Visitors

by Woods, Karen

  “Yeah, yeah,” Peter laughed. “We’ll see.”

  It was soon time for all the prisoners on the landing to have their social time. It was the best part of prison life. One hour talking and chatting to each other and feeling free. The inmates could be seen flying out from their cells like they were suffocating. A lot of them had been banged up all day and this was the only time they could get out to stretch their legs. Loud noises of people shouting and laughing could be heard. Tim headed for the phone.

  Four lads stood in the queue waiting to make a call. Tim watched eagerly for each prisoner to finish. Shouting could be heard. “You silly bitch. You carry on being smart and I’ll have someone come round there, and shave ya fucking hair off. Do you hear me?” The inmate cursed down the phone. He was frothing at the mouth as his clenched fist smashed against the receiver. Another convict grabbed the phone from his hand. “Ay, what do ya think ya doing? Don’t be wrecking the phone. We all need to fucking use it.” He gripped the phone from the distraught prisoner and looked for back up from the other inmates.

  The prisoner was wild and he knew he couldn’t tackle him on his own. Tim’s chest expanded in his t-shirt and you could see his nostrils flaring. The tips of his ears seemed to be going red as he stepped forward. The phone was now dropped from the convict’s hand. He was kicking at the prison walls and at one stage his head was banging at it with speed. He’d definitely lost the plot. “Fucking lying bitch,” he ranted.

  Tim waited for the phone. Every phone call before him seemed to be the same. The prisoners were paranoid about their women on the out. The convicts all seemed to be lovey-dovey one minute and the next they were like animals swearing and cursing down the receiver. Tim sighed as he dialled Susie’s phone number. Listening to the ring tone he prayed she would answer. He seemed weak inside and needed some reassurance that she would always be there for him no matter what.

  “Yo, Susie. It’s me Tim.” His face looked white as he slowly kicked his foot against the wall in front of him. “What do you mean you’re just on ya way out? Fucking hell Susie I’ve waited all day to phone you. Can’t you just wait five minutes?” His smile dropped completely from his face now. His ear pressed hard against the phone. He was listening. “Who the fuck is that shouting in the background?” he yelled. Susie paused. He repeated himself. “What the fuck is Ashley doing there?” He was growling at the phone now and he was eager for her to reply.

  Slamming the phone down Tim stamped his feet and dragged at his clothing in temper. He couldn’t let the other inmates see him like this. Head dipped he trudged to the toilets. “Fucking slag,” he mumbled under his breath. The toilet area was empty and he kicked at the cubicle door nearly taking it off its hinges. Stood behind the door his body folded up in desperation. Elbows placed on his knees his hands gripped at his face as he tried to hold back the tears. It was no good, a river of sadness now started to fall. The stench from the toilets was sickening. His eyes focused on the floor and he could see all the splashes of piss near where he was sat. One hand holding the wall he dragged his body up to stand tall. He could hear someone coming in the toilets and covered his mouth to hide his torment.

  Tim joined Peter for the last ten minutes of social time. His mind was doing overtime and no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t get the thought from his head. “The bitch is shagging around,” he whispered to Peter who was bent over the pool table getting ready to take his shot.

  Peter lifted his eyes and turned his head to Tim. “Nowt ya can do mate. You just have to take it on the chin. There is fuck all ya can do in here, is there?”

  Tim was chewing on his bottom lip. His eyes were flickering at speed. His words were fast and furious. “I’m taking fuck all on the chin mate. You watch and learn.” Peter looked at him and shook his head. Tim looked fucked in the head and he knew he was planning something evil for his girlfriend.

  Lying in his bed, Tim’s fingers touched Susie’s glossy photo on the wall. He would have usually kissed her goodnight but tonight, his fingernail scraped at her photo, right across her eyes ripping some of the snapshot away. She was due to visit him the next day and he planned exactly what he was going to say to her in his head. Peter was snoring yet again and Tim pulled the blankets over his body. Tonight he felt lonely.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Susie dragged herself up from the bed. Even lifting the quilt from her body seemed like an effort. She was hungover. Last night had been a long one, and the signs of all the late evenings she’d been having recently were written all over her face. She looked haggard. Ashley was asleep next to her. You could just see the top of his head sticking out from the covers. “Where’s the cigs?” she asked. Her hand pushed at his body next to her. Moaning could be heard. Pushing harder at him he pulled his head from underneath the blankets. His hair was stuck up all over the place and he was sucking at his dry lips. “Get us a drink will ya? My mouth’s drier than a camel’s arse.”

  Struggling to get up from the bed, she wobbled as she tried to regain her balance. Her eyes were small and one of her false eyelashes was hanging on by a drop of glue at the corner of her eye. “Find the cigs then,” she moaned as she left the room to get a drink. Ashley stretched from the bed and located his jeans on the floor. With a struggle he yanked them onto the bed and searched the pockets. Susie could be heard going downstairs.

  “Fucking hell, I spent a right few bob last night.” His hands held a wad of cash fanned out in front of his face.

  “Well you will buy everyone drinks won’t you, Rockefeller?” her face frowned. Passing him the orange juice she watched as he gulped the liquid down in one go. He was more than thirsty. Wiping his mouth, he pulled her towards him. “Do ya wanna play hide the sausage?”

  She giggled as he tickled her. Her body was weak and she couldn’t be arsed with his love gestures. “Orr fuck off will ya, I had enough of that last night. My fanny’s red raw.” He grabbed at his cock and waved it around in front of her. She wasn’t interested.

  Susie found the cigs from the side of the bed and popped one in her mouth. She peeled the drooping black eyelash from her eyes. She sat examining it. “Fucking hell, no wonder I couldn’t see properly with this fucker hanging over my eye. I thought I’d had a stroke or summat,” she chuckled.

  “Give us a cig then,” he pleaded as he sat up in the bed waiting for his nicotine fix. Searching his jeans he found the remains of the cocaine from the night before. Holding it towards the light he sighed. “Fuck me; we tanned some sniff last night.” Her eyes gazed at the transparent bag in front of her.

  “Don’t you mean you did? Every time I looked at you, you were like a fucking hoover.” His finger was pointing in her face as he spoke in a sarcastic tone.

  “Yeah, and every time I was at it, you were beside me, so don’t come all the innocent with me, you coke whore.”

  She smiled at him as she took a long drag of her cig. “Well I’m not gonna sit there with you all straight headed am I?” He coughed loudly as he shoved the white powder back in his pocket. Ashley’s chest crackled, he sounded like he smoked a hundred cigs a day.

  “Did you sort that visit out with Mouldy Marie for Tim? I’m going to see him in a bit, and he’ll go sick if it’s not sorted?”

  Ashley tutted, “Nar I’ll go and see her in a bit. I hope he doesn’t expect me to pay for it all. She charges two ton to do a visit, yanno?” His face was like thunder. Susie shook her head and fell back onto the bed sighing. Her legs were hanging from the bed. What the fuck was she going to do now? Everything was costing so much money and her income had fallen already without paying people to take drugs in prison.

  “Well just get it sorted. I’ll have to find the money from somewhere won’t I?” She replied nastily. Ashley wasn’t happy and dragged the covers back over his body. He’d proper spat his dummy out.

  “Fucking leave the nob-head to rot, we owe him fuck all.” She knew by his tone not to argue back.

  Later, when Ashley had gone home an
d Susie was putting the final touches to her make-up, the postman shoved a letter through the door. As she stuck her head up to the window she could see the postman leaving her garden. Wrapping the towel around her body she ran down the stairs. Two white envelopes lay staring at her on the floor. Holding her bath towel with one hand she bent down to pick them up. Looking at the handwriting she could tell they were prison letters.

  Perched on the bed she shoved her finger inside the envelope to open it. She could see it was a long letter as all the writing stood from the four pages. Snatching a cig from the side, she lit it as she started to read the bullshit Tim had written. Her face looked worried and at one point she threw the letter on the bed making a v sign at it. Susie stared around the bedroom. She looked anxious. Grabbing the letter again she continued to read it. Helen must have been writing to Tim, she thought, because he knew all about the flowers Ashley had bought her. Gritting her teeth she flung the letter to the floor. “Right you fat bitch, you wanna play with the big girls do ya?”

  Susie could be heard running down the stairs. She came back into the bedroom and dropped the big Yellow Pages directory on the bed. She flicked through the pages until she found what she was looking for. Susie giggled like a witch who was getting ready to cast a spell. Reaching for the phone she placed her thumb and a finger at the side of her nose. She was getting ready to squeeze it. “Hello, I would like to report someone for committing benefit fraud please.” Her voice sounded odd and she sounded like she had a severe case of the flu. Susie could now be heard giving all the details she knew about Helen and her partner. She was a right grassing bitch and told them that Helen had a man living with her even though she was claiming single person’s benefit. “No love, I don’t want to give my name. I just don’t like people who take advantage of the system.” She sounded concerned and played the part well. After a few more minutes Susie put the phone down. Rubbing her hands together she rammed her fist into the air and looked happy at her revenge. “Let’s see who’s laughing now you fat interfering cow,” her laughter shook the walls as she continued getting ready.

  Looking at the clock on the wall, Susie finished writing her letter. Instead of putting it in an envelope she shoved it in her back pocket and patted at it with a smile on her face - the name Jenkins was written on the front of it. One last look in the mirror and she was ready to go. Susie left the house and set off on her journey to the prison.

  The familiar sight of Strangeways prison looked at Susie as she went to park her car. Her mind was working overtime and she looked stressed. Today she looked scruffy. Her hair was just shoved back in a ponytail. She’d promised herself a trip to the hairdressers but she never found the time anymore. Her mobile phone started ringing. “Hello,” she yelled down the line. “Orr, stop lying, no way. Why won’t Marie do it? Did you tell her she’d earn two hundred quid from it?” Her voice was frantic. You could hear Ashley shouting down the phone at her and she ended the call. Her head sank on the steering wheel and she looked close to tears. “What the fuck am I gonna do now?” she gasped.

  The weather was pleasant for a change. The sun was shining and a cool breeze filled the air. Susie could see Vicky walking towards the visitor’s centre. She quickly grabbed her stuff from the car and shouted over to her. “Oi.. Vicky,” The girl turned her head and smiled. She had no kid with her today and looked relaxed for a change. Susie hurried to her side. “You should have said you were on a visit, and I would have come and picked you up.”

  Vicky looked embarrassed. “I didn’t know I was coming. I was gonna fuck the visit off but changed my mind at the last minute.”

  Susie nodded her head. “I know what you mean love.” They both trudged to the depressing visitors’ centre. “Where’s ya lad?” Susie asked with a giggle in her voice.

  “He’s at school, thank fuck.” Vicky smiled and let out her emotions as if she’d known Susie for years. “Peace and quiet, I wish they had a night school too, because he’d be in it, let me tell you.”

  Susie smiled. The poor girl looked at her wits end. It was obvious she’d tried to make the effort to look nice for the visit, but her black leggings were a wash away from the bin as were the rest of her clothes. Vicky looked tatty and like she needed a good bath. Susie looked at her in more detail as they queued up at the desk. She was pretty underneath her tattered look. Her eyes held so much sadness and they looked like a sea of desperation.

  Sitting at the table Susie looked about at the visitors. It looked like the setting for “Shameless” the TV series.

  Every kind of low life was sat there. Junkie’s stood out like a sore thumb as they spoke out loudly and argued with each other. There were some nice people sat there too, but like Susie they sat away from the crowd and away from the down and outs.

  Vicky looked troubled and Susie was dying to get to the bottom of it. “Do you want a drink?” she asked but Vicky declined. As usual she didn’t have a pot to piss in and Susie could detect that just by looking at her face. Susie went to the hatch without asking anymore questions. “Watch my bag,” she shouted back to Vicky. She’d clocked the two smackheads watching her queue up. Susie shot a look at them, and let them know she was onto them. “Scumbags,” she muttered under her breath.

  Vicky looked Susie up and down. Playing with her greasy hair you could see the jealousy in her eyes. Life had dealt her a crap hand of cards, and her life was on the road to nowhere at record speed. Susie walked back holding two plastic cups. “There you go love.” She placed the two cup of coffee on the table and pulled a Mars bar out of her pocket to accompany it. Vicky was smiling. If the truth was known she hadn’t had a bite to eat all day. Thanking Susie, she started to eat the chocolate bar. Susie sat down and watched her every move. This girl was desperate and you could Susie’s face getting ready to interrogate her. Vicky slurped at her drink as she munched on her chocolate bar.

  “So Vicky, tell me more about yourself. Do you work or owt?” Vicky dipped her head in embarrassment. The last job she’d had was her paper round when she was fifteen, and there was no way she telling her that. She shook her head and remained silent.

  Susie was plotting and knew she would have to act fast. She made sure no one could hear her. Moving her head closer, she looked straight into Vicky’s eyes. “It must be hard not ever having any money?” Vicky chewed on her lips and looked ready to burst out crying. Susie placed her warm hand on top of Vicky’s as she continued. “If you ever want to earn some quick cash, just give me a shout.”

  Vicky looked puzzled. Why was this woman helping her and what the fuck was she going on about? She was desperate to earn extra cash and asked her straight out. “How can I earn some extra money?”

  Susie was excited. She sniggered as she whispered into Vicky’s ear. “You can earn one hundred pound today if you want?” Susie knew the usual fee should have been two hundred, but she was eager to save some money knowing this girl was desperate.

  Vicky was nodding and her eyes were alive with excitement. One hundred pounds would sort her right out. She could go shopping, buy cigs and maybe even get herself a new outfit. “What do I have to do?” Susie kept her face straight and explained that she could take some drugs into the prison and pass them to her boyfriend Blake.

  Vicky blew a frustrated breath. “Why would I take them in for Blake?” Susie tutted.

  “Ya dickhead. The drugs are for my fella. Blake will have to pass them to Tim once there inside the jail.”

  “Fuck off,” Vicky replied. People heard her and she covered her mouth knowing she was bringing attention to herself. Susie snarled as Vicky continued. “Blake would go sick at me. I mean just to go on a visit without any warning and pass him drugs. He’d go mad.”

  “Well you don’t have to take them in today. Have a word with ya boyfriend and see what he thinks. I mean he’s got to know how hard it is for you out here hasn’t he?” Susie preached. Vicky chewed her fingernails at speed. She needed money fast; there was no doubt about it. Once she’d explai
ned to Blake that she was getting paid for it he would understand, surely. She looked anxious. Susie was drinking her coffee and watched her from the corner of her eyes with an evil glance.

  “Right I’ll do it today,” she whispered. Susie looked devious and asked Vicky to follow her to the toilets. Too many people were about now, and she wanted to make sure everything went to plan. Once inside the toilets, Susie stood behind the door to make sure no one else could come inside. With one foot holding the door shut she bent down inside her bag rummaging about. Vicky was stood at the sink watching her. Holding a bag of cocaine out in front of her she grinned. “Here it is love. Simple, just shove it in your bra, and when you get on the visit give it to Blake.” Vicky was listening to her every word. Susie was right, how hard could it be? Taking it from her hand she studied the white powder. There were some small tablets in the bag as well, she pressed at them with her fingers. Susie saw her concern and jumped in. “Oh they’re just some steroids. The lads go mad for them in prison. It makes them look macho without even going to the gym I think.” She walked to Vicky’s side and placed her arm over her shoulder. She could see the fear in Vicky’s eyes and knew she would have to do some quick talking to get her onside. “I would take them in myself, but the screws are onto me. They never stop looking at me,” Susie lied.

  “So what will happen if I get caught,” Vicky said with a worried face.

  Susie chuckled. “Nar you look sweet. Just look at your innocent face.” She turned her around and made her look into the mirror.

  Vicky stood staring at herself, Susie was right. “Plus that money can help you with your son and that, can’t it?” Susie was nearly there and knew with a bit more persuasion she would have the young girl by the short and curlies.

  The drugs were concealed in Vicky’s bra. Susie helped place them out of sight and stood looking at her new drugs mule. “There you go chick. You can’t see a fucking thing.” She patted Vicky’s breast down one last time and straightened her top. Susie knew she would have to give her some more encouragement as she could see she wasn’t sure. Opening the toilet door she smiled and looked at Vicky. “Come on love, we’ll be going over to the prison soon.” Vicky swallowed hard and walked slowly from the toilets. She looked white in the face. “When we come out from the visit, I’ll go to the bank and get you some money out. I mean, you’ll want to go on a spending spree won’t you?” Vicky nodded slowly.