8-Change of plans

I spent the rest of the day sitting in front of my laptop and looking up Duran State Penitentiary. The articles I read about the prison sent chills down my spine. The prison is run by gang leaders and almost every day an inmate gets killed or injured. Being the most overcrowded prison in our country, cells meant for only 22 men are often occupied by 50 men and some of them sleep on the floor and share 1 commodity. How is Yoké supposed to stay in such a place? One article I read said that new inmates are the most at risk of getting harmed by older inmates unless they join a gang.

Yoké must be feeling really scared right now. He doesn't know about gangs, and a prison environment he'd probably never even imagined before. What is he thinking of me right now? Does he think I've forgotten about him? I need to see him. I need to go see him and just assure him that I'm trying all that I can to get him out of that hell hole. He needs to know that I'll stop at nothing to make sure that he is out of there.

I looked at the picture of a group of men overcrowding the prison cell for the last time, shut my laptop and then got up.

I took my coat from the hanger and my phone. When I got out of the office Penny threw her head back.

"You knock off at 6 and it's 4!" She said. "I know you won't listen to me but please don't leave again."

"Penny I'll be back now."

"Okay." She gave me a fed-up face. "You know Nathan is always coming over here. What should I tell him when he asks for you?"

"Uh... just tell him that I went back to my apartment because I'm not feeling well."

Penny looked at me for a while and then bit the butt of her pen.

"What's up with you?" She asked me, frowning. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." I said. "I'll be back now."

"Look, I know we're not best friends or something like that," she said fixing her spectacles. "I'm just your secretary and I know I'm really being a cliché right now but if ever you want to talk about anything, I'm here. If anything is bothering you..."

"Yeah. Sure." I tried giving her a smile but didn't succeed. "Don't worry, everything is good."

She gave me a tight unconvinced smile. "If you say so."

I went to the elevator and pressed the down arrow. I waited for a few minutes and then the doors opened. I held my breath as I saw my dad standing in the elevator.

"Just who I came to see." He said stepping out of the elevator.

"Dad!" I said, more with shock than excitement.

"Where you off to?" He asked me, putting his heavy arm around me as we walked back to my office.

"Uh... was going for coffee." I told him.

"At 3 in the afternoon?" He asked me. "Since when have you become such a coffee person."

"Ha-ha." I tried laughing.

"Can you please ask the coffee boy to bring us 2 cups of coffee?" My dad told Penny.

"Sure Mr. Raphael." Penny responded.

I unwillingly followed him back into my office as Penny and I exchanged looks. He took a seat on the leather couch and fixed his suit jacket.

"How comfortable this couch is." He said crossing one leg over the other, in a 4.

I returned my coat to the hanger and hanged my purse on the same hook. Why is he here?

"You ever have time to read those books on your shelf?" He asked me, grinning.

I looked over at the varnished shelf in the corner with lots of novels and textbooks piled neatly.

I shrugged. "Not really."

"You don't look happy." He told me. "Is everything okay? Or is the workload weighing a bit?"

I came to join him on the couch. I had to brighten up my face, he was already suspecting that something was bothering me.

"Hey dad, what happened to those clients you were dealing with?" I asked grimacing.

"That's the news I came to deliver." He smiled. "We should be opening up a Champaign bottle right now, not waiting for coffee."

"Nah." I smiled shaking my head. "I don't seem to enjoy alcohol anymore."

"Coffee is for sad occasions, such as funerals." He said. "But it's cool."

"So, what happened?" I asked him.

"The deal is sealed." He said high fiving me. "All thanks to you."

"To me?" I laughed. "How so?"

"They only sealed the deal because I have a pretty daughter or else-"

"Dad..." I laughed.

"Just kidding." He laughed. Whenever he laughed his eyes closed up. Something about his laugh always made me feel so bubbly inside, so happy. It satisfies me to see my father happy. "They sealed the deal because of what you did. I made them believe that productivity is our number one priority and that we don't let anything hinder that."

"So, I'm not pretty?" I smirked.

He laughed so hard. "Oh, come on."

We laughed for long. Rob knocked on the door and then entered with our coffee on a tray.

"You are more than pretty." My dad smiled. "You're beautiful."

"What's the difference?" I asked him, just for conversation.

"Pretty is only on the face, but beautiful is whole. It includes all your aspects. Your heart being the greatest aspect."

"That's really sweet, dad." I said leaning over and hugging him.

"That's because you are my sweetest daughter." He responded.

Rob cleared his throat so that he could get our attention.

"Coffee has arrived sir and madam." He said.

My dad looked up at him. "This boy should get a raise because of his punctuality."

Rob smiled nervously.

"He brings me coffee at the same time every single day." Dad said taking the coffee from the tray and giving it to me and then taking one for himself.

"I would really appreciate that, sir." Rob said holding his tray under his arm.

"I'll discuss it with the manager of the labour department; that being my daughter over here."

Rob smiled and then looked at me with hopeful eyes. I returned his smile and rolled my eyes. He winked at me. I checked to see if my dad had seen but he didn't, he was blowing into his coffee cup.

"Excuse me." Rob said and then left the office. When he closed the door behind him, my dad and I watched him fist pump the air.

We broke out laughing.

"He reminds me of myself when I was younger." Raphael told me. "That was always my reaction every time I achieved successful news or got ideas for my business plan."

"Do you still have that reaction?" I asked him, smiling. "I mean, you have it all now."

My dad thought for a while. "Yes, I have it all but that doesn't mean I don't get happy when I achieve. I still get happy because now it's about maintaining."

I nodded.

"But to answer your question, no. Now I just pop Champaign to it. In this case you prefer coffee so I'm drinking to it."

We clicked our cups together.

"To more success." I said.

He nodded. "To more success."

I looked at the watch on my wrist. In one of the articles it said that the visiting time is from 8am to 4pm. I've already run out of time. The state Penitentiary was all the way down the city, close to the sea.