Disclaimer: The characters within belong to either Shed Productions or the BBC.
A/N: This is a joint effort by myself and another writer named Richard. I couldn't have even thought about doing this without him.
Part One
On Friday the 15th of august, Yvonne Atkins was sitting in the visiting room at Larkhall prison, thankfully by this time on the right side of the table, not on the same side as the inmates. Yvonne had been out of prison since Christmas, and never intended to return. The inmate she was visiting and whom she had visited religiously every fortnight since her release, was Denny Blood. Denny was always happy to see Yvonne, and Yvonne never failed to have a smile for her. But this week, Yvonne's attention wasn't given to her as good as adopted daughter in as undivided a fashion as it usually was. Denny grabbed hold of Yvonne's hand and shook it.
"Everything okay?" Yvonne looked up, startled. "You were somewhere else, man."
"I'm sorry," Yvonne said, totally mollified. "Coming back to this place and knowing that Snowball Merriman isn't so far away from here isn't so easy to deal with this week."
"She's up on trial next week, innit. They've been keeping her down the block for a fortnight now, and Al Friggin McKenzy's doped up to the eyeballs all day. Jesus, you'd think she was on trial, not Merriman." Yvonne looked slightly worried.
"Can you do something for me, Denny? You're still in the dorm with razorhead, aren't you."
"Yeah, I've had the pleasure of her company for more than a year now."
"Well, all next week, can you try and make sure she doesn't get her hands on any gear. The last thing we need is for her to be stoned in the witness box, and we don't need her doing cold turkey either."
"I'll do my best, but you know what it's like in here, drugs is one of the easiest things to hide."
"Just try for me. I need Alison McKenzy to be as sharp as her haircut."
"Yvonne," Denny continued slowly, "Snowball is gonna go down, isn't she? 'Cause if she doesn't, and she's put back on the wing, I swear I'll kill her." Yvonne reached forward and gripped Denny's shoulders.
"Listen to me, Denny. I know you're still hurting over Shaz, and a part of you probably always will, but getting yourself a life sentence isn't what Shaz would have wanted you to do." Denny's voice rose.
"And how the hell do you know that? You never even liked her!" Yvonne took a deep breath.
"Denny," She said quietly. "Shaz loved you. I might not have known her very well, but I sure as hell know she wouldn't have wanted you to get sent back here for years on end. We all want Snowball to get sent down for what she did to Shaz, all of us Denny. I think Shaz would want you to be strong for her now. I need you to promise me you're gonna be okay over the next fortnight, because by the time your next visiting comes round, we'll probably know one way or the other. Can you promise me that, Denny?" Tears were visibly falling down Denny's cheeks by this time.
"Yeah, okay," She said shakily. Yvonne handed her a tissue and then gave her a hug.
"I love you, man," Said Denny. This touched Yvonne enormously and to her slight shame it brought tears to her eyes.
"I love you too, Denny, and I'll be here to see you every fortnight till you get out. I promise." As the bell rang for the end of visiting, Yvonne gave Denny one last squeeze. As Denny was led away by Yvonne's old nemesis, Sylvia, Karen Betts gently approached her.
"Are you okay?" She said quietly. Yvonne tried to surreptitiously wipe her eyes.
"I sure as hell know that Denny isn't," She said as a way of avoiding the question. "Please could someone keep an eye on her this weekend, because until that bitch is made to pay for Shaz's death, Denny can't even try and move on."
"Yvonne, I'll do what I can, but she isn't the only one on the edge because of the trial being next week."
"I don't want her pulling any stunts with a rope or a razor and the state she was in today, nothing would surprise me."
"Spoken like a true mum," Said Karen. all Yvonne could say in response was,
"Denny means a lot to me."
Over a year ago, Yvonne would never have been so frank with any prison officer, but having made it her mission to visit Denny every fortnight since she'd been released, Yvonne and Karen had continued to develop their friendship from those first tentative days when Ritchie had been in hospital, and Karen's career had been threatened with privatisation. After Yvonne's visits to Denny, it was not uncommon for Karen and Yvonne to catch up over a drink in a nearby bar. they shared a love for good scotch and good cigarettes, which had only assisted in the gradual building of their friendship. When Karen had asked Di Barker to make sure someone kept an eye on Denny, Yvonne said,
"Are you busy tonight?"
"Actually," Said Karen, "I'd planned to wade my way through a load of applications seeing as I'm not going to be here for much of the next couple of weeks, so no, I'm not busy at all." Karen displayed the clear lack of dedication to her paperwork with a small grin.
"Would you like to come round for dinner?" Yvonne didn't know where this invitation had come from and seemingly neither did Karen. "If I'm honest," Said Yvonne, "Lauren's going out clubbing with Cassie and I could do with some intelligent company." Karen laughed.
"Now I know you're getting desperate. But yes, that'd be nice. It'll give me an opportunity to finally see this infamous place of yours."
"I won't ask what you've heard about my house," Said Yvonne smiling and rifling through her pockets. Not finding what she wanted she asked,
"Have you got a pen?" As Karen handed her a pen and a piece of paper, they suddenly stared at each other. This was exactly the routine Ritchie had gone through with Karen that first time he had visited Yvonne. He had asked Karen for a pen, to write down his mobile number, and here was another Atkins asking Karen for a pen to write down an address. Neither of them mentioned the feeling of Deja Vu, but it was something to be filed away, to be dealt with when its relevant time for examination arrived. As Yvonne walked out to her car, and Karen walked up to her office, Karen's thoughts drifted back to that day when everything for this trial had been set in motion. Where would her life have been, she thought, had they all not been preparing for Larkhall's most monumental trial since the Nikki Wade appeal. What would they all be doing, had snowball Merriman and Ritchie Atkins not been charged.
A/N: This is a joint effort by myself and another writer named Richard. I couldn't have even thought about doing this without him.
Part One
On Friday the 15th of august, Yvonne Atkins was sitting in the visiting room at Larkhall prison, thankfully by this time on the right side of the table, not on the same side as the inmates. Yvonne had been out of prison since Christmas, and never intended to return. The inmate she was visiting and whom she had visited religiously every fortnight since her release, was Denny Blood. Denny was always happy to see Yvonne, and Yvonne never failed to have a smile for her. But this week, Yvonne's attention wasn't given to her as good as adopted daughter in as undivided a fashion as it usually was. Denny grabbed hold of Yvonne's hand and shook it.
"Everything okay?" Yvonne looked up, startled. "You were somewhere else, man."
"I'm sorry," Yvonne said, totally mollified. "Coming back to this place and knowing that Snowball Merriman isn't so far away from here isn't so easy to deal with this week."
"She's up on trial next week, innit. They've been keeping her down the block for a fortnight now, and Al Friggin McKenzy's doped up to the eyeballs all day. Jesus, you'd think she was on trial, not Merriman." Yvonne looked slightly worried.
"Can you do something for me, Denny? You're still in the dorm with razorhead, aren't you."
"Yeah, I've had the pleasure of her company for more than a year now."
"Well, all next week, can you try and make sure she doesn't get her hands on any gear. The last thing we need is for her to be stoned in the witness box, and we don't need her doing cold turkey either."
"I'll do my best, but you know what it's like in here, drugs is one of the easiest things to hide."
"Just try for me. I need Alison McKenzy to be as sharp as her haircut."
"Yvonne," Denny continued slowly, "Snowball is gonna go down, isn't she? 'Cause if she doesn't, and she's put back on the wing, I swear I'll kill her." Yvonne reached forward and gripped Denny's shoulders.
"Listen to me, Denny. I know you're still hurting over Shaz, and a part of you probably always will, but getting yourself a life sentence isn't what Shaz would have wanted you to do." Denny's voice rose.
"And how the hell do you know that? You never even liked her!" Yvonne took a deep breath.
"Denny," She said quietly. "Shaz loved you. I might not have known her very well, but I sure as hell know she wouldn't have wanted you to get sent back here for years on end. We all want Snowball to get sent down for what she did to Shaz, all of us Denny. I think Shaz would want you to be strong for her now. I need you to promise me you're gonna be okay over the next fortnight, because by the time your next visiting comes round, we'll probably know one way or the other. Can you promise me that, Denny?" Tears were visibly falling down Denny's cheeks by this time.
"Yeah, okay," She said shakily. Yvonne handed her a tissue and then gave her a hug.
"I love you, man," Said Denny. This touched Yvonne enormously and to her slight shame it brought tears to her eyes.
"I love you too, Denny, and I'll be here to see you every fortnight till you get out. I promise." As the bell rang for the end of visiting, Yvonne gave Denny one last squeeze. As Denny was led away by Yvonne's old nemesis, Sylvia, Karen Betts gently approached her.
"Are you okay?" She said quietly. Yvonne tried to surreptitiously wipe her eyes.
"I sure as hell know that Denny isn't," She said as a way of avoiding the question. "Please could someone keep an eye on her this weekend, because until that bitch is made to pay for Shaz's death, Denny can't even try and move on."
"Yvonne, I'll do what I can, but she isn't the only one on the edge because of the trial being next week."
"I don't want her pulling any stunts with a rope or a razor and the state she was in today, nothing would surprise me."
"Spoken like a true mum," Said Karen. all Yvonne could say in response was,
"Denny means a lot to me."
Over a year ago, Yvonne would never have been so frank with any prison officer, but having made it her mission to visit Denny every fortnight since she'd been released, Yvonne and Karen had continued to develop their friendship from those first tentative days when Ritchie had been in hospital, and Karen's career had been threatened with privatisation. After Yvonne's visits to Denny, it was not uncommon for Karen and Yvonne to catch up over a drink in a nearby bar. they shared a love for good scotch and good cigarettes, which had only assisted in the gradual building of their friendship. When Karen had asked Di Barker to make sure someone kept an eye on Denny, Yvonne said,
"Are you busy tonight?"
"Actually," Said Karen, "I'd planned to wade my way through a load of applications seeing as I'm not going to be here for much of the next couple of weeks, so no, I'm not busy at all." Karen displayed the clear lack of dedication to her paperwork with a small grin.
"Would you like to come round for dinner?" Yvonne didn't know where this invitation had come from and seemingly neither did Karen. "If I'm honest," Said Yvonne, "Lauren's going out clubbing with Cassie and I could do with some intelligent company." Karen laughed.
"Now I know you're getting desperate. But yes, that'd be nice. It'll give me an opportunity to finally see this infamous place of yours."
"I won't ask what you've heard about my house," Said Yvonne smiling and rifling through her pockets. Not finding what she wanted she asked,
"Have you got a pen?" As Karen handed her a pen and a piece of paper, they suddenly stared at each other. This was exactly the routine Ritchie had gone through with Karen that first time he had visited Yvonne. He had asked Karen for a pen, to write down his mobile number, and here was another Atkins asking Karen for a pen to write down an address. Neither of them mentioned the feeling of Deja Vu, but it was something to be filed away, to be dealt with when its relevant time for examination arrived. As Yvonne walked out to her car, and Karen walked up to her office, Karen's thoughts drifted back to that day when everything for this trial had been set in motion. Where would her life have been, she thought, had they all not been preparing for Larkhall's most monumental trial since the Nikki Wade appeal. What would they all be doing, had snowball Merriman and Ritchie Atkins not been charged.