“Inmate 43829 please step forward… I said inmate 43829 please step forward.”

I was moments away from being released and this bastard still had the damn gall to call me by my inmate number.

“I’m about to be a free man, I’m not answering to that name anymore” I replied. The guard scowled at me as if I just offended him, he made eye contact with the guard behind me and nodded his head.

The guard behind me took out his nightstick and put it underneath my jaw, raising my head until I was looking at the ceiling.

“Don’t give us another excuse to hold you in here a few extra days, I know a couple of guards who are practically crying themselves to sleep knowing you’re walking out of here without them getting a chance to whoop your ass.”

I hated prison guards, they acted tough while you were in chains but if you caught them alone in a hallway they’d practically beg you not to hurt them. Even in these chains I could have him on the ground in a second, I could make him regret even thinking about laying a hand on me.

I stared at the final metal gate that stood between me and the outside world. I was so close to freedom that I decided to let this slide, it had been a long two years and I couldn’t take another day of this bullshit. I was itching to get back out there, to reconnect with Desert Vultures MC, to finish what I had started.

I walked over to the guard that called me forward, placing my cuffed hands onto his desk as he took his key and began to uncuff me. I rubbed my sore wrists, they had me waiting in those things for hours, I should have been out of here this morning and it was already past noon.

“You were incarcerated 757 days ago” the guard said reading my file. “The contents on your person included one wallet with an Arizona state driver’s license and $245 cash.”

He took out a plastic bag and slid it over to me, I opened it up and pulled out my wallet, counting the money to make sure it was all there. Compared to what I had stashed back at my place it was chump change, always gotta have a safety net.

The guard hit a red button on his desk and the rusty gate creaked opened, slamming against the wall and echoing throughout the hallway.

“Welcome to the free world.”

I looked at him and the other guard, I would remember their faces, I would remember the faces of everyone in here. They better pray to whatever god they believe in that they didn’t run into me on the outside.

I walked through the iron gates and took a deep breath, stepping down that empty hallway as I got closer and closer to the outside world. With each step that echoed through the hall all I could think about were those bastards that put me in here; my very own club brother and the cop he sold me out to. The cop that put a bullet in me and my best friend Ezekiel, he hit me in the gut and I pulled through, Zeke wasn’t so lucky. Fucking pig was gonna pay for that.

I was technically in jail on a drug possession charge, drugs that the cops planted on me to be the cherry on top to my arrest. I was arrested for one account of attempted murder, Zeke and I had tried to kill the man that we found were snitching on the brotherhood, police showed up just in time to put a bullet in each one of us. Personally I didn't want to kill that guy, I considered them my brother at one point, but if you cross the Desert Vultures then you have to pay the price.

They didn’t have any evidence of our intentions, so I got off with nothing more than a bullet in my gut and the possession of the drugs they planted on me. I wish I could say the same for Zeke.

I stepped out of the prison and felt the hot noon desert sun beating down on me. The gravel crunched underneath my feet as I walked through the final open fence.

I was free.

Across the dirt road a bright blue tarp was covering something, I recognized the shape of it immediately.

I walked over and ripped the tarp off, revealing one of the first Harley’s I ever owned with a note taped to the body. I took the note off and recognized Wyatt’s handwriting immediately.

“I figured a newly freed man like you deserved better than having me pick you up, I fixed up one of your old rides, if you’re gonna get your first taste of freedom in 2 years then you gotta do it right. Key is already in the ignition, knock yourself out. -Wyatt”

I chuckled as I crumpled the paper up and tossed it aside.

“You’re the man Wyatt” I said as I mounted my ride.

I turned the key in the ignition and wasted no time in revving the engine. Feeling that baby purr underneath me was the best damn feeling I had in years.

I hit the throttle and sped down that old desert road, leaving the jail behind me as the wind hit my face that flowed through my hair. There was a lot for me to do, a lot of time I had to make up for, but tonight I would celebrate my freedom.