Bang Up: Prison walls don't just keep criminals in, the keep the outside world at bay (8 page)

His face was bright red, he knew he’d been stitched up. Sarah dug deep in her pocket and passed the cash over. Rachel shoved it deep into her pocket. “See you later, Gary,” she sniggered, “get the biscuits out for our guest to go with her cuppa and make sure she gets everything out that’s worrying her. It’s better out than in, that’s what I always say, Sarah. Gary’s got all the time in the world to listen, so you take your time.”

Rachel was taking the piss now, she left the room laughing to herself.

CHAPTER FIVE

Mikey sat in the classroom with six other inmates, there were loud noises, rustling. The lads were fucking about throwing paper at each other and slapping each other around the side of the head. It was just like the old days in school and Mikey was the ringleader as per usual. He sat flicking small pieces of paper from an elastic band at the other members of the class.  Each of them were sat at a desk and the teacher stood at the front of the room talking away to herself, oblivious to what was going on behind her. Education was big on the agenda in any jail and each prisoner was offered it when they landed in the big house. This was a chance for offenders to get their lives back on track and to try and make something of themselves. A second chance at putting the record straight and living a crime free life. This was a big ask - some of the inmates were past any kind of education and their minds were elsewhere. Who wanted to sit in studying all night long when they could be out on the street earning a few bob? That said, there were always a few prisoners who reformed and got their life back on track but they tended to be a lot older than this crew and at the end of very long sentences.

The only time most of the prisoners had done a day’s work in their life was when they were in the big house. Anything to get them out of their cell really. To work in any jail was a privilege and something every inmate didn’t take lightly. It was a chance to meet people, an opportunity to pass contraband around the jail, to stick a blade in someone if needed. Mikey planned to get a job inside the jail once he’d settled but as yet there were none available. Perhaps a shift in the kitchen or as a wing cleaner, anything to get him out of his pad for a few hours. He needed all the money he could get his hands on to get his empire up and running.

Brendan Mellor sat behind Mikey in the classroom and he’d lost a lot of weight already. His cheeks looked empty and his hair seemed to be thinning. The poor fucker was stressed out and his mind wasn’t with it. He’d not slept properly either, just a few hours here and a few hours there was all the shut-eye he was getting. Potter was in the class too and the work he’d been given to do was child’s play to him. He never once told the teacher how intelligent he was and he just let her carry on thinking he was as thick as pig shit like the rest of the students sat there. In his defence he could have probably taken the class. He was well educated and before he got nicked he had an opportunity of working at one of the top banks in the area. The other lads were lively and none of them were ready to learn. This was just another ploy to get them out of their cells for a few hours a day.

Mikey looked at the words in the book in front of him, his eyes squinting together tightly. His mouth moved but not a single sound come out. The teacher was by his side and she pulled up a chair next to him. She could see he was struggling. “Right, just read this paragraph for me and let me assess just how much help you need. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, lots of people can’t read properly.” Mikey’s ears pinned back and he hated that she’d put him on the spot. It was just like being back in school again, people making fun of him, calling him a thicko. The words started to roll from his tongue. He was doing well and he had the attention of the class. Suddenly, he paused. It just happened to him, his concentration went and his mind went completely blank. The words didn’t make sense anymore. They were all jumbled up inside his head. There was an eerie silence and all that could be heard was his struggled breathing. Sniggering and whispering could be heard behind him. An inmate from the back of the class let his voice be heard as he chuckled loudly.

“Come on, we’ve not got all day. Derr…”

Mikey clenched his fist tightly and twisted his head back slowly. He shot a look at the prisoner and nodded his head. He swallowed hard and his nostrils flared. This wasn’t good, it was about to kick off. Mikey’s chest was firm and the vein in the side of his neck was pumping with rage. “Are you talking to me you clown?”

The teacher was aware Mikey was embarrassed and she tried to diffuse the situation. “Boys, boys. Come on, Mikey you were doing so well. Just carry on reading, you only have a bit left to read. Just concentrate.” He was in a zone now and nobody would ever take the piss out of him and get away with it. In seconds the desk was launched and he threw the chairs out of his way as he sprinted for the lad at the back of the class. This kid was quick and he ragged him from his seat in seconds; head-butts, blows to the face and stomach quickly followed. It was over in seconds. A knockout blow put the inmate straight on his arse. He was out for the count and didn’t have a clue where he was. He fell to the floor like a sack of spuds. Mikey stood over him and spat in his face. “Who’s the thicko now?  You fucking prick!”

Alarms rang throughout the jail; sirens, red lights flashing on the wall. The jail was on red alert. The screws were there in minutes. Five of them rushed into the room and twisted Mikey up. The teacher stood with her back to the wall, fanning her hand across her bright red cheeks. This was going to be messy, she hated any act of violence. Her husband had warned her about taking a job like this and although she hated to admit it, he was right. Every day she faced another challenge working with the dregs of society and more often than not she was always a witness to some kind of fighting or bullying. This woman thought she could change the world when she first started her job here but as time passed she realised that the world was such a dangerous place and all her good intentions went out of the window.

Mikey jumped onto a table and screamed at the top of his lungs. “Come on then you cunts. I’ll bang you all out. Come on! Do you think I’m arsed. Let’s see what you’ve got!” The security officers ran at him with force. They were all trained in this department and worked like a pack of wolves in bringing the criminal to his knees.

Brendan stood quivering. He covered his eyes with his hand. “Stop it, stop it,” he mumbled under his breath. The other inmates jeered as they watched the action from the other side of the classroom. No one was getting involved. This was Mikey’s beef and they all left him to deal with it. Punches were thrown, tables knocked over, this was a war zone. It took a while before the prisoner was restrained. He was having a good go. The screws had his head pushed to the ground. His mouth scraping along the floor, his arms twisted behind his back. Mikey was fighting a losing battle and even though he knew the game was up, he was still trying to shout the odds out as they lifted his body from the floor. Brendan chewed rapidly on his thumb and even though he was one of this guy’s best friends on the out, he knew better than to get involved in this fight. He was weak and couldn’t take the chance of getting into any further trouble. He was a shit-bag, a yellow-belly, a sell-out.

The rest of the inmates were hurried back to their cells. Education was over for today and the rest of the offenders would pay a price for Mikey’s behaviour. The injured prisoner was helped to his feet and he was grey, he was still shell-shocked and unaware of his surroundings. Not so big with his mouth now, was he? That would teach him to fuck about with the big boys. The medical team led him out of the room. He was moaning and groaning and unsteady on his feet. He’d learned a big lesson today, one he would never forget: Never fuck with Mikey Milne.

Brendan stomped over to the teacher and stood quivering near her side. “Where have they taken him? They were a bit harsh with him, did you see the way they treated him. Are they allowed to use that much force on a prisoner?”

Mrs Edwards folded her arms tightly in front of her chest and raised her eyebrows. She was sick to the back teeth of the behaviour in her classes and stood her ground. “He should have respected the other people who wanted to learn. He acted like an animal. That poor lad is in a bad way. He was cut, his nose was pouring with blood. Nobody deserves that, no matter what they have done. I feel sick to the pit of my stomach. I need to go home for the rest of the day. I just can’t take much more of this. I’d rather sit at home knitting than be in a room with this bunch of animals a second longer.”

Brendan coughed to clear his throat. The teacher was old and her values in life were different than his. She wasn’t right to work in a place like this, she was more like a private tutor. “It was just a one-on-one, Miss. It happens every day on the outside. If someone chats shit, you just one-bomb them and that’s the end of it.”

Mrs Edwards placed a single hand on her hip and took pride in putting this inmate in his place. “We’re not on the outside though are we? And that behaviour is not accepted in life in general. What right does another human being have to strike another one just like that, for nothing? He’s a menace and deserves everything that’s coming to him.” Brendan was bright red and knew he was fighting a losing battle with this woman. She had no idea of real life, how things were sorted out when two people had a gripe with each other. It was street law, it always had been. “Brendan, can you leave now and go back to your wing. As you can see I’m quite shook up with the whole experience. They don’t pay me enough to go through this every day. I just want to be left alone.”

The screw came into the room and clocked that the teacher was having a hard time. He whistled over at Brendan. “Oi, ginger balls, time to leave. Get back to your wing before you end up down the block too.”

Brendan clenched his fist into tiny balls at the side of his legs. He walked a few steps forward and met the eyes of the security guard. Within seconds he’d gone from a shaking wreck to a young man who was willing to voice his opinion. What was the worst that could happen anyway? “You all took liberties with Mikey. How many of you did it take to bring him down, piss take if you ask me?”

The screw jumped down the back of his throat and went nose to nose with him. “Nobody is asking you though are they? Do yourself a favour, ginger nut, and walk on. Keep back-chatting to me and you’ll end up like your pal.”

Brendan marched out of the classroom and Mrs Edwards was stood at the door watching him walk down the corridor. “These lads have no respect, none whatsoever. This job used to be enjoyable but how can you teach people basic literacy skills when they act like this?” The old prisoner officer knew exactly what she meant. He’d been in the job for over twenty years and he was nearing retirement age. When he’d first started out as prison officer, the inmates had respect for the rules in the jail, but not now, not any more. The young offenders were hardcore and would do anything to save face, even kill.

*

Mikey sat on the bed. This room was basic. The block was where inmates who couldn’t adhere to the rules spent their time. No luxuries, no PlayStation, basic canteen and pure bang-up. His heart was banging like a beating drum in his ears and he was still raging inside. He knew how the jail worked and plonked down on his bed with his arms looped behind his head. He would be left alone now for hours. “Thinking time” the screws called it, time for him to calm down and realise what he was there for. He knew the ropes here and if these cunts thought he was licking arse just because he was down the block, they had another thing coming. The guy got slammed, nobody made fun of him about his reading skills, fucking nobody. Mikey jerked his head up slightly and spat on the door facing him. He watched the salvia drip down the door eagerly. They would never break him, never make him a soft arse who was scared of prison life.

*

Mark and Smithy stood on B-wing doing their rounds. There was noise on the wing but it was normal for this time of the night. Inmates were shouting out of their windows to each other, prisoners booting at their doors, abuse being shouted from one cell to another. It was the same shit, just a different night. Mark sat down in his office and his eyes focused on the computer screen. The new inmates had landed on his wing now and he was reading up on them. He liked to know what he was working with, get inside their heads. Each inmate had a personal officer and he’d been given Mikey and Potter to look after. Mark sniggered over at Smithy as he read over Mikey’s personal file. “Have you read the script on this one? I’ve got my work cut out, I can tell you. This is that cocky cunt we met in reception. I knew he was trouble, fucking knew it from the moment I set eyes on him.”

Smithy walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder as he started to read the inmate’s previous criminal record. He sniggered and blew a laboured breath. “Good luck with that one, lad. Look at all the violence he’s got on his track record, the lad’s a nutter. Why have they sent him here? He should have been starred up and sent to the hairy arse jails. The men would have sorted him out.” Smithy was talking about Strangeways in Manchester. Whenever they got a lad who was too much for them to handle, they always shipped them there. It was a man’s prison and nothing like this place. Everybody knew about Strangeways and each inmate shivered at the thought of going there. There were a few older inmates at Lancaster Farms but they were mostly finishing off long sentences. This was a Cat C jail, it was more relaxed than other jails around the country.

Mark nodded and turned to face Smithy. “Why the hell do they give me all the fucked up ones? For once, I’d love an inmate who wanted to change, you know, the kind of lad who had actually made just one daft mistake.”

Smithy agreed, he knew it was a big ask. Most of these lads were back and forth from the jail, they never learned. “Mikey’s down the block already. He kicked off in education and put some prisoner on his arse. Mrs Edwards’ report said it was a lethal blow too. A knockout one. The kid’s on the hospital wing in a bad way.”