"Hey, Buddha boy. Wake up." Nick opened his eyes and stared at his cellmate. The guy stared back with a nasty leer.
Nick attempted a simple response. "Leave me alone, Holt."
"Not a chance. I hear you got a hot, rich lawyer working for you."
Nick narrowed his eyes. "You don't know shit about my lawyer."
"She's that Westerley babe, right? I've heard plenty about her. The guards were talking yesterday out in the yard."
That piqued his curiosity. "And what did they say?"
"Said she's got so much money that she don't know what to do with it. One guard told me her family could buy you out of here."
Stupid thug. "Look, Holt. She's just a public defender. Maybe not the best lawyer, but she's all I've got. If I had any money, I'd hire someone good to get me out." He didn't really believe that but it was the answer he needed to give.
"Aww. Too bad the poor pervert has to sit here while his cute lawyer is out partying with her rich boyfriends."
That hurt, more than Nick expected. He shot up from the bed and lunged at his cellmate. Before Holt could react, he was face down on his own bed, one arm twisted behind his back. Nick held him down and growled in his ear. "Back off. I told you, she's just a public defender. Now leave me the hell alone." Nick let go of him and stepped away. He sat back on his bed and tried to resume meditating. Instead of closing his eyes, he looked down, staying aware of Holt.
After watching silently for a minute, Holt lashed out again. "What the fuck are you doing?" Nick didn't answer. "Hey, jerkoff, I'm talking to you!" Nick took a long, slow breath, feeling it move through him.
Holt stepped over and stood close. Nick ignored him right up until he felt a hand grab his shoulder. He looked up. "Why can't you leave me alone?"
"Cause we're cellmates, asshole. When I got something to say, you got to listen."
"Fine. What have you got to say?"
"I say you look like some sort of monk, sitting like that."
"And?"
"And I hate monks." He gave Nick a shove, knocking him sideways to the bed.
He just keeps picking fights. That was okay with Nick. Meditation would be impossible until this guy backed off, anyway. They might as well have it out so peace could be restored. Nick jumped up and knocked his cellmate down.
Holt recovered and came charging back. The two of them started fighting in earnest. Men from other cells started shouting encouragement.