Katy waited nervously in the line for visiting on Tuesday afternoon. The Julies grinned at her as she followed the other prisoners out of the wing, while Tina sent her a small wave. Behind her in the queue, Pat squeezed her shoulder and smiled. The teenager couldn't explain why she was so nervous about seeing her sisters and Ruby. There was no denying that she was excited, but she was also terrified.
She went into the visiting room with everyone else and took her place at one of the tables. Nervously she looked around, catching Pat's eye and grinning, waiting for the door at the opposite end of the room from where they'd entered to open.
"Right, you lot!" Hollamby shouted. "Stay in your seats, hands where we can see them, no funny business, alright?"
Then the door was open and people started streaming in. There were exclamations of delight as the prisoners greeted their friends and family. Katy barely registered them, too eager to spot the familiar faces.
"Ron! Rox!" She called out, ignoring the orders and standing up to hug her sisters tightly. She clung on as though she would never let them go.
"Mitchell! In your seat!"
"Alright, Miss." Katy sighed. "Keep your wig on."
"That's enough cheek from you, young lady."
"Katy." Ronnie muttered, shaking her head.
The teenager closed her mouth abruptly, noting the warning look in her sister's eyes. She shot Hollamby a look, before sitting down and turning to face her sisters in the seats opposite. Katy held out her arms and Ronnie handed Ruby over.
"Hello angel!" The teenager murmured, hugging her daughter tightly and pressing a kiss to her head. "Mummy's missed you lots and lots. Did you miss me?"
"Mamamamamama." Was the response from the toddler, along with a beaming smile.
"How are you, babe?" Roxy asked looking at her carefully as though she thought she could tell how her sister was feeling from just looking at her.
"I'm alright, thanks. How are you lot? How're Amy and James?"
"Alright, thanks, sweetheart. We brought some drawings they've done you and gave them to the guards. Apparently they'll give them to you later. They miss their Auntie Katy, that's for sure." Ronnie told her with a smile.
"Yeah, well, Auntie Katy misses them, too."
"How're you holding up?" The older blonde pressed.
Katy sighed. "I told you, I'm alright. I heard that Lola had her baby. Lexi, isn't it? My mate Tina helped me make her a card. I hope she gets it."
Ronnie looked at her, noticing her insistence to move the subject away from herself. "I'm sure she will."
"We've heard about your mates." Roxy told her, almost accusingly. "You're hanging out with a murderer?"
"What?" Katy laughed, bouncing Ruby on her knee. "I'm in prison, Rox! They're all criminals, except the ones that were wrongly convicted. Besides, that's Pat over there." She motioned her head towards the woman who was talking with her visitor. As though she noticed them looking, she turned and smiled. "She's alright. And don't start saying I'm going to get beaten up or whatever, 'cos I can look out for myself."
Ronnie reached forward and grasped the teenager's chin in her fingers, tilting her head to look at her cheek. She raised an eyebrow. "Nice bruise."
"Yeah, well, like I said, I can take care of myself."
"We should have seen the other girl, right?" Her sister replied sarcastically.
Katy grinned. For a moment her sisters just stared at her. Then Ronnie sighed and leant forwards, shaking her head and taking hold of Katy's hand. "We're doing everything we can to get you out, sweetie, I promise. We've got Ritchie on the case right now. Shirl's been talking to her mate–"
"I know, she told me." The teenager informed her with a smile.
Roxy rolled her eyes. "Start acting as though you're taking this seriously, Katy."
"Seriously? I'm the one stuck in here, Roxanne."
"Yeah, we know, babe." The younger blonde said sighing. "Sorry."
"So, what are you doing to get me off?" Katy asked. She tried to mould her face into an expression of hopefulness. In her mind there was no way that they could go against all the evidence and prove she wasn't there at the time.
"Derek's on that."
"Derek?" Katy arched an eyebrow. "Derek Branning?"
Ronnie smirked. "We're letting him get his hands dirty on this one."
"Will it work?"
"It better." Ronnie assured her, smiling. She reached out and plucked at the orange vest that her sister had to wear for visiting time. "This really isn't your colour, baby."
Katy laughed and shook her head. "Look..." She started, looking uncomfortable. Glancing to the right, she sneaked a quick glance at the pair of guards who were observing the visit. "It ain't that I don't want to see you two, 'cos you know how much I love you both. It's just... Well... Shirl's more use to me while I'm stuck in here, ain't she? She's an ex-con and knows this place better than the rest of us put together. Besides, this lot love her. They're always banging on about how things were in Yvonne's day."
"That's fine, Katy, but you can't get by on Shirley's reputation for ever, can you?" Her elder sister reminded her.
The teenager shook her head and leant forwards, squeezing Ronnie's hand. "I know. That's why I'm building a reputation of my own."
"That's what the bruise is, is it?" Roxy demanded sarcastically.
"Please don't tell me you're getting yourself into trouble. There's only so much Karen can protect you from." Ronnie reminded her in a low voice so that no one else would hear.
"I know that, Ron, I know." Katy assured her carefully. "And I don't want her to protect me too much. Being a screw's pet only gets you so far in this place. Anyway, it works both ways. She helps me, I help her. Sometimes you've got to make sacrifices to stay above suspicion."
"Bloody hell, Katy!" The blonde snapped, pulling her hands out of her sister's grip. "If you're risking staying in this place longer than you really have to just to save face–"
The teenager snorted. "I ain't stupid."
"You're doing a pretty good impression of it."
Katy sighed. "Listen, right. Karen's got my back. I know where the line is and I have no intention of even sticking my little toe over it. I promise. I've even avoided the block so far."
"Your trial is in less than two weeks, so just keep your head down and you'll be out of here before you know it."
"Yeah, right." She nodded, turning Ruby and sitting her on the table so that she was facing her. Instead of saying anything else to her sisters, she pulled faces at her daughter and tickled her stomach, making the little girl giggle happily.
"That's time, ladies and gentlemen." Hollamby announced, sounding more pleased than she had any right to be.
Reluctantly Katy handed Ruby back to her sister, sighing and trying not to let the tears that were threatening to escape show in her eyes. She stroked Ruby's hand, trying to ignore her daughter's whimpers and struggles to get back to her.
"We'll see you soon, baby." Ronnie told her gently, stroking her cheek.
"Love you, babe." Roxy added, kissing her forehead.
Katy nodded, unable to speak for fear of actually bursting into tears. She waited until all the visitors had been shown out, before standing with the others and lining up to be searched. As they waited to return to the wing, Pat moved to stand beside her, nudging her gently with her shoulder.
"You alright?"
"Apart from feeling as though someone's just ripped out my heart, I'm fine." She said with a grim smile, hugging herself for comfort.
"Know that feeling."
"Was that your girlfriend?" Katy asked, motioning back towards the visiting room as they waited for the gate to the wing to be unlocked.
"Yeah." Pat nodded. "I'll see you later, alright?"
Katy nodded and watched her head up the staircase to her cell. With a deep breath, the teenager steadied herself and fixed a grin on her face as she went in search of the Julies.
