Later that afternoon, Eutopia glanced up uneasily as the chair beside her was pulled out and somebody slid in to it.
'I heard you're a murderer,' Jessica breathed in a hushed tone as Eutopia's fingers hesitated above the brightly coloured threads she had been weaving into a thin bracelet. She looked up at the girl who had so often sat silent during their circle time sessions. Up close, Eutopia could see that she looked much older than she'd first thought. Whether from worry, or from real age, Eutopia was unsure, but Jessica was thin, bone thin to the point that her face was just skin pulled taut over her skull. Dark eyes were set back in shadowed hollows that looked all the more haunted when lit up by the day room's bright, fluorescent lights. The woman's – not girls, as Eutopia corrected herself - thin lips didn't stretch over her protruding teeth, even when she pouted, and coupled with her long, thin face, Eutopia thought she looked like a rabbit.
Eutopia toyed with the threads for a moment, debating whether or not she should pretend she hadn't heard the comment. But it had been so long since anyone except a psychologist had spoken to her, analysing her every word and making her think twice before she said anything that she felt a sudden tingling in her tummy. Maybe she wasn't fading away into nothing here after all.
'No,' she said, looking up at the rabbit-faced woman. 'That isn't what happened.'
'Right, right,' Jessica nodded, her lips wrestling with her teeth for a moment. 'I remember, it was your angel what killed 'em, yeah?' She narrowed her dark, baggy eyes and sighed heavily. 'Wish I had me one of 'em, could do with one since God knows. How long you here for then?' She still whispered, her tone urgent and hurried as she constantly twitched to see what was going on around her.
Eutopia shifted in her chair, pulling her knees up beneath her long grey sweater as was becoming her habit in this place. She leaned her shoulder against the back of her chair so that she could keep Jessica in her vision as they talked.
'I'm really not sure, I think I have some sort of meeting tomorrow, another interview with the police I think.'
Jessica uttered a high, shrill giggle that was stifled by the over large sleeve of her own grey sweater.
'Fancy that! Police, huh! Get 'em to take their kit off I dare ya! Think if you give 'em a blowy, they'll getcha out no probs. Ain't no police put me in here...'
Eutopia blinked, stunned by the words that tumbled over themselves as they fell from between Jessica's overgrown teeth. She had never heard the woman mumble more than an incoherent affirmation. She settled more comfortably in her chair and rested her chin on her knees, letting the woman talk.
'My kids what got me locked up. Think I'm mental, just cause I need to control what I eat. Can't control it in here though, but I can control what I sick up.' She grinned, her large teeth like tombstones taking up most of her face now. 'What's this angel like then?' Jessica suddenly whispered, her deep-set eyes black as she leant forwards eagerly.
'Eutopia,' Carl, one of the care staff – so said their name tags, but really they were just the same as prison officers – appeared beside the two women, his black face kindly. 'You got a visitor down in the reception room.'
'How comes she gets one of them, then?' Joanna demanded, her tired eyes bugged wide in disbelief. 'I've wanted to see me kids since the day I was locked up in here, but ain't no one let them come.'
'The difference is, they don't want to see you. Not yet. What happened is still too raw for them, Joanna. Like Doctor Johnston keeps telling you, give it time.' Carl twitched his head gently at Eutopia, motioning for her to follow as he led the way across the fairly empty room. Afternoon meds had been dished out just after lunch, so quite a few residents - not inmates yet – were sleeping in their rooms. Eutopia had, as yet, managed to avoid being prescribed any medication which she was intensely glad of. She had seen how the medicated ones shuffled meekly from bed to chair with blank, unseeing eyes and the thought that she could become one terrified her. Flashing Joanna a small, apologetic smile she hurried off to follow Carl.
