Juliet actually felt the eyes of the guard, Stoner, watching her as she and Sherrie went back into their cell. She decided to calmly ignore him.
"So, Jules, what do you think of this place?" Sherrie asked as she sat on her bed.
"S'all right," Jules shrugged, following Sherrie's lead on her side of the cell.
"Mary said that she likes you. She thinks you'll do well here after some grooming and what not. But I'll tell you: we protect each other here. We don't let anyone get to us."
"That sounds good."
"Just stick with us, Jules, and you'll be out of here in no time." That line almost made Juliet's eyebrows perk up, but she maintained her cool.
"My next parole hearing is coming up in six months," Sherrie said. "Everything will be all right for me, though."
"How?"
Sherrie only chuckled at the question. "You'll see. Everyone here looks out for each other. On the inside and on the outside."
Juliet tried to push her a little bit more, but that was all she got. She was certain she had found the killers, but how when they are trapped by iron bars and at least twenty guards every hour of every day?
*
"Hey Jules." Shawn said immediately as he picked up the phone to converse with Juliet. "Lassie wanted me to ask you this right away: make any new friends?"
"Yeah, I have. A woman named Mary and her friends."
"Everything all right there?"
"Yeah. They really look out for each other here." Juliet then dropped her voice really low, "they said I could be getting out pretty soon."
"That'd be nice," Shawn smiled, understanding her. "Gustavo says hi."
Juliet had to chuckle at that, "tell him I said 'hi' back, Sonny."
"Is life behind the bars difficult for you?" Shawn suggested.
"I've been adapting, especially to the creepy gaze of the guards," after Juliet said that, she noticed him glance over to where one of the guards was overseeing the visitations.
"Did anyone ever tell you that orange brings out your freckles?"
"I don't have freckles, Sonny," Juliet disagreed.
"Well, I'm sorry, but I have to go, sis. Gustavo and I are making cupcakes. I can sneak a file in one if you want."
"No, that's fine," Juliet smiled. She worried a little bit about the people who monitor these conversations. "I'll just wait for my appeal."
"Okay, see you later then."
*