CHAPTER ONE

2001

I can’t breathe. I am jerked awake with hands around my throat belonging to an intimidating inmate named Sistah She. She was a big, dark skinned woman that looked mean all the time. I guess she was some sort of gang enforcer in the prison. All I could see was her bloodshot eyes and all I could smell was her stale breath. She probably outweighed me by 150 pounds. She was also sitting on me, which made it even more difficult to breathe. I had no idea what Sistah She’s first OR last name really was. She was in prison for murder. In case you wondered, she really did it. I had no doubt.

Clairee was yelling at the top of her lungs.

“Damn it, Sistah She!” Her arms were locked around the large woman, pulling her off me. “What did Lil Bit do to you?”

Clairee Johnson was a very tall girl with flaming red hair she wore in a long braid and porcelain skin. She had freckles so it was hard for her to look very ominous. Obviously, she was of Irish/Scottish decent, she was at least six feet and had the build of Venus Williams. She had played college hoops for the University of Tennessee and was a ‘Lady Vol’ all four years. Clairee had accidentally hit and killed a pedestrian and was doing sixteen months for involuntary manslaughter. She was sent to Kingston Correctional Facility for Women in Virginia because there was no room at the Tennessee prison. Major drag for her.

“That girl thinks she’s better than us!” yelled Sistah She. Clairee still had her arms tight around her.

“No Sistah She! Lil Bit is cool!” said Clairee, panting from the physical exertion trying to neutralize Sistah She’s threat to me. “Just because she had money on the outside doesn’t mean she thinks she’s better! C’mon, CHILL!”

Sistah She finally calmed down and I was glad Clairee was in my corner.

“We cool, right?” said Sistah She, holding up a fist. Was she kidding? I gladly took her peace offering.

Although I had been given the name of Cayce Jayn Austin at birth, Clairee nicknamed me ‘Lil Bit’ the second I stepped into her cell. She had jumped off her top bunk, looked me up and down and said “Well, aren’t you a wee Lil Bit!” And that was that.

I just couldn’t believe I was in this place. I had been arrested six days earlier, accused of murder and denied bail. I was looking around at my cell and it was really disgusting. The mattresses were so thin, the ribs of the bed were actually showing through. We didn’t get sheets, only a blanket, so our bodies were lying on canvas.

Although it smelled like bleach, I knew it was not even close to being sanitary. The walls and floors were a dingy red color and just looked dirty. The sink, toilet and mirror were stainless steel, but they didn’t look clean, either.

We were not allowed to bathe on a daily basis, which I thought was totally gross. I was used to being clean. It smelled so bad on the off shower days, it made me gag. Then, you had those inmates who didn’t shower when they were supposed to. Nasty! Sweat and body odor was almost unbearable to me.

I was due to meet my attorney in a couple hours and I could only imagine what she would think of the bruising around my neck. I had seen it in the mirror. Clairee asked me if I was okay and I tried to answer, but the only sound that came out was a croaking, airy sound. Note to self: When I can speak again, tell Sistah She I don’t have any money! Funny how the guards always seem to miss these altercations.

Clairee left our cell and I lay back on my bunk and stared at the bottom of her bunk. I was too scared to close my eyes in case one of Sistah She’s buddies wanted a piece me. I still had two and a half hours before Lara Compos arrived.

Lara was a partner of Compos, Compos, Lattimer & Lett, the most successful law firm in Northern Virginia. Her partners had been adamantly against her taking my case because it was the son of a Virginia Senator that I was accused of murdering. But Lara didn’t care about that, she wanted the case for several reasons. First, it was a high profile case and she loved the cameras. Second, she had known me a really long time and when I told her I did not kill one of my co-workers, Maxwell James, she believed me. And really, third, she got excited going up against ‘The Good Ole Boys’, meaning Senator Chester James and his minions.

Six days locked up felt like forever. At least we could smoke, but the rumor was they were about to change the smoking policy to outside only. Hopefully, I would be out of here before that happens. Please God.

It was quiet when visiting hours were in progress. All the inmates had visitors with the exception of a few of us. Lara was coming toward the end of visitation, so I just stayed put in my cell. One of the male guards came around the corner and told me I did, in fact, have visitors. Big Jim was a kind, big-hearted guy. He was a real big teddy bear. In this place, it was the female guards who were evil. That much I did learn in six days. I did my best not to make eye contact with them.

Kingston Correctional Facility for Women was very strange and unlike any prison I’d ever seen. I mean seen on TV, you know, prison shows and such. The walls and floors were all painted red. RED! We have all heard the psychological properties of colors. Blue is soothing and calming. Green is balance and harmony. Yellow is emotional and positive. But RED? Physical. Strength. Aggression. Fight or flight instinct. Whoever made the decision to paint everything red was undoubtedly a sadistic MoFo. Maybe it was so blood wouldn’t show as much when someone bled. Either way, it was twisted.

The Fairfax County jail was too small to hold all the people arrested. When I got arrested, I was put in an overflow cell with seven other prisoners. Since I was arrested in the evening, I wouldn’t be arraigned until the following morning.

I was really freaking out for several reasons. First, the fact someone actually murdered Max James. That was SO shocking! Second, they thought I did it. Third, I’d have to stay the night in this cell with seven other ‘bad girls’. I wouldn’t be sleeping, that’s for sure.

The next morning, the eight of us were transported to the Fairfax County courthouse for our individual arraignments. When my case was called, Lara was there beside me. There was a guy representing the DA’s office that Lara had never seen.

Lara told me his only job would be to get me remanded to custody with no bail. He succeeded. Lara argued for me, but the judge was firm. I was led away to the courthouse holding cell. I was there for about four hours as the cell filled up with other prisoners that were denied bail. When you are denied bail, you must have done something really bad.

We were all transported to Kingston Correctional Facility for Women. Riding the bus to Kingston was frightening to me. I knew this wasn’t like the County jail. Along with not being large enough to house all the prisoners, the ones who got to stay in County were the least offensive crimes.

It was a two hour ride and I was doing my best to remain calm. When we arrived at Kingston, we were led single file into an ‘Exam Room’. We were told there would be a full cavity strip search. This would be right out in front of everyone. How humiliating. They did a strip search at County, but not the cavity thing.

The female guards were the ones doing the searching and they were not gentle at all. It hurt like hell. After the search, we got in line to get our prison clothes, shoes, pillow and blanket. We were handed off to male guards to escort us to our cellblocks. My group’s escort was Big Jim. He was a gentle giant, he seemed almost sweet and even respectful. He probably weighed over 300 pounds, but he was 6’5”. He had kind brown eyes and a friendly smile. He was a welcome change from those bitches in the ‘Exam Room’. I got to my cell and that’s where I met Clairee.

The Visitor’s Room was the only thing in the whole prison not painted red. It was beige. Like I said, strange. When I got to the Visitor’s Room, I was really happy to see my three BFFs, Angela McCormack, Varanika Mason and Sylvia Jürgens.

Angela was a former beauty queen, that being said, I really don’t have to tell you how pretty she was. She had short blonde hair and blue eyes, petite, very curvy, had fabulous boobs, you know, BEAUTY QUEEN! She reminded me of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. She was really funny, too.

Angela McCormack also spoke her mind. You could certainly accuse her of having no verbal filter. Whatever came out of her mouth was exactly what she was thinking. She had a tendency to be insecure. Though I thought she shouldn’t, I know why she was. She had a traumatic childhood and the emphasis was always put on looks. It was many years before she lightened up even a little. She sold real estate and that’s how I met her. We added Angela to our group after our dear friend, Teresa Newcastle, moved to Europe and left us with a threesome.

Varanika Mason was Hungarian-born, grew up with a performing family. Generations of jugglers, tumblers and many other talents performing all over the world. She broke that cycle becoming a U.S. citizen and joining the...