Chapter 5

              ☆Samira☆

There was a huge hole inside my chest, a chilling emptiness that I could feel with each breath. 

I could feel the cold air passing through it, yet whenever I pressed my hand against my heart, my body felt whole.

 But that wound was undeniable.

 They had torn away a significant part of me, leaving behind a huge hole.

For what purpose?

What did I do to deserve this?

Daniel.

Kate.

Linda.

What did I do to them?

What sin had I committed?

What crime did my innocent child commit?

Why take a life that had barely begun?

Why?

That question ran in my mind, relentlessly, as I spent the past week in solitary confinement.

That was where they had sent me.

Claiming I was unstable.

A threat to myself and the staff.

All because I wanted answers.

I tried to make them understand the cruelty those wicked women had inflicted upon me.

How they violated me.

I wanted them to call Daniel.

Yes, I had tried to grab one of the officers.

It was only trying to tell him that my miscarriage wasn't natural.

He insisted it was due to stress from the judgment I faced.

Stress from the trial.

But he dismissed my pleas, unwilling to listen, so I grabbed him in desperation.

And for that, they strapped me in a straitjacket and confined me to a small room for a week.

My voice silenced.

Just like that.

The loss of my baby buried deep.

He never got the chance to see the world or the dignity of a proper burial.

He was denied all of that.

That was the most painful part.

Not the punishment.

But the violation and the murder of my child.

That was what the hole in my chest represented.

They did not just take my baby, they had taken a piece of me as well.

So, for an entire week, I wept.

I mourned the child who never had a chance.

A child I failed to protect.

A baby I wanted so bad.

Daniel and I always talked about it.

Giving him heirs.

He said he was building his company and working hard for my babies.

But we were never lucky after two years of marriage.

What a sorry turn of events.

But even after this betrayal.

I would have kept that baby.

I knew Uncle Ben would have stepped in to raise him.

Yes, his wife would have protested, just as she had when I moved in with them, but deep down, she had a generous heart.

She would have come to love that child, and I would have had to fight her for him once my sentence was served.

I chuckled at that thought.

But it was never meant to be.

Finally, the door opened, and they came to get me out of the small room.

I felt utterly drained.

They had to drag me away

I had eaten, but it was hardly enough. 

All I  wanted was just enough strength to confront Daniel. 

That purpose was what kept me breathing. 

I wanted to look him straight in the eye.

To know how he could let his mother treat me this way. 

That child shared his blood, as well as hers. How could they both stand by and let Kate take that life?

The guards took me straight to my cell and threw me in.

They did not forget to give me a stern warning. 

Any aggression towards an officer would land me four weeks in solitary confinement again.

Cheers erupted from the surrounding cells, taunting me with insults. 

They called me their plaything, a ginger candy they planned to exploit. 

But I tuned them out. 

The officer locked the bars behind me. 

I surveyed my new surroundings. 

A bunk bed crammed into the small space, with a toilet in the corner 

“New girls always get the top bunk,” a voice declared. 

I turned to my left and found a medium built woman with short hair and tattoos all over her body. 

She walked to me, trying to assert her dominance, but I ignored her. 

Instead, I walked to the corner and let my tears flow. 

“What’s this?” she laughed. “Hey everyone, looks like we’ve got ourselves a little crybaby!” 

Her laughter echoed, igniting the others into a frenzy of mockery. 

They yelled silly jabs my way, but I blocked them out. 

All I wanted was to cry, to grieve for my baby. 

I curled up on the cold floor, crying myself to sleep. 

Morning came, and they lined us up for showers. 

It had been a week since I last washed. 

As I stepped into the shower, before the water could even touch my skin, a massive woman seized me by the throat. 

“Look who it is, the crying ginger candy. Want to play?” Her foul breath assaulted my senses as I struggled against her grip, but she was too powerful. 

“Come on, you’ll love it,” she hissed. 

I had no time for this nonsense. 

“Leave her alone!” a sharp voice cut through the air. 

“Come on, Cameron, I saw her first!” 

“I said back off, or do you want me to make you?” the voice retorted. 

“Stupid bitch!” The woman finally released me, sneering, “Your luck won’t last, Cameron’s too moody to keep her eyes on you!” 

A chill ran down my spine as I held my neck coughing.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” 

I slowly lifted my gaze to find a naked woman, a towel draped over one arm while her other rested confidently on her hip. 

She was tall and slender, a model like figure  without any tattoos or any intimidating muscles. 

Yet the large woman had obeyed her.

“I’m Cameron. You could at least say thank you,” she said. 

“Thank… you,” I stammered, then hurried away. 

I quickly washed up, keeping to myself, and made my way to breakfast. 

Halfway through my meal, an officer’s voice rang out, “Inmate 601, you have a visitor.” 

All eyes turned to me. 

It took a moment for the realization to sink in.

I was Inmate 601. 

I had never bothered to remember or look at my uniform number. 

My heart raced. 

A visitor? 

Could it be Daniel?

I ran out of the cafeteria, the officer guiding me toward the visitation room.

My heart raced so fiercely that I could almost hear it.

As I stepped into the room, Uncle Ben's sorrowful face appeared on the other side of the glass.

I hesitated for a moment.

Of course, it was him.

Why did I ever expect anything different from that coward that could not face me.

I took a seat, my movements slow, and picked up the phone.

“At least your pretty face is still intact?” he said with a forced smile. “I had a cousin who lost her teeth on the first day,” he chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood.

“I was pregnant,” I shot back, cutting straight to the chase. There was no room for a light moment.

His expression turned serious, the lines on his face deepening as he looked away.

“Linda and Kate came and forced pills inside my private parts, causing me to… causing me to… miscarry,” I managed to say, my voice trembling.

He lowered his gaze.

At least he didn’t dismiss me as insane.

Tears began to flow down my cheeks.

He believed me. 

Finally someone believed me.

“Uncle Ben, they killed my baby! They killed my baby, and no one believes me!” I cried out, my voice breaking.

He kept his head low, silent.

“I don’t know if Daniel knows. I need to talk to him… can…”

“He probably knows, Samira!” he yelled.

I lowered my gaze.

“That coward likely planned it all!” He tried to explain but I cut him off.

“That baby was his blood!" I yelled.

“Samira, that man is an animal!” 

I closed my eyes, more tears rolling down.

“Listen, Samira, I know these aren’t the words you wanted to hear, but having a child with that devil would have only led to your death. Be thankful they didn’t take your life,” his cold words pierced my heart.

I had to pull the phone away.

“Samira, I know it hurts, but the best thing you can do is sever ties with that man,” he continued.

“They killed my baby!” I yelled at him.

“Daniel killed your baby!” he corrected me. “Even if you had given birth or the child had grown up, he would have sent that slut of his to kill that child, just like he sent her to deliver these divorce papers!” He waved the papers in front of me.

I opened my mouth but found myself speechless.

“Sign them, serve your time. Four years will pass. You’ll be thirty, still young enough to rebuild your life and even find love again,” he urged.

Nonsense.

That was the word echoing in my chest.

Nonsense.

My hand clenched into a fist, ready to smash against the glass barrier separating us.

I inhaled deeply.

I thought he would help me seek justice.

Justice for my baby.

“Samira.”

“No, Uncle Ben, if that man wants me to sign those papers, he should come here and deliver them himself!” I yelled, rising to my feet.

“You’re a fool, Samira!” he spat.

I froze, my heart skipping a beat.

“Yes, you heard me right, a fool for being blind to the kind of monster you married!”

I stood there, the phone still hanging low but I could hear every word.

“A fool for not settling up your own bank like a normal person. A fool for leaving us with no choice but to deplete our savings, our retirement funds, and even your cousin's college money in order to pay for your lawyer!" His cold words kept hitting me.

I felt my legs giving up beneath me, and my hand trembled uncontrollably

His words pierced right through the very hole in my chest…