The warden, Col. Jake Zubiri, 40, took a good look at the details of Nina’s records, and then at the young woman herself. 23, pleaded guilty, reclusion perpetua. Nina was already wearing the familiar orange over-all that all new detainees are issued with. She was no longer cuffed, and she was already shod; somehow, she still felt the heaviness of the handcuffs around her wrists. She tried to feel her pulse. Instead, she heard the beating of her heart getting louder. And faster.“It’s okay, George. I’ll handle this one. Why don’t you leave Miss, uh, Cañete, here with me for a little while? So we could have a heart-to-heart talk about, uh, her situation here with us. And please lock the door behind you.”With knowing eyes, the correction facility’s supervisor, Sgt. George de Silva, 45, curtly nodded and obeyed the warden’s instructions.As the door closed, Jake stood up from the black, leathered executive chair and stared at Nina’s eyes.“First name’s Nina, correct?”The young woman nod

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 just