Page 190 of The Pearl Sister
‘That sounds perfect! Thank you, Cee. Now, I need to go and grab my things. Why don’t you call Wormwood Scrubs in the meantime and see what the process is for getting in to visit? I’ve put the number on the table.’
Star went upstairs to pack her bag and I wandered over to the phone, knowing I’d get no peace from Star if I didn’t make the call. The receptionist at the other end was friendly enough, although she gave me the third degree on what my relationship was to ‘the prisoner’.
‘A friend,’ I said. Then she took my date of birth, my address, and told me I’d need to present some form of ID before I’d be allowed in.
‘Did you get through?’ Star said when she came down the stairs with her overnight bag.
‘Yeah, but I’m afraid I can’t wear that pair of tight hot pants you know I like so much. It’s against prison rules.’
‘Right.’ Star smiled. ‘When are you going to see him?’
‘I’m booked in for two o’clock tomorrow afternoon. Maybe they can do the mugshots for my new passport while I’m there.’ I shuddered. ‘It feels weird thinking of Ace as a “prisoner”.’
‘I’ll bet. Are you sure you’re going to be okay in the apartment alone, Cee?’ Star put a hand on my shoulder.
‘Course I will. I’m a big girl now, remember?’
‘Well, let me know what happens with Ace. Love you, Cee. See you next week.’
* * *
I really did feel as though I was in a film as I traipsed through the towered gateway of ‘the Scrubs’, as the other visitors waiting in line had called it. Inside, each one of us had our bags and ourselves thoroughly searched. Eventually, we were led into a large room full of tables and plastic chairs, and actually, it wasn’t as depressing as I’d imagined it would be. Someone had obviously made an effort to stop the prisoners and their visitors from slitting their wrists by putting up bright posters on the walls. As we all sat down at separate tables, we were read a list of dos and don’ts and finally, the prisoners filed in.
My heart was beating like a tom-tom as I searched the line for Ace. By the time a familiar voice said, ‘Hi,’ in my ear, I realised I hadn’t even recognised him. His hair was cut into a number one crop, he was clean-shaven and painfully thin.
‘What are you doing here?’ he asked me as he sat down.
‘I . . . well, I just thought that as I was back in England, I should come and see you.’
‘Right. You’re the first visitor I’ve had. Other than my lawyer, of course.’
‘Well, sorry that it’s me.’
There was silence between us, as Ace looked down at his hands, to his left, to his right, above him . . . In fact, at anything but me.
‘Why did you do it, CeCe?’ he said eventually.
‘I didn’t, honestly! That’s what I’ve come to tell you. It was Po, the security guard, who was bribed by a guy called Jay. Someone at the Railay Beach Hotel had told me that he knew who you were. I didn’t want to worry you or anything, so I didn’t mention it at the time. I mean, I had no idea who you were anyway, so I didn’t believe him.’
‘Oh, come off it, CeCe,’ he sneered, ‘that picture came straight from your camera. I allowed it to be taken because I trusted you, I thought we were mates.’
‘We were! You were great to me!’ I insisted, then tried to keep my voice down as I saw others looking over at us. ‘I’d never have done anything to betray you. Po must have got a duplicate set of photos and given them to Jay. Anyway, it’s the truth. It’s what happened.’
‘Yeah, well.’ Ace stared off into the distance again. ‘It had to happen sometime, I suppose. I knew I couldn’t stay hidden forever. You just hastened the inevitable.’
‘It matters tomethat you believe me. I nearly had a fit when I got to Australia and all my sisters texted me to say I was on the front page of every newspaper! Do you think I wanted that?’
‘What? To be involved with the most notorious criminal of the moment?’
‘Exactly!’
‘Lots of girls would.’
‘Well “lots of girls” aren’t me,’ I said firmly, trying to keep my cool.
‘No,’ he agreed eventually. ‘You’re right. I really thought youweredifferent, that I could trust you.’
‘And you could – you can! Look, let’s just forget it. If you don’t want to believe me, that’s up to you, but I’m not a liar. I’m here because I wanted to ask you if you needed any help. I could be a character witness, or something.’
