D is for Detained

Hello!  Welcome back!  I hope you are ready for the next blog post in the A to Z Blogging Challenge.  If you missed the last blog post, definitely go read that one.  Click here, or you will be very confused in reading today’s installment.

For this story, I am participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge.  I felt that this was a really good opportunity for me to not only express my creativity, but challenge myself to building a very long story that could be cut up into multiple parts.  And for it all to make sense!  So if you want to follow along with other blog posts in the challenge, check the hashtag #AtoZchallenge to follow along.

This story would be categorized as Dark.  Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment.  Enjoy!

D is for Detained

Tears flowed down her cheeks as she sat on the bench.  Her life was going to change forever.  All she heard was the jury and the judge repeating over and over.  Guilty.  Guilty.  Guilty.

Aspen was marched down a hallway and set in front of a doorway.  All was quiet at this late hour.  “Open H14.”  The officer holding Aspen’s arm yelled into the empty common area and the door in front of them slowly slid open.  It was dark inside the small room and Aspen felt her heart start to pound a little faster.  The officer turned her around and unlocked her handcuffs.  “Goodnight.”  The door slammed shut, echoing in the large detention facility.

“Whachu in for?”

Aspen spun around to see a woman laying on the top bunk bed.  She wasn’t very visible in the dark cell.  Aspen swallowed.  “Uh…I was set up and no one believed me.”

“That’s what they all say.”  She sat up and got down from the bunk.  She reached out her hand.  “I’m Lily, but everyone calls me Mami.  I’m like a mami to everyone here.  I’ve seen many a girl come in and many a girl leave.   But it’s all up to you how you decide to use your time here.”

Aspen shook Mami’s hand.  “I’m Aspen.  And…uh…thank you.  I appreciate it.”

Mami led Aspen over to the bed and sat her down.  “Listen to me honey.  You get to decide your future.  I…I wasted mine.  I got with all the wrong people and I gave up my chance to get out of here.  Don’t be stupid.  Now tell me what happened.”

Aspen felt her eyes start to fill with tears.  “Uh…my boyfriend was very manipulative.  He was not a nice guy.  And I bought a gun to scare him, basically to show him that I was serious.  But then he lunged toward me and I pulled the trigger but I didn’t even know it was loaded.  I ended up killing him.  But I only wanted to scare him, not kill him.  And now I’m here.”

Mami wrapped her arm around Aspen’s shoulders.  “Sweetheart, I want you to know everything happens for a reason.  But get some rest before you meet the other girls tomorrow.”  She gave Aspen a quick squeeze before climbing onto her bunk.

Aspen laid there trying to drift off to sleep.  The metal bunk was difficult to get comfortable on.  She tossed and turned on her small mattress hoping to get at least a little sleep before the day started.

Aspen was startled as an alarm sounded throughout the building.  Mami helped Aspen out of the cell and into the common area.  All of the inmates were lined up for morning roll call before being led to the cafeteria.  They were given a small bowl of cereal, a cup of coffee, a cup of milk, and a small cup of fruit.  Aspen tried to enjoy the meal, even though she knew it was going to be the same every morning.

The day went without a hitch.  But when it was time for lights out, Aspen still couldn’t figure out if she was going to survive.  All she wanted was to get out and go back to her normal life.  She laid on the bunk, praying that something will happen to change her life for the better.