Twist of Fate

The following morning. The basketball court adjacent to the correctional facility of the ob-lo. Prisoners were allowed to leave their cells and walk around the court to get their daily dose of sunlight and exercise.

Nina thought about it. Kill herself. This was the reason why she had the broken off piece of razor blade tucked discreetly inside an undisclosed part of her prison uniform’s hemline.

She nursed the swollen part of her belly with one hand. She felt one side of her rib cage was smashed. Last night, her cellmates, led by Ninang, were laughing at her while they slept. They told her not to sleep so soundly because they would gang-rape her later with a guard’s baton. One of the minions joked that she would let the K-9 get a piece of what Nina was giving to Warden Jake and Sgt. George.

Last night, the young woman did not have a wink at all. She kept thinking of why she deserved this twist of fate. This return to the dark reality of the system which was supposed to dispense justice fairly to both the innocent and the guilty.

And she only pleaded because her lawyer told her so!

Now she was beginning to realize the mistake she made. Inside her, there was a deep anger seemingly about to reach its boiling point. But rage would be a poison in her hands. She would not know what to do even if she was to be granted with the power and the opportunity to turn her rage into action.

In other words, killing Nina was topmost in her mind, but she did not know how to go about it.

She saw some of the minions having their smoke in the middle of the court. Ninang was nowhere on the ground.

Suddenly, one of the minions named Anna approached her. She curled her hands into fists. Nina thought that if the young woman approaching her, as she was seated on one side of the court, would be meaning to hurt her, well, she would definitely fight. She thought she would teach this one a lesson about pain.

Anna, 21, was far from doing anything violent on Nina. She approached the new detainee in order to ask if she wanted a smoke.

Nina shook her head.

“Okay…” Anna started. Anna was a frail-looking woman, 5’2” in height, her skin pale, and, as far as Nina could remember, Anna did not involve herself in the beating Ninang and her gangmates gave to the newbie prisoner. “Listen, my name’s Anna. Before you became a part of, uh, selda 29, I was the newest there. And I also got the same treatment as yours, though they did it inside the comfort room. They plunged my face in the toilet bowl. Well, what I’m saying is…”

Nina sighed and pretended to look the other way. Nonetheless, Anna continued explaining things to her.

“Listen. Would you mind if I sit down beside you?”

Nina sarcastically answered her. “The last time I checked that seat’s taken.”

Anna laughed.

“Nina, right? Y’know, Nina, you don’t have to antagonize me.”

“Really? Well, I’m sorry if I have hurt your feelings, Miss Anna. But some of my ribs are still feeling the hospitality you and your friends abundantly showed to me yesterday.”

“No, no, no! That’s where you’re wrong! I’m not really with them! It so happened that all the other seldas were full at that time, and they had no choice to bunker me up with that crazy woman!” Anna was referring to Ninang, of course. “In case you didn’t notice, our cell is the only which is not jampacked like a can of sardines. We have to thank Ninang for that. They said she was a very important political detainee. That’s why nobody touched her. Aside from being George’s pet!”

“Oh, is she George’s pet?” Nina rhetorically asked. “Well, I’ve got news for her. I already got her sweet cupcake eating out of my hands. I’ve been giving him the blowjob of his life ever since the warden went on his trip to Coron.”

“I’ve heard Warden’s Jake already back.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“That’s why you have to listen to what I’m going to say to you.”

Nina was all ears. Somehow, Anna had won the trust of the new detainee.

“Well, what is it, Anna?”

Anna heaved a long, deep sigh and took a furtive look at Ninang’s gangmates who were busy watching and side-betting on a game of chess in the center of the basketball court.

“Listen, Nina, Manang Jeannie is going to talk to the warden about you. She’s going to reveal your relationship with Sgt. George.”

Nina stared at Anna’s eyes. They were serious. Dark. Nina’s new acquaintance continued on.

“You have to find a way to talk to the colonel first before all hell comes crashing down on you. The worst they could do to you is to put you in solitary confinement. And a day in the hellhole isn’t going to help you get out of here.”

“Tell me, Anna, what do you will help me get out of here?” Nina’s tone of voice was as serious as it could be.

“For starters, now that you’re inside the ob-lo, you should no longer entertain the idea that people will believe you when you say you are innocent. Remember, once inside the ob-lo, there is a deadline for innocence. And that deadline expires with your acceptance to your fate.”