This is the first thing I ever wrote, in English or my own language. I wrote the first eight chapter as part of a grad course in creative writing. It was supposed to be an easy "A" for jocks. It turned out to be one of the hardest courses I've ever taken and I only pulled an A-. It was also written in two parts. The first eight chapters were what I turned in. The rest were written later and were not posted until now.
Several editors took a shot at fixing the first eight chapters (after I had a grade) but I've lost their names. The last chapters were ably edited by Techsan, but even a master can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. Besides, like other writers, I can't seem to stop fiddling with a story, and I know I've introduced new errors.
Please write and let me know what you think of this story. If you've read any of my other stories, I love to know how you think they compare to this one.
Prologue
Jenny knew she looked good. She'd spent more time on her appearance than she had since her wedding day, but she was more nervous by at least an order of magnitude. She looked in the mirror and practiced her smile, determined not to let her fear show through. It was so important, vital that she look her best for her husband, that she not let him know just how hard this was for her to do.
Jenny was going to a maximum-security prison for the first time, and she was scared to death. Jerry had insisted that he didn't want her to see him in jail and he was sure he'd get probation for a first offense. When he'd been dragged from the courtroom, all they'd had was a quick kiss. Now she was about to see him for the first time since that day in a maximum-security prison, which wasn't fair either. His sentence wasn't that long... but this was the nearest facility to her home and he'd been assigned there.
Just two months ago, life had been perfect, if she'd only realized that. Newlyweds, married for less than six months she'd had a mild case of PMS and her car had broken down on the way home from work during a scorcher. The lows for the last week had been in the eighties Fahrenheit and the highs in the triple digits.
By the time she'd gotten to their brand new and oh so stylish home, she'd been in high dudgeon. Jerry had a good job with an international importer, but she pushed for the lifestyle that her parents had. Jerry couldn't say no to her and they were already deeply in debt. Although her car was still in warranty, she stormed about being forced to drive "an old bucket of bolts" as she walked in the door.
Finding Jerry working on the computer while trying to fix dinner she announced in a fit of pique, "If you want in these pants, you're going to have to do something about getting me a decent car!"
She hadn't been serious; it was the heat and the PMS. She was sure he'd known she was kidding. As drained as the Texas heat had left her, she didn't have the energy for sex, but she'd cuddled him to let him know she wasn't serious. Therefore, she was astounded when he took her car shopping the next afternoon. They owed more on the car than they could get in trade-in, but Jenny had always left those sorts of problems to Jerry. They drove home in a new car and she was ecstatic, and even with her period due to start any time she was determined to give her hero his just reward. She had just gotten undressed to join him in their bed when the police were pounding on their front door. Jerry looked terrified and she relived the scene at least once a week in her nightmares. Jerry had been arrested handcuffed and taken to jail! He had sold drugs to an undercover agent to get her car! It was so stupid, he'd discovered that his company was being used by smugglers, and had planned to go to the police, but Jenny's demands had drove him do something stupid. What followed was a nightmare; Jerry had to use legal aid because their credit was tapped. He didn't want their parents to know and since he'd never even had a traffic ticket the PD assured him that he'd get probation if he pleaded guilty.
It didn't work that way. The judge had just put his daughter in rehab, and gave Jerry to seven to fifteen years in prison. Even with good time, it meant that he'd have to spend at least two years in prison! After they'd taken him from the courtroom, Jenny hadn't even been able to see him at all. For about a month, he'd been moved from prison to prison all the over the state as he went through evaluation and classification to determine which prison he'd serve his time. He wasn't allowed visitors until he was transferred to his permanent location. Although the closest to their home, the prison was still about a two hour drive. Jenny had of course lost her car, the house and almost everything else because they'd had to declare bankruptcy. She'd lived with a friend but had just found an efficiency apartment near the school she was teaching. She was able to get a car, dilapidated and the air conditioning didn't work. She didn't mind, but she wasn't making ends meet. Jerry's letter talked about his desperate need for money to protect himself. He didn't say much about what it was like, but Jenny could read between the lines that he was scared of being beaten or worse. She put every penny she was allowed "on his books", but he was hinting that it wasn't enough.
As she pulled off the highway onto the road to the front gate of the prison, she stopped at a little in a line of cars. At a guard shack, a half mile from the prison she saw guards checked under the hood and in the trunk making people get out of their cars.
"What do they think, someone wants to smuggle someone into here?" she thought, trying to control her temper.
When it was her turn, the guards were very polite and very impersonal. Some of the signs posted near the shack were scary; she had to agree to a strip search if it was required. They announced that if she tried to pass any money or other contraband that she would be prosecuted and sent to jail. Jenny was glad she and Jerry didn't smoke because it seemed that any kind of tobacco was also a felony.
After she was cleared, she drove on to the parking lot, parked her car and went to the little building that seemed to be the entrance to the prison. She'd gotten a booklet in the mail that told her what to expect, but this was just so scary. Looking through the glass doors as she approached she saw a little office incased in bulletproof glass and steel prison bars. There was a line of people in front of it. As she walked through the exterior doors an officer, who hadn't been visible stood from a little table and used a wand to check her for metal like at an airport. She then had to pass her driver's license to another guard in the little office through a little tray like at a bank. After that guard, a woman, verified who she was seeing and checked her name from a list, she passed the license back to her.
A heavy door of steel mesh buzzed open into a cage. She walked in and closed it behind her. Then an even heavier steel door slid open by an electric motor whined in strain. As she stepped through, she found herself in a little caged courtyard created on two sides by the concertina topped double chain link security fence. Concertina was everywhere, and it intimidated Jenny. At a buzz, she had to slide yet another gate. This, a section of the fence she had to close behind her. Now she faced a long walk to another building where she went through the same process again before she was led into large room where prisoners wearing colored jumpsuits visited with their families. Jenny was terrified, any of those men could grab her, she didn't see any guards in the room. Then Jenny was appalled to see young children in the room, some sitting on convicts' laps and she wanted to cry.
Going to the non-contact area, Jenny waited. Finally, Jerry came to the booth with a phone on the both sides like you see on TV.
Jenny picked up the phone and the first thing that Jerry said was, "They are taping this and will listen to it so please be careful with what you say or they won't let you come back."
He looked good, but he didn't want to talk about where he was or what he was doing; he wanted to hear about Jenny and what life was like outside. He said that she was allowed to come once every two weeks and that next time would be a contact visit so they could talk without the phones. Jenny was so nervous about being in the place that at first time seemed to drag, but her two hours were over before she knew it. The one thing that Jerry had been clear about was his need for money to buy stuff at the 'commissary'. Jenny understood that he was using the money to buy safety.
