Sleep Tight
[3 hours after the arrest.]
The bars slid close, and she sat there in the corner, sniffing in the pungent smell. Closing her eyes, she turned at her Tempus Moneda, and they refilled it. It was only four digits, about a thousand.
It wouldn't last that long. Zella snickered, and couldn't believe she's here after the interrogation.
She sighed, losing the amount of patience she have, and just bury her head deep in between her kneecaps. But then, as she thought she'd fell asleep, someone beside her holding cell spoke up. A question, hearsay.
"First time?" the woman with a gentle voice asked. Zella, with tears in her eyes, turned sideways, and saw a middle-aged woman, about her deceased mother's age, grinning back to her. Zella planted a fleeting look and swallowed.
"It must be. You're crying your eyes out. I'm here to pay for the damages I've done to a small car on our parking garage. It was horrible, lady." She chuckled.
How can she snicker that happily, like going to jail was such a natural phenomenon? Zella is accused, and it wasn't true.
No basis, no evidences presented, and only speculations of the detectives. It's something to prove that the rebels got killed by no other than the last remaining family member and not the government.
"How about you, how did you get here?" Zella hesitated to say it.
"I killed my family." It's better to say the truth. The middle-aged woman got horrified, wondering if she was correct with talking to a murderer.
She slid a few inches back, and Zella sighed. They stopped talking after that.
Zella turned to the bars, waiting for the police confirmation about her transferring to a penitentiary state.
This is going to be bad.
…
She went inside a van with dark tinted glass windows with a lot of people wearing black jumpsuits and face masks. It was ridiculous seeing them in those suits while transferring a death convict to the penitentiary state.
Zella was helpless. She never wanted to get here, but they forced her.
If she didn't take the blame, she'd be killed. Besides, there are a lot of twists and turns inside the cell in which she could go out.
Zella turned to the cuff on her wrists. She smirked, "Are you afraid I can beat you one-by-one?"
She's the only woman inside the van. There must be someone the same age as her, a detective, rather. But it's impossible.
Zella hopped in, letting the officer guide her to the center, and she got buckled up.
There's nothing much to move. You're a prisoner who should take care of. Something bad might happen if they let a murderer go.
They planted it on everyone's minds. Maybe Zella should accept it, too.
Turning to the driver's seat, he's wearing a mask, too. Everyone here is unrecognizable, and Zella doesn't like the idea.
They're fools to hide, so that if danger happened, Zella wouldn't be able to point out the dogs of the government.
Yunis played the board well, trapping an innocent victim in line with her dirty job.
This must be the reason her late family revolted against the heads.
As soon as the van drove off the highway, she checked her Tempus Moneda. It is working fine. All her worries have gone.
…
Inside the penitentiary state, it's impossible to just stare in the prisoners without getting punched.
She got her first when she glared at the oversized, fat woman down the stairs who seemed to be the leader of a gang.
Zella slumped back on the bed, and her bookworm cellmate, wearing glasses, name's Jaina, slid back down on the mini stairs.
She closed her book, placing it on her side.
"What happened to you? Your mouth's bleeding," Jaina asked. She had done her hair on low pigtails. Looked like a child who just wander off in the street and ended here unconsciously.
The police didn't investigate that longer and placed her here. Exactly 8 hours after the arrest, only to get a crooked teeth and nerdy cellmate who doesn't know but to read a book.
"I got punched downstairs. I kept staring at the… chubby woman down there. She seemed to be the leader here." Zella retrieved a clean towel at the foot of the bed, wiping it on her bare shoulder, and hissed.
She pulled off her hair tie, letting her greasy hair cascade over her shoulders, and thought of the day.
Earlier in the morning, she was still home. 6 hours after, police came, arresting her of murder she didn't commit.
Then, at night time, she ended up inside a penitentiary state to repent for a mistake…
"I didn't kill my family. So how did I deserve to be here?" Zella whispered in a hunched voice.
Jaina leaned on the wall, staring at Zella's brownish hair, and thought deep.
Zella swallowed, brushing her fingers in her scalp, not letting a tear trickle down her cheek.
"Government's a trash, Jaina. A lot of people came here, saying they're accused, and they just have to take the blame. Or else…"
"They die."
"They die."
Both of them were simultaneous with their words. It's the first time Zella got threatened with a gun.
She never expected for the authorities to do that. One wrong retort and you're gone.
They'll bury you somewhere that your existence is forgotten already, along with her rebellious family.
The government was good on silencing them, but a lot of them weren't going to stay quiet.
"One of the government rules was to not spark uprising. One of their main goals is to kill those rebels. They must have done it to your family, Zella." She's wrong with Jaina.
She knew everything. Zella sighed, looking outside of the cell.
There was a distant maniac screaming coming from the downstairs cell. It was freaking annoying.
"They're rebels. I don't understand it at first, Jaina. I always tried to stop them. They're stubborn upon initiating protests, shouting day and night. It was horrible to see them on the television, flashing their bare faces like that, as if it could change anything. Look where it got them," Zella explained.
Jaina took a seat beside her, looked at the cell bars, too, and even scrutinized the lock.
"Those unprivileged citizens rebels way more than the ones who have a luxury life, Zella."
She doesn't want to talk about it, but she let Jaina explain. If she does, maybe her tiny mind could understand how it is to be strong, and how it is to fight back if you need it.
"Those with a luxury life just spend their rest days bathing on rose-scented, warm water, not thinking about those citizens who experienced famine, salaries that barely pass their palms, and forced to contribute to the country's debt through taxes."
It was symbolic. The social divide on how Jaina explained it thoroughly.
Zella turned back to her again, and she's now wondering of words across the wall. There must be something there that aided her marvelous statements.
"It was difficult to be poor, you know. You barely can even buy something that you wanted. It differed greatly to the people with lots and lots of money. They can even buy a person's life." Jaina breathed out heavily. She smiled, sighing.
It was sad, and Zella can feel it. She didn't say another word, and just stayed there, silent.
…
[A day after the arrest.]
They're allowed to stay in the garden along with the boy prisoners.
Jaina and Zella stayed side by side, chatting about their lives, and so on and so forth. Z
ella didn't know she could have someone she can ride on vibe to, and the years to come by must have felt longer, but with a companion, it'll pass.
Looking at the lawn, there's not much attractive boys to swoon over.
Jaina asked, "Have you ever dated someone?"
"No."
"Even one night stands?"
Zella shifted her eyes. "Are you doing that?"
"Yes." Jaina was much attractive to boys compared to her. She's a very conservative one.
Even if she's 23 years old, she's still a virgin. Zella never wanted to get her feet swayed off. She's taking care of her sexual life more than her physical health.
"Are you not?" Jaina teased her.
"I never wanted to get swayed by men, Jaina. It's never my cup of tea to change partners every… you know… if they taste a bit different than the ones you love." Both of them guffawed.
Two women laughing at something beyond the context meant crazy for everybody. But they don't care.
"So what if you meet him? What are you gonna do to him?" It never crossed her mind until now.
"I'll marry him first before sleeping together comes to mind, Jaina."
Her cellmate quivered her lip, turning to the huddle of boys at the close corner by their bench.
She got to make eye contact with somebody, but Zella kept on blabbering.
"Marriage is a real thing. We should respect s*x. And sleeping together isn't meant to have multiple partners at once. I have to take care of my sexual life when I'm around you, I don't like it anymore." Both of them laughed their heads off.