By
Jan
Chapter 13
“Trish,
where the hell are you?” Nikki muttered impatiently as the phone rang
incessantly. She slammed the receiver down and removed her phone card. Whilst
she hadn’t expected Trisha to become a hermit, she could at least make the
effort to be in when she knew she was going to ring.
She went into the dining room and, seeing
Carol sitting at one of the tables, slid into the seat opposite her. “Why the
long face?” she teased.
Carol
looked at her tearfully. “Miss Stewart’s just told me they’re shipping me out,
Nikki.”
“But
why?” Nikki asked with a frown.
“I
don’t know,” Carol shrugged. “Miss Stewart said they were moving me to an open
prison.”
“Bastards!”
Nikki exclaimed. “They almost let you die and you’re the one who gets shipped
out. Well, they’re not going to get away with it! I’ll go and see that bloody
bitch Stewart!”
“Leave
it, Nikki,” Carol said quickly. “I don’t want you getting into trouble.”
Nikki
laughed ironically. “Carol, I’m serving ten years, how much more trouble can I
get into?”
“You
don’t want to spend the next ten years on the block. You know what they’re like
in here, they target troublemakers. Fenner’s got his knife into you all ready
so don’t give him any more ammunition.”
“They
can’t get away with it!” Nikki retorted.
Carol
nodded and smiled bitterly. “Yes, they can, Nikki.” She reached out and covered
her friend’s hand with her own. “I’d better go and get my things together. Come
and say ‘goodbye’ before I go?”
Nikki
nodded sadly. Carol had been her only friend in this place and now she was
losing her.
Helen
Stewart walked down the wing to Nikki Wade’s cell. Stubberfield had ordered her
to ship Carol Byatt out and all her protestations had gone unheeded. She knew
Nikki was a friend of Carol’s and for some strange reason felt she owed the
inmate an explanation. She knocked quietly on the door then pushed it open.
Nikki
was lying on her bunk smoking a cigarette and staring up at the ceiling. Her
head turned slightly to see who had entered. She shot Helen a look of disgust
then turned her concentration back to the ceiling.
“May
I come in?” Helen asked.
“It’s
your prison,” Nikki retorted bitterly.
Helen
raised her eyebrows almost imperceptibly. This wasn’t going to be easy! She
stepped further inside, feeling almost intimidated by the inmate. “About Carol
Byatt…”
“What
about her?” Nikki interrupted sharply. “You’ve shipped her out, what more is
there to say?”
“It
wasn’t my doing, Nikki. I was told to ‘get rid of her’,” Helen replied
truthfully.
Nikki
turned her head, puzzled at the Wing Governor’s words then she smiled
maliciously. “Are you sure you should
be telling me that?”
“No,
I shouldn’t,” Helen agreed with a faint smile. “But I’m telling you anyway.”
Nikki
swung her long legs from the bunk and stood up. She crossed to the toilet and
dropped her cigarette stub into the bowl. “Don’t expect me to thank you,” she
muttered over her shoulder.
“I
don’t,” Helen said simply then turned away and left the cell.
For
a long while after the Wing Governor had gone, Nikki stared at the door. What
the hell game was Stewart playing?
The shifty movements of the
Principle Officer hadn’t gone unnoticed, at least by one inmate. Nikki had seen
the way Fenner was always hanging around Rachel Hicks. She was a shy kid, only
about nineteen or twenty and gullible enough to be taken in by Fenner’s smarmy
sweet talk.
‘You want to watch Fenner.
He’ll use you and throw you away,’ she had told Rachel one day, only to be shot
down in flames and almost told to mind her own business.
She had also seen the way
Shell Dockley was keeping an eye on Rachel. It was obvious she considered
Fenner to be her property and she felt sure Dockley and Denny Blood were
ganging up on the youngster. Still it wasn’t her problem. She had offered
Rachel advice and she hadn’t wanted to know.
Nikki
sat in the visitors’ room expectantly and her face lit up as Trisha appeared.
They moved together and Nikki’s arms enfolded the slender form.
“I’ve
missed you,” she muttered huskily against Trisha’s ear.
“Me
too,” Trisha agreed as she disentangled herself from Nikki’s arms and slid into
one of the chairs at a vacant table.
Nikki
tried to hide her disappointment at the coolness of Trisha’s greeting as she
sat down opposite her. “Come on then, tell me all your news.”
“Nothing
much to tell,” Trisha replied stiffly.
“Been
going out, have you?” Nikki asked, forcing a smile to her lips.
Trisha
looked at her sharply. “You can’t expect me to stay in all the time.”
“Of
course not,” Nikki replied quickly. “It’s just that you’re never in when I
ring.”
“The
club doesn’t look after itself you know!” Trisha snapped. “I’m trying to do my
best.”
“I
know you are,” Nikki reassured her gently. “I’d just like to talk to you
sometimes.” She reached out to touch Trisha’s hand but, realising her
intentions, Trisha quickly placed her hands on her lap. Nikki frowned. “Is
something wrong?”
“Why
should there be?” Trisha laughed nervously.
“Then
why don’t you want me to touch you?”
Trisha
looked down at the table. She couldn’t bear to see the hurt look on Nikki’s
face. “There are people here…”
“It’s
never bothered you before!” Nikki said accusingly. “You’ve hardly been able to
keep your hands off me, now you can’t even bring yourself to look at me!”
“Nikki…”
The
tall inmate leaned forward, her lips set in a grim line. “Who is she?”
Trisha’s
head jerked up and their eyes met but the pain in Nikki’s brown eyes made her
turn away. “It’s not what you think,” she said softly.
“Is
it anyone I know?”
Trisha
looked at her for several moments then shook her head. “She’s a doctor at the
same hospital…”
“I
don’t want to know the details!” Nikki ground out through clenched teeth.
“I’m
sorry, Nik,” she whispered. “It just happened.”
“Do
you know how many times it could have ‘just happened’ for me in the last nine
years but I wouldn’t let it because I was with you?” she replied scornfully. “I
thought you loved me.”
“I
do but it’s been almost two years. You don’t know how hard it’s been.”
“It’s
been hard for me too!” Nikki retorted loudly then lowered her voice when all
eyes in the room turned to look at her. “Trish, you’re all I’ve got!” She took
a deep breath trying to quash the feelings of desolation coursing through her
body.
“I
never meant to hurt you,” Trisha murmured softly.
Nikki
studied the woman she loved closely. The face she had known so well, that
filled her dreams, it was almost like looking at a stranger. “I suppose I
couldn’t expect you to turn into a nun,” she forced a shaky laugh. “We both
have needs.”
Trisha
looked at her in surprise. “You mean you’ve found someone in here?”
“It’s
early days yet,” Nikki replied with a shrug. “But you could say I’m spoilt for
choice.”
“I’m
so pleased for you,” Trisha said almost in relief.
When
Bodybag announced that visiting time was over, Nikki could have almost kissed
her. Trisha’s revelation had knocked her for six and all she wanted to do was
get away from the woman who had shared her life for almost nine years.
Back
in her cell she unpinned the picture of the beautiful blonde from her notice
board and stared at it through tear-filled eyes. Her life, her hope, was seeing
someone else. Her whole future seemed to be dissolving and all she could see in
front of her was ten long, lonely years. She lay down on her bunk, put her arm
across her face and wept.
“Are
you alright, Nikki?” the cultured tones of Monica Lindsay reached her from the
doorway. Monica was a dignified lady in her early sixties who had been
sentenced to four years imprisonment for helping her boss embezzle money from
his company. A charge she strongly denied.
Still
keeping her face covered, Nikki nodded but a sob escaped her lips.
“You’re
clearly not alright,” Monica said sagely. “What’s happened?” She sat down
beside Nikki and placed her hand lightly on her knee.
Nikki
swallowed and choked back her tears. “Trisha’s found someone else,” she said in
a broken voice.
“Oh,
Nikki, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”
“There’s
nothing anyone can do. Trisha doesn’t want me any more so what’s the point of
living?” She turned on her side, facing the wall, and great sobs wracked her
body.
Monica
opened and closed her mouth, unsure what to do. She had never seen Nikki like
this before. She rose unsteadily and, after a final glance at the weeping
woman, quietly left the cell and absently walked down the wing.
“You
look troubled, Monica.”
The
older woman shook herself out of her reverie at the sound of the Wing
Governor’s voice. “I’m alright, Miss Stewart, but I think I ought to tell you.
Nikki Wade’s girlfriend has just finished with her. She’s taking it very badly
and said there was no point in living. I’m not saying she will do herself any
harm,” she hesitated, feeling a little foolish at sounding so melodramatic.
“But I wouldn’t like to take the risk.”
Helen
gave a wry smile. She found it difficult to reconcile the woman Monica was
describing with the person who had been the thorn in her side ever since her
arrival at Larkhall. However, she couldn’t just ignore her. “Leave it with me,
Monica. I’ll make sure my officers know to keep an eye on her.”
“Thank
you, Miss Stewart,” Monica replied gratefully as Helen walked away. At least if
Nikki was being watched she couldn’t come to any harm.
When Nikki awoke the
following morning, her first thoughts as always were of Trisha. Her eyes filled
with tears and she wondered how long it had been since she was Trisha’s first
thought in the morning. She felt a wave of nausea and dived out of bed, reaching the sink
just as her stomach parted with its watery contents. The bitter bile burnt the
back of her throat but before she could turn on the tap to rinse out her mouth
she heard a piercing scream and all hell broke loose!