Free First Degree Innocence by Ginger Simpson Page A

imagine.”
“I don’t think so. C’mon girl, give it up.”
    Carrie pretended to be surprised. “I don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about, do you Di?” Carrie smiled to the woman on her left. She glanced to the right, folding her cards together. “How about you, Ruthie, do you think I’m glowing?”
“Are we gonna discuss suntans or are we gonna play?” Ruthie asked, her fingertips drumming on the table.
“We’re going to play.” Carrie splayed her cards back into a fan. “I’ll bid two clubs.”
They’d only finished the second deal when Carrie felt a tap on her shoulder. “How’s it going?”
She craned her neck upward at Jet. “Just fine, thanks. I’d ask you to play but we already have a foursome.”
“That’s okay. I’ve never been one for playing games.”
    Carrie fought to keep from busting into guffaws. That was the biggest lie she’d ever heard. Not one for playing games? Card games maybe, but Jet certainly knew all about head games. But Carrie kept her comments to herself. There was no use getting off on a bad foot with a new cellmate. “Pity, bridge is a fun game except when you’re the dummy.” She just couldn’t resist an attempt at sarcasm, but Jet remained unfazed.
    “Well, girls, I guess you heard the news.” She addressed the three at the table with Carrie, then glanced at Franny, Helen and Celia, watching from an adjacent bench. They all stared at her with wide eyes.
“What news?” Ruthie’s tongue habitually poked through the space where a tooth was missing. She looked at Jet with a raised brow.
“Lang’s coming to C Block on Friday. She’s gonna be my new cellie.”
“How’d that happen?” Franny asked, the tenseness in her jaw stretching her pocked skin.
    Jet buffed her nails against her chest. “I called in a favor. My bunkmate is being transferred to another state, so I thought Lang might be a nice replacement.”
    “Why Carrie?” Susanna’s brow furrowed. “You know she gets along fine with me.”
    “If I don’t pick my roommate, I have to take who they give me. It’s nothing personal. I just thought I might be compatible with Lang. Don’t get all bent out of shape over it.”
    Susanna’s lips stretched into a thin line and she stared at her cards. The conversation made Carrie jittery.
    Her gaze bounced from each of her friends. “It’s not so bad.” She searched their faces. “We’ll still share the same recreation time and be able to hang out. I’ll just be sleeping in a different bunk, that’s all.”
    “See, girls, even Lang isn’t upset about the move.” Jet patted Carrie on the shoulder. “See you on Friday, roomie. I’ve got to get some fresh air before it’s time to go back up.”
    Jet had barely walked away when Susanna slapped her cards down on the table. “Ohhhh, that woman! She could have picked anyone else in this whole place, but she wants to make my life miserable and she’s doing it through you, Carrie. She knows I enjoy having you in my cell, and she’s bound to change that. I just can’t figure out what she has to gain.”
    “What makes you think it’s about you?” Carrie asked. Susanna’s suspicions came as a surprise.
    “It’s a whole bunch of little things. Nothing I can really put my finger on, but I truly believe she’s the one who got me assigned to the kitchen. I do know for a fact that right after I got here, she set me up by planting a shiv in my cell.”
    “What’s that?” Carrie had never heard the term.
    “A homemade knife. This one was a toothbrush that someone had sharpened to a fine point and wrapped with string. It was definitely designed with two goals in mind, oral hygiene and bodily harm.”
“So what happened?”
“LOP.”
“And that’s…”
“Loss of privileges. I was denied rec for a month.”
“I guess it could have been worse.” Carrie patted her friend’s hand. “But how do you know it was Jet?”
Susanna’s gaze fell. “I guess I don’t know for sure,