Captured Again(The Let Me Go Series)

Chapter 5


EMMA sat on one side of the cell, on the bare concrete floor with her dress stretched to pull over her legs—little did that cover—and her arms wrapped around her knees. Trying to keep her eyes averted from her three cellmates, who glared at her from the cold metal bunks, she willed herself to stop shivering. She didn’t want them to think she was afraid. She wasn’t. She was just very anxious... and cold. She guiltily wondered if Rickey knew where she was yet. How am I gonna explain this to him?

Emma matched their glares. She wanted to let them know she wasn’t intimidated. She tried to act cool, as if this wasn’t her first time in a jail cell. None of the three spoke to her, and there was at least that to be thankful for. One looked like a tired hooker—at least she dresses like one anyway—and seemed happy to just have an empty bed for the night.

The other two looked like junkies, and they were on one bunk together, sitting Indian-style with their backs to the wall. It was obvious who the leader was and who was the follower just by looking at them. While they were both small, one looked weak and used up, her arms covered with sores and her hair thin and brittle. The other woman had a tough and gritty look to her—scary even—and if she had sores on her arms, they couldn’t be seen for all the ink. She was covered in tattoos.

The stink was overwhelming. Emma tried to breathe through her mouth while her brain couldn’t help but work to dissect the smells around her: sweat, alcohol, vomit, and worse... human urine and feces. There was no way to get away from it. On her walk to her assigned cell, she’d peeked into several others and noticed everyone was on the bunks—thus, she chose the floor, even though two bunks remained empty and were probably warmer just based on gravity—warmer air goes up.

They must’ve turned the air down very low to make it as uncomfortable as possible in the jail cells—further punishment. It was everything she could do not to ask for a blanket from the guard, but no one else had one and she wouldn’t be the first to complain. For all she knew, maybe they’d already asked before she’d gotten there and was told no. The other ladies looked cold too. And she had to pee. But there was no way she was squatting on that freezing, disgusting metal toilet in plain sight of everyone. She tried to just not think about it as she sat all the way down, stretched her legs out, and then crossed them, squeezing her thighs together against the hard floor. She gasped as the coldness of the concrete touched her bare skin.

It seemed like hours since she’d been processed—a humiliating experience of fingerprinting, mug shots, and disapproving stares. She’d been charged with under-age drinking and driving under the influence. Where the hell is Gabby? Maybe she was taking so long to get her out because she was trying to argue the charges. Emma hoped Gabby hadn’t slid into one of her episodes and couldn’t make it there. Her thoughts kept drifting off to Gabby and the accident that had changed their lives six weeks ago, filling it with shock and grief, until Emma hadn’t been able to stand it... and had tried to drown out the thoughts with booze. You’re an idiot, she scolded herself in her head. Like our family really needs this on top of everything else right now. Way to go, Emma. Her thoughts drifted away...