Bang Up: Prison walls don't just keep criminals in, the keep the outside world at bay

by Karen Woods

  Rachel pushed her in the small of her back and hurried her along. “Will you turn it in? Honest to God, give me strength! Just move your arse and let’s get up to the waiting room.” For the second time today Gary agreed with his girlfriend. He wanted this parcel passed over as soon as possible. He knew he’d put his freedom at risk and he was starting to regret the risk he’d taken. But it was too late, there was no turning back. Drug smuggling into any jail carried a heavy sentence. Three years, sometimes more. It was no walk in the park, this was serious shit.

  Gary sat down and stared at the grey door facing him. He knew that any time soon he would be in the main visiting centre and Mikey would be there waiting for him. Looking about, he clocked the other people sat there and nudged Rachel in the waist. “Look at the state of her, fuck me she looks as rough as a bear’s arse. Wouldn’t you have thought she would have made a bit of an effort to come here? I bet she’s got a right sweaty arse crease?”

  Rachel pulled her jacket around her body and dipped her head, she smiled slightly. She was just as bad as the other woman and realised now how scruffy she looked as well. Scraping her hair back from her face she tucked it behind her ears. She was paranoid about her appearance and started to pull the white pieces of fluff from her leggings. Sarah was in her element. She was watching everything that what was going on. This was another world to her and she was fascinated by it. Her mother had spoken to her about people less fortunate than themselves and whenever she saw a charity box she always put spare change inside it. There were small children crying and everyone was eager to get inside to see their loved ones. The mothers were getting frustrated and one woman ragged her son about on the spot to calm him down. “If you carry on fucking about I’ll slap your arse, just turn it in,” she whispered at him as she squeezed at his hand. Then they could hear the sound of keys jangling. Everybody was on edge, eyes fixed firmly on the door. The visitors stood up as the door opened fully. It was a stampede of bodies rushing to get inside the room.

  Sarah moved quickly and stood next to Rachel to avoid being crushed. She was excited. “Is this it, is he in here?” Sarah flicked her eyes about the large room. There were men sat at tables wearing red bibs over their clothes. A group of officers were situated at the front of the room. They were higher up than the rest of the tables, enabling them to get a good look at what was going on. And stuff would go on too, lots of illegal contraband would be passed about. There were women wanking their boyfriends off and inmates trying to get a quick grope of the Jack and Danny when nobody was looking. Sarah screamed out at the top of her voice. People were looking at her, she was behaving like a right dickhead, she had to calm down. Then, through a sea of faces, there he was, her Mikey - her heart’s desire. With a shrieking tone she ran to his table.

  “Mikey! My Mikey!”

  Rachel shook her head and turned to Gary at the side of her. “Is there any need for her big gob? She’s a bleeding embarrassment. It’s the last time I’m coming here with her I can tell you now. She’s been a nightmare. What a daft bitch! He needs to cart her and get someone bleeding normal because she’s up it.” Gary’s head was in the game now and he wasn’t really listening to a word she said. He swallowed hard and made his way to sit at the table. Sarah hugged Mikey and as predicted she broke down crying. She was drawing attention to them and Rachel snapped. She gripped the top of her shoulder and sank her fingers deep into her shoulder blade. “Sarah, just sit down, you drama queen. We spoke about this before didn’t we? Mikey doesn’t need to see you in this state does he?” Mikey prised her fingers from around his shoulders and asked her to sit down facing him. The screw was at his table and he had a sour expression. He had a job to do and no one was pissing on his parade. “Can you sit down, Miss? You’re not allowed on the same side as the inmate. If it happens again your visit will be over.”

  Sarah held a puzzled look. “I’m his girlfriend. Surely I’m allowed to comfort him?”

  “I don’t care if you’re Princess Diana, sweetheart. You still stay on the right side of the table or you’ll be removed from the visit.”

  Gary was white and the stress was starting to show. He gave the eye to Mikey and let him know the goods were on his person. Mikey quickly diffused the situation. “No worries boss. She’ll stay on that side for the rest of the visit. She’s just a bit upset that’s all. You know how these women get when they see us for the first time.”

  The officer sniffed hard and moved along to the next table, shoulders held high. Mark and Smithy were at the main desk and it was their job to make sure all the rules were adhered to during visiting time. They’d seen some things during this shift in the past, things that would make your toes curl. The room was like one big orgy. Some of these men hadn’t had sex in years. They were like dogs on heat. If they got a whiff of fanny on the visit they were buzzing for days. This was what it was like and each inmate would discuss what they got from their partners. For some lucky criminals they got the stink finger. To delve a finger into a warm wet pussy was heaven for them. The finger was sacred after that. They never washed it for days and they forever had it stuck under their noses, licking at it and tasting it at every given opportunity. Some prisoners even shared it too. Yep, if someone had the scent of a hairy beaver they would always let other less fortunate inmates have a whiff of it too. Pussy was pussy and no matter who the smell belonged to, it was all fair game behind the prison walls. They always hooked each other up.

  Mikey looked over at Sarah and he knew that no matter what, he wasn’t getting a bit of finger-pie today. He’d be lucky to even get a touch of a pubic hair, never mind sticking a finger up her. She was proper like that Sarah was, fucking frigid. She was nothing like the girls he’d had in the past. They were game for anything and didn’t care what name they got for themselves.

  Gary fanned his fingers across his mouth and whispered. “I’ve got your shit when you’re ready pal.”

  Sarah was bright red and her heart was in her mouth as she realised what was going to happen. She was clever this girl, a lot more intelligent than she’d been given credit for. She stood up from the table. “I’ll go and get you some chocolate and a drink Mikey, what do you want?”

  “Get him a Mars bar,” Rachel butted in, “he loves them, don’t you son?”

  Sarah growled at her and now Mikey was by her side she had no fear of Rachel whatsoever. He’d never just sit there and let his mother speak to her the way she had been doing. He would have put her right in her place, told her straight. Sarah was playing a dangerous game now, she knew exactly how to wind this woman up. “I think we should let him pick what he wants to eat himself. I bet he’s sick to death of the same bar of chocolate all the time, he might want to try something new. What do you want Mikey?” she asked.

  All eyes were on him, watching his every move. Rachel reached over and touched his hand softly. “A Mars bar son, you know they’re your favourite?”

  Mikey chewed on his bottom lip and stretched his arms above his head. He was unaware of the beef between them both. “Get me anything you like, sexy. I’m not arsed to tell you the truth, just don’t get anything with nuts in. I hate them and they get stuck in my teeth.”

  Sarah gave a little giggle and made her way to the vending machine on the other side of the room. Rachel could kiss her arse now, there was no way she was getting him a Mars bar. He was her man and she would pick something new for him to try. Sarah left with a bounce in her step. Now she was gone it was the ideal time to pass the parcel without her being there. Mikey moved his head to the side and clocked her shapely arse as she wiggled over to the other side of the room. “I’ve got a mint bird me,” he chuckled.

  Gary was getting restless - it was now or never. In a low voice he whispered over to Mikey again. “Just say when and I’ll pass it over. I’m sweating my nuts off here. I just need to get it over with.”

  Rachel gave a cunning smile over at her son and covered her mouth as she spoke. “There’s enough stuff here to keep you on
the go for a while. Make sure you make the most of it because you know money is short don’t you?”

  Mikey rubbed vigorously at the end of his nose with a flat palm. Whenever he was ready to do something shifty he always tweaked the end of his conk. The noise inside the room was loud, people were laughing and kids were screaming as they ran about the small floor space. Mikey shot a look over at Mark and Smithy and he was aware they were watching him like a hawk. He had to pick his time wisely. One wrong move and these cunts would have had him twisted up in seconds. He knew his card was marked and nobody trusted him as far as they could throw him. Mikey was a security risk, it was all over his prison file that he was a bad apple and if they had an inclination he was up to no good, he would be dragged off the visit before his feet touched the floor. Nobody fucked about on their watch, or so they thought.

  *

  Mark sat at the desk and scanned around the room. He was making sure all the inmates’ hands were on the table and nothing untoward was going down in the visiting room. He was alert and ready to strike at any second. Parcels were passed at the drop of a hat and if he blinked, he knew he could very well miss it. Smithy was by his side and he nudged him in the waist. His voice was low as he tickled the end of his chin. “Keep your eyes on Milne. He looks like a right cunning fucker. I’ve got his card marked already. I know his sort. I’m sure he’s on a drop today. Don’t ask me why, I just have a gut feeling about it. Get a butcher’s at him, he’s flapping.”

  Mark looked over at Mikey. “I’m all over him, don’t you worry about that. He keeps looking over at me so he knows I’m onto him.” Smithy coughed to clear his throat and made his way over to the tables near him. Just his presence made the inmates jittery and only the brave would test him in trying to get a parcel into the jail. Smithy had seized lots of drugs from the visiting room. He knew the signs of something going down and he was rarely wrong when he had a gut feeling that somebody was up to no good. As he paced around the room he stood tall and held his hands neatly behind his back. Every step he took he was vigilant and aware of his surroundings. The smell of perfume was overpowering, the females had hammered it and it was choking him. Mark twisted the blue biro in between his fingers, rolling it, chewing it at the lid, he was ready to pounce at any second. Mikey was looking over at him and he was agitated, fidgeting. There was definitely something that had unnerved him. Smithy paused on the spot. There was shouting and screaming from the back of the room. All the officers were ready to go. This was a code red. Smithy was the first there to see what was going down. There was shouting, screaming and objects being flung about. A female visitor was going sick at her boyfriend, livid she was, she was ready to attack him.

  Smithy grabbed her by the arm trying to control her. “He’s a cheeky fucker. I’ve stayed in for months and not been out partying once and that daft bastard has been writing to other girls. He’s a cheeky twat, a liberty taker.” Smithy gripped her again and started to pull her away from the inmate. She was strong and was fighting back with all her might. Tears ran down the side of her cheeks and she was heartbroken. The rest of the room were buzzing with all the commotion. Sarah was in her element.

  The dumped inmate dropped his head into his hands and he knew there was fuck all he could do about it. He’d been caught bang to rights. He pleaded with her. “Alison, it was one letter. It was ages ago when me and you were on a break. She means fuck all to me. Come back and let’s sort it out.”

  Smithy paused as Alison turned on the spot. “Do you think I want you now after this? Everyone told me you were a lying, cheating bastard but I always told them they were wrong. What a nobhead I look now! You can get to fuck if you think I’m ever coming here to see you again. Get that slut to come and see you.” Mikey saw the moment was right and quickly plugged the parcel from Gary. They were quick and nobody seemed to notice. Mark was at Smithy’s side and they assisted the angry woman from the room. Just before she left, she turned around and made sure she had her boyfriend’s attention. She yanked her bright pink top up and revealed her breasts. “See these you wanker, you’ll never touch them again. I’ll show you what it means to take the piss out of me. I’ll have a man in my bed before the week’s out. A real man too and not one with a two inch cock.” Everybody was pissing their sides. What a character she was! That would teach him to play the field when he had a girl already. Serves him right, he had got what was coming to him.

  The commotion was soon over and the room was swarming with officers. The inmates were laughing and shouting over to the dumped prisoner. “You’ve fucked that one up, mate. You better start writing your begging letter now. Give me her number I’ll try my luck with her.” The banter began and the inmate smirked. There was no way he was losing face in front of the boys, he took it all on the chin. The prisoner left the table and was escorted back to the landing. His pride was hurt and he knew after a long phone call later with his woman she’d be back to see him. He was such a cocky fucker and it would have served him right if she moved on and left his sorry arse on his own; that would have showed him, wiped the smile right off his face. Mark calmed the situation down and sat back down at his desk. Mikey was chatting and he never looked over at him once. Had he missed something? Had the drugs already been passed? He wasn’t sure. His head dropped as he concentrated on his computer screen. Every now and then he peeped over at Mikey just to see if he could catch him in the act. Nothing.

  Sarah held Mikey’s hand and stroked every finger slowly. She looked deep into his eyes and her sweet warm breath tickled the end of his nose. “This is the last time you’ll be in here isn’t it? Our life can be so much better if you just turn your back on the crime world.”

  Rachel sniggered under her breath and Gary kicked her under the table. Mikey shot a look at them both and snarled. “I’m going to do what I have to Sarah. I’m trying to change but shit happens doesn’t it and I’m not making any promises that I can’t keep.”

  Rachel just blurted it out, she had no shame whatsoever. “That’s what I told her, she’s a dickhead even thinking you can change. I told her straight. I said my son will always be a grafter, it’s in his blood.”

  Sarah dropped her head. This wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Mikey could see she was upset and his mother was just rubbing salt in the wounds. “Mam, can you leave us alone for a bit. I’ll try and ring you later. Just give us a bit of time on our own, we’ve got stuff to sort out.”

  Gary was on his feet as quick as could be. There was no way he was sticking around longer than he needed to. His job here was done and he’d never be doing a drop again. It wasn’t his style, it was too on top. Rachel was shocked. “But son, I’ve not even told you about stuff yet. I’ve hardly spoken to you.”

  He cut her dead in her tracks. “I said I’ll ring you later. I need to sort me and Sarah out. Stop moaning, fuck me.”

  Gary walked to the corner of the table and hugged Mikey as he stood up. Mark and Smithy were watching every movement and they were eager to uncover anything being passed over. Mikey gripped his mother in his arms. She was much smaller than he was and she looked lost in his firm, toned arms. He knew she was upset but just ignored her. Fuck the drama today, he was in no mood for it. “See you soon. Thanks for coming,” he shouted after them both. Rachel barely managed a wave and you could see her and Gary having words as they made their way towards the exit. Mikey touched his girlfriend’s cheek with his finger. “I’m trying Sarah. It’s hard in here, remember that. You don’t know what it’s like in here. There are some dangerous bastards about who will stick a knife in me the moment my back is turned. Just let’s get this sentence over with and see where we go from there.”

  Sarah raised a smile and kissed his hand. “You’re so lovely. I see so much in you that’s good. You just need to believe in yourself and put all this behind you. You’re better than that. You can be so much more.”

  Mikey was listening to her and even though she was talking out of her arse she did make sense sometimes. Sarah lived
by the law of attraction and she honestly believed that the way people thought made a big difference to the way they lived their life. In her bedroom she had photographs of the things she wanted in life. A big house set in the hills and a nice sports car parked on the driveway. Mikey had never got his head around it all and thought it was a load of mumbo jumbo most of the time. “You make your own luck in life” is what he’d told her. “Does any of your family know I’m in here?” he said after a pause.

  Sarah swallowed hard and even though she wanted to lie she just couldn’t do it. She always thought he knew when she was hiding something, she just couldn’t look him in the eye. “My brother knows. He’d heard it from one of his mates. He’s happy about it and told me he hopes you never get out. In fact, he said he hopes you’re raped and bummed senseless. He’s a right idiot sometimes.”

  Mikey gritted his teeth tightly together. Who the fuck did her family think they were? His fist tightened and he bit the edge of his knuckles as he spoke. “It bugs me you know. They don’t even know me, yet they think they can judge me. Your brothers and your dad are daft twats too. Do you know they tried having me done in? Look,” he stretched the side of his mouth open wider. “This is what your old man had done to me. I bet he never told you that did he?”

  Sarah’s mouth was wide open. Her nostrils twitched slowly. “What, say that again so I can get this right in my head. You’re saying my father had someone do this to you to warn you against seeing me?”

  Mikey nodded. He knew he should have kept this to himself but they’d pissed him off big time, he couldn’t help it. They were no better than he was, they just had money, nothing else. Sarah rolled her eyes and sat staring at the wall behind Mikey. He clicked his fingers in front of her eyes trying to bring her back down to earth. “Forget about it now. I’m sorry I even said anything. It’s just… Oh, I don’t fucking know. They wind me up. Don’t mention anything to them. It will just make thing worse.”