Behind Bars

Chapter 6

Hola :)  Sorry it took, so long to post, it was my birthday and I was really busy.  Enjoy!  Vote/Comment please!  Just to clear up some confusion, Enrique is pronounced "In-ree-kay" Fulgencio is "Full-hen-see-yo", Bajo is "Bah-ho", pendejo is "pen-day-ho" and Guillermo is "Gey-yer-mo"

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It was hard to sleep that night.  My mind was telling me that I should have a lot of rest for tomorrow, but my body refused to listen to me.  Thoughts were running uncontrollably through my head, and I wanted to scream.

Even after how hard I tried, I still ended up like Dad and Jackson.  So much for not getting into trouble.  Of course it stunk that I was in jail, but the fact that I didn't do it made it even worse.  The fact was constantly gnawing at my brain, driving me insane.  Why me?

Add that to the fact that Jasmine was snoring like a chainsaw, and you have one very sleepless night.

Eventually I fell into a dreamless slumber, only to be woken up hours later.  A loud bell pierced my ears, making my head ring.  On instinct I jumped up, almost falling off the top bunk.  "What's going on?"  I asked frantically.

Jasmine yawned and crawled out of bed.  "Morning bell."  She announced groggily.  I prayed that my ears were messed up from the alarm.  There were no clocks or windows in there, but I had enough sense to know that it wasn't anywhere close to waking time.

Jasmine didn't seem to agree with my logic, though.  She'd already stood up and was changing from her white tank top and sweatpants into a jumpsuit.

A part of me wanted to just forget all of this and fall back asleep, but I knew that doing that would only stir up trouble.  Right now, more trouble was one thing I did not need.

Forcing myself off the bunk,  I stood up and threw on my jumpsuit.  I had a hunch I looked like a giant talking blueberry, but at  the moment I was too tired to care.  Looking at my limp, greasy hair, a question struck at my brain.

"When do we take showers?"  I blurted out.  Jasmine looked amused.  "You don't think they make us go to school at 5:50 do you?  They hate us, but not that much."

That didn't really answer my question, but I didn't press further.  Jasmine hadn't been to predicable so far and I didn't want to anger her with a bunch of annoying questions.

About five minutes later, I heard the sound of our cell door being unlocked.  A sense of freedom overwhelmed me as the door swung open.  I'd only been in the cell for one night, but already I was beginning to feel like a caged bird.

Instead of Lashonda standing there, it was some guard I didn't recognize.  Her hair was shoved into a tight bun, and by the look on her face I could tell that she wasn't a morning person either.

"Come on ladies, you're burning daylight."  She snapped.  I held back from reminding her that the sun wasn't even up yet.

Timidly, I looked around at the other inmates surrounding me.  They were all giving me equally wary looks.          Thankfully, I wasn't receiving too many murderous stares.  There was about five guards in the hallway, and around ten to fifteen other girls.

Gradually, the attention was drawn away from me as they began to chatter with each other.  I'd wanted to stick close to Jasmine, but she'd already began talking to another group of girls.  They'd all broken off into little clans, and I was left standing awkwardly in the middle.

The guards herded us down the hallway to a door marked, "Girl's Shower Room."  The girls filed in one at a time, and I ended up at the back of the line.  I was about to walk in when someone grabbled my arm from behind.