Convicted

Chapter 4

Connie opened her cell door (not questioning why it was closed in the first place), and walked in with a huge smile plastered across her face from having spoken to her daughter. She closed the door once more as she wanted some privacy, but she found that as soon as she did, she was pushed up against it and a hand was across her mouth.

"I told you to meet me after lunch. I've been waiting, and I hate fucking waiting," Nicky growled, and Connie whimpered under the other woman's firm hold. "Now do you wanna wipe that smile off your face? You owe me. You're going to do me a little job." Nicky let go of Connie slowly, watching her with a fiery gaze.

"What job?" Connie asked.

"Be fucking patient!" She whispered harshly, before passing a roll of money across to Connie. "The girls from D Block are trying to sell some gear - that's drugs, cutie, in case you didn't know - and they're clashing with my business. You see, I get the gear in here, and that's why the girls respect me. That's why they do what I say, and you don't want to be the odd one out, right? I mean, I presume that's why you're wearing a uniform when you're still on remand."

"So what do you want me to do with this? Why are you trusting me with your money?" Connie obviously didn't want to do the job, but she didn't have the courage to say no.

"It's fake fucking money, idiot," Nicky replied. "But the girls in D Block don't know that. Buy as much of her gear as you can with that, and get it back to me. Find out how she's bringing it in too, and I'll say we're even." Connie took the money, though she didn't want to, and at that moment, another woman rushed into Connie's room.

"Sorry, Nicky, but Jess has OD'd on the gear you gave her; it's crap. We might have to call the screws 'cause it's not looking good."

"Fuck," Nicky breathed. "Don't call any fucking screws yet, we'll sort it." Connie moved out of her cell, rushing towards all the fussing, and she had to fight her way through a small crowd of girls.

"Let me through, I'm a doctor," Connie called as she pushed through the girls, and instantly, most of them turned their noses up at her. Nicky, and the girl who had come to inform Nicky, both pushed through too and came to sit on the other side of the young girl. Bec was already there, trying to stop the young girl from shaking and wiping her mouth occasionally too.
    "Do we have any idea what she's taken?"

"It was just some junk, what does it matter what the gear is?" Nicky stressed, and Connie shook her head, checking the young girl for indicators to help her identify which drug it was. Seeing that the girl was obviously suffering from muscle spasms, had a low blood pressure, and incredibly shallow breathing, Connie came to the conclusion that the young girl had overdosed on heroin, which made things incredibly serious.

"I'm suspecting heroin," Connie informed Nicky, who put her head in her hands and paced around the room, cursing loudly a couple of times. Connie set to work quickly, knowing briefly how to deal with a heroin overdose without any medical equipment. She checked if the young girl was still able to detect pain by pinching her ear, thankfully, Jess reacted to the stimulus. Immediately after that, Connie managed to move the girl into recovery position, and checked her airways. She knew that it was vital to check that she hadn't swallowed her tongue, as this often happened in cases of an overdose, and it blocked the airways, preventing the patient from being able to breathe properly. Connie was thankful that Jess had neither swallowed her tongue, nor had sick blocking her airway, but suddenly she stopped shaking and Connie knew that she'd arrested.
    "Fuck," Connie grumbled, moving Jess onto her back and checking her pulse before beginning CPR. She performed mouth-on-mouth, and after three rounds, Connie was proud to have resuscitated Jess, who woke up coughing and spluttering. Connie expected her to stop coughing, but she didn't, and instead threw up, spewing all over the cell floor. Connie was just thankful it hadn't gone on her! Panting, she patted Jess' back, and helped her sit up, before informing the girls that she would need some rest and plenty of water, but other than that, she should make a full recovery. The girls that had been watching on in a crowd began to applaud, and Connie blushed, washing her hands in the sink in Jess' room. Even Nicky looked impressed, and so when Connie finally made her way back into her cell, she wasn't surprised to be followed by her.

"Not just a cute face, eh?" Nicky smiled. She noticed the roll of money on the side of Connie's bed, and picked it up. "Listen cutie, I don't usually do this. But you didn't just save Jess in there - if they'd have called the screws I'd have been slotted for giving her the gear in the first place, and my whole system would've come down. You saved my ass, so thank you. I'll give this job to someone else - don't you worry your cute little face over it."

"Thank you, Nicky," Connie answered genuinely, and soon enough she was left alone, feeling happy with herself.

About a week passed, and Connie had made friends with a lot of the girls in her block. She had earned some respect among the others after what she'd done for Jess, and though she didn't really want it, she had to admit that it was beneficial to be seen as someone that the girls could look up to, as opposed to being seen as an easy target. She had tried her best just to stay out of Nicky's way, and had instead spent her time socialising with the other girls. They'd had a few good laughs, and now, Connie was sat around the table with Bec, and another woman named Tory, having a cup of tea in front of the television. All of a sudden, Tory's face lit up, and she smiled happily.

"Jess!" She called, causing Connie and Bec to turn around, and see the tired girl walking towards them. She was looking much better, and Connie had been looking after her for the last week, causing her to form quite a close bond with the youngster. She was only a teen, and was in for drinking and driving - she was only due to serve six months but the pressure of her first month had gotten to her and she'd decided that taking to the drugs was her final option. She was thankful to have Connie by her side, who had helped her mentally get herself back on track, as well as physically, and now she was much better. Jess had a drink with Connie and the other girls, before asking Connie to accompany her back to her room. She nodded, following the young girl, and then closed the door behind her for some privacy.

"I'm not a user; I've only done it once," Jess insisted, and Connie nodded.

"I know that love, I know. It's obvious to anyone that you're not a user, for so many reasons: you haven't got scars, you had such a bad reaction to it the first time, and you still look perfectly healthy. No signs of any drug addictions, which trust me, are easy to spot."

"I want to get rid of the rest of my gear," Jess said, reaching up and pulling two small pouches of drugs out of the hem of her curtain. Connie sighed as she saw them as she'd hoped that the last of it would've been in Jess' system.
    "I can't flush it yet though, because Nicky's got her girls watching me, and I'll get bashed if they find out. I need to do it next week, when she's going to be preoccupied with her studies again. That way I can get rid of the bags too because she won't be around." Connie nodded - that seemed like a logical solution. "But Nicky's already been in my room searching for it once. She was stopped when she was needed somewhere else but I know she'll be back as soon as she can. I've sworn I don't have any more and I know that if she finds it, I'm screwed. She knows all the places where to look."

"What are you asking?" Connie asked, a little cautiously.

"Please Connie - you're her friend, she won't suspect anything. Please can you keep it in your room, just until next week? She won't look there, and it'll save me getting bashed." Connie didn't want to accept, but the young girl's desperate face was enough to convince her, and reluctantly, Connie took the drugs, stashing them into the waistband of her trousers until she got into her room. The girl thanked her profusely, and Connie couldn't help but feel uneasy. She just wanted to lay low; stashing drugs was something she didn't want to have to make a habit of. However, as she was rapidly learning, it was a case of doing what you needed to do in order to survive in this place. Choice was a luxury preserved only for those on the outside.

"I can only keep these for you until next week, okay. That's four days, if we get rid of the shit on Monday."