Dedication
I would like to thank all my family and friends for their support and encouragement during my writing journey. I would like to give a special thanks to my editor and chief A.S. for her help. This book is for my mother Tannie. She was one of my biggest supporters and encouragers. I'm sad to say that after a long seven-month battle with breast cancer that she went home on August 27, 2019. I hope I made her proud and she keeps giving me the strength to carry on.
You will always be with me. Never forgotten.
L’Tanya Kent
Chapter 1
"Morning, Officer Kempt," I said, getting out of my car.
"Morning, Camille," Officer Kempt says before he goes into the building. I walk up the steps to the front door of the New York State Prison. I put my purse on the conveyor belt and walk through the metal detectors.
"Hey girl," Tisha, one of the female guards, says.
"Hey. How's it going?" I ask, waiting for my purse to get checked.
"The same old stuff, but girl, I have to tell you about this date I had last weekend,” she says.
"Let me hear about this guy. I hope he's better than the last one you went out with," I say.
She gives me the side-eye then hands me my purse. "You will. I'll see you at lunch,” she says.
I walk down the hall, taking the elevator to the second floor. "Camille," someone calls my name. I turn around to see Mike, one of the finest men in jail. He stands at six feet tall, brown skin, deep waves, and a charming smile.
"Hey Mike," I said, looking him up and down in the navy blue suit he has on.
"How was your weekend," Mike asked.
“It was fine, I went out with the girls," I tell him as we get into the elevator.
“Did you have a good time," he asked, pressing the button for the second floor.
"Yes. How was your weekend," I ask?
"Okay. Had my son all weekend," he said.
“That’s good," I tell him as the elevator dings opened the doors. “I'll see you later," I tell him, walking to my office.
I open my office door, turning on the lights looking at the basic brown chairs and wooden desk. I drop my purse on my desk then open the blinds behind my desk, looking around my office, dreading the encounters that I will have today. Working as a correctional officer is shit, I thought. I take a seat behind my desk, opening the bottom drawer to pull out my files. I have a total of five people that I see every week, and they are adding more people that come into the prison. I'm looking through the files seeing who I can see first without having any problems today. The ringing of my office phone interrupts my thought process.
"Hello," I say, picking the phone up.
"Morning, Camille. It's James. I need you to come to the conference room for a meeting today in 30 minutes," James said.
"What's the meeting for," I ask?
"We have a high profile inmate coming in today, so all the CO's have to come in," he says.
“ Okay, I'll be there," I said, hanging up the phone. Who could this person be? I thought while leaning back in my chair.
I leave my office 15 minutes later with a notebook and pen in my hand. I walk down the hall bumping into sexy ass Mike.
"Camille, who do you think the inmate is," he asks me.
I shrug my shoulders, "don't know. I asked James, but he didn't tell me.” We continue walking to the conference room with three more COs. We walk into the room to see the warden standing in front of the room.
"You know this is serious if he's here," Mike whispers.
I shake my head, taking a seat in the middle of the table. Mike takes a seat next to me, looking around the room we wait for the last few people to come in and take a seat.
"Morning, everyone. I know that this meeting is very last minute, but we have a very high profile inmate coming in today," said the warden. Everyone starts whispering to each other. He walks to the computer turning on the projector then turns back to us. “We have Giovanni Ricci spending the next six months for assault with us," he says. An image of a very sexy Italian appears on the board.
“Mr. Ricci is the son of Tony “two hammer hands," Ricci. The FBI can't tie him to the organization or any illegal dealings, so the police charged him with assault with deadly force, they are trying to build a case on him and the organization while he's locked up. I need everyone to keep their eyes and ears open while talking to other inmates," said the warden. Ricci, that name sounds familiar to me like I saw it on the news or something, I thought. "One of you will have to be his CO while he's here, but the FBI agents that are on his case will choose one of you," said the warden turning off the projector. We all leave the room heading to our office. I hope they don't choose me, I thought. I already have a lot on my plate right now, and I don't need to add another problem.
After the meeting, I went straight to my office, looking at the files on my desk. I grab Emanuel, a 20-year-old kid that's doing time for selling drugs. He’s been here for six months already and just has a month left. I look at the time to see that it is 9:30 AM; he should be working in the library right now. I walk out of my office to the elevator to see Amy, another CO that works on my floor. Amy has this thing with me like we are in competition, but what she doesn't know is that I don't compete with no woman, especially no white woman.
"Hey, Camille," said Amy.
"Hey," I say while I still walk to the elevator
"Who do you think will get to be Ricci's CO," she asks.
"Don't know," I say, hoping the elevator hurries up. I can't take this small talk with her. The elevator dings, opening the door; I jump right on pressing the fifth floor.
"We'll talk later," said Amy.
“Yeah," I said. Like she really wants to talk to me, more like she wants to get in my business, I thought, getting off the elevator.
I make a right until I got to the gated hallway. I see Darrell sitting by the gate. “Hey, D," I said to him.
"Hey Camille," said D, opening the gate. I walk farther down the hall to see inmates in chains walking down with a few officers.
I get to the library to see Emanuel sitting behind the desk. "How's it going," I ask him.
"Fine, Officer Smith," he says to me.
“We’re going to one of the offices to have our weekly meeting," I tell him. He nods his head, then walks around the desk. He follows me to the closest office I sat down behind the desk while he sits in front of me. “How was last week," I ask.
He shrugs his shoulder. “It was fine. There were no problems," he tells me.
“That’s good you haven't been in trouble lately, and I talked to Kevin the other day he said you been on time and working hard in the library. Remember that you got a month left here. Don't mess it up by getting into trouble," I say. He nods his head then leaves out the office. Such a cute kid, I thought.
Looking through the rest of my files, I see who else I gotta see that might be on this floor. After seeing my third person this morning, I decided to go to lunch since it 11:30. I get on the elevator heading back to my office to drop off these files and grab my lunch out my purse. I get off the elevator to see no one in the hall. They must all went to lunch, I thought. As I'm walking down the hallway, I hear Amy's voice and a man's voice. Not paying no mind to them, I kept walking in the direction of my office. To my shock, I see Mike damn near pinned to the wall by Amy while she whispers in his ear. He had his hand gripping her waist, and they are in their own little world. I continued walking past them to my office. I drop my files in my drawer and grab my lunch out of my bag and bottled water. I walk out of my office to see Mike standing there.
"Hey,” Mike said.
I look at him. "Hey," I say back, walking past him to the elevator.
“Did you see that?" Mike asks.
&n
bsp; "You mean you and Amy damn near dry humping in the hallway? Then yes," I say.
“It’s not like that," Mike said.
The elevator opens, and we both get in I press the first floor where the employee lounge. I turn to Mike, “I don't care what you and Amy do. You’re not my man, and we not fucking," I tell him before getting off the elevator.
I get off the elevator to see Tisha waiting for me in the hallway. "Come on, girl, I’ve got gossip to dish to you," Tisha said. I just shake my head at her goofy ass. We walk to the lounge Tisha grabs us a table by ourselves in the back while I heated up our food then walk back to the table and sit down.
"What happened on the date?" I asked.
“Well, we went to the Italian restaurant on the south side, and the food was delicious. The date was good. Troy was hilarious; he kept me laughing the whole date, and he can actually hold a conversation," she tells me.
“Sounds like you had a good time.”
Tisha nods her head while she's eating. “The next order of business is the new inmate that coming in today."
"I don't want to hear about that."
"Do you know how fine that man is and how much money that man got," Tisha tells me.
I shake my head no.
“Well, girl, let me peep you on some game. Mr. Ricci is one of the sexiest Italian men in the state of New York and owns more than five businesses," Tisha tells me.
“If you say it like that, I need to see him for myself to determine if he is one of the sexiest men," I tell her. We ended up laughing at each other.
After we finish lunch and gossip, we headed back to work. “I’ll talk to you after work," I tell Tisha while I waited for the elevator. I have two more people to see then I can put in my reports for the day, I thought. "Hey Camille," said a voice I didn't want to hear. I turn to see Amy standing next to me
"Hey," I say.
She looks at me. "I know you saw us, but I want to make it clear that we are dating, so there shouldn't be any hard feelings between us, right," Amy said.
“That’s right, Amy. Even if y'all weren't dating, I wouldn't care what y'all did in the hallway," I tell her.
We get on the elevator in silence on both parts. There is so much I can take from this girl always trying to be better than me for what to look stupid. Mike doesn't want her if she even has a clue, but for jealous people, they need to look like they are doing better than the next person. We get off the elevator, and I go into my office, gathering my last two files, then head back out the door. My last two inmates, who are my regulars that I had for the last year, are both here on drug trafficking between New York and Jersey. I finished them fast and went straight to my office to do my paperwork. After hours of paperwork, I look at the time to see that I have 30 minutes before its time for me to leave. I grab all my things together, then close the blinds and turn off the light heading to the elevator. "Bye, Will,” I say to the night guard while leaving out the front door.
Chapter 2
I walk to my car to see Tisha sitting on my hood."You wanna grab some drinks tonight," I ask her. "Yeah, let me change clothes, and I'll meet you at DJs," she responded, pushing off my car.
"Okay," I tell her hopping into my car.
My apartment is a 45-minute drive from the prison. I get in the parking lot and find a parking spot in front of my apartment building, getting out of my car. I grab my bag then walk to the front door going to the mailboxes. I open it to see bills and weekly ads. I close the mailbox I head up the stairs to the second floor. I open the door to my apartment to see pitch black. I flip the light switch on by the door, throw my keys on the hall table, kick my flats off, and walk to my bedroom. I turn the lights on in my room to see Star, my grey kitten, lying in the middle of my bed. I put my purse on the dresser then lay back on the bed as Star comes over to me purring. I pet her for a couple of minutes then got off the bed. We're heading to DJ's so I can just wear a shirt and jeans, I thought.
Going to the dresser pulling out a white v-neck shirt and some blue jeans with some holes in them. Laying them on my bed, I go into the bathroom to take a quick ten-minute shower then dry off-putting on some Sensual Amber. I throw my clothes on, grabbing my black clutch putting in my ID card, keys, and Carmex. I went into my closet, putting on my black and white Nikes. I turn the lights off in my room and walk to the kitchen, pouring water into Star's bowl. "I'll be back in a couple of hours," I tell Star before leaving.
After locking the front door, I turn around to leave only to see Mrs. Lilly coming down the hall. "Hey, Mrs. Lilly," I said to her, grabbing a few bags out her hand.
"Hey, Milla. How was work," she asks.
"It was fine. The same old same old," I tell her as we get to her door. She unlocks it, taking her bags to the kitchen.
“Milla, you’re such a pretty girl I want you to meet my grandson," I chuckle at her. She always wants me to meet her grandson that never comes to visit her.
"I will one day," I tell her as I help her put her groceries up.
"I'm gonna make that chocolate cake you always like tomorrow, so come by and have dinner with me," Mrs. Lilly tells me.
I almost had slobber drip out my mouth at the mention of the cake she’s gonna make. " I'll be here right after work, Mrs. Lilly," I tell her she starts to laugh at me. " Have a good night, dear," she tells me, " goodnight," I say her walking out the door. I can't wait for tomorrow I get dinner and dessert, I thought to myself leaving out the apartment building. When I get in my car, my phone starts to ring. I look at it to see Tisha calling.
"Hello," I answer.
"Where you at," she shouts on the phone.
"I just got in the car I'm on my way," I tell her before hanging up. I drive ten minutes to the bar. I park my car next to Tisha's charger then head to the entrance of the bar. I walk through the door, giving the security guard my ID. I look around to see Tisha sitting at the bar with some guy in her face. I take a seat next to her. "Hey girl," I say, stopping the conversation they were having.
"Hey," she said to me with a look of desperation on her face.
"What are you drinking tonight," I ask her.
"Nothing too hard. I'll have some Ciroc," she said. I shake my head, waiting for the bartender to come over to us. I look over to the guy still sitting next to Tisha I lean into her to ask, "Do you know him," I ask.
"An old friend from high school," she said.
I look at the guy he's not bad looking with his chocolate skin and pretty-boy face, but he's interrupting girl time. "Hey," I said to him. He looks in my direction.
"Yes?" he says to me.
"Do you mind leaving. We have some personal stuff to talk about," I tell him. He just gets up without a word.
“You're so mean,” Tisha says, laughing. I look at her in disbelief.
"You wanted him to leave," I tell her. The bartender comes over to us, asking, "What would you ladies to drink,."
“We'll have two Cirocs," I tell the bartender. "What do you want to eat," I ask Tisha. She takes a minute to think about it. The bartender gave us our drinks. "Hot wings," she says after taking a sip of her drink.
“I can go for them and some fries," I tell her.
“I’ll order the food," she said, getting up from the bar going to the back to place our order I look around the bar to see maybe ten other people here. It's Monday night so the bar won't be packed until Thursday, which I'm happy for since I can't deal with too many people in a small room. “The food will be ready in 20 minutes," said Tisha as she sat down in her chair. I nod my head taking a sip of my drink.
"Why is Giovanni so damn sexy girl," said Tisha.
I look at her, "I forgot he was coming today," I say.
“Really, the whole building has been talking about him none stop," said Tisha.
"Something else distracted me at work," I said.
"What was that," she asks.
I debate if I was gonna tell her for a minute. "Don’t tell anyone what I'm about to say," I tell Tisha. She n
ods her up and down.
"When I went to drop my files in my office, I saw Mike getting pinned against the wall by Amy," I tell her. “Girl! Really? I thought he has a thing for you," said Tisha.
"Me too, but the way they were dry humping each other told a different story," I say.
She looks at me shook. "Wait a minute! Not only were they up against a wall at work, but they were humping each other too," said Tisha.
"Yes," I tell her. She shook her head 'no' at the whole situation. "But you didn't hear the best part. Mike is going to come to me while we're on the elevator, asking if I saw them," I say.
“No, he didn't," said Tisha.
"Yes, girl. Then Amy gonna come at me talking about they dating when we all know she was messing with him to get to me," I said.
"That's crazy. She something alright," said Tisha. Our food gets dropped off in front of us. We start digging in.
"These wings are so good," I say, taking another bite. Tisha says no words and keeps eating. The bartender comes over, asking us do we want more drinks; I tell him yes. After having another drink, we talk for another hour before we left. "Night, girl. I'll see you in the morning," said Tisha.
"See you in the morning," I tell her getting in my car.
My alarm rings, waking me up. I lay in bed for five more minutes before going into the bathroom. I wash my face and brush my teeth then hop in the shower for 10 minutes after getting out the shower I went to the closest picking out my outfit for the day. Since I work in an all-male prison, I try to keep my work attire nonsexual as possible, mostly wearing dress pants, button-up shirts, and a blazer. I grab a white button-up shirt with grey slacks, black heels, and a grey blazer. After getting dressed, I put my hair into a ponytail, adding some Carmex to my lips and spray a little Paris Hilton. I grabbed my blazer and brown over the shoulder bag leaving out my room. I stop in the kitchen filling Star's bowls before leaving my apartment. I drive to work with my girl Rihanna playing getting me in a good mood before I get to work. I park my car as close as I can get to the front door as possible, getting out my car I put my blazer on and carry my bag I walk into the front not seeing Tisha.
Giovanni Page 1
