A tear started to trickle down her cheek as she remembered finding her Father slumped in a chair in the lounge when she got home from School. To start with it was drink that he turned to and when that wasn’t dulling the pain enough he turned to drugs. More tears came as the image of her Father slumped in the chair again filled her mind. That time though she couldn’t rouse him. She had found out later that it had been an overdose, it had eventually become to much for him. It was at that moment she decided to join the Police and avenge her Fathers death by locking up his dealers and any other dealers she could get her hands on. She wiped the tears away, was she about to blame her Father for being in this cell, how could she do that. They were her choices. She had spent years watching her colleagues chase after Fenner’s gang, she wanted in but she was only a woman and her bosses didn’t think it would be appropriate. She had finally found a way in when they asked her to speak to Tracey Hind. To use her friendship to gather information. Al they saw was a young Fenner prostitute who was offering information. Alexa realised it had been a mistake to use her friendship, it was just that she reminded her so much of her sister and it had brought back all the memories of her Father. Tracey’s murder had been the catalyst though that made her go down the route that had ended in her sat in this cell. It was all her own fault
She was dragged back to reality by the sound of her cell door being unlocked and then the door opening. One of the court security guards stood in front of her.
“It’s your turn. Stand up and hands in front of you.”
Alexa did as she was told and the guard placed the cuffs around her wrists and then beckoned her out of the cell door. She walked out followed by the guard, through the corridors of the basement to the base of the stairs to Court number one.
* * *
She walked up the stairs that led directly into the dock. She looked around the court, the press gallery was full but that wasn’t surprising, a corrupt police officer would make headline news. As she continued to look around she made eye contact with Frank Trainer. She didn’t blink, she stared into his eyes hoping he would understand that if by some magical feat she ever got out of here she would kill him alongside Felicia. As Trainer eventually looked away she continued to look around the court room, she didn’t expect her to be there, but a little bit of her hoped she would. She hadn’t intended to but she was starting to fall for Letitia. Fate had brought them together but fate had also dealt them a bad hand when she found out that she was in fact Tracey Hinds sister. Letitia had stopped her from killing Felicia and the truth about who they both were and their connection had come out. That night they had decided to carry on with the fight against the Fenner’s, but that had come to an abrupt end when Alexa had returned to the hospital.
She looked in detail at all the faces in the public gallery, no one she recognised. She started from the beginning again, maybe she had missed her. When she got to the end of the line again, her heart suddenly felt heavy in her chest as she realised she wasn’t there, it was probably all too much for her. She was interrupted in her self sorrow by one of the court officials reading out the charge against her. And so the beginning of the end started.
Twenty Six
The inside of prison transport was very small. Alexa was sat in a tiny cubicle, she could imagine that someone of larger stature would touch the sides as they sat down. The court room farce had gone as expected, Trainer reeling off his lies with what she thought had been a permanent smirk on his face. She had cast that from her mind and had spent the drive feeling sorry for herself, not because she was going to her death but because she hadn’t had a chance to look into the eyes of Letitia before she was taken from the court room. Maybe she had got up that morning and realised the foolishness of their plans and had decided to drop Alexa and get on with her life. She couldn’t blame her.
The van stopped and she could just about hear the sound of a metal gate rolling slowly along its guides. They must be at the prison gates. As the sound of the rolling gate stopped the van slowly moved forward and stopped again. They would be in the space between two gates now. The first one would close and then the second one would open. The van would move forward again and then she and anyone else in the van would be taken to the prison intake reception. The judge had ordered she be remanded until her trial but he had also ordered she be in solitary confinement for her own safety. That would give her some hope of safety, not being in general population but it wouldn’t last long, they would get to her eventually.
* * *
There were only four people in the van, Alexa didn’t recognise the other women so that was good. At least this part of the process should go without someone trying to kill her. She knew that Felicia would have put a price on her head and there were plenty of people in here who would like to see her dead and even if they didn’t know her, money was always a good motivator. She lined up behind the other three women to collect their prison clothes and hand over any valuables and of course there was the search. It wasn’t going to be pleasant. Alexa got to the desk, the inmate on the other side looked at her and picked a batch of clothing from the shelf behind her.
“Here you go. This should be your size. I’m a good judge of sizes.”
“Thank you,” replied Alexa.
“No need to thank me, you wont be wearing them for too long anyway.”
The inmate leaned over the desk to whisper in Alexa’s ear. She got so close Alexa could smell the stench of sweat and felt her greasy long hair hang against her cheek.
“Mrs Fenner says hello. She has said we can have some fun with you before we kill you. I am looking forward to seeing what is underneath your prison clothes.”
Alexa pulled away and looked the inmate right in the eyes and held her stare. The inmate turned away laughing.
“Move along inmate,” the guard called out to Alexa.
Alexa walked in the direction the guard was pointing. Alexa looked around the room she had been ushered into. There was a small table in the corner next to a door that was opposite the one she had entered through. There were no windows. The door behind her shut and the key turned in the lock. She was alone in the room. She didn’t like it, there was no way out apart from the door opposite. She took a step towards the door to see if it was open. As she reached out with her hand she heard the key turn in the lock and the door started to open. She stepped back towards the door she had come through. A woman in a white coat entered the door. It was Letitia. Alexa couldn’t contain her joy. She flung herself at Letitia and planted her lips on hers. They kissed for what seemed like an age before Letitia pulled away.
“What are you doing here?” asked Alexa.
“An old friend of mine works here. She became ill this morning so needed someone to cover her shift and I offered.”
“That was convenient.”
“Not really, I think the laxative I gave her made it impossible for her to come to work.”
Alexa couldn’t help but giggle to herself.
“So what exactly are you doing here?”
“I just needed to see you.”
“And that’s great but they are going to wonder why I’m not walking out the door in a few minutest’
“Then we better make the most of the few minutes we have.”
Alexa wondered what Letitia meant but then she went into the pocket of her lab coat and handed Alexa a mobile phone.
“If you need anything use this. Or just ring me late at night to let me know you are Okay.”
“Of course.”
“I am working on a way of getting you out of here but it will take time. I am going to talk to the police to tell them about Felicia.”
“No don’t do that. One of my colleagues, Frank Trainer is on the Fenner payroll. As soon as you go to them he will get to hear about it and you will be treated to the same fate as your sister.”
The mention of her sister made Letitia’s blood boil. She was angry but she needed to stay alive.
“Okay. What do we do then,
that was about all the plan I had. I’m not very good at this am I.”
She sounded despondent. Alexa realised she thought talking to the Police would solve everything. It wouldn’t.
“Listen. We will sort something out,” responded Alexa.
“I just need to stay alive until I can think of something.”
“What do you mean stay alive.”
“I don’t know how much time I will have. Felicia has put a hit out on me, she wants me dead. I have already been told they are going to kill me and I’ve only been here ten minutes.”
Letitia took hold of Alexa’s shoulders and pulled her close. She looked her straight in the eyes and spoke slowly and softly to her.
“You will survive. I need you to survive. I love you Alexa and once you are out of here we are going to take the revenge we both want.”
Alexa kissed her again.
“Now get changed. We need to get you through that other door before the guards suspect anything.”
Alexa changed into her prison clothes and followed Letitia out of the door. She found herself in a space that was surrounded by bars with a single sliding barred gate into the general population of the prison. This was it, she now needed to survive. She had every reason to survive. She had found a woman she could love and they would get their revenge.
Twenty Seven
Alexa stood with Letitia waiting for the gate to be opened. She knew where it led as she had been here many times before. This time though she was dressed in prison clothes and about to be locked in a twelve foot square cell. She tried not to look at Letitia, she didn’t want any of the guards watching the cameras to see her feelings for her, it could put her in danger as well.
A guard approached the gate and stood looking at Alexa. As she thought he was about to say something the gate buzzed and slid to the right. The guard beckoned the two of them through. Letitia peeled off to the left, she wanted to look back but just kept walking to the end of the corridor and out another barred gate that led to the way out of the prison. Alexa couldn’t help but feel alone, because she was. She had no friends in here, if she hadn’t locked them up then by now they would know her name from the hit that Felicia had put out on her. She waited with the guard for the gate to close and then followed him down the corridor to another barred gate at the opposite end to the one that Letitia had gone through. They waited for the gate to buzz and slide to the right.
As she stepped through the space left by the gate she could see the rows of cells. She was in the general population area. She shouldn’t be here. Maybe this was just a through route. The noise was deafening, it was the middle of the afternoon and all the inmates were milling around the recreation area in the middle of the rows of cells. Alexa and the guard were separated from all the inmates by a wire fence that ran the length of the cells from the floor to the bottom of the walkway above her. Alexa looked up and she could see the feet of other inmates walking along the metal walkway that served the next level of cells. Alexa realised that it had gone silent. She looked back at the recreation area to see all of the inmates lined up along the fence staring at her, she recognised some of the faces. People she had locked up. The guard pushed her in the back and moved her down the corridor towards an open gate that led from the wired corridor to the recreation area. It looked like she might not make it to her solitary cell.
As she approached the open gate she kept looking forward in the hope that she would be able to just walk on past. That hope faded quickly. The guard pushed her again, this time into the recreation area. Alexa managed to keep her balance and stood just inside the open gate. The same inmate she had gotten her clothes from came up to her. She stood so close she could smell her sweat again and her bad breath as she spoke to her.
“It’s nice to see you Alexa. We have all been looking forward to seeing you. We are going to make you very welcome,” she leaned a little closer to her. “This will just be like tenderising beef. Your not going to die today.”
Alexa felt another push in the back. This time she couldn’t keep her balance and before she knew it she was on the floor, trainer clad feet raining down onto her from all directions. She curled into a ball, pulling her knees up to her chest to protect her stomach and covering her face with her arms. She knew she couldn’t fight back, there were too many of them, she just had to survive without taking too many hits to areas of vital organs. She was pretty sure she felt a couple of ribs crack as the punishment continued.
After what seemed like hours of being used as a punching bag they all moved away and left her on the floor. She had managed to protect most of her face but her once beautiful thin lips and pronounced cheek bones were now a thick lip with blood flowing from cuts and cheek bones that luckily weren’t broken but would be a very good shade of purple in a short time. She could taste the sweet warm blood coming from her lips in her mouth. Her eyes were already swelling up as she felt two arms pick her up and drag her from the recreation area.
She didn’t know how long they had been dragging her or the directions they had taken. All she did know was that when she managed to look at the feet of the people who were dragging her, they were guards. After what seemed like numerous twists and turns the two guards threw her into a cell. She landed on the floor, she could feel the coldness of the concrete starting to seep through her clothes. She looked around as much as she could through the slits that once used to be her eyes. Four blank walls and a bed. She crawled along the floor and leaned her back against one of the walls so she was sat up. She manoeuvred herself to find a comfortable position, which wasn’t easy with what felt like quite a few broken ribs.
“Make yourself comfortable and get some rest. Tomorrow I think they plan on playing pinata with you.”
The door slammed shut and she could hear them laughing as they walked away from her cell. At this rate she wasn’t going to survive long. She needed a plan and she needed one soon.
Twenty Eight
Alexa had managed to manoeuvre herself onto the bed in the cell after the guards had left. She had found it hard to get comfortable but she had managed to get at least a few hours sleep. She was awake now and trying to open her eyes. The cuts above her eyes from last nights beating had seeped blood around her eyes, it had dried around her eyelids making it difficult to open them. She went to the sink on the corner of the cell and ran some water over her hands. She used her wet hands to slowly wipe away the dried blood. She could open her eyes and luckily the swelling hadn’t impinged on her vision. She felt a buzzing sensation and remembered the phone that Letitia had given her. She pulled it from its hiding place and saw an alert for a text message. It was from Letitia.
Morning, hope you are Okay. I am seeing someone today who may be able to help us. Love you.
Alexa typed her reply.
I am fine, be careful who you speak to. Love you too.
She hit send and then put the phone back in its hiding place.
As a protected inmate the judge had ordered her to be kept in solitary confinement for her own safety, that meant she should have breakfast in her cell and exercise alone. Last nights introduction to the prison didn’t fill her with confidence that that was gong to be the case. It was obvious that not only did Felicia have friends in the inmate population but she also had friends in the guards as well. That was going to make her life even more difficult. She needed to think of a way out, would Letitia be able to come up with something. Who was she going to talk to this morning and would they be able to help? Alexa’s mind was full of ideas and scenarios as she heard the door to her cell unlock. She got up from her bed as quick as her aching body would allow her and positioned herself against the wall opposite the door. She was going to fight back this time even if she came worse off. The door opened and a young woman entered with a breakfast tray in her hand.
“Breakfast,” she said as she looked at Alexa.
Alexa recognised her.
“It’s Harmony isn’t it?”
“Yes. You tried to help me w
hen I stabbed my husband.”
“Of course. He was beating you. How are you still here. That was fifteen years ago. We worked hard to get you a short sentence because of the beatings from your husband.”
“I was depressed when I arrived here and did some silly things.”
“But how did that end up with you still here?”
Recompense Page 7
