I can’t sleep, I can’t open me eyes. It’s something bad, I just know it is. I ain’t never felt anything like it.’
Vic was wide-eyed and looking at Kara for an answer. ‘Is it serious, Posh?’
‘Well, it is in as much that if she doesn’t get treatment soon, she could damage the eye. I think I know what it is, though. It’s unusual to get it on the face, but it does happen. It’s shingles.’ She moved Deni’s hair away from her temple. ‘Look, see those blisters? That’s the herpes blisters and the pain is herpetic neuralgia. It’s extremely painful and is certainly not a migraine.’
‘That fucking quack needs shooting. Right, I’ll call the senior officer and get Deni back over to the hospital wing. A fucking migraine, my arse,’ spat Vic.
A gentle smile crossed Deni’s lips. ‘I knew it weren’t no bleeding headache. Thanks, my gal. Now, what shall I tell the doc?’
‘Tell him that you have shingles of the face and you want suitable treatment, including the cream to put on right away. You may need to see an eye specialist to ensure you don’t lose the sight in that eye.’
Gripping Deni by the arm, Vic helped her off the bed. ‘Come on, Deni, let’s get you to the senior officer and get ya sorted, eh?’
As hard as Vic was underneath, Kara knew her new friend had a heart of gold.
Deni held on to Vic, whispering, ‘What would I do without ya, Vic, aye?’
‘Get yaself in fucking trouble, Deni.’
There and then, the damp depressing mood lifted. Kara knew there was hope. In among the hard, the tough, and the frightened, there was a sense of morals. There was a pecking order for those who wanted to fight for the top spot; some were natural leaders and others just liked to be the followers, the hangers-on. She was now gaining friends or allies, but, either way, she wasn’t alone or so terrified.
Kara returned to the exercise yard, and instead of lingering stares, she received a few nods, and surprisingly, some inmates even smiled her way. Teri, however, sneered but didn’t do much else. Kara, with her new-found confidence, glared back, which was enough to force Teri into lowering her gaze. Perhaps she had believed Vic when she said she would burn her in her bed.
Inside, Kara was laughing to herself. Exercise was over, and they returned to their wings, some to their allotted jobs. Kara, of course, was on remand and didn’t have a job right away. Just as she followed the last of the inmates back inside, Barbara, the tall officer, pulled her back. ‘Bannon, I have moved you to another cell.’
‘Oh, why is that?’ Her voice aired confidence.
Barbara looked her over. ‘We have turned over yours and found illegal substances, and I’m assuming they ain’t yours. Connor is down the block and you are in with Julie Meadows.’
‘The block?’ asked Kara with her head tilted to the side.
‘Solitary confinement, for now. We don’t like drugs in this prison. Oh, just so you know, she said they were yours. She tried to rat you out, she did.’
Taking a deep breath, Kara responded, ‘So how do you know they aren’t mine?’
‘Because you’ve only been here two days and you haven’t had a visit. You were also searched on arrival. We ain’t stupid, love!’
‘And Cole would have known that, so why would she even attempt to blame me? It makes no sense.’ Kara had sussed her out. Colette may be mouthy and hard-faced, but she wasn’t a grass. Vic was right: her personal officer was a real shit-stirrer.
Barbara shuffled uneasily. She wasn’t used to listening to a smarty-pants or being spoken to in such a manner. Normally, the prisoners were bolshie, brash, and foul-mouthed, but they didn’t have the intelligence to tie someone like her up in knots and make her look thick.
‘I dunno, but get a move on. Your transit box is in ya new cell and so is Julie Meadows,’ she jeered.
Her tone was ugly, like her face, and Kara sensed that the officer was trying to have the last laugh. Kara wondered who Julie Meadows was, apart from being Vic’s sister. Her heart sank, and she just hoped that Julie wasn’t about to throw her weight around as well. Begrudgingly, she followed Barbara along the corridor and past her previous cell, which was now completely bare, and on to the last cell on the left.
‘This is it, Bannon, your new home.’ She chuckled.
Gritting her teeth, Kara entered. She was mortified when she saw the woman sitting on the bed with a face like thunder. There was Julie. If it wasn’t for the fact that the young woman’s jaw was clenched so tightly and those eyes, which were narrowed to a furrowed frown, the girl would be very pretty. She was slim enough and had an attractive figure. But Kara could tell that despite being in her thirties, Julie had already lived a harder life than most women her age.
She still had that same ugly tone as she had the day Kara met her on the estate when she’d screamed, ‘What are you fucking gawping at? Ya fucking snob!’ Kara had been scared of the woman then, and now, the mouthy madam was going to be sharing a cell with her.
‘Oi, I said I want to bunk in wiv me sister!’ she hollered at the officer, totally dismissing Kara.
‘Tough, Meadows. Ya sister don’t want ya, don’t like ya, so you’re on ya own. Get on with it.’
Before Julie had a chance to say another word, Barbara shot off.
‘What are you fucking looking at?’ spat Julie, in a temper.
Kara stared for a few more seconds. It was obvious that Julie didn’t recognise her, but then she was in prison issues, wearing a bruised nose and a fat lip.
It was a case of putting on a very brave front, so Kara replied, ‘Don’t take it out on me. And for the record, your sister, Vic, never said she didn’t like you at all. I was there. That screw is a shit-stirrer.’ She was even getting used to the lingo.
‘Know her, do ya?’
Kara nodded. ‘Yes, she’s a decent woman, your sister.’
‘Yeah, well, not decent enough to have me bunk in wiv her.’ Her pitch softened.
‘Look, I’m not so bad, honestly. I’ll keep myself to myself.’
‘So what ya in for?’
This was it. As soon as Kara told her, she would know who she was. But there was no point in lying. The word would go around soon enough. ‘I burned my house down and almost killed the neighbour.’ She was plagued with guilt every time those words left her mouth.
Julie put her hand to her mouth and cocked her head to the side. ‘Fuck me, I know you. You live up the road from me. I’ve seen ya walking about, on the bus, and …’
Kara overfilled her lungs with air. ‘Yes, you did.’
A sudden laugh almost made Kara jump. ‘Well, ya fell flat on ya fucking arse ending up in ’ere. That’ll teach ya for being such a snobby bitch.’
Kara sat tentatively on the bed opposite with her head down in shame. ‘Is that what
