The Escape

Chapter eight

Colin went back to bed, but he tossed and turned and kept checking the time. The night seemed to go on forever, and he was growing more and more restless. He decided that, when he did give himself up, he’d start to use his time in prison more wisely, especially since he wanted to win back his chance of early parole. He would apply for the educational programmes and really try to better himself.

The more he thought of it, the more certain he became that, after the baby was born, his life would improve. He knew that in his teenage years he had been very rebellious and often, as the judge had said, he could be quite violent and had got into scraps. But after meeting Karen, he had calmed down. Now he hoped, when he gave himself up after the escape, he would be sent back to Barfield Prison and would share a cell with Barry again. They could study together and he would take classes in computer studies and business, or anything that would give him a greater chance of work when he was finally released.

At some point, he must have dozed off, because suddenly Barry was shaking him awake. It was 6 a.m. and they needed to double-check that none of the tattoos had smudged. Satisfied they were still intact and looking very realistic, they switched clothes. Barry was a lot plumper than his friend and the shirt looked too large on Colin, but he tucked it loosely into his prison-issue jeans to make himself look bigger than he was. Barry put on Colin’s shirt and started to button it up. It was very tight so he decided it was best to let it hang open, exposing the white prison vest.

He looked at Colin and shrugged his shoulders. ‘I’ve lost a bit of weight since I was arrested. It’s not eating all the takeaway food. You’ll have to tighten up my trousers. They look too big on you and the last thing you want is them falling down.’

Barry chuckled as Colin hitched up the jeans.

Eventually, their cell lock clanged as an officer opened the door at breakfast time. Colin grabbed Barry’s glasses from his face as the officer entered and checked his clipboard.

‘Which one of you is Marsden?’ the officer asked, and Barry, by force of habit, was about to answer, when quick-thinking Colin jumped in.

‘Me, sir.’

‘Go have your breakfast and then make your way to the wing staff office. An officer will escort you to the release area for processing before going to court.’

‘Yes, sir, I know, they explained it all to me last night,’ Colin said, as his heart thumped rapidly.

The officer was new and didn’t even give them a second glance as he moved on to the next cell.

Barry and Colin both breathed a sigh of relief.

‘I nearly dropped us in it there, but so far so good,’ Barry whispered.

‘Yeah, and I’m not even out of the cell yet,’ Colin said, wiping his brow.

‘He hardly even looked at us, and I’ve never seen him before,’ Barry said confidently.

‘Right, you go and get your breakfast and I’ll wait until eight to go to the wing.’

‘Slight problem there. If I’m supposed to be you now, I can’t really wear my glasses, and I can’t see a bloody thing without them,’ Barry said.

‘Oh no, I didn’t think about that,’ Colin replied. He was starting to sweat with nerves. He waved his arms to cool himself. He was worried that if he sweated too much, it might make the tattoo ink run. ‘Just wear your spare pair if you have to. Like you said, the officers are new so hopefully no one will notice.’

‘Right you are, good luck, and I hope all goes well with the birth,’ Barry said. He was sad now that it was nearly time for Colin to go.

Colin had never been very touchy-feely, but he put his arms around Barry and patted his back while he hugged him.

‘Thanks for everything, pal.’

Barry gave his friend a big grin and put his thumbs up. ‘Ta-ra for now.’