by Ann Mullen
“What? Why am I being transferred to Orange? I’m not a criminal!” I was on the verge of a spastic tantrum. “You can’t do this!”
“You’ve been charged with assault. That’s a felony.”
“But…”
The deputy gripped my arm and led me down the hallway. She opened the door, took me to the sheriff’s office, and then presented me to the king. I walked in to see Sheriff Hudson sitting behind his desk… and Billy and Mom sitting in chairs across from him. The sheriff stood up and said, “Sit down, Jesse. We need to talk. Actually, I’m going to talk, and you’re going to listen.”
I looked over at Mom and Billy.
“Don’t look at them for help. They’re just as guilty as you are.”
I sat down in the chair next to Billy, placed my hand in his, and then murmured, “I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad at me.” I looked up at the sheriff and said, “Do whatever you want to do with me, but leave them out of this. I’m the one to blame. All of this was my fault.”
“Yes, it is,” Sheriff Hudson said. “And now you have to pay for what you did.”
I had fouled up big time. I was going to be transferred to Orange County Regional Jail, then to court, and then to prison. My kids were going to grow up without a mother. I cried.
I’ve always said that Billy and I were just a footstep away from jail, but this time it was for real. I was going to prison—and that’s where I was going to die. Escape was not in my future. I had to take my licks… like it, or not. Busted over a bottle of shampoo. What was the world coming to?
Chapter 5
Sheriff Hudson placed his hands on his desk, leaned forward and said, “What do you have to say for yourself? And don’t tell me you didn’t do anything wrong, because we both know that’s a lie.” Before I could explain, he silenced me with a wave of his hand. “Never mind. I don’t want to hear it. If you ever go near Dakota Stone again, I’ll have my guys come after you, and it won’t be pleasant. I promise you that!”
I was shocked. I thought for sure this was the end for me. I just knew the sheriff wanted to lock me up and throw away the key, but he wasn’t going to. He was letting me off with a stiff warning. I dried my tears with the back of my hand and said a silent prayer of thanks to the man upstairs. I was going home!
Mom and Billy still hadn’t said a word. Taking a cue from them, I remained silent. I wanted to ask the sheriff why he had kept me in jail so long, but I didn’t. I knew the best thing I could do was let him have his say. And have his say, he did.
“I told both of you that I would lock you up if you broke our agreement,” Sheriff Hudson began.
“But…” I started to say, but was silenced by the sheriff again.
“Stop! Don’t say a word. You’re going to sit there and listen and you’re going to keep your mouth shut.” He gave me a hard stare, and then continued. “You’re lucky that Dakota Stone is such an agreeable person. She won’t press assault charges if you pay for her blouse and leave her alone. That means no calls, no stalking, no nothing. Do I make myself clear? Don’t say anything, just nod your head if you understand what I’m saying.”
I nodded in agreement.
“The cost of the blouse is a hundred and twenty-five dollars. Billy has already given me a check, which I will give to Ms. Stone.”
Whew! What a relief. I was getting off with a slap on the wrist and a measly hundred and twenty-five dollars. It was my lucky day. God had answered my prayers. That’s what I thought until Sheriff Hudson spoke again.
“How did it feel to sit in jail?”
“It wasn’t so bad.” I lied. I should’ve said it was awful, instead of trying to be so macho.
“Good, because you’re going to spend the night here.”
“What?” I said, jumping up out of the chair. “But you said Stone wasn’t pressing charges.”
“Sit down! That’s right. She’s not.”
“Then why do I have to spend the night in jail?” I sat back down. My knees were getting weak.
“Well, since you didn’t mind being in jail, I guess you haven’t learned anything, because if you had, you wouldn’t want to go back. I want you to know what it’s like to be incarcerated and have your freedom stripped from you, because the next time I find out that you’re back at it again before our agreement is up, you won’t be so lucky. You’ll be facing hard time. Judges take obstruction of justice charges very seriously. Five to ten. Does that mean anything to you?”
I swallowed hard.
“I thought so,” he said, and then looked over at Billy. “I’m going to give you ten minutes with your wife. You’ll be able to pick her up tomorrow afternoon at six o’clock.”
“Six o’clock! That’s ridiculous! You can’t do this to me. Where’s my lawyer?”
Sheriff Hudson raised one eyebrow. “Want to make it two nights?”
Billy reached up, grabbed my hand, and then pulled me back down in my chair. “Say nothing, `ge ya.”
The sheriff continued, “Unfortunately, you won’t be staying in our presidential suite. Got a real dangerous guy in there. So, you’ll be put in with the general population. You’ll have a cell to yourself, unless we get overcrowded. Then, you’ll have to share.” The sheriff shifted gears. “Nights are our busiest time. We get our fair share of hookers, drunks, thieves, killers, rapists…”
“I get the message.”
“No, I don’t think you do.” The sheriff walked out from behind his desk over to me. “You know Jesse, I really don’t want to do this, but I don’t have a choice. I purposely kept you in jail for six hours, with the consent of your husband, hoping you’d get the message, but you didn’t. You’re laughing behind my back.”
“You’re locking me up because you think I’m laughing at you? That’s not legal.”
“Neither was that agreement you signed. I’m doing you a favor, so shut up, do your time, and then go home to your family. You won’t get another break from me. This is the end of the line. My patience is gone.” He turned and looked at Billy. “Say goodbye to your wife. I’ll be outside.” The sheriff walked out of the room.
“I’m so sorry, Billy,” I said as soon as the sheriff left. “I couldn’t help myself. That b…”
Mom spoke up for the first time. “This is my fault.”
“No, it’s not, Mom. I’m a big girl, but I should’ve known better. I think Mae is right, and we have to do something.” I looked back at Billy. “You let him keep me in jail? Why?”
“I had to. I wasn’t given much of a choice. Spend the night here and don’t make waves, Jesse. I’ll be back for you tomorrow, and then we’ll go after Dakota Stone.”
“Tell her about the SUV, Billy,” Mom said.
“What SUV?”
“The one that was following you the other day,” Billy answered. “It’s registered to The Body Shop.”
“Hmm,” I said. “That puts a whole new slant on everything.”
“It sure does,” Mom added. “That Stone woman has been having someone follow Mae, that’s why you were being followed. What does that tell you?”
“That she has something to hide.”
“I’m going home,” Billy said. “I don’t want you to misbehave. Just keep quiet until this is over. Do the time and get it over with.”
“I’m sorry, Billy. I’ll try to be good…. if I don’t die in here first.”
The sheriff popped his head back into the room and said, “Time’s up.”
I hugged Billy and Mom and then watched as they were led out. It was an ominous moment. I felt as if I’d never see them again.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Sheriff Hudson said, leading me to the cell. “You brought it on yourself. You’re lucky I like you and Billy, or I’d be having you carted off to Orange so you could spend the night there.”
After he locked me up, he turned and said, “I knew Billy would keep his word, but I had my doubts about you. I see now that I was right. I’ll be watching you closer in the future. I do
n’t want Billy to suffer because you can’t stay out of trouble.”
At least I’m not going to Orange County Regional Jail, I thought to myself. That would be very bad. I could get lost and never be heard from again. I was so relieved. I’d do my time and never return to this place again.
As soon as the sun went down, the criminals started rolling in. First, they put a drunk in the cell next to mine and all he did was puke, fart, and then pee on floor. The sounds made me gag, and I was so glad when they released him. Regrettably, the next one locked up was a drunken woman in her late thirties. She, too, puked, farted, and peed on herself. It wasn’t pretty.
“What you in for?” she asked me after she got her bodily functions somewhat under control.
“I killed a drunk.”
She didn’t say anything else to me after that. If she wasn’t sober before, she was now. She scurried over to the corner of her cell and stayed there until she was let go.
A janitor came in after the woman’s release and cleaned up after her and the previous drunkard. What a yucky job. I was glad I didn’t have to do it.
I stretched out on the cot, hoping no bed bugs or other infesting critters would attack me. The smell of urine and puke wouldn’t allow me to sleep, so when Deputy Rager walked up to my cell, I was so glad for the distraction.
“I’m getting off duty soon and I was wondering if you wanted something to eat before I leave. I can call one of the deputies on patrol and see if he’ll get you something.”
“How can anyone eat in a place like this? The smell alone is obnoxious.”
“Sheriff Hudson said to make sure you had dinner.”
“I’ll pass, but thanks anyway. You’ve been very nice to me. I appreciate it.”
“Well, it’s not as if you’re a real criminal, but if you don’t do what the sheriff says…”
“I know. I know. I’ve been…”
A ruckus was going on down the hall, so I jumped off the cot to have a look. Two deputies were dragging an unruly man toward my cell.
“What the…”
“Step back, ma’am,” Deputy Rager said. “We got us a repeat offender here. He’s crazy and won’t hesitate to grab at you through the bars.” She looked at the man and said, “How many times do you have to be locked up Percy, before you stop beating your wife?”
The man had been drinking. I could smell alcohol on him when he passed my cell.
“I didn’t beat up nobody,” he yelled. “Let me go!”
The deputies opened the cell and shoved the guy in. Percy stumbled back and fell. A deputy slammed the cell door and said, “You’re lucky I didn’t beat the crap out of you like you did your wife.”
“I didn’t beat up my old lady, and she ain’t pressing no charges against me, so let me outta here! You can’t do this to me. I got rights.”
“You got nothing,” Deputy Rager said to the man. “You’re lucky Mabel didn’t crack you over the head with a frying pan. Percy, one of these days, after she’s finally had enough of your abuse, she’s going to take a shotgun to you. Is that what you want?”
Percy jumped up, leaped at the cell door, and then spit on Deputy Rager. Glad to say, his spit hit her shirt and not her face. His actions angered me to no end. I yelled over at him, “You’re lucky these bars separate us old man, otherwise I’d be on you like flies on s...”
“Ah, shut up,” he yelled back. “What’s a puny little punk like you gonna do to me? You couldn’t beat up nobody.” He laughed at me.
Deputy Rager hushed him when she said, “You better watch out, Percy. That puny woman over there is a serial killer. She’s been on the loose for years, killed over twenty some people before she ended up here in our jail. Now we got her locked up, and she ain’t happy. You better stay away from them bars, because she’ll grab you and kill you with her mind. She’s evil. She knows black magic.”
The old man shut up. Deputy Rager turned to me and smiled. I winked at her.
“I’ll bring you a bag of chips and a Pepsi,” she said. “Think you can eat that?”
“That’ll be good,” I replied. I walked over to the bars separating Percy and me, grabbed them and shook them as hard as I could. “Hurry up, deputy. I might have to grab a piece of this old man’s arm. I’m real hungry.”
The look on Percy’s face was worth a million bucks. He was terrified beyond belief.
Deputy Rager laughed when she left and was still laughing when she returned with my snack. “I brought you a Twinkie to go with your chips. It’s the best I can offer.”
“Thanks, deputy,” I replied, looking over at Percy’s cell. “I’m so hungry I could chew that man’s leg off.”
“No problem,” she said and then started to walk away.
“What?” Percy yelled. “I don’t get nothing?”
“Come on over here, Percy,” I said to him. “I’ll give you something.”
“Stay away from her, Percy,” the deputy called back to him. “She’ll take off your arm. She’s a real psycho. She don’t care who you are. Did I tell you that she eats her victims? Yeah, she was eating some guy’s arm when we caught her.”
That was it. Percy cringed in a corner, never said another word, and was glad when they came for him. He was going to Orange.
“Wife beaters don’t fare well over at Orange,” a deputy said to Percy, trying to scare him as he led him out. “You might just get a taste of what’s it’s like to be on the receiving end of a good butt-kicking.”
“I don’t care,” Percy replied, quickly. “I just want to get away from that crazy woman.” He pointed to me. “She eats people. Did you know that?”
The deputy just smiled.
I ate most of my snack, drank all of my Pepsi, and then lay back down on the cot. It was going to be a long night. I wondered who the next person would be to occupy the cell next to mine. I didn’t have to wait long. They brought in two teenage girls who had been picked up for stealing a car and taking it for a joyride. The car belonged to one of the girl’s parents, but that didn’t matter. They were arrested and held until a parent could come get them. I heard the deputy giving them a lecture.
I rolled over on my side with my back to them and snickered when the deputy warned them to stay away from the serial killer in the next cell.
I’ll make it. This isn’t so bad, I thought. That was, until they brought in a tall, well-built man who had eyes like Charles Manson, and put him in the cell the two girls had occupied earlier. He was one scary looking dude. The deputy on duty didn’t have to warn me to stay away from him. I had no intentions of getting anywhere near that man.
“What you in for?” the creepy guy asked me.
“Killed a few people,” I replied. That lie had intimidated others before, so why not this time? “Got caught eating a man’s arm.”
“You’re a liar,” Manson eyes shot back. “I bet you got snagged for reckless driving or something stupid like that. You’re about as dangerous as a flea.”
I didn’t say anything. I was too scared to go back and forth with this guy. He could’ve been a decent looking guy if he didn’t have those eerie eyes—the eyes of a killer.
“Got anything left to eat over there?”
“Just part of a Twinkie,” I replied, scared out of my wits. I picked up the half-eaten Twinkie and was about ready to toss it through the bars.
“Don’t throw it!” he insisted. “It might fall on the floor. Just hand it to me through the bars.”
I hesitated.
“Come on,” eerie eyes pleaded. “I won’t hurt you. What can I do to you through these bars? Please. I’m starving.”
I got up from the cot and walked up to the cell bars. I wasn’t about to get too close, so I stretched out my arm and handed the Twinkie to the guy through the bars. In a flash, he grabbed my arm and jerked me to him. I could smell his sour breath. Then he poked his other arm through, grabbed the back of my head, and slammed my face into the cell bars. I pulled back, but he had too much of a hold on me.
He slammed my face into the bars again and again.
The pain was excruciating. I was sure I was going to die this time. The last thing I remembered before passing out was the unbearable smell of the man’s breath. It smelled like meat gone bad.
I woke up in the hospital with a headache and blurry vision. I couldn’t see what my face looked like, but when the memories of what had happened to me flashed back, I figured it was pretty bad. How many times had that man slammed my face into those bars? Two? Three?
“She’s coming around,” I heard my mother say. “Billy!”
“Just lay still,” Billy said, taking hold of my hand. “That guy beat you up pretty bad. The sheriff said he smashed your face into the cell bars. You have eight stitches in your forehead and a black eye.”
“Thank goodness they have cameras in that place,” Mom added. “A few minutes later, and you’d be dead. Thank God those deputies acted so fast.”
“I know, Mom,” I replied. My throat was dry. “Can I have some water?”
“I’ll get you some,” she replied. Mom stepped out of the room and then returned with a plastic pitcher and glass. “Here, Jesse.”
I took the glass of water and guzzled it down. “What time is it?”
“It’s five in the morning,” Billy answered. “You’ve been here for a couple of hours. Do you remember what happened to you?”
“Yeah. Everything’s coming back to me. Who was that guy? Why did he do this to me?”
“Some people are just bad, Jesse,” Sheriff Hudson said as he walked into the room. “Guys like him don’t need a reason.”
“I’m not talking to you ever again,” I said, angrily. “Go away.”
“I’m so sorry this happened, Jesse. I never intended…”
“You wanted to teach me a lesson and you did. I don’t want to ever go to jail again. You got your wish, Sheriff. Now go away and leave me alone.”
“I wanted to teach you a lesson, but not like this.”
“Oh, yeah? Is that so? See, I figured you put him in there so he could rough me up. You wanted me to know how bad it was to be locked up. You win. Now I know.”
