The Prison Officer
Sam
Sam Evans a typical married man, had been married to his wife Emma for 2 years, they'd had a lovely day in Kensington, London, sunshine all day as they entered and exited the beautiful Holy Trinity Church in the South then they had a reception fit for a king in the local community centre, which went on into the early hours of the morning. They left just in time to collect their cases and head off to Heathrow Airport for a weeks honeymoon in Lanzarote, he had to be back for work. He'd left America about three years after leaving college, there were a lot of bad memories there, he needed to walk away and never look back, after a year of trying to do that in America failed he moved to England, doing a lot of crappy jobs until he decided to take a Prison Officer qualification and met Emma in the corridors of the University
Emma was a school teacher now, she'd been studying when they'd first met and got a job straight out of University at a secondary school, so she got plenty of breaks although most of them were taken up with lesson planning, marking and training,
Sam was a Prison officer at the renown women's prison; Holloway, and he seemed to spend more time there than he did at home, he tended to take up on the overtime. There really was no point in being at home sometimes when Emma got into it about her work, she was focused and that was something he liked about her, she was totally devoted to her students.
He'd done his time serving in male prisons and found it hard having to always be watching his back for what they'd get up to, it was stressful work sometimes and unlike Holloway the night shifts especially made you fearful. The one thing that stayed the same was the hierarchy, there were crimes that were thought despicable to other prisoners, usually crimes against children would get an inmate a regular beating, if not death depending on the crowd at the time. The women kept a tight ship, the power structure was clearly visible and the women traded with anything they had including their bodies.
Sam had done his homework on the place before he even started working there, James one of the other male screws, had filled him in on the manipulation tricks the women used sometime and he'd gone in armed. He'd told them point blank he wasn't up to their tricks, had no hidden agenda and was there to do a job adding that he would treat people with respect if they did the same to him
His delivery of that message had gone down like a lump of sweet ice cream, especially when they saw he was living by his word, the women became protective of him, and word that he was to stay untouched soon spread around any new inmates. He'd established his goal in the place, the prisoners were on their best behaviour around him and he was getting all the overtime he needed to fund the few foreign holidays he and Emma tried to enjoying.
"Tea?" he popped his head around the front room door, that had been turned into her study asking, a smile on his face
"I already have one, sorry sweet, I should have asked you" Emma's head popped up from her book, her smile matching his
"No problem" he walked across the room towards her "I'm just off to work, I'll see you tomorrow, double shift remember?" he kissed her forehead, smiling for her closing her eyes for his kiss
"Ships" she giggled when she opened her eyes to see him looking at her
"Half term holiday coming up, we'll get a few days then" he walked away telling her
He got outside the house and open up todays news on someone he was very interested in, he was sure she was going to get a custodial sentence and the prison would be buzzing for her presence. He walked with his head in his phone all the way to the tube station finding a seat before getting his phone out again to scale the internet to see if there were any comments, wishing he'd have thought back then to keep in contact.
Mercedes Jones was someone he'd thought a lot of at school, a hell of a lot if he was honest, but time had took it's toll and that schoolboy fantasy had worn off when she got a big break, told him his white boy booty was just an outliner and set off on her world explosion. He along with all the others had stood there, pinkie finger in, promising everything he didn't even know yet in life, so it hit him hard when two years later his parents passed in an accident, he was lost for a while until Mercy appeared out of nowhere, they both professed to be friends but they went there, two minutes was long enough for all that to come flooding back, plus he'd been helping her get her new song on track, they'd sat in; of all places, her bedroom hammering out the words to her then new single acting on the unsaid words as they shared a sleepless bed. Then two days later she got up told him it was just something she'd felt obliged to fulfil and she was going back to her life, he was broken at the news. They kept in contact for a few months, but that Mace guy was on top, there wasn't a conversation they had that Sam didn't want to slap him in. Eventually one day he called her and there was no answer, he tried for a while longer and gave up after 6 months, all he had going through his mind at that time was that last night they'd shared. Other friends he thought he had at school didn't even send him condolences, he gave up on their friendship, went further down a wormhole before he gave himself a kick up the butt, nearly a year after his parents passing, left everything and ventured to the UK, his parents had roots there and he felt closer to them being there. He'd met Emma a few months in and quickly she became his person, he craved someone, she'd came along chatty and low maintenance, she fit the bill, and hey she loved his white boy booty.
He sat reading about the pending case, she'd got a harsh judge, renowned for giving harsh sentences, he rolled his eyes he knew she was going down today
Mercy
Mercy had left her College life behind, of course like everyone else on that last day she'd sworn there'd never be anything as important going on in her life than attending the annual reunion, they'd all pinkie fingered on, but life wasn't that straight forward, she was so naïve. She'd met Mace almost at the University gates that last week announced she was off to the UK somewhere to pursue some theatrical something or the other and she hadn't stopped since, she'd be ending one project because she'd got another two waiting in the wings.
She'd put all her trust in Mace and he'd come through for her, she was never not working or thinking about which project she was going to take on next. She was still in England when that first reunion happened, of course she gave her apologies and was even upset that she hadn't been able to keep her word, but duty called, she was in demand by the masses her fans expected this of her. She'd gone back at hearing about Sam's parents, they were good to her and he'd somewhere along the line become her best friend just before she'd left it all behind, she told herself she was going to be a friend, but as soon as she saw him she wanted in, it took everything she had to walk away from him but she did it, and if she'd survived that she'd survive anything. By year 2 he wasn't someone she had time to even think about, she was flying high, Mace and her had come through their bad patch amicably and had a brilliant working relationship again, she'd lost contact with everyone, not really out of choice but her life had changed so much over those years, all starting when Carmel, her PA, had actually deleted her contacts, and changed her phone for her, without asking. Of curse she got the sack in a big way but there was no back up, she couldn't get those numbers back again, so what if she rarely used them, they were numbers to her past and Carmel had no business messing with them.
So she'd had a good run of it and was at a gig in Manchester, well into year 5 when she got word that the jet had crash landed on it's way back from Norway, Mace had been looking into a location for another one of her world tours, it was 15 painstaking hours later she learned that he'd been killed in the crash and his body had been recovered. That was a devastating moment for her, everything she ever knew, built, said, thought had come from that man, she had no idea what to do next, of course all the crew rallied around, stuck like glue for a while, especially the eight that had been there since the making of Mercy Jones
The news on Mace hit the headlines immediately and suddenly there was no filter, Mercy had no one to protect her, stories were coming out left, right and centre about Mace and the way he'd treated her, Mercy couldn't even picture some of the stuff that was being said, she had turncoats in her crew but she didn't know them that well to put her finger on any one of them. She sat back maybe for the first time in her life thinking how little control she'd actually had of her life and how blind she's been about what Mace actually done, she felt grateful for his presence
"Mercy" she heard pulling her out of her daydream
"Carmel" she jumped up surprised "What are you doing here, how did you get in?" she looked around the room asking
"I know what you think I done, and I also know you'll be thinking I'm only saying this because he's gone now" she looked around the room as she talked "But Mace wasn't who you thought he was"
"What do you mean?" Mercy asked, fed up that yet another person had come to wipe the floor with her trusted friend
"I didn't delete your contacts just like that, Mace told me to do it, he threw me under the bus when you found out"
"How ridiculous" Mercy hissed "You're saying this because he's dead, if he was here you wouldn't even be walking through that damn door" she shouted at her
"I'm saying it because it's true Mercy, and if you're going to survive now you need to check yourself, I've never trusted that man"
"Well I did" she walked towards her saying, Carmel watched as she walked past her and opened the door clearly telling her to get out.
The funeral happened, there were a few people not there she'd expected to see, but there was good television coverage, people attended the small gathering afterwards and by the evening it was almost as if Mace Stephenson had never existed, everyone was back to their lives. A week later and Mercy was still mourning, of course he was the biggest part of her life, she'd never managed to hold anything called a meaningful relationship, her chosen lifestyle and Mace's management of her dictated that wasn't possible, she was sat looking at some old achievement photos when she heard a knock at the door of her mini mansion in Enfield. She didn't know who to think it was she had no friends not like that, everyone she knew was show business and although, she'd party with a few of them, they weren't friends as she'd used the term so freely at school, that was Mace's first rule anyway, 'these people are not your friends' he'd tell her when he saw her getting close to anyone.
"Can I help you?" she looked at the two officials standing at her door
"Miss Mercedes Jones?" the taller of the two asked
"Yes, who are you?"
"Mr Dean and this is Mr Graham from the HMRC offices, we're here investigating a suspected tax fraud"
"Tax fraud?" she asked her face telling them she really didn't know what they were talking about "Sorry Mace deals with all that, I don't actually know what's outstanding, but send me the bill and I'll get it paid" she smiled "I can assure you I'm not trying to fraud you guys"
"Sorry Miss Jones we've already concluded our investigations and you currently owe £112m which needs to be paid within the next 28 days" Mr Dean said
"How much" Mercy chocked on her words asking
"£112m" Mr Graham told her
"That can't be right, it's been 2 months maximum that I haven't paid"
"Actually it's been nearly 6 years"
"So why haven't I heard anything before this?"
"We've been sending you regular letters ad visiting Miss Jones, you've been promising to pay and now, we're here to collect within 28 days"
"28 days?" she looked at the men asking for confirmation "Okay I'll see what I can do" she smiled shutting the door
By day 15 the news had hit the stands Mercy Jones number one artist was filing for bankruptcy, there were no funds, she maybe had three months utility bills money and then that was it she'd be looking at selling her lovely mini mansion, two horses, handing over the money from the jet crash and still having to sell her soul to meet the debt within the 28 days. Every day there was some new drama about what she thought was her professional life earned by her own unique sweat, blood and tears, splashed across the papers, she was refusing to do interviews, she had nothing to say she'd been totally taken in my Mace, he'd done a good one on her for nearly 6 years.
Day 25 and she'd managed to get together £75m and it looked like her house was going into repossession, she cried for nearing 48 hours before she packed the few belongings she could hold in the cab and went off to a Travel Lodge for the three days before her case was due to be heard. The night before the case she got a knock at her hotel room door, looking through the spyhole she saw Carmel standing there, she'd never been so happy to see a face she knew, she swung the door open and grabbed hold of her
"I'm here" was all Carmel said over and over again as she held Mercy's broken body up, quietly closing the hotel room door
The next day, she did what she'd learned to do plastered her face on, held her chin up high and walked into court amid the questions, accusations and chanting, this wasn't her fault and the world was going to hear that today. She told her story, broke down a few times and got a scolding off the judge who in her infinite wisdom professed that she must have known something and therefore colluded with Mace in the fraud, banging the hammer in fine high court style when she passed a sentence of eight months. Mercy didn't even have the reflex to cry she just sat staring at the judge waiting for the smile or the word "Joke" to come out of her mouth until she felt someone dragging her and moved with them not sure she could make it on her own
Prison
The whole journey was done in a daze, Mercy couldn't believe this was what she'd left home for, she was still trying to get her head around Mace doing this to her, she trusted that damn man with her life and he ripped it out of her and left her in this, she looked around at the room she'd been pushed into, she didn't even know how the hell she'd got there
"Get your bed made, that beds yours" the rather stroppy woman snapped at her pointing to the bed on the right
"Thanks" she replied wondering what she was actually thanking her for
The small room had a single bed on both sides, a sink at the bottom of her bed near the window and two chairs at the bottom of each single bed with what could have been a dresser she guessed, if it wasn't metal and welded onto the wall, she flopped on the bed with the pile of clothes and bedclothes in her hand holding them like a fragile baby, her shoulders started moving involuntarily as her reality hit her, she was in prison, she bawled until she was weak
"Hi" she heard waking her out of her sleep, she'd actually fell asleep with the bundle in her arms
"Hi" she jumped up to see this ginger headed older woman standing above her "Am I on your bed?"
"No that's definitely yours" she laughed "Henri" she nodded at Mercy, who looked on assuming that was her name
"Mercedes but people call me Mercy"
"Oh we all know who you are, we're hoping for some free shows" Henri laughed "And before you ask I'm not that way, it's short for Henrietta"
"I knew that" Mercy smiled, her spirit had taken to Henri
"Dinner time soon, the trick is to take enough to last you through the night, they're going to give you the 24 hour treatment, you'll feel like you're going mad, but if you get some snacks and space them out, you'll be fine"
"24 hour treatment?" Mercy looked up at her asking
"Get your bed sorted and put your things away, and be nice to the screws" she smiled "It's in your best interest" she grabbed some cigarette's from under her pillow "And don't look anyone in the eyes, they'll think you want to fight them"
Mercy was spreading her bed, putting her things away and making notes on what she was being told, it was only 5 months with parole, but people died in less than 8 minutes "No eye contact" she repeated as she followed Henri out of their cell
The dining room was even more daunting than she'd ever imagined, groups of women looking at her viscously as she made her way to the canteen area to collect some food, she hadn't eaten since the night before and then that was two bites of a slice of burnt toast, the brick walls everywhere made the place look even more hostile. At the other end of the room she could see the pool table, women sitting on couches reading, some sitting around what looked like a really important game of cards, on seeing the eyes on her she quickly put her head back down remembering Henri's last words. It took a while for the queue to go down and eventually they were able to have their choice of some decent looking food being presented, smiling at a couple of servers who refused to give her food until she'd looked at them.
She'd sat at a table with seven other people including Henri and of course she knew she was going to have to answer questions she sat confirming rumours about the high life, talking about her films, shows and music eventually finishing with her story of how Mace absolutely fucked her over "Which just goes to show" Angel; one of the inmates piped up "Men are still fucking us up, it don't matter if we got sense or not" she told everyone as they laughed "We'll get a show though?" she asked
"If I can, I'll do you a song" Mercy promised
"You get through the 24 hour treatment and they'll let you have anything, they're cool like that" Henri reminded her
"What is this 24 hour treatment thing?" Mercy asked already confident she was going to fit in here
"Fittest of the fittest" Maddie told her, Mercy was peaked she just couldn't make out if that was in a good or bad way "All I can tell you is that you'll go in the soft room"
"Soft room" Mercy's eyebrows met repeating
"It's time" Henri told her just at the same time as a voice bellowed out
"Locking down" Mercy sat watching everyone scatter to their cells "Not you Jones" she heard the voice say, she stood still waiting for instruction "Come with me" the warden's stern voice making her move quickly, following her as she spoke "You'll stay in here tonight, everyone does on their first night, it's a little scary, different, it's just giving you time to adjust" her voice a lot more soothing now they were away from the crowd, Mercy concentrating on her face more than where she was taking her "Someone will check on you regularly, hope you brought food" she smiled as she closed the door "Oh" she swung it open again saying "And no singing" she told her before shutting the door, sending a chill down Mercy's spine as the key turned in the lock
She turned to look at the padded room assuming it was sound proofed maybe to stop the other new inmates from getting even more scared with her ranting, a shower in the corner of the room with no cover round it and soap, she took advantage of it and stood in the shower for the longest time. There was no sense of time after that as she sat around waiting for sleep to find her again, wanting to cry again to help it along "Merc" she heard a whisper through the door "Are you awake?"
"Yes" she replied wondering if it was who she thought it was, but knowing it could only be that one person, only he had ever called her that "Sam?" she asked uncertain
"Yeah it's me"
"Please tell me you've come to break me out of here, or this is all a fucking dream"
"Neither" she could hear the laugh in his voice as the key turned in the lock "I'm on duty tonight"
"God you're a screw" she looked him up and down "It's been a hot minute" she took his hug as he walked towards her
"I didn't even know I missed you this much" he smiled down at her "I know what you've been doing, I follow you, sad you don't follow me back though"
"I've never come across your name in social media"
"Oh I generally go as White Chocolate I thought you'd remember and friend me"
"I thought I was the one that needed to hide"
"I've become an expert too" he laughed
"I imagined you staying just like that 22 year old Sam Evans all your life, honest, committed, man of his word I loved that person" she frowned
"I know you knew how much that Sam Evans loves you"
"So what are you doing with yourself other than guarding helpless young maidens in prisons?"
"Still young, single and broke" he laughed
"I can relate to all three" she laughed with him before they went into conversation about their lives, daylight was peeping through when they finally stopped talking
"You can't tell anyone we know each other" he turned to say before he made to leave the cell "Oh" he turned again saying "I'm chorking this up as a bad night so I'll see you tonight"
"Is that a perk?" she smiled at him as he closed the door
Sam Evans, that had been a name she'd forgotten, not in a hurry and not by choice, Mace had banged it into her head that a relationship had no business in show business, yet he went there. She'd last seen Sam when his parents had been tragically killed in a car accident, she knew she'd walked out of his life painfully, they were both hurting, but he'd wished her well and kept contact with her, so she made do with that. It had been an explosive two days, they'd sat about creating music and making love with nothing in between and she honestly thought she could live like that, until she came clean to Mace who took pleasure in pointing out that white boys don't fit into the world she was trying to create for herself. He'd already taken her to heights she hadn't dreamt about, she had no reason to not believe he had more in store for her, he actually did, but even now Sam had, and still could, take her higher.
Sam walked away thinking she was even more sexy than he'd ever remembered, he didn't have a reason as to why he led her to believe he was a single man other than in his mind those two days they spent together needed to be reprinted in his mind. He was stupid to believe he'd gotten over her just like that, that moving to another country would sort his feelings out that her being out of sight was all he needed to carry on his life as if he'd never loved Mercedes Jones, deeply, meaningfully and wholeheartedly, even her name made him roll his eyes. She didn't deserve to be lied to and he was going to right that tonight he was going to tell her the truth and hopefully forge a friendship, he thought as he walked towards his locker
"How did Jones get on last night?" James asked
"Not too good I think another night, and assess her again after that" he replied before going to shift handover and telling everyone the same thing
Mercy went back to the main hall to have breakfast with her new cell mate and some of the girls she'd met the day before, the day went faster than she'd expected it to looking at the walls, listening to meaningless conversations and talking about fucked up men, she had a bit to say about that. Somewhere in there Mercy had promised them a song some time in the future, Maddie couldn't wait she'd gone to one of the screws and made plans for the following night, Mercy sat shaking her head thinking she worked faster than Mace ever did, and he was fast.
Sam
Sam got home to his wife sitting in the study marking her students work again "Have you had anything to eat?" he asked popping his head around the door
"No, not yet but now you're here we can choose"
"What take away? he asked annoyed in his voice, he walked off wondering why
"Long night?" Emma shouted after him
"Very" he shouted back
"Did you get that singer in yesterday, I heard she got 8 months and I thought maybe she'd go to yours" she shouted as she got up following him through the house
"Yeah, everyone's buzzing about her" he laughed
"Can you get me an autograph, I think that might get me some favours at work" she laughed
"I can't do that" he squinted at his wife's request, he didn't want his world with Mercy mingling with his life with Emma, and why was he feeling like that if he was going to come clean tonight "I'm even too tired for this, I'm off to bed" he threw the cup in the sink with the coffee in and walked out the kitchen
"See you later?"
"I've got another night shift" he stood at the door telling her
"I've got that evening class"
"Tomorrow then" he let the door shut and walked away, he was feeling guilty, but the strange thing was he felt like he was cheating on Mercy and not his wife, he lay in bed smiling, it was the first moment he'd had to take in what had happened last night, he was in love again, he hummed that song he'd sung to no one but Mercy 'And here I go, down that road, again and again the fool rushing in, but I can't help when I feel, some kind of way, do you feel the same? course, I fall, I fall for you, you caught me at my weakest, and I'll fall for you' he wondered if he'd ever fell out of love with her the way he was feeling told him not 'At My Weakest' by James Arthur he lay smiling at how they slipped back into them just like that, until he fell asleep he woke up later that day glad Emma had gone, grabbed his phone, keys and badge and left for work, that smile still on his face
Prison
"Locking down" the familiar voice shouted across the canteen as everyone got up to leave "Not you Jones" Sam said looking at her "You'll come with me" his voice very professional
"That's Officer Evans, one of the better screws round here, respect him" Henri told her as they left the room "He treats us right" she smiled across at him as she spoke
"He's alright" Mercy raised her eyebrow telling Henri
"He's off bounds, he's made that very clear"
"He's married?" Mercy asked trying to hide her shock
"No I don't think he is, he's never spoke of anyone to me and I've been here 4 years" she side eyed Mercy telling her "But as I said he's out of bounds, the women will go to war on that one, so please don't make enemies that's not what you need to be doing here"
"Glover move it" Sam smiled watching Mercy and her in conversation
"Moving it" she shook her booty making him laugh
"Apparently" Mercy looked around to make sure the coast was clear "I'm supposed to respect you" she giggled "Clearly they don't know you like I do"
"Clearly" he walked off as she followed him to the padded cell they'd talked in the night before "Okay I've got to do the rounds in about ten minutes and then I'll be back" he locked the door telling her, the smile on her face telling him she knew what he was coming back for, she took his ten minutes to mean an hour and decided she'd grab a shower if he was going to be all night about it, she stripped off and stood letting the hot water do it's job. she stepped out of the shower, grabbed the towel and patted herself dry, realising she had no clean underwear she stood cursing before she grabbed the plain blue denim dress they'd given her and shook it out ready to throw it over her head when the door opened.
She stood frozen to the spot, as her eyes met with Sam's at the door, they both looked like they were going to say something but nothing came out, Sam moved fast across the cell and grabbed her forcefully kissing her as he took the dress out of her hand and threw it on the bed, Mercy grabbing at his clothes removing them as fast as she could, there was a fire in their bodies that had been ignited and neither of them had any control over it. The noises of pleasure and need muffled as words became syllables, their mouths were occupied, they finally fell onto the bed, urgency in their eyes as the fall made them take a moment to check each other, they smiled as they saw what had been there some 4 years ago still there for each other in their eyes. their lips found each other again, it had been a while, they'd both lived in those years apart but this was special, this was them and it could only be experienced by them.
They lay exhausted thinking things neither of them wanted to say out loud, every other time they'd ever dared to make plans it had blown up in their faces, Mercy was struggling with being where she was and actually attempting to make a commitment with him and how that would impact on his job, Sam on how he was going to explain this marriage he'd been in for just over 2 years that he'd just realised yesterday was a mistake, distraction, stopgap even "I need to go check the corridors" he told her getting up
"Yeah I forgot you were at work" she smiled weakly
"Merc it's not that I haven't got anything to say, I have lots to says it's just ..."
"... the situation I know" she frowned "You love your job"
"I love you more" he kissed her forehead telling her "Would you ever think of going back to America?"
"I don't know, I've spent most of my career here, but America is home, why would you?"
"If it meant I could be with you yes" he smiled putting his shirt back on and tucking it into his trousers before he went to do his rounds
"That was quick" she said as she watched him walk back into her cell an hour later
"I rushed to get back, you know how I hate leaving you after we make love" he walked toward her bed stripping as he talked "Remember the last time we did this?" he smiled "Girl why are you playing with me, girl who are you playing with..." he sang "That was our song, we should have sung that together"
"It was" she giggled "I thought of you every day while they were recording that, it wasn't our finished version, I couldn't get that feeling from anyone else"
"I'm happy about that" he hugged her tighter telling her, feeling so happy and yet so sad at the same time, he needed to tell her the truth this wasn't who they were to each other. It wasn't like them to miss an opportunity so of course there was no sleep that night, Sam kept popping out to do rounds and finally the day came breaking through and he got up, coming back to let her out an hour later "Sorry I couldn't give you anymore time" he smiled sat on her bed waking her up with a kiss "I'm not working tonight so you can get some rest" he laughed putting her clean underwear on the bed before helping her soap up and watching her get dressed, then following him back out to the main dining hall
"Singing tonight Mercy" Henri reminded her everyone looking at her with excitement in their eyes
"Singing?" Sam asked like he didn't know "I might have to come in especially for that"
"I remember" Mercy smiled at Henri
Sam
Sam drove home with Mercy heavy on his mind, he couldn't live a double life this really wasn't what they were to each other, she'd hate him for this, he needed to sort it out. He turned the key in the door and rolled his eyes, Emma was going to be on the other side of it and he hadn't even thought of a way to let her down easy
"Morning" she smiled as he pushed the kitchen door open
"Morning" he half smiled walking over to the kettle
"Another bad night?" she looked over her cup asking
"No, it was alright actually" he smiled he couldn't tell her he'd just had one of the more exciting nights of his life with the love of his life
"That's good, I was hoping we could get a night out tonight, go to Eve's, let our hair down and maybe have more fun when we get home" she looked at him for a reaction
"Sorry I'm only popping home I've taken up an afternoon shift I thought you'd be marking"
"Cancel it, it's not one of your actual shifts is it?"
"I don't want to cancel it" he spun round to look at her
"We haven't had time together for ages, we're always busy, and the first time we get in like... three months it's got to be, you decide to work"
"So now you have a problem with my work?"
"I'm not saying that Sam, I'm just... there's a distance between us I'm not liking, I just think we need some us time"
"We're exactly where I want us to be, don't worry" he huffed at her
"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Like?"
"We haven't had sex for nearly three months now and that's alright with you?"
"It was alright with you when you were doing your damn marking now that's finished I'm supposed to drop everything for you?"
"So what, now my jobs a problem?"
"Shit Emma, I'm too tired for this shit, I've got work in a few hours"
"You're always frigging tired"
"Whatever" he walked out the room not paying her any more attention
He left the house huffing he wasn't missing Mercy's performance for anyone 'It's a long night and a big crowd, under these lights looking 'round for you, mmm… you, you give me hope right, reason desire living this life, only now for you, oh, for you, when you by side everything's alright, I'm crazy, I'm crazy for you' 'At My Weakest' by James Arthur passing a lingerie shop he stepped in, brought Mercy some new underwear before finding another shop to grab some sneakers and sweat pants parcelled them up, and dropped them off at the prison post box before making his way home, glad to see Emma had gone out leaving him a note to say she'd be back late, he got dressed and went to work later that afternoon
Prison
"Looking forward to the show?" James asked as they made ready in their uniforms
"I guess" Sam replied
"She's going to put you to shame Evans" he laughed
"Maybe, or maybe I'll put her to shame when I have to stand in because she's bottled out" he laughed
"Bottled out?" James looked at Sam with a frown "Have you ever seen her live?" he asked, Sam raised an eyebrow "See you can't make a sweeping statement like that unless you know the woman, she's phenomenal" James laughed
"We'll see" Sam smiled, inside he was bursting with pride "Come on let's do this" he grabbed James' shoulder thinking if the man saw his face any longer he'd know his thoughts on Miss Mercy Jones
They got to the canteen, it had been transformed into a makeshift concert hall with all the chairs facing the small stage, high enough to need three steps to get to the top and maybe ten steps across it. It took a while for everyone to get settled in, it wasn't often they had all the prisoner out, but the place had been quiet for a while now and the Governor wanted to reward good behaviour, there was a good energy in the place, everyone was smiling
"Ladies and the few Gentlemen that are here, she paid good money to be here £112m I understand, it's not many stars you get paying us to watch their performances, please give it up for my friend Mercy Jones" Henri announced leaving everyone laughing, including Mercy
"Thank you Henri" Mercy giggled as she got up on stage, looking around the room and smiling when she saw Sam standing there clapping along with everyone else "I've been told I can do three songs tonight and Diane's up to do some comedy, so I'll do this one at the beginning and then your choice at the end" she smiled as everyone clapped "So here goes" she pressed the button on her karaoke box, which was a damn good one for prison issue, and started singing her version of 'Make Me Feel' by Janelle Monae everyone clapping along to start with, then rocking while she sang, by the chorus everyone was singing along, she smiled at Sam stood watching her like he'd never seen her sing before his face was a picture, as she moved provocatively around the tiny stage, then the women started doing their moves everyone was feeling the song.
"That's just the way you make me feel, that's just the way you make me feel, so good so good so fucking real, that's just way you make me feel" the crowd sang along as they stretched the song out with their chanting "So fucking real" until Mercy took control and finished the song, to everyone clapping
Diane went up and did her really funny performance, someone else came on and did some random tricks, and then Mercy was singing again "This is a new one I was going to put out but..." she rolled her eyes "So an exclusive" she giggled, the music started playing as she stood rocking to her remix of Sade's song 'Love Is Stronger Than Pride' by Amber Mark in contrast to the last song everyone stood around listening to the music, she took the glances she could squeeze at Sam as she sung and smiled when everyone clapped at the end
The show went into a full Holloway's got talent explosion as everyone who thought they had something took their turn up on the stage, drinking anything they could get their hands on with snacks they could afford it was a real night out only in "Mercy" Henri called "Sing us that song you know the one we talked about earlier, I love that one"
"I told you there's no one to do the male part" she laughed "I've got another song in mind" she walked off towards the stage, she started the machine belting out the intro for her favourite Whitney song, Henri was the first boo and everyone just followed "I don't have a male singer" she shouted at them
"Sam will do it" James pushed him forward "Put her to shame" he told him when Sam turned to give him a look, the cheers and chants moved from Mercy to him and eventually he smiled and went forward
"You finally get your wish" Mercy told him as she scanned for the track and they started singing 'Playinwitme' by Kyle & Kehlani the song they'd written together now had a completing different meaning to the one they'd meant with it over those two days, it was well received and of course James had to give Sam his dews he'd held his own
The show finished and there was no itches with getting everyone back to their quarters they'd had a good night and everyone was happy, Sam just happened to be doing lock up on Mercy's block and a smile was their goodnight that night. Things pretty much followed pattern for the rest of her stay, except she's have an awful lot of meetings with the Governor, there was no surprise when 4 months later she was up for parole. she was sat in earshot of Sam telling the girls her good news and talking about a final performance when James rocked up
"Sam" he nodded at him Sam stepped off towards him but he was still talking "Your wife's out front"
Mercy stopped talking she'd heard what she'd heard, she knew it was true when Sam looked back at her to check "He has a wife" she gasped she couldn't help it she was winded, everyone stopped talking to look at her
"Who has a wife?" Diane asked
"Officer Evans, I just heard Officer Jenkins tell him his wife was out front" she told them turning back to catch Sam's face as he turned to lock the door he was walking through, he couldn't even look at her, she wanted to bawl, open her mouth right there and bawl really loudly, it would serve him right for what he'd just done to her for all these months, did he hate her that much?
Sam
"Emma" he rolled his eyes when he saw her standing there "What's so important you've had to call me out of work?"
"We need to talk" she walked off telling him, he followed her because he knew he was going to raise his voice
"And this couldn't wait until I got home?" he looked up to see a window he really didn't need to see right now "Can we...?" he tried to move her onto the car park asking but she flicked him off and carried on talking
"No" she replied looking back at him "I've been telling you for months I'm not happy, I've tried to get you to care about this damn farce of a marriage we've found ourselves in, rebounds are never a good thing..."
"Rebounds" he gasped "We were together for a year before we even got married what rebound?"
"I was rebounding Sam" she rolled her eyes frustrated "Anyway Ricky has finally committed and I want to see where it goes"
"Who the fuck is Ricky?" he hissed "You came here to do this so I wouldn't kick off?" his lips thin with anger
"You usually don't want to talk" she totally ignored his question saying, leaning into him and kissing his thinned lips accompanied by a false smile, he grabbed hold of her, the feeling of so many eyes on him right now forcing him to be civil "See we're good at pretending" she touched his collar as she spoke "I've packed my stuff, I wont be back" she hugged him for a short while, he was stunned yet relieved, he let her go and watched her walk off
His mind doing overtime as he rubbed the back of his neck well pissed off "Shit" he spun round looking up at Mercy's cell window to see her head poking through the bars, she'd seen it all, he couldn't make out her expression but he guessed she was pissed, he turned to watch Emma drive away he needed thinking time 'I feel so fuckin ashamed (yuh), girl let's be honest I told you, I promise that I wouldn't do it again (yuh), I know you stuck in your ways (huh), so much just push me away (huh)' humming in his head, how real that was today, he'd promised he'd never hurt her again, he'd broken them and given her permission
Emma
Emma had been seeing Ricky well before she'd met Sam, she'd never told him the full story but then he'd never asked, she just assumed he'd got skeletons he wanted left in the cupboard too. Ricky and her had been dating for four years before she'd fell onto Sam, she'd always been the other woman in that sinario, he'd promised to leave his wife maybe two months after they got together and so much happened over the next four years she just got caught up in the rut.
Sam and her had spoken a few times and they were friends of sorts, she'd said yes to a date to get Ricky to make his move but it hadn't worked, in fact he'd come back telling her this really wasn't the time to make their move because his wife was pregnant with their third child. She saw red went all the way with Sam and forgot about Ricky for a while, they had a beautiful wedding that she invited all the family to, they were just happy she'd finally found someone of her own
Just a year into the marriage and Ricky turned up again like a bad penny, being his usual prince charming, sweeping her off her feet again and promising her the earth, she'd like to say she wasn't drawn in, she'd resisted for so long, but when Sam had blown her off on a hot night in she'd run straight to him without even thinking about it, things started again. She felt they were on an even keel this time because they both had something else, eventually Ricky couldn't cope with her keep going back to Sam and left his wife for her, she was on cloud nine, when he came to tell her, she threw some stuff in his car and drove round to tell Sam she'd gone.
"He was fucking one of them butch bitches anyway" she told Ricky as she got in the car looking back at Sam standing there, smiling as she heard a song coming through the radio Sam was always humming 'But I feel a little bit dumb, a little bit strong, just a little too light, and you call out some other chick, I can't help thinking this fame is for you anyway' ringing in the air she sat smiling as she watched him raking his hands through his hair "Who's dumb now?" she thought
Mercy
Mercy had calmly made her excuses and found her cell, she needed to blow out "Who the fuck" she screamed as she threw things about "I'm fine" she shouted at Henri rushing to the door "Just leave me alone" she demanded
"Okay but we will talk" she pushed the other girls away from the cell door and pulled it to
Mercy sat crying, she had no other emotion right now, everything was broken, they'd promised they'd never hurt each other again and now here he was being that someone she didn't even know, 'Whatever happened to the man who asked me to dance at my first prom, gave me my career, loved me more than sex, wished every woman was me?' she jumped on the chair to check the space between the building and the car park and gasped when she saw Sam standing there with a woman
They were talking, but he was clearly showing signs of frustration 'he would, he wouldn't have expected her to turn up at work' she cut her eye at her foolishness gasping again when the woman reached up and kissed him and he held her. She didn't want to watch anymore but she couldn't move, she stood watching them talking smiling and then hugging as they parted company, before she could move Sam spun round and looked straight at her "Yes I saw you" she hissed knowing her couldn't hear her but they read each other very well anyway he'd know, she slid down the wall her heart beating so fast she needed to slap something, all she could think was music as she sat humming the song she'd written for leaving him that last time 'Bittersweet, those memories, and I see, you with her now, and it breaks my heart, and it breaks my heart (yeah), and it breaks my heart to see you happy, without me' that was the last song they'd sung together and after it they'd said if they ever hurt each other again they'd give permission for the offended to fuck the offender off for good, "Well that's your permission" she wiped her face telling herself, she was over it (The song for all three was 'Happy Without Me' by Chloe & Halle ft Joey Badass
Prison
Two days later and it was time for Sam to face the music, he was back on duty, he didn't even know what he was going to say but he knew he had to get to her before she totally closed down on him and try to explain himself "Officer Evans" he heard as he walked into the canteen, the women wooing for seeing him
"Okay calm down" he smiled looking around the room for Mercy "Where's Jones?" he asked before he could catch himself "She has a visitor" he quickly added realising his nerves were getting the better of him. He really didn't want her feeling the brunt of anything from the women he'd knocked back over the years earning himself that respect he valued
"She's in the bathroom" Henri answered him, smiling as she watched him turn to head that way, she'd thought something for a long while, the plaster had leaked when Mercy had that reaction to his wife arriving and now he'd come in asking specifically about her Henri was onto them, something was afoot
Sam walked down the corridor trying to get his words together they needed to be to the point and honest, he rolled his eyes fed up of overthinking, he was busy looking in the cells as he walked when her heard her gasp "Sam" she whimpered he could hear the pain in her voice
"Merc I ..."
"Don't" she held her hand up at him ordering "Please don't" she carried on walking towards him
"I just want to say..."
"Sam I asked you not to" she looked at him her eyes swollen, she'd been crying
"But..."
"We agreed you'd give me permission right?" she asked as she got to him, her eyes not leaving his, she was begging him to keep his word
"We did" he stepped aside and let her walk past him, he leaned on the wall watching her walk away from him, 'Love you gone and got a hold on me, tell me what you gonna do to me, now you gone and got your hands on me, tell me what your gonna do' 'At My Weakest' by James Arthur he knew he'd broken her heart, but he also knew he was willing to do anything to fix it, he'd got tonight and he was going to pull this back, she'd have to listen to him.
He went about his job as normal watching her doing her best to ignore him, keeping conversations with friends she'd made over the months she'd got four days left and she was excited to get out of the place, sad to leave new friends, but with plans of returning to America. "Locking down" one of the female officers called, everyone getting up as usual, him watching her walk with everyone else, he'd spent the day trying to think of a reason for her to be segregated and come up with nothing.
Lockdown was well underway, Henri and her had lay talking about something someone had said that day when Sam's head appeared at the door "Jones can I have a word?" he called her to the door
Mercy didn't want to go but if she didn't Henri would be asking questions so she got up and went to hear his crap "Sir" she walked up to it her eyes putting holes in his head for the hate in them, rolling them when she heard the keys in the door, she watched the door open and stepped outside and stood watching him lock it
"We need to talk" he looked up and down the corridor before stepping off in the direction of the padded rooms, she followed him quietly, there were cameras everywhere until you got through the big red doors to the area near the staff quarters, which led to the assessment cells, they finally got to the cell and he pulled her in and shut the door
"I asked you not to speak to me, I don't want to speak to you" she spun round hissing at him
"But I need to speak to you" he stepped towards her telling her
"Sam" she held her hand out at him, telling him not to come any closer "I can't do this, you know how I feel, so you know this isn't fair"
"You know I'm not about to be fair Merc"
"You gave me permission, why can't you keep your word?"
"Because it was an impossible word to keep, I hadn't got over you when I came to England, I was just running away, I married her because I was trying to forget you, and I.. well I didn't it just dulled the pain for a while, but then you come back and on that day... my life with her finished, that first night for us, she's gone, she's gone Merc and I choose you"
"That day you called my name on the other side of that door I chose you Sam, you knew that, you had every chance that first night to tell me something, anything but you lied, everything we did was built on a lie"
"I didn't lie"
"I guess you're going to say technically you just omitted to say" she rolled her eyes "Mace disrespected me in the biggest way I felt stupid, manipulated, violated even and then you just walk in and make me feel raped on top of everything I can't forgive you Sam, I don't want to forgive you" she stood crying at him "And I'd appreciate it if you'd leave me alone, I never want to see you again"
"Merc" he stepped towards her, his hand grabbing her face wiping the tears falling down her cheek "I'm sorry, I've never wanted this for us, I love you so much, I just didn't want to lose you again" tears falling down his face as he spoke
"It's not about love Sam, I'll always love you, but something else has happened here, you were wrong" she took his hand off her face and walked towards the door "Take me back" she stood at the door with her back to him demanding
"I'll beg" he grabbed hold of her pressing her back against his chest "I'll do anything you want me to do, just don't leave me, not again, I can't deal with that again Merc I just can't" his head pressed against hers so hard there was pain "We sung our song, I know you meant it"
"Sam you lied" she spun round mad at him "I'm not your fucking fool"
"I know that, I made a bad decision, I hold my hand up to it, but I've never been unfaithful to you, never"
"You were married"
"According to the word yes, but not in the biblical term not since we've been together again" he looked down at her "I.. you're my heart Merc, I refuse to lose you for this"
"Where is she, your wife?"
"She left apparently she was on a rebound too, she hooked up with her ex"
"How long were you married?"
"Around two years"
"How many times did you sleep together"
"I don't know, a lot in the first six months or so and then less"
"Are there children?"
"You know better than that, no"
"Did you enjoy it, sleeping with her I mean?"
"I did sometimes and when I didn't I tried to"
"What's her name?"
"Emma"
"Can I really do this?" their eyes still locked together as she asked
"What?"
"Leave you"
"I hope not, can you?"
"Not for doing the same thing I did just what?... 6 years ago" she reached up and kissed his lips
"That was then, you tod me before we did anything and I chose not to listen, that really doesn't mean you should let me off for this, although that's what I want"
"Mace and Emma, were victims" she smiled up at him
"Did you ever tell him about us, that weekend"
"Yeah I told him, we got divorced, but stayed together for the music, or so I thought" she huffed "Enough" she tapped his chest before walking away from him wiping her eyes "I started writing a new song"
"Let me hear it" he wiped his face dry as she spoke
"I got a verse and a chorus so far" her face in music mode already
It ain't always about you, see, for us to function it's gonna take two (with Sam: yeah, yeah), I'm letting you know what's on my mind
I told you bout a thousand times, still it's always about you
Chorus
You did dirt in the beginning, I just return you the favour, I tried to talk, you don't listen, you don't hear nothing I'm saying (no)
Yeah I admit we got issues, most of them, we can't explain them, I don't know how to deal with them, so let's put them all on the table
Or we can not discuss it, let's just argue bout it later on, on, or we can just continue making love until we're dead and gone, oh
Extract from 'Not Discuss it' by St Beauty
"It's good, really good" he stood listening to her as she sat on the bed singing "But technically you did the dirty first"
"Yeah I know it's maybe about recognising faults on both sides" she tipped her head telling him
"So maybe you should change the wording there just so it's straight" he smiled walking towards her
"Are we going to argue about that?" she smiled watching him
"Do you really need to ask?" he reached down grabbing her lips as he climbed on the bed "Until we're dead and gone"
"Hmm" was all she could muster
They didn't have long together, Mercy smiled as she walked back to her cell, she should have known, he always got the upper hand where her heart was concerned, she didn't even want the strength to fight him on anything, she hadn't really even asked a question when he rocked up at the prison, she wouldn't have cared anyway, he was hers "Something going on with you two?" Henri asked as the door slammed shut behind Mercy "And don't lie"
"We've been together on and off since school, we love each other"
"Since school?" Henri asked "I thought he was finally turning into Mr Bad"
"He is Mr Bad, he was married and he didn't tell me"
"He didn't tell anybody" Henri laughed "Obviously nothing to write home about" she nudged Mercy saying "He wasn't happy not like how I've seen him lately"
"I'm happy" she smiled "He's the love of my life"
"And with all the stories you've heard in here you're thinking about letting him go, for her?" Henri frowned
"No way, I'm going to ask him to come back to America with me"
"Do you think he will?"
"Yes" Sam opened the hatch telling her, a smile on his face 'And I fall, I fall for you, you caught me at my weakest, and I fall for you' humming in his ear 'At My Weakest' by James Arthur
"Yes" Mercy giggled
"Keep her away from places like this Officer Evans" Henri smiled
"My job, I'm the Prison Officer" he smiled "Goodnight" he said snapping the hatch shut as they heard him walk away
Three days later Mercy said her goodbyes and left the prison for Sam's arms, he contacted Emma, put the house up for sale and moved to a small flat with Mercy, Mercy got a job doing cabaret, she needed to pay some debts and Sam left the prison to get a regular day job, they started building their lives back again but this time together and happy.
"So" Sam smiled as they lay in bed the day before the big move back to Lima "The plan is to move back to Lima, revamp the old house, get married and start a family before you get back on stage, yeah"
"I think get married, then revamp the house" she looked up at him "And while we're revamping we can get that family on the cards"
"Whatever" he smiled, finally happy
The End