A Long Road to Redemption

Chapter 26

Months had passed, and Sidney continued to adjust to her new life. It was not easy or desirable to be locked away from society. Sidney accepted that she deserved to be here. Life was regimented and pretty much the same one day after the next. Yet the routine could be deceiving. There was always the danger of violence at any time. There was also the possibility of random searches, shakedowns of her cell, lockdowns for various reasons, and any other factors that made life in prison so stressful yet often boring at the same time. One could never fully relax, even at night.

One could never fully trust anyone, either. Jillian had become a friend, but Sidney felt she couldn't fully trust her. It was expected, in some ways, not to trust anyone. Even unintentionally, Jillian might say the wrong thing to the wrong person, which could lead to trouble. One can never fully confide in anyone in here. Constant vigilance was needed even around your closest friends on the inside. It's not that Sidney believed Jillian would betray her, but it was best not to put that to the test.

Nearly a year passed when Sidney awoke early to use the toilet one morning. No sooner had she finished and crawled back into bed when the lights came on. Soon, guards opened the cell doors to do a surprise shakedown. The inmates had to exit their cells while half of the officers watched and the other half searched. When the guards came to her cell, Sidney couldn't help but feel a little violated to have her meager belongings rifled through.

"Hey, hook that one up," the guard who searched the cell said.

"Which one?" responded the guard beside Jillian and Sidney.

"The brown-haired one. Lewis."

"Me?" she asked, surprised to hear her name called out.

One of the guards grabbed her and cuffed her behind her back before she could react. "Why are you doing this?" she asked.

"Quiet inmate," was the only response she got.

"Hey, why are you doing that?" demanded Jillian.

"Shut your mouth, Porter, or you can join her."

The guard emerged from the cell with a plastic zip-lock bag. Inside the bag was a small kitchen knife. "Yeah, found this near the brown-haired girl's bunk. Go take her to seg to cool her heels."

"Wait a minute, that's not mine. I've never seen that before."

The guards ignored her pleas. "Yeah, right, let's go inmate."

"It can't be hers. There's no way she'd be able to get a knife," pleaded Jillian.

"You trying to take possession of it, Porter? Is that what you want? Get your ass back in there and clean up the cell."

The guard took Sidney to the segregation area. It didn't look too different from the cell she called home. However, she knew you were locked down for 23 hours a day here, and it was unclear how long you would stay. The guard shoved Sidney into the cell, still cuffed.

"Hey, aren't you going to take these off?"

"Shut up, you're in enough trouble as it is. Now sit down." The guard walked away.

There she sat alone. It was far from quiet but there was no one to talk to here. She knew there was at least one other person, but she couldn't see her, and there was no way to communicate. So she tried as best as she could to make herself comfortable.

Hours passed and no one came. Sidney's arms and hands started hurting a long time back, but no one had been by to take off the cuffs. She waited, trying to be patient, but it was getting difficult. At long last, someone finally came into the segregation area. "Excuse me," she said, "excuse me, can you please come here." The guard walked over, acting uninterested in her.