The Friends

Chapter 9

The friends were separated in two different holding cells, one for young men the other for young women. The holding cell that Karen and Ann were in had young women that had been in and out of the system over and over again. Women that had grown hard over the years and had very little regard or respect for humanity. One woman decided to pick on Ann, but Karen stood right by her side. The other woman had friends too. In a few seconds, both Ann and Karen were surrounded. There was nowhere to go. The girls knew that they would have to fight. Words were exchanged, and then fists started to fly. Ann and Karen got a few good licks in at first, but for the most part they got the worst off it until the officers came in to break it up. Bruised, beaten and bleeding from the nose and mouth, both Karen and Ann were moved from that cell to another one that housed older woman. In this environment Ann and Karen seemed to go unnoticed. They were left alone.

"Karen if that's what it's going to be like in jail, I won't make it, said Ann. It's like a different world in here and only the ones that behave the most like animals survive. I can't be an animal Karen, I just cant, I can't, I CAN'T, I CAN'T, I JUST CAN'T. Karen a woman is dead because of us. We tried, but she didn't seem like she was responding. Karen she's dead because of us. We killed someone Karen. If we weren't there, trespassing on her property, she would still be alive. We are going to jail."

"Listen Ann, try to calm down, PLEASE. I know what you mean. A life in jail for murder is no life at all. Everyday fighting for our lives, it's just too much. Either someone is gonna end up killing me or I'm gonna kill someone, either way I loose, said Karen."

"Hey Karen............did you ever see that movie Thelma and Louise?"

"Yeh,............What about it, said Karen?"

"They did it their way. They didn't let the system lock them in cages, cages that they try to pass off as jails. They did it their way."

"Ann are you saying what I think you're saying that you're ready for this life to be over?"

"Yes, I'm not asking you to feel the same way, I'm just telling you what I have decided."

"I see"

(IN THE HOLDING CELL FOR YOUNG MEN)

"Hey, sweet thing, what's your name?"

"Tracey"

"Hey Tracey, nice to meet you, said the inmate. My name is Big John. You know why they call me Big John? Because nobody fucks with me, I'm big. But you know what Tracey, you see those guys over there, they are some crazy niggas. It won't be long before they come over here to you and start..........well........, you know.

Basically, it won't be nice for you. There is good news though, I'll protect you. I like you Tracey. You remind me of my little sister. All you got to do is be nice to me and my man over there. You do that little service for us and we'll make sure those niggas stay off your ass."

Weighing his options, one bad and the other worse, Tracey made his decision reluctantly. "OK, said Tracey." Shaking like a leaf, Tracey went ahead and performed the sexual act on Big John and then his partner. Tracey realized that in order for him to survive in jail he had to perform sexual favors. In his mind he thought, with a murder wrap tacked onto breaking and entering, he would have to do some serious time. He would have to do things in jail to stay alive, things that would make him question his reasons to live. He decided that a life in jail was not worth living. In his mind he made a decision.