Page 22 of This for That (The Edge of Retaliation 1)
“Are you allowed to give me these?” I ask him, taking the books from his hands.
“Yes, I am. They’re cleared; I’m not sneaking anything in for you. You’re allowed to read, and I thought you might like to read these.”
“Thank you,” I say, incredibly grateful. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re very welcome. Share them with Madeline; she seems like a nice girl.”
Madeline is a nice girl. Although rough around the edges, she’s a good roommate and she helps me when she can. She told me off when Trisha first got to me, and told me I shouldn’t have said anything. She thinks I should have said nothing happened and let it be. She’s probably right, but at the time, I thought not backing down was the best option. Madeline told me, in here, it is absolutely not.
Now, I have to learn how to fight, because the only way I’ll get Trisha to leave me alone is to be stronger than her.
I can’t possibly be stronger than her. She’s double my size and I have no idea how to fight.
Madeline is showing me a few things, but in all honesty, I think my time in here is going to be hard. A lot harder than I could have imagined.
“I’m going to a conference tomorrow for a week. I have assigned a good guard to you, and informed her of your problems with Trisha. You should be safe while I’m away.”
My heart sinks at his words.
I’ve not met another guard in here who actually cares about the girls in this ward. They only care about doing their job and going home; our well-being matters little to them. I trust Officer Corel, though. Maybe there is another guard I don’t know about. He wouldn’t leave me in danger, right?
“Oh,” I say softly. “Okay.”
“It’ll be fine, I promise. I’ve explained the situation. You’ll be taken care of.”
I nod, but I’m scared. I don’t tell him that. It’s not his job to make me feel better; it’s his job to guard the girls in this ward. He’s already doing more for me than anyone else, but I’m incredibly grateful to him, so I don’t say anything. He’s the only person outside of Madeline who I have on my side. I’ll take whatever I can get.
“Thank you,” I say, and then nod at the books. “These are great.”
“You’re welcome. When you’re done, I’ll bring you some more.”
I smile, weak and broken, but a smile all the same. He deserves to know how incredibly grateful I am to him. Without him, I honestly don’t think I’d survive at all in here. I didn’t know I needed him until I had him, and now, the very idea of him not being here terrifies me. Still, I keep it together. I owe him that, at the very least.
“I hope you enjoy your time away,” I say.
He smiles as he steps out of the room. “Work is work, even when you’re not here. Keep your head down, Callie. It’ll be okay.”
I hope he’s right.
Gosh, do I hope he’s right.
THE GUARD ISN’T TAKING care of me.
Jemma is her name, and she’s young and clearly putting on a hard front to scare the prisoners. She’s probably the same age as Officer Corel, around the late twenties mark. She’s pretty, in a sense, with her brown hair and blue eyes, but she puts on one hell of a show. She loves to make herself known, and loves to make sure we’re afraid of her.
I think the real truth is that she’s afraid of what’ll happen to her in here if she’s not hard. She’s only a smaller-built woman. It makes me wonder why she decided to pick a job like this. I guess she knew what she wanted and she went for it. Either way, she obviously told Officer Corel one thing and is planning on doing another.
She’s not being cruel to me, by any means. If anything, she is being friendly, but she’s made it known that she can’t be seen to be giving me special treatment. So she has to put me out with the rest of them. Today, that means I’m in the gardens, pulling weeds and tidying them up. Trisha is also out in the gardens, which means I’m there with her, and I don’t have protection.
I’m scared, because I know that three guards can only do so much to protect us when we’re out here, doing work. They only have so many eyes between them, and there are at least thirty of us, working in the garden and the yards today. They won’t have control of the situation if a fight breaks out. They’d get to it quickly, but not before some good damage could be done.
I’m avoiding Trisha at all costs, sticking close to Jemma and making sure when she moves away, I go and weed the garden by her side. The sun is burning hot, and my skin aches beneath its vicious rays. I’m wearing a hat, but it’s not doing much to protect me. Sweat trickles down my forehead as I work in the ground, pulling weeds and placing some fresh mulch down to protect the plants.
