Igor Yevtishenkov

All the characters are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The described events have never occurred in the described geographic areas.

I am deeply indebted to the following people for encouraging and helping me out in various ways during the writing of this book: Robin Bithrey, Elaine Bithrey and Rece Bithrey.

CHAPTER 1

The sun was slowly setting over the Arizona Mountains, stretching the shadows across the flat surface of the Sonora Desert. The tired red tones of the enormous sunset suppressed the reddish color of the soil, filling it with dense violet hues before it was completely dark and all the colors became the same - the color of deep black night.

In the city of Phoenix, lights began to switch on and life moved from offices to apartments and night clubs. It did not stop at Estrella either, where a batch of female prisoners gradually adapted to the natural law of this institution.

A new working shift also started in a large half-open cell of the "free" inhabitants, who did not want to do voluntary work in the daytime. Having slept in the morning, they proceeded to the amusements available to them. The most common was the distribution of new arrivals between groups of old-timers.

Denise stole a five-dollar watch from a Watch store and ended up in jail for two years. It was considered an easy punishment, but now everything turned out to be quite different to her The Martinez Chicks, as they were known, chose her to run errands. They ruled everything in this block, because, as the others said, the sisters still had connections to the right people at large. They were caught for bribery, and meticulous investigators got to the bottom of all their contacts and crimes. Those who covered for them were paid off and reasonably decided to turn them in so that things would not go any further. The sisters did not cooperate with the investigators, but their patrons managed to negotiate with other court-related authorities so that The Martinez sisters got off with a term in this prison.

However, one of the sisters, who led the group, had her eyes on her, and Denise was released from all work. Instead, she had to do other work - to please the two sisters in the far corner of the cell, hidden from the cameras by the bunks and bodies of the prisoners, especially at night time. Denise refused to do this, before the "upbringing" began. Every night it was equally wild, brutal and terribly painful. She was beaten, silenced and raped, as much as they could.

A month later, Denise was in the infirmary, where patients with tears and blood, infections and tumors were not uncommon. Two weeks passed like one day. Her return to the cell after a "long vacation" was met with cries of joy and pleasure. Further violence continued with the same persistence. Moreover, every time it was the eldest sister's turn, the half-crazy Laura, everything turned to hell, and Denise heard her hoarse whisper in her ear for the thousandth time.

'I'm Sergeant William Lindstone. I swear to tell the truth and only the truth. You are also Sergeant Lindstone. Tell the truth! Right, justice hurts!' these words were repeated in different sequences and sounded like a curse. In the end, Denise ceased to understand the difference between reality and the fictional world of Laura Martinez and began to shout the same thing back to her. The woman was sincerely happy and stopped torturing her and then an incredible thing happened.

'Do you want to join "Last Chance"?' she whispered in her ear after being mocked again. Did Denise want to join this squad? Of course, she did! The prisoners got there on their own statement. In fact, however, it was only if they were allowed to do this by the leaders of the groups in common cells. The work in the squad was fine: they worked there during the day on community work, and at night they slept in separate cells, two people each. It was a paradise compared to what was happening to her now.

'Yes,' Denise whispered not believing her luck. Will they really let her go?

'Do you?' Laura grinned and burst out laughing all over the camera. The sleepy cellmates began to grumble in displeasure, but she paid no attention to them. 'She wants to be in the "Last Chance"! Have you heard?'

After these words the other members of her group began to laugh.

'I'm Sergeant William Lindstone. I swear to tell the truth and only the truth. And you are Sergeant Lindstone too. Tell the truth!' and everything repeated again.

A week later, Laura Martinez and several of her "girlfriends" were diagnosed with HIV, after which the cell was almost half empty. Denise was spared this misfortune: at least her tests were clean. The next day, Bruta, an old prisoner from another group, approached her and told her to leave for the "Last Chance".

'Tell the inspector you are allowed,' she muttered. 'Now you can go.'

Denise stretched her face in a terrible grimace, as Laura Martinez did, and, twisting her voice, began to repeat her words:

'I'm Sergeant William Lindstone. I swear to tell the truth and only the truth... Justice hurts!' after that she giggled and squatted, hugging her knees with her hands.

'She's totally whacked,' one of the prisoners said, and after that no one paid attention to Denise.

The next morning, though, she filed an application for community service, and a day after she was first taken outside to the steel-wire fence, put on a plastic handcuff with a sensor, and connected with five other prisoners, whom she saw for the first time. Then the bus drove them to a wasteland, where the first day of work began with the burial of corpses of the homeless, of which more than ten had been collected in a local morgue in a week. In the evening, her head was aching from the heat and hard work, her arms and legs were aching with sweat from the metal rings that rubbed them almost to blood, but it was worth it because she was not taken to a common cell, but to a separate box with four bunks, two of which were empty. Here Denise was able to calmly wash herself in the sink for the first time and immediately fell down onto the bunk, feeling that she could no longer stand on her feet. The past turned into darkness, she didn't even think about the future - it simply could not come, so only the present remained for her.