“Casper over here!” a voice he didn’t recognise called out to him. He turned around and saw a woman with long black hair smiling and waving at him. Next to her sat Holly and another girl. Holly was covering her eyes with her hand. He walked over carefully and sat down across from Holly.
“Hi, I’m Louise. Holly said you’re her new Swedish cellmate.” she said playfully. She had a northern Irish accent.
“I’m only half Swedish, I’m Scottish first and foremost.”
“Do you know your way about IKEA then?” asked Louise. Casper laughed gently.
“I used to love going there with my Mum and Dad actually, but I don’t really speak any Swedish anymore if that’s what you’re referring to.”
“Well, I’m from Ireland. Only been in Scotland for as long as I’ve been locked up here.”
She indicated over to the girl sitting next to him, “This is Erin by the way, Holly’s girlfriend.”
“Nice to meet you.” she said, shyly turning to face him. She wore glasses and had shoulder length blonde hair. She was pretty and seemed kind and pleasant.
“Holly pointed you out and I thought we’d introduce ourselves.” said Louise.
Holly was annoyed. “I didn’t think you were going to call him over!”
“Oh, cheer up girl, you live with the lad! Getting to know him a bit wouldn’t hurt, would it?” said Louise. Holly rolled her eyes.
“How are you finding everything so far?”
“I mean, other than being an empty and broken man, I do admit that I’m impressed with this place so far. It’s nothing like what I thought prison would be like. All the staff are nice, yet firm and professional. The food is amazing, it’s very clean and seems to run quite efficiently.” Casper heaped a spoonful of porridge in his mouth.
Louise looked at him with concern. “Aw, poor Casper. I know what you’re going through, we all felt the same when we came here initially, but once you get into the swing of things, it’s not as bad as you think. Do your time, don’t let your time do you. A quote I heard from someone here that I live by. What is it you’re down for?”
“He was in an armed group of thieves.” Holly interrupted. “He’s a banger like us.”
“Banger?” Casper asked confused.
“Yeah, folk who were in gangs or paramilitaries who had guns. It’s a word we use in here. What was your weapon?” asked Louise.
“Glock 19.” said Casper. “I kept it for emergencies but never actually ended up firing it at anyone, the only thing I ever shot were bottles for practice.”
“Oh, I’ve never used a Glock myself! I carried an Armalite AR-15. I fired it at plenty of bastards who deserved it.” said Louise.
“Mine was a Browning 9 millimetre.” said Holly.
Casper turned to Erin. “Were you a banger as well Erin?” She looked down in shame.
“She ran over her wee cousin by accident.” said Louise. “Had to head out to work while the cousins were over, wee one was playing out in the driveway. Reversed without seeing her.” Erin was visibly upset. “So, her daddy obviously full of grief wanted some sort of justice. Despite it being his niece and an accident, he still pressed charges. That’s how our Erin is with us.”
“That’s awful.” said Casper.
“It’s not all bad, she got to meet me after all!” said Holly, picking up Erins hand and softly kissing it. Erins expression changed to a smile looking back at her.
“Where are you from then Casper?” asked Louise.
“Erm, I’m from Glasgow, and you?”
“I’m from Belfast.” said Louise.
“Troon initially for me, and Erins from Montrose.” said Holly.
“I think my Dad went to Belfast. When he was in the army.” said Casper.
Louise’s demeanour turned from playful to serious in an instant. She stared at Casper vengefully.
“So, your daddy, was one sent over to oppress us Irish people?” Holly looked at her concerned.
Casper felt intimidated, he looked down in discomfort. “I…don’t know, he barely ever spoke about his time there. It was over 40 years ago now. I wasn’t born yet.”
“Louise is in the IRA”. Holly stated.
“Have you heard about us Casper?” asked Louise still staring him down.
Casper was scared. He wondered if Louise was one of the women Holly warned him about. If so, why were they friends, he thought.
“Yes, I think he said something about them, but I don’t remember.”
“Do you know anything about us Irish people Casper? Do you know our history, what Britian did to us?”
“Hey! Hey! that’s enough” said Holly putting her hand on Louise’s shoulder. “Louise, his dad’s dead. He wasn’t close with his dad, in fact his dad used to beat him, and even if he was close with him, it wouldn’t matter. However you think his dad wronged your people, that’s not on him. Just back-off will you?”
Louise continued to stare at him menacingly. Casper didn’t feel welcome.
“I think it might be best if I leave you to have your breakfast without me.” said Casper.
“Smart boy” said Louise coldly.
He stood up with his tray and went to find somewhere else to sit. He was distressed. He didn’t bother trying to find someone else and just settled for the first empty seat he saw. He sat down next to a group of guys and finished his porridge; it wasn’t as nice as his mum’s; it wasn’t as creamy nor as sweet as she made it.
Casper’s heart sank again when Jane walked into the hall, she made the work announcement. Casper didn’t dare look at her, he just listened, but even her voice made him upset. Caspers work group was on kitchen duty today, after breakfast he assembled with his group in the kitchen as soon as Jane left. He washed his plate then stayed put waiting for the others to join him.
Tom greeted him with a smile “Morning mate” he said patting him on the back. “Good to see you again, sleep well?” Casper looked off to the side and nodded.
“Good. The Kitchen shift can be a pain in the arse, it’s the longest. We’ll be here until dinner.”
There goes my day then Casper thought.
“We’ve a stereo here, so it’s not so bad. You can borrow CD’s from the library and I’ve brought some with me.” Tom moved his hand up slightly showing he was carrying a plastic bag. “What music do you like?” he asked.
It had been a long time since Casper had listened to most of his favourite bands. During the war, when he lived with his grandmother at the cottage, there was no Wi-Fi, and they couldn’t stream anything. He was at the mercy of whatever was broadcast on the radio. By the time he had returned to Glasgow, the last thing on anyone’s mind was music. The focus was always survival.
He remembered when he was with the thieves that Molly had a CD player that eventually stopped working. He remembered that she would listen to Death Metal bands with names like Immolation, Dying Fetus, and Decapitated. Most often, just before they headed out on an expedition to put herself in the right mindset for the bloodshed and violence. Casper didn’t like extreme Metal like that though. The last time Casper had listened to any of his favourite bands regularly was before the war. It took him a minute to think back to the ones he used to really like.
“I really like Rock and Metal bands like Linkin Park, Blink 182 and System of a Down.” he said.
“Linkin Park?” Tom said curiously. “I’ve not heard them in ages. I used to really like that song In the End. I’m more of an Indie kind of guy myself. I’ll show you what I’ve brought with me.” Tom reached into his bag and pulled out a handful of CD’S. He presented them to Casper individually. “R.E.M, Artic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Joy Division, and Depeche Mode.”
Those are the kind of bands my dad would listen to thought Casper.
“Do you think there’s one you’d like?” asked Tom. Casper thought for a minute.
“I think my dad liked R.E.M, I remember a couple of their songs. Maybe that’ll be a good one.”
“Brilliant! I’ll see if I can put it on first. Though I’m not sure if anyone else has brought music with them, we’ll see.”
The kitchen got less and less busy as the other prisoners finished cleaning their dishes and headed off to their specific work locations. The rest of Caspers group showed up and talked amongst themselves. The kitchen was a mess, there were oats all over the floor, dirty trays and cutlery strewn around.
“If we’re starting kitchen shift now, did the guards cook breakfast?” asked Casper.
“Yeah, breakfast needs to be prepped from about 5.30am. They want all of us prisoners getting up at the same time, so breakfast is prepped and served by the guards. Though it’s up to us to do everything else.” replied Tom.
The kitchen here was a lot bigger than the one Casper worked in when he was a teenager. Seeing a large serving kitchen like this brought home a lot of bad memories of the long back-breaking and thankless shifts he put in at the restaurant. He was already dreading it.
A guard stepped into the kitchen and addressed them, “I believe we have a first timer here on kitchen duty today” she said. She inspected her clipboard. “Casper! Where are you?” she looked up.
Tom grabbed Casper’s shoulders gently shaking him from side to side, “That’s the man here!” They all laughed. Casper felt humiliated.
“So, if no one got there before me, kitchen duty is the only shift that lasts all day until dinner. You’ll prepare and serve lunch, then dinner, followed by a thorough clean of the kitchen and the mess hall.”
The guard then went through the register to confirm everyone’s presence. She continued once she could see they were all there. “Today’s lunch menu is Scotch Broth with a slice of bread, and tuna sweetcorn sandwiches for the out of block workers. Dinner is mince and tatties. Does someone want to show Casper the ropes today?”
“I’ll sort him out.” said Tom.
“Okay, brilliant. Any questions Casper, ask Tom or come find me. I’ll just be out in the hall doing some paperwork. As for you lot, you know the drill, let’s go!”
The guard left the kitchen and the prisoners discussed who would do what. Tom, Casper, Andy, Taylor and Mandy would bake the bread, while Liam, Scott, Kathrine, Roslin and Willy would make the soup. Caspers group started by cleaning the work area, then making the bread dough. They used the same ingredients for the pizza bases from the day before and made enough dough for ten loaves. Before the loaves could bake, they needed to rise for a while, so Caspers group went to help the others prepare the soup in the meantime.
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