Bang Up: Prison walls don't just keep criminals in, the keep the outside world at bay

BANG UP

KAREN WOODS

EMPIRE PUBLICATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As always, thank you so much to the people who support me and read my work. Thanks to my children Ashley, Blake, Declan and Darcy. A big thanks as always to my mother Margaret for all her hard work, also a big massive thanks to Rebecca Ryder for her expertise.

Bang-Up is my 15th novel and I hope you all enjoy the insight into a life we never really see behind bars. Since I've started writing its opened so many doors for me and I've enjoyed meeting many creative people. The ‘Ard Knox Theatre Company has now been set up in North Manchester and this year at the Lowry theatre I will be putting on my fifth sell out show called "My Big Fat Jobseekers Wedding". I hope some of you will attend it.

Big Thanks to Ashley and John from Empire and to all my followers on Facebook and Twitter. Check out my website www.karenwoods.net for more information on the play and forthcoming titles.

My last thanks goes to my son Dale in heaven, always in my thoughts.

Love

Karen

"LIFE DOESN'T GIVE, YOU HAVE TO TAKE."

CHAPTER ONE

Mikey Milne stood in the dock at Manchester Crown Court with his hands tucked neatly behind his back. His shoulders forced forward, his chest expanding with every breath he took. He was a cocky fucker and he didn’t give a shit who was watching him, he was here to impress. The young offender looked into the public gallery and showed little remorse for the crimes he’d committed. His nostrils flared as he jerked his head forward slowly. “I’m ready, you cunts!” he mumbled under his breath.

Mikey shot a look at his co-accused and smirked. What a smacked arse his mate was! This was just a bit of jail, nothing to lose any sleep over. He’d do the time on his head. The guy was a pussy. Mikey stuck his hand down the front of his tracksuit bottoms and flicked his fingers across his cock rapidly. His solicitor had advised him to dress smartly for court but he had told him straight to get a grip. There was no way he was dressing up for a court appearance, not now not ever. They could get to fuck. The prosecution could take him as they found him; rough and ready. He didn’t really care anymore. Brendan was shitting himself; fidgeting, gasping for breath, panic had clearly set in. The corners of Mikey’s mouth began to rise. He sniggered through his fingers and leaned in to the side of his mate’s ear. “Fuck it mate, do or die isn’t it. We’ll have to soldier it. Don’t let these twats get to you.”

Brendan Mellor dipped his head, he didn’t reply. His heart was in his mouth and he wasn’t as confident as Mikey. Brendan was just a lad who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. A follower, his dad had always called him. A daft fat prick who would do anything to gain a bit of street cred. This sentence was going to break him in two, his arse was twitching already, his heart pumping inside his rib cage. Mikey nodded as he studied the judge in his large black leather chair. He was like an Indian chief talking to his tribe. Mikey weighed him up. How did he sleep at night playing about with the destiny of people’s lives? He looked a right grumpy old fart too; grey hair, rotund figure and a bright red nose.

They were all seated at the Crown Court today for the sentencing of these two criminals and the wig brigade were out in full force; a gang of them in grey curly hair and black gowns. The police officers wanted the pair of them off the streets and they had made that clear in their statements to court earlier in the case. Mikey knew that, regardless of the verdict, this judge was getting a mouthful from him today. Who was this tosser anyway? How could
he
judge
him
and tell him what was right and what was wrong? He was just another do-gooder telling him what he already knew. Fuck it! He was ready to kick off, he had nothing to lose. Mikey Milne was a law unto himself and lived every day by his own code of conduct. Nobody could tell him what to do or say. The courts had tried in the past to put him in his place but to date no one had ever controlled this young tearaway. He would spit in their eye and tell them he’d do this sentence on his head. Jail meant fuck all to him, it was his second home. A place he was familiar with, living with lads just like he was - fucked in the head. They didn’t know how easy they had it. Three meals a day and no worries about paying bills – it was a piece of piss compared to some people living on the outside.

Mikey stretched his hands above his head and yawned, mouth wide open, eyes fully closed. He ragged his hands through his thick dark hair and looked at the uniformed security guard just to the right of him. The youth licked his lips slowly and studied him for a bit longer than necessary. Was it worth it? Could he take him down and jump the dock, he wasn’t sure. Smirking at the guard, Mikey ground his teeth tightly together. A slight nod of the head towards him was all it took to unsettle the man. The prisoner stood cracking his knuckles as he sneered at him. The way he was feeling right now he could have broken him in two; snapped his jaw, ended his worthless life.

Mikey’s girlfriend Sarah sat in the public gallery looking over at him. She was tearful and knew her boyfriend was going down today no matter what. Mikey had already been found guilty of supplying Class A drugs along with a few other charges. She thought he was just unlucky. The dibble had caught him bang to rights and no matter how much he tried to worm his way out of this one he had to admit to himself that he was getting a long stretch no matter what. Mikey had done a deal with the prosecution earlier and held up his hands to a lesser charge. He’d probably saved himself a few years already, so in a way he’d got off lightly. It could have been a lot worse.

Mikey’s mother was at court today. She nodded towards her son, feeling guilty that she’d let him down all his life and never been there when he needed her most. Rachel was as hard as nails – her face betrayed no emotion. Life had made her like this. She’d had such a hard miserable existence and it wasn’t all her own doing for sure but still she struggled, she’d had to fight all her life. Nothing had ever been simple. Rachel kept her chin up and listened to everything that was being said about her son. Her head dipped as she listened to the prosecution talk about his criminal record. There was whispering from others sat near her. Already her son was being judged. Mikey’s mother had done a bit of bird too. In her day she was always getting a few months here and there. She had been a top shoplifter - a professional one in her day and she knew how the justice system worked more than most but to watch her boy go down hit her hard. Rachel sucked hard on her gums, praying for a good result.

Sarah, Mikey’s girlfriend, was a pretty little thing; long blonde hair and such lovely baby blue eyes, she looked angelic. She wasn’t like Mikey at all; she came from a good home and knew right from wrong. Her family thought her relationship with this dead-leg had ended long ago but it had never really stopped. If they ever found out he was still in the picture he would have been in a body bag. They had connections; big men who would take anybody down for the right price. Money talked and her family had more than enough of it to make sure this scrote disappeared off the face of the earth if need be. Mikey had been warned off already. He kept that on the low though, he didn’t like admitting that he was vulnerable. There was no way anyone could know that he had backed down to these hard nuts and admitted defeat. One night he was cornered and had a gun held to his head, one thug had rammed the cold silver barrel to the back of his throat until he gagged. But, still, even though he should have kept away from Sarah he carried on seeing her. It didn’t deter him, he loved a challenge. And, if these pricks came for him again he would be ready for them next time. Sarah loved her bad boy with all her heart and couldn’t imagine life without him. She was smitten, besotted. He was her world. Mikey loved her in his own way too but she was so needy, always wanting more from him, always wanting him to spend more time with her. She made him do things that made him feel weak. He was never really a romantic guy and he found it hard to display any kind of emotion. Holding hands and kissing in public was for wimps, it just wasn’t his style. She thought she was better than him sometimes and it really pissed him off.

The court room was silent as Judge Mayor started to speak. He cleared his throat, sipping on a glass of water. It was time to hear their fate. Everybody was hanging on his every word. Journalists, their pens held tightly in their hands, were ready to let the world know Mikey Milne was no longer at large on the streets of Manchester. They would word his story in the usual way, making him sound like a thug, a lowlife, a danger to the public. Rachel swallowed hard and shook her head slowly knowing it wasn’t good news. She had a gut feeling and by the looks of things this was going to be a nightmare. This judge had a moody look about him, his expression was sour. He looked like he’d smelt a fart and he was looking around the courtroom for the culprit. Mikey whispered to Brendan and nudged him in the waist with a single finger. “This is showtime mate. Here we go. Don’t let these fuckers break us. Keep it real.” Rachel Milne hung her pale wrinkled hands over the brass rail and gripped at it tightly, her knuckles turning white. Her eyes squeezed together, her mouth was moving but no words were coming out. Perhaps, she was praying, the poor cow. She needed a miracle.

The criminals stood patiently in the dock and knew after a few minutes that their fate would be announced. Brendan Mellor had bright ginger hair and a plump waistline, he loved food, he loved eating. Ever since being a small child he had loved sugary snacks, he was a carb-junkie. He was shady too, very deep and you just couldn’t get to the bottom of him. This youth had never been to prison before and the colour drained from his cheeks as he stood waiting to be sentenced. His father was in court today and he was eager to hear his son’s fate. He hated Mikey Milne with a passion and from the minute he’d set eyes on him he knew he was nothing but trouble. A gob-shite he was, always the first there when anything was going on. He’d corrupted his son, led him astray. Mr Mellor snarled over at Mikey and wished him dead. Brendan was doing fine until he had got mixed up with this scumbag. He could have had a job and a career. His family were ready to support him in anything he wanted to do. He’d fucked it all up now, and for what, to gain his mate’s respect. What a complete arsehole Brendan was. He never thought this through, he’d dropped a bollock.

Mikey had done a couple of stretches in jail over the years. An eighteen month and a six month. A shit and a shave he called it, it never broke him. It just made him stronger, more streetwise perhaps. At the age of twenty-two it was something he was proud of. He liked to think he’d earned his stripes amongst the lads on the estate, put his name on the map. Mikey’s nostrils flared as he stood cracking his knuckles, his chest rising with speed and the large vein at the side of his neck pumping rapidly. He was ready now.

The judge leant forward in his seat and held some paperwork in his right hand. The guards behind the prisoners stood up and moved closer to the offenders. They were preparing for it to kick off. When men got sent down anything could happen, this could get messy. Mikey was like a ticking bomb. The judge began in a firm tone, eyes looking directly at the convicts. “Michael Milne, I have read over your case and you have to realise that no matter what has been said here today, a custodial sentence is the only option I have left for you. You’re a dangerous young man who needs to learn that your life style is not a healthy one. You have had chance after chance from the courts and not once have you mended your ways. ”

Mikey jerked his head forward and tickled the end of his chin with a single finger. “Get on with it you old cunt,” he whispered under his breath. This was pissing him off now, he just needed to know his sentence so he could crack on with life. He shot a look over at his mother and bit hard onto his bottom lip. Any second now he was going to blow. His ears were pinned back and his cheeks were beetroot. Mikey closed his eyes as he continued to listen to the judge rambling on about the way he’d lived his life in the past.

Brendan was fidgeting about at the side of him, he was breathing heavily and sucking hard on the edge of his thumb. He couldn’t keep still. Judge Mayor lifted up a white sheet of paper from the case file and he was now ready to pass sentence. Rachel gripped Sarah close to her and held her tightly in her arms. She rested her head on top of hers, inhaling the apple fragrance from her thick blonde hair. The journalist nearby rolled the blue biro in her fingers rapidly and she was seconds away from getting the story she wanted for the local press. Mikey pushed his nose against the glass panel and slid it slowly against it. Here it was, he didn’t have to wait any longer. You could have heard a pin drop. “I sentence you Mikey Milne to five years’ imprisonment.” Mikey sniffed hard and lifted his eyes to the ceiling and stood in deep thought. It was taking time for him to digest what had just been said. He listened eagerly as the case continued. “Brendan Mellor, I have taken into consideration your previous criminal record and that you have not been in prison before. Therefore, I sentence you to two years in prison. I hope you two young men use this time to become better people and learn that crime doesn’t pay.”