Half of Paradise

AVERY BROUSSARD

It was Sunday afternoon, and LeBlanc had been left in detention overnight, even though it was against normal disciplinary procedure. The day was bright and the sun reflected off the tin roofs of the barracks in a white glare, and the air was very still and heavy with the smell of the pines and dust and heat. Gang three had been assigned to police the area outside the barracks. They moved about slowly with their cloth sacks, picking up bits of paper and cigarette butts out of the dirt. Their wash-faded denim shirts were bleached almost white, and the stenciled letters LA. PENAL SYSTEM were black across their backs.

Inside Avery’s barracks blankets were stretched across the windows to keep out the sun. The noise of running water came from the showers where the men were washing their clothes. Benoit and Jeffry were sweeping the grained floor with brooms, and three other men were scrubbing it behind them with soap and water. The bunks and footlockers were pushed back against the wall in order that the entire barracks floor could be well cleaned before five o’clock inspection. Avery and Toussaint stood at the window with the blanket pulled aside and looked out into the heat.

“It must be over a hundred degrees in the box,” Avery said.

“It’s hotter than that,” Toussaint said. “They’ll have to let him out this afternoon. A man can’t take more than two days of detention.”

“You guys move out of the way,” Benoit said, sweeping the dust in their direction.

They stepped back and let him sweep past.

“Why are you all standing around? We got inspection in a couple more hours,” he said.

“We were on cleanup this morning,” Avery said.

“I been on cleanup all day. I ain’t had time to do my laundry yet.”

“That ain’t our fault. You’re doing Billy Jo’s share because you couldn’t pay off your card game last night,” Toussaint said.

“Who says so?”

“Daddy Claxton.”

“Claxton’s ass. He don’t know nothing.”

“Wait a minute. I want to talk to you,” Avery said.

?

??I got work to do.”

“Do you have a knife?”

“I ain’t got no knife. Who told you that?”

“What will you take for it? I got two dollars.”

“I ain’t got no knife, and it ain’t for sale, anyway.”

“I’ll give you the two dollars. You can pay Billy Jo what you owe him and sleep the rest of the afternoon,” Avery said.

“If I had a knife I wouldn’t sell it for no two bucks.”

“All right, keep it. And if Billy Jo asks you for it don’t give it to him.”

“What’s he want it for?”

“He’s going to give it to LeBlanc to kill Evans.”

“Evans needs killing,” Benoit said.

“If LeBlanc gets Evans with your knife I’m going to let the warden know where it came from.”

“That ain’t good talk.”

“They’ll think you were in on it. That could mean ten to twenty years,” Avery said.