“I’ll do with it what I please. I’ll give it to the man who wants it.”
“He doesn’t want your love.”
“And you do?” Dubois shook his head, turning to his side, facing away. “You’d rather hold a hot coal in your hand, than hold my love.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Joe said, angrily. “You confuse me.”
“Yes, I know,” Dubois whispered. “And I’m sorry.”
* * * *
The mess hall was quiet tonight. Men were exhausted from their day out in the forest, and the guards wore tense expressions. Williams’s suspension had angered them, and the inmates knew they had to keep their heads down for a few days so as not to fuel the guards’ need for vengeance.
Joe sat at his usual table, next to Novak and across Levin. The three of them ate their sloppy meal in silence, glancing around the large room, hopi
