Free Skin Games by Adam Pepper

arm while nodding to the first guard.  He pushed me up and into the back of the van.
    Inside, there were four other men already seated and cuffed.  I took a seat and waited.
    All was quiet.  No one looked at one another.  No one spoke to one another.  We just sat and waited as the cool night air rushed into the open van.
    I tried not to look at the other men.  But when I snuck quick glances, I mostly saw blank stares laced with hints of fear.
    I heard two voices approaching, cackling and laughing.  Two uniformed guards pushed Ski Cap Guy and Broad Shoulder Guy up into the van.  While the other men in the van looked pale and nervous, these two were laughing like it was just another day for them.  I suppose that’s exactly what it was.
    Broad Shoulder Guy sat down next to me and said loudly, “O’Donnell!  What’s up, kid?”
    I looked ahead, not saying a word.
    “O’Donnell, don’t be dissin’ me, kid.”
    “Yeah,” Ski Cap Guy said, “You do not want to be dissin’ my man.  Nobody disrespects my man.”
    I looked over and said, “I’m not dissin’ anyone.  Okay?”
    “Nah, man,” Broad Shoulder Guy said, “It’s not okay.”
    I looked forward and stopped talking.  Broad Shoulder Guy looked sideways at me as I looked straight.  His breath hit my face.  The pace of his breath sped up, and he blew harder.
    “You mine, O’Donnell.  You hear me?”
    I didn’t say a word.
    “I don’t like you, man.  You got a bad attitude.”
    “Forget him, man,” Ski Cap Guy said.
    Broad Shoulder Guy’s breath was hitting my cheek.  I turned slightly and it blew into my ear and sent the sides of my hair up into the air.
    “Ah, fuck him,” Broad Shoulder Guy said with a laugh, then he turned to his buddy, and the two whooped it up while the rest of the van stayed quiet.
    The doors shut behind us, and a guard smacked the back two times and said, “Ready.”
    The van lurched forward and began to move.  We bounced around in the van for several minutes.  There were no windows in the back, and now that the doors were closed it quickly got stuffy and smelly.  Two guys across from me were speaking low in Spanish while Ski Cap Guy and Broad Shoulder Guy continued their party of two.
    We came to a stop and the doors in back opened.  There were three guards standing outside.  One held a shotgun, resting on his shoulder and pointing towards the sky.
    “Let’s go, fellas.  One at a time.  Step on down.”
    We filed out the back of the van, slowly but systematically.
    “One at a time.  Let’s go.”
    In a single file, we walked down an alleyway and then up a small flight of concrete steps.  A guard held open a heavy door, and we walked through.  They led us into another processing cell and left us there handcuffed for an hour or so.  The two Spanish guys continued whispering to each other, and Ski Cap Guy and Broad Shoulder Guy just laughed it up.  The rest of us kept quiet and waited.
    A guard opened the door and pointed at several of us.  “You, you and you, let’s go.”
    The two Spanish guys walked out first, and I followed.  We were led into a room with small cubbies, each cubby about six by six.
    “You,” the guard said as he pointed at me.  “This way.”  We walked into a cubby.  “Strip,” he said.
    I took off my shoes, then my shirt, then my pants, then I looked up at him.
    “All of it.”
    I nodded and pulled off my holey white socks and then my underwear.
    The guard took out a plastic bag and whipped it in the air to open it wide.  “In here,” he said.
    I pulled my clothes into a heap and then picked up the heap and dropped it into the plastic bag.  He snapped it shut, then took a sharpie magic marker from his pocket and marked the bag.
    “Okay.  Turn around,” he said.
     I looked at him, not sure exactly what he wanted me to do.
    “Turn around and spread ‘em.”
    I turned.
    “Spread your cheeks.”
    I reached back and spread my ass cheeks for him.
    “Okay.