that everyone is innocent in gaol.
‘That’s terrible, Manish. How long do you have to stay here?’
‘We don’t ask this question. It is not polite.’
‘Oh, sorry mate.’
‘It is okay, I must do 20 years.’
‘Shit! How long have you done?’
‘Nine months.’
‘Shit! Sorry to hear that, mate.’
‘We are still waiting for the appeal, we are innocent.’
‘Well, good luck, mate,’ I said, but I thought it was time to change the subject.
‘Tomorrow I’m going back to court and will hopefully leave here, so maybe I won’t need all this stuff.’
‘No, you do not go to court tomorrow. You go to court in 14 days’ time.’
‘What! No, you’re wrong. My lawyer told me I’d go back to court tomorrow for a bail hearing.’
‘No, this is not possible. You are already listed to return to court on the 7th of June, I think.’
I was convinced Manish had no idea what he was talking about so I let it go. ‘Okay,’ I said, ‘no problems.’
Manish left and I wondered what the hell was going on. There’s no way I could still be here in 14 days, just no way.
At 5.00 pm I lounged in my cage with absolutely nothing to do but think. I hadn’t even been here one day and I was sick of thinking this through. I’ve ‘what if’ed’ this thing to death already. What if I had just stayed in my room resting? What if I hadn’t gone for the rickshaw ride? What if I had paid more attention to where we were? What if Ujwal and I had just bolted through the police? What if I had tried to pay them off earlier? Why me? Why fucking me? What else does one man have to go through in one life? Surely I’ve already done my share?
Ugly Guard entered my cell and stood at the grill staring at me for a while. I looked back and he said nothing, just kept looking. Again, I felt like the animal in the zoo. Eventually I said, ‘You all right, mate?’ Ugly just grunted a few times and made some noises like a caveman. Excellent, he’d be back with a knife later, I thought. I soon worked out that he was trying to tell me to shower. Okay, I thought, it’s been a hot, sweaty day and I’ve still got a good sweat going, so I could use a wash; but I won’t be dropping the soap. I’ve seen enough movies about prison life to know what that means.
The bathing process was simple. In the massive underpants with my new sarong wrapped around me, I used the very old fashioned pump and filled a bucket with cold water. I placed my boots and sarong to one side and used the small blue bucket to pour the cold water over me until I was completely wet. I soaped up, then poured more water over me to wash the soap off. As I was doing this, 580 prisoners stopped what they were doing and came closer to watch me and stare. I suppose they’d never seen a white man shower before. A few prisoners stepped in to hand me my towel and boots and I became concerned that this meant I owed them something now. When I was totally finished I bowed to the audience and returned to my cage only to be followed by what seemed like the entire population. Loud Talker soon sorted that out with his cane and booming voice. And he had another go at Ugly.
Back in the cage I realised that I had just killed 15 minutes. I changed into the dry pair of jocks and wrapped the sarong around again, deciding to stay like this as it was much cooler. I hung the Calvin Klein jeans on one of the nails and decided not to wear them again until I was released or went back to court. I wondered if Calvin Klein had ever had a pair of his jeans in an Indian prison before. Probably plenty of fake pairs, but these were definitely the real deal and were my favorites. I wished I hadn’t been wearing them yesterday as I didn’t want there to be bad memories in the future when I wore them again.
It started to get dark and I noticed fewer people hanging around my door. In fact, it seemed as though people were only walking past with a few stragglers hanging around to gander for a while. I
‘That’s terrible, Manish. How long do you have to stay here?’
‘We don’t ask this question. It is not polite.’
‘Oh, sorry mate.’
‘It is okay, I must do 20 years.’
‘Shit! How long have you done?’
‘Nine months.’
‘Shit! Sorry to hear that, mate.’
‘We are still waiting for the appeal, we are innocent.’
‘Well, good luck, mate,’ I said, but I thought it was time to change the subject.
‘Tomorrow I’m going back to court and will hopefully leave here, so maybe I won’t need all this stuff.’
‘No, you do not go to court tomorrow. You go to court in 14 days’ time.’
‘What! No, you’re wrong. My lawyer told me I’d go back to court tomorrow for a bail hearing.’
‘No, this is not possible. You are already listed to return to court on the 7th of June, I think.’
I was convinced Manish had no idea what he was talking about so I let it go. ‘Okay,’ I said, ‘no problems.’
Manish left and I wondered what the hell was going on. There’s no way I could still be here in 14 days, just no way.
At 5.00 pm I lounged in my cage with absolutely nothing to do but think. I hadn’t even been here one day and I was sick of thinking this through. I’ve ‘what if’ed’ this thing to death already. What if I had just stayed in my room resting? What if I hadn’t gone for the rickshaw ride? What if I had paid more attention to where we were? What if Ujwal and I had just bolted through the police? What if I had tried to pay them off earlier? Why me? Why fucking me? What else does one man have to go through in one life? Surely I’ve already done my share?
Ugly Guard entered my cell and stood at the grill staring at me for a while. I looked back and he said nothing, just kept looking. Again, I felt like the animal in the zoo. Eventually I said, ‘You all right, mate?’ Ugly just grunted a few times and made some noises like a caveman. Excellent, he’d be back with a knife later, I thought. I soon worked out that he was trying to tell me to shower. Okay, I thought, it’s been a hot, sweaty day and I’ve still got a good sweat going, so I could use a wash; but I won’t be dropping the soap. I’ve seen enough movies about prison life to know what that means.
The bathing process was simple. In the massive underpants with my new sarong wrapped around me, I used the very old fashioned pump and filled a bucket with cold water. I placed my boots and sarong to one side and used the small blue bucket to pour the cold water over me until I was completely wet. I soaped up, then poured more water over me to wash the soap off. As I was doing this, 580 prisoners stopped what they were doing and came closer to watch me and stare. I suppose they’d never seen a white man shower before. A few prisoners stepped in to hand me my towel and boots and I became concerned that this meant I owed them something now. When I was totally finished I bowed to the audience and returned to my cage only to be followed by what seemed like the entire population. Loud Talker soon sorted that out with his cane and booming voice. And he had another go at Ugly.
Back in the cage I realised that I had just killed 15 minutes. I changed into the dry pair of jocks and wrapped the sarong around again, deciding to stay like this as it was much cooler. I hung the Calvin Klein jeans on one of the nails and decided not to wear them again until I was released or went back to court. I wondered if Calvin Klein had ever had a pair of his jeans in an Indian prison before. Probably plenty of fake pairs, but these were definitely the real deal and were my favorites. I wished I hadn’t been wearing them yesterday as I didn’t want there to be bad memories in the future when I wore them again.
It started to get dark and I noticed fewer people hanging around my door. In fact, it seemed as though people were only walking past with a few stragglers hanging around to gander for a while. I
Similar Books
