The Escape

Chapter six

They were lying on their beds, waiting to be let out for dinner, and had not spoken for a while. Colin broke the silence and asked Barry if he ever made phone calls home.

‘No, not got a phone card and there’s no one who’d listen anyway. Nobody gives a toss about me. They never did.’

‘I do. I care a lot about you, and I won’t ever forget what you’re doing for me. I owe you big time.’

Barry beamed. It felt great to have a friend like Colin. It was a deed well worth doing, just to know that he could help him be present at the birth of his son.

As usual during dinner, they ignored each other and ate at separate tables. The changeover officers had just begun their shift and would be on duty for the night. The next shift would take over before breakfast, at 6 a.m. the next morning.

After dinner, Colin joined the telephone queue to call Karen. She was very down, saying that she was so heavily pregnant she could hardly move.

‘The last scan was good, and everything’s on schedule for the birth tomorrow. Mum’s going to take me to the hospital. She’s even packed a bag for me.’

‘I love you so much and you’ll be fine,’ Colin said, desperately wanting to tell her he would, if all went to plan, be with her.

‘I wish you were going to be with me, Colin. I miss you so much and I really need to see you. It’s been weeks and I don’t know how I’ll be after the baby is born. I hope I’ll be able to travel to the prison. My mum has bought a VW for me to use so that will help. I know I’ll be able to bring the baby with me at visiting times, but it’s just not having you here to give me support, and I get really scared.’

‘You keep strong, darling. I will be thinking of you and our baby every minute of the day.’

‘I know, but it don’t help, because I miss you so much.’

Colin was getting upset as she started to cry. He changed the subject, trying to distract her by asking if she’d thought of any other names to call their son. They often talked about this, and she had said that her favourite name was Justin, after the pop singer Justin Bieber. Colin said that he had been thinking about what name he would like the baby to be called.

‘Why? You’d agreed to him being called Justin.’

‘I know, but can we call him Barry instead and maybe have Justin as a middle name?’

‘Barry!’ Karen exclaimed.

‘Yeah, do you like the name?’

‘No, I don’t. What do you want to call him Barry for?’

‘Listen, darling, next time I see you I will explain it all.’

The prisoner behind him tapped on Colin’s shoulder, and pointed to his watch. Time was up on his call. Not wanting a row, Colin said goodnight to Karen and hung up. He had so wanted to tell her that he would soon be with her, but had managed to stop himself. He couldn’t help being really happy, as he was starting to feel more and more certain that he could pull it off. Until now, he had been doubtful, but hearing her voice made him very excited. He was nervous, yet he firmly believed that in only a few hours he would be with Karen.