Casper was peeling and chopping onions when Shiny Happy People by R.E.M started playing on the stereo. He hadn’t heard this song for almost 20 years, he recognised it from the long car journeys to and from Sweden in the summer holidays. It transported him back to that time before the war, when he was part of a happy family and the whole world seemed to glow with wonder and excitement. He wished he could go back.
“This song making you a bit emotional?” asked Tom.
“No, it’s just we’re working with onions.” Casper snapped back.
“Sure man, the onions.” Tom laughed.
“No seriously!” Casper laughed back.
When the doughs had risen, they placed them in the moulded baking trays to bake in the oven. The oven had a window so Casper squatted in front of it so he could watch the loaves rise, since all there was left to do now was wait for them to cook. Tom sat next to him and looked into the oven as well.
“Don’t know why you find this sort of thing interesting mate, it’s so slow, you’re not going to notice anything.” he said.
Meanwhile, Casper stared at the loaves in wonder. It really was amazing, he thought, that those dry ingredients with some water made such fluffy and lovely smelling bread. It made him think of how some of the best things he experienced in life were fundamentally simple things formulated in a certain order.
“You have to watch a while, then you start to notice it rise.” said Casper. “It’s beautiful.”
Tom looked at Casper, his face was lit by the orange glow of the oven and his eyes full of wonder and excitement. It made him think of a traveller from a mythical tale, looking into the fire thinking about the journey and the future that lay ahead with its endless possibilities. This guy is something else, Tom thought. He began to look at the loaves too, and after a while noticed them forming more and more. Soon, he was engrossed in it just as much as Casper was and they both sat staring until the timer went off suddenly making them jump.
When they pulled the loaves out, the smell combed Caspers nostrils, it was magical. They let the loaves cool for a few minutes, then sliced them. It was now 12.15pm, and time to get ready for service. Tom persuaded Casper to serve the soup with him to help him overcome his shyness. He was nervous about it at first, but once he did it a few times he felt more confident. He took great care trying not to spill any soup, especially while serving the guards. During service Mark appeared in the queue and Casper was happy to see him.
“Casper, you’re on kitchen duty today! How are you finding it?” asked Mark
“Oh, quite straightforward actually, just busy.” replied Casper emptying a ladle of soup into Marks bowl. “I liked watching the bread rise. What work are you doing today?”
“We’re doing the showers and toilets. I really wish people would remember to flush.”
“Okay boys, move it along.” A guard told them. Casper and Mark said their goodbyes and Mark went to sit down.
“Who was that?” asked Tom.
“That’s Mark, I met him at breakfast yesterday.”
“He looks like a gay ginger milhouse” said Tom mocking him.
Casper felt annoyed that Tom would make such harsh statements about people he didn’t know. It made Casper wonder if Tom was really a friend or not. They had their lunch once everyone else had eaten, then began the dinner preparations.
Casper spent most of the afternoon peeling potatoes and talking to Tom. The conversation continued and Casper learnt more things about Tom, like how he had an 11-month-old baby son with his girlfriend back in Newcastle, and they would come and visit every month.
“They’re coming again next week, I can’t wait” Tom told him. “Toby gets bigger and bigger every time I see him now, it’s crazy. He’ll be bigger than me in no time!” laughed Tom.
“That’s so cute.” said Casper. He loved babies and hoped to become a father himself one day.
Towards the end of the shift, Tom invited Casper back to his cell after work to come and hang out with him and his friends. Casper had initially planned to visit the library after work, then go back to his cell for an early night, but figured maybe he could make time to go and hang out with Tom and his friends after the library instead. Holly had told him that he needed to find a group for protection after all.
Work finally came to an end after dinner service and Casper headed to the library. It was located on the second floor of the cell block just down the hall from his cell. When he stepped in, it was peacefully quiet, as a library should be. It was the first time he was able to hear his own breath since stepping off the prison bus. The room had several shelves on the left and some tables to the right. At the back was a big window that looked out into the snow-covered countryside beyond the fence. One prisoner was sitting reading at the tables and two others sat staring out of the window.
“Hello.” a voice caught him off-guard. Casper turned and saw a woman in her 60’s standing behind the desk. She had long grey hair, black glasses and wore a burgundy cardigan and long green skirt. If she isn’t the librarian, I’ll eat my pants he thought. “Hi.” he replied awkwardly.
“Can I help you with anything.”
“Yeah, do you um…. have a history section by any chance?”
“Certainly!” she pointed at the shelves with a pen in her hand. “Fifth row on the right there, its marked with a big label, alright pet?”
“Thank you”.
“No bother.”
Casper looked at the other shelves as he walked past. The first shelf had items such as CD’S, DVD’S and cassette tapes, he thought he would look at them later. The next shelves were all books in various categories: Romance, Crime, Horror, Autobiographical, and Non-fiction. It felt nostalgic to be back in a library again, it had been his favourite activity to go there with his mum. She had read to him since he was a baby, and it sparked his interest in literature early on. As a result, he excelled in primary school when it came to reading, spelling, and writing.
As a child, he formed a small book club consisting of him, his mum, and his teddies, and they would meet every week to discuss the title they were engrossed in at the time. He remembered his mum telling him that while there were a lot of amazing books and authors in the world, the best one of all time was the Bible, with the ‘Most-High’ being the perfect author. Since coming back to Glasgow after the war, the only books he was able to get a hold of were ones he obtained from expeditions with the thieves. A lot of the time they were very random, such as ’10 Steps to Financial Stability and Freedom’ by HJ O’donnel, ‘Society and Order in Pre-Colombian Central and South America’ by AR Hastings, ‘Intifada My Life as a Hamas Militant’ by Abdul Haddad, and ‘Elisa’s First Visit to the Dentist’ by Pamela ward. He was excited now to have a choice of books to read.
‘History’. The sign stood boldly at the end of the shelf. He hoped he could find what he was looking for. A quick scan revealed the subsection he needed, European History. Brilliant, he thought. He carefully scanned the titles one by one, ‘Wars of Austrian Succession’, ‘The Russian Revolution’, ‘The Vikings’, ‘The Black Death’, he was approaching the end of the section. He felt the disappointment setting in until his eyes caught it, ‘Ireland, a History’. “Bingo!” Casper exclaimed to himself. He picked it up and read the blurb, the author seemed to have good credentials and he settled with it.
Now, he was free to look at what he wanted. He spent the next while looking at the different categories and genres, there was so much that stood out that he felt he needed to write a list. At the back of the library were stationary items for sale. Pens, pencils, notepads, sketchbooks, and only five points each! He was thrilled! He could journal and draw again, with a proper choice of implements. He figured he would only borrow one book at a time and decided to leave before the continuous choices of books overwhelmed him.
At the counter, he presented the book and his card to the librarian. She scanned it and looked at her computer screen. “Casper Higgins. You have a total of zero points. Are you new here?”
Casper was worried. Did he need points to borrow books? Would he get punished for trying to borrow a book without points?
“Yeah, I am. It’s my third day.” he told her.
The librarian looked at him over her glasses. “Would you like me to explain the process of how our library works?” she asked.
Casper nodded. “Okay, so borrowing a book, CD, Cassette or DVD is free. However, the lend period expires after seven days. For every day past the lend expiration date that the item is still in your possession, you will be deducted ten points.”
“If you declare that you’ve lost the item, you will be subject to disciplinary action and will be required to pay the original price of the item equivalent in points. If you lose more than one item, you will be banned.”
“You can only borrow two items at a time. Once you return an item you cannot borrow it again for another two weeks. We’re open from 3.00pm until lock up.”
“Should I state the obvious? …Please keep quiet in the library at all times. Talking is permitted but do so at a reasonable level. Exceeding the noise level after being verbally warned once will result in disciplinary action and you will not be allowed to return for seven days. Repeat offenders will be banned.”
“Okay, thanks for letting me know.” said Casper.
The librarian typed on her keyboard. “Not often do we have new inmates visit the library.”
Casper smiled, “I’m excited. I love to read.”
The librarian smiled back at him. “I do too. I’m Alison by the way. I hope you discover a lot of great reads while you’re here”.
“I hope so too, thank you.”
She handed him back his card and he left. The block was busy as it usually was during communal time. Casper was excited with his new book and decided he would rather read tonight than go visit Tom. He reckoned that he’d understand when he explained it to him tomorrow. It was a short walk down the hall back to the cell. When Casper approached, he noticed that the bars were covered with bedsheets, he was confused. He ducked under the sheets to find Holly tidying up inside.
Leave a Reply