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

by Karen Woods

  Sarah slammed her flat palm on the table. “That’s not happening. If my father has organised some idiots to come and give you a good going over then he’s getting a piece of my mind. How dare he dictate to me when he’s doing underhand stuff like this?”

  Mikey was sorry he’d let the cat out of the bag. Sarah was never one to let things go without thrashing it out first. There was a silence between them. They sat in deep thought. Smithy was doing his rounds and he tapped Mikey on his shoulder as he stood next to his table. “Start to finish your visit off now. Five minutes left, son.”

  Mikey shuddered as he felt the warm palm on his body. “No problems, boss,” he replied. Mark was doing the same thing on the other side of the room and all the officers knew that this was an ideal opportunity for drugs to be brought into the prison. At each table inmates kissed their loves ones. Some lovers were going for gold and if the screws weren’t there they would have had sex right there on the spot. These women had no shame, they had to get the most out of their men before the time was up. Hands rubbed over each other’s bodies, necks were being bitten, bodies pressing firmly against each other. These lot were dying for a quick leg-over.

  Sarah looked at a couple on the next table and held a sour expression. “There’s no way you would get me doing anything like that in a public place. Ewww… she’s touching his private parts.”

  Mikey had to quieten her down. She was so on top and bringing attention to them both. Mikey gripped her head and planted his warm wet ripe lips onto hers. She was quiet now, not a word. Sarah was lost in the moment and for a split second she would have let Mikey do anything he wanted to her, she was passionate and ready for sex. Mikey heard the final call and after a few more seconds he pulled away from his chick. “Can you write me some letters? It’s boring in here and it will give me something to read.”

  Sarah smiled and gripped him closer to her body with desperation. “I’ll write to you every day. I’ll start tonight. I love writing. I can tell you everything that’s been going on outside and, just how much I love you.” The visit was over and each inmate had a look of sadness in their eyes. Each of them sat at the table and watched their loved ones leave. Kids were crying, mothers trying to reassure them that daddy will be home soon. Girlfriends were blowing kisses and trying to get the last look at them before the door closed.

  The inmates lined up to go back to their wings. First though, they were searched to make sure they didn’t have anything they shouldn’t have on their person. Mikey bounced up towards Smithy with his arms stretched out. He was confident and showed no signs of concealing any drugs on his body. Mark was at his side and he watched eagerly as his workmate did a body search. Nothing, the lad was clean. The officers looked at each other with a blank expression. Had they got it wrong, were they barking up the wrong tree? Mikey started to walk onto the main landing and he whistled as he walked along. What a result!

  “It must be up his dirt box,” Smithy growled as he continued. “I swear he’s got something. Look at the smarmy cunt laughing at us. Let him get settled and we’ll spin his pad tonight. We’ll show him who’s boss.”

  Mark was by his colleague’s side and usually he was game as fuck to catch a drop that had just landed but today he was more laid back. Smithy nudged him in the waist. “What’s up with you today? Usually, you’re all over it. Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft in your old age.” Mark headed back into the room and carried on frisking the other inmates. Nothing was found here today, nothing, zilch.

  Mikey slammed his cell door shut. It was bang up time and the door would be locked any second now. Potter sprang up on his bed and he looked like he’d been crying his eyes out, the fucking fairy. Trying to hold his tears back, he spluttered as if he had to get something from his chest. His hands were all over his body, itching, scratching hard. “I’m struggling today, Mikey. I hate this place. I’m never going to get used to it. I think I’m losing my marbles. Honest, some serious shit is going on inside my head at the moment.”

  Mikey ran his fingers casually through his hair. He’d seen this a hundred times before, cabin fever. Prison life was daunting at first and if you didn’t know the crack it was a bad place to be, it sent men under, broke them down. This convict had to man up and learn quickly if he was ever going to survive in this joint. This was no place to show any weakness or to start to fall apart. Mikey jumped onto his bed and kicked his shoes off, casually scratching at his nuts. He kept his eyes on the door and fidgeted about trying to get comfortable. He was confident and thought he knew it all. “Listen our kid, I’m not here to hold your hand. You’re a nice lad and all that but you’re fucked in the head if you think I’m babysitting you. Life’s hard enough without a tag-along. I’ve told you before, I’ll sort you out but you need to shake this shit off. We’ll be running this wing soon and I want you by my side not quivering under your bed sheets. Stop being a pussy. You need to grin and bear it.”

  Potter wiped his eyes and replaced the glasses back on the end of his nose. “I’m soft as shit, who’s going to listen to me on this wing? Don’t add this to my worries. I’m alright as I am.” Mikey froze as he heard the key locking the door from the outside. The hatch lifted up and he looked the screw straight in the eye. Jumping up from his bed, he held his ear to the door and placed a single finger over his mouth at his pad mate. Was the bastard still outside or was he gone? After a few seconds he made his way back towards his bed. The coast was clear. Mikey pulled his strides down and squatted down. Potter croaked and covered his eyes, his jaw dropping down. He spoke in a distressed tone. “My father told me about the gay men in the jails and there is no way I’m giving you oral sex. You’re going to have to rape me. Do as you must but I’m not consenting to any of this.”

  Mikey screwed his face up as his hand stretched behind him and he wiggled his fingers about up his back passage. Mikey pulled the drugs from his arsehole and rushed towards the sink to wash his hands. Potter could hear him moving about and shouted after him. He was distraught. “Did you hear me, I said there is no way I’m doing anything with you. I will report you if you so much as lay a finger on me? I’ll take a beating, you can kill me but I’m not having anal sex with you.”

  Mikey turned around and held the bottom of his stomach laughing his head off. “Stop it, you’re killing me. No way did you think I was going to stick one up you?”

  “Well, you pulled your pants down and why would you do that if you wasn’t planning on bumming me?”

  Mikey sat on the side of his bed with his legs apart and couldn’t help but chuckle. “I was getting this lot out of my dirt box you dick-head.” He fanned his fingers open and revealed the drugs. They were all tightly held together with clingfilm.

  Potter looked like he’d had the cares of the world lifted from his shoulders, he let out a laboured breath and started to see the funny side of things. “Oh, so sorry about that. Where the hell did that come from? I told you, my head’s fucked. Potty I am.” Mikey jumped to his feet and looked at the light fitting over his head. He shook it rapidly. It was loose and with a bit of pressure he was able to lift it up to plant the drugs there. He never planned to keep them there, no way, they were getting shifted as soon as possible. Nothing was ever in his pad long enough to get a nicking. He knew the system like the back of his hand and every second he had them in here, he risked another charge.

  Potter was eager to talk. He’d been alone for over an hour now and he was keen to get some things from his chest. “Mikey, do you really think I can fit in around here? Can you teach me to be like you?”

  Mikey walked to the small window and stuck his head up towards the bars. He sucked in the night air and shivered as a gentle breeze filtered his body. “Potter, you don’t want to end up like me mate. I’m fucked in the head. If I had my chance again, I’d be like you.”

  “What? A boring, specky geek who has no friends? No, no one wants to be like me. I’m a nobody.”

  Mikey was stood in the same position and he let his
guard down for just a few seconds. “Life’s been hard for me and if I could have my time again I’d probably be more like you. I never really stood a chance with my mother but ay, you play the cards life has dealt you don’t you?”

  Potter stood up and paced slowly behind Mikey. Dropping his hand on his shoulder he patted it gently. “That bad was it?”

  Mikey realised what he’d just said and dropped his hands from the ledge. What was he thinking acting like this, he had an image to portray. Shaking the moment off he quickly changed the subject… “Right, let’s talk about business and see how this is going to work out. I know you don’t have a clue about jail life yet but in a couple of days of watching me, you’ll get the gist of things around here. You keep your gob shut and you never tell anyone fuck all without talking to me first.” Potter swallowed hard and watched Mikey land back on his bed. “Let’s get some money flowing in this wing and once we get an iPhone under our belt we’ll be laughing. Have you got a woman on the out Potter?”

  His pad mate plonked down on the bottom bunk and rubbed his hands together with excitement. “I’ve not got a woman as of yet but I have felt some boobs before, warm, squidgy they were. I nearly got a mouthful of one but she put a stop to it before I could.”

  Mikey screwed his face up and kicked his foot playfully into his waist. “So, you’re still a virgin, right?”

  Potter blushed and nodded. “It’s just never happened. There was a girl I liked very much and I was even going to ask her to marry me but I lost my nerve.”

  Mikey covered his mouth and burst out laughing. “Fuck me, mate. You’re going to have to up your game if you ever want to pop your cherry. You just wait until I get a blower in here and we’ll get you some birds going on Facebook and Instagram. Are you on Facebook already?”

  “I was for a short time but I only had twenty friends and it was very rare I spoke to them so I tended not to go on it very often.” Mikey was alive and just the thought of being on social media again sent a shiver of excitement down his spine. He’d been such a player in his day and Facebook was like one big fanny pot. Fuck-book he liked to call it. The girls on the site were gagging for it and many a night he’d sat up talking to birds from all over the country on it.

  Potter was alive and his eyes were wide open. “Do you think any girls would like me?”

  “They might do if I sort you out. You need some lean muscle on you first. I need to fatten you up a bit too. I’ve seen more fat on a chip you bony fucker. We can start to smash the gym and all that?” Any troubles Potter previously had seemed to be of no relevance any more. He was calm and getting his head around his new life in the jail. Mikey’s head was working overtime though. The drugs needed to be distributed, this shit just got real.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Rachel queued up at the post office to collect her Jobseeker’s Allowance; a poxy one hundred and thirty pound to keep her going for a fortnight, what a joke this was. What did the government expect her do with that amount of cash? It was a pittance, a drop in the ocean. Fuck all really. Once her bills were paid there was barely enough left to buy any food never mind anything else. It was a piss take, a fucking joke! These big wigs in authority needed to try and live on this amount each week, then they would see how hard it was. They didn’t have a clue about modern society. This was the same for many people in the area, no wonder the crime rate was so high in Harpurhey. What chance did anyone have of making something of their lives when they were confronted by poverty every single day? No money to pay the bus fare for job interviews, no money for new clothes or luxuries, just basic rations every bastard day. Rachel chewed rapidly on her gum, she stank of stale tobacco and her greasy hair was just tied back as per usual, she was a soap dodger for sure. There was no colour in her cheeks and this woman looked like death warmed up. Rachel very rarely ate a full meal and when she did it was never healthy, nothing that would help her immune system fight off the illnesses she was always getting.

  The door to the post office opened rapidly and a young man stuck his head in through the doors. He was dressed in black and his hood was pulled tightly over his head. The male clocked her and seemed to look at her a bit longer than he needed to. Rachel double-checked behind her to make sure he was looking at her and nobody else. Her body language changed, she was agitated. He was definitely weighing her up. What the hell did he want with her? She’d not ticked any drugs, she owed nobody as far as she knew. Rachel was sweating, her arse was twitching. She moved forward in the line of people and started to chit-chat with the woman next to her, trying to ease her rapid heartbeat. “Freezing isn’t it?”

  The old lady was more than willing to talk to her, she was bored shitless and she started to gossip about things going on the area. “I’ve not slept a bleeding wink all night, love. The little fuckers around here torched a car last night at the side of my house. Three hours it took to put the fire out, sirens blazing, police all over the show. I’ll tell you something for nothing. This area is going to be the death of me. I hate it here. I can’t wait to bleeding move.”

  Rachel chuckled, Harpurhey had gone downhill for sure. Years ago it was the place to be but of late, the council had re-housed some of the lowlifes from other areas and planted them in this community. The crime here was booming and even in the newspapers they had it down as one of the most deprived areas in the whole of North Manchester. Single mothers, junkies, armed robbers, yes, they all resided here. There were some good people who still lived here though and it was a shame they were tormented by the up-and-coming gangster wannabes. Money was power and each gang did whatever it took to line their pockets. They had no shame, few morals, and little respect for anyone. Most of all they didn’t give a fuck about the police.

  At last, Rachel reached the front of the queue. She pressed her head against the glass that separated her from the assistant. “Morning Hamid, can I have all my money out please.” Placing her Post Office card in the machine, she kept her eyes wide open waiting for the amount to be displayed on the screen. There was always hope in her eyes when she looked at her balance, hope that maybe the benefit agency had got her claim wrong and transferred extra money into it. Today wasn’t that day though, she hadn’t been that lucky. It was just the amount she always got, she was on a downer. “Thanks Hamid,” she said to the smartly dressed Post Office clerk, “I’ll go and buy that car now, and the mansion I’ve always wanted.” She chuckled and raised her eyes. Shoving the cash in her pocket, she went over to the counter on the other side of the shop. Londis was a convenience store as well as a Post Office and most of the residents shopped there for their bits and bobs. It was the place to be if you wanted to find somebody too. Rachel picked up a loaf of bread and a packet of cigs. She was gasping and couldn’t wait to get outside to spark a fag up. Her last cigarette had been late last night and now she was craving nicotine.

  When she got out it was still pissing it down and the wind was howling through the streets. It was depressing really and it did nothing for anybody’s mood. Everyone looked pissed off and there was no positive energy about, it was all doom and gloom. Rachel chugged hard on her cigarette and started to head home. Gary would still be in bed and there was no way he would raise his ugly head for at least another few hours. He was a right lazy bastard and he always complained that he never got enough sleep. You see, Gary was a stoner, a pothead. Every day he was wrecked and he couldn’t function without a few spliffs in the morning to set him up for the day. He was bone idle. The word ‘work’ made him get a sweat on. He was on sick benefit at the moment suffering from depression. Well, that’s what his sick note said anyway. Who was he trying to kid? There was fuck all wrong with him; nothing that a few weeks of hard work wouldn’t sort out. Most people in the area had blagged the benefit system in one way or other into believing they were unwell. Some of them even believed they were too sick to work, too. Gary always told everyone he wanted to find work but nothing ever came up. Even with his depression he told the doctors he would love to work,
to get him out of the house, to get his life on track. What a lying bastard he was. He’d never looked for a job. Even when his pals asked him to do a few days labouring for them he always found a reason why he couldn’t, the money was cash in his hand as well. Gary was stuck in a rut. Why work anyway when he could earn whatever money he needed doing a few grafts here and there. He was his own boss and nobody told him what to do. He lived by his own rules and worked whatever hours he wanted. A lazy bastard he was.

  Head down, coat zipped up fully, Rachel cut across the grass verge at the side of the shop. It was quiet and not a single soul was about. As she walked along she could hear gravel crunching behind her. “Oi, a word please,” a voice shouted behind her. Rachel turned slowly and she screwed her eyes up to try and get a better look. Her eyesight was shocking lately and even though she was as blind as a bat she’d never been to get her eyes tested. Rachel carried on walking and hoped the man would leave her alone. There were always junkies hanging about here begging for a few quid or a hot meal and she just thought this was one of those days. She was in no mood today for mither from anyone. If they shouted her again she was going to tell them to fuck right off. She had her own problems and couldn’t be arsed with anyone else’s today. Suddenly, a car door opened behind her and as she looked back over her shoulder she could see two males sprint to the side of her gripping her under each arm. They dragging her up against a brick wall. Two piercing blue eyes looked at her now and they were wide open, menacing. She feared for her life and she had every right to feel threatened, this was bad, very bad.

  “It’s Mikey Milne’s mam, right?”