to come. That worked nicely. I