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punk losers of society .” He felt lower than ever in his life. Officer Hennessy was
not that much older than him but had a steady job, career, family,
and roof over her head. He had absolutely nothing, had accomplished
nothing, and felt that he was exactly that, nothing. He regretted
his choices in life not caring about his life and his future when
he was younger. He began to care now but he wondered,
“ is it too late for me? ” He was dragged out of the courtroom in chains and brought
to a ring of jail cells in the basement of the courthouse to carry
out the beginning of his sentence. He sat in a jail cell as the
guards left him alone for the time being. Somberly, he shook his
head and cupped his face in his hands and was about to sigh when he
heard a weeping sound coming from nearby. He looked over to his
left to see he was not alone after all but he was with another
prisoner who he had seen before.
    “ Tina?” he
whispered.
    “ Huh?” She looked over
slumped down on the floor of her cell, her wrists and ankles
shackled as his were and she was weeping profusely.
    “ James, why? I‘m
confused.” They stared at one another thinking it odd the guards
would put them side by side.
    “ I don’t know…” he shook
his head.
    “ Are you alright?” he
asked.
    “ Do I look alright?” She
shrugged showing her bindings. She was wearing a grey sweatshirt
and sweatpants. “I didn’t even know why they grabbed me. This is
insane.”
    “ Come on. I can tell you
know why. ”
    “ OK, I’m a hooker. Happy
now?” She snapped crying.
    “ I know,” he said frowning
then decided to quickly change the subject.
    “ I saw you put up quite a
fight with the guards on the courthouse steps. It was very
impressive.” He smirked.
    “ Thanks” she laughed
slightly wiping her face with her bare hands. “I guess I can be
pretty rough when I need to be. My dad used to be a
boxer.”
    “ What did they give you?”
James asked her the question curiously.
    “ Seven years. And you?”
She asked.
    “ More or less but I think
it was a case of mistaken identity.” He shrugged then slumped down
to the floor in his cell and saw her eye to eye.
    “ Yeah that’s what they all
say.” Tina smiled with a sense of resilience.
    “ Prosecutor said something
about murdering some guard. It can’t be us.” Tina added. “At least
I thought it was crazy. I didn’t kill nobody!” Tina
exclaimed.
    “ Murder. I didn’t murder
anyone either.” James said shocked. “This is my first time in the
system.”
    “ I have been arrested more
times than I can count in the past few years,” said Tina
coolly.
    Tina May Prescott spent time with her
old acquaintance and new cellmate listening to his tale of woes and
explaining that they were not as far apart in life circumstances as
they would imagine. She explained how she wound up in jail this
time. Tina had always needed money fast and found it by turning to
a life of crime. She knew that she would need to come up with more
money fast to avoid being disassociated by her pimp and becoming
completely destitute and homeless. She explained to James that she
had walked into the approaching street which she knew very well.
She was afraid of dying alone on the streets due to lack of
nutrition, stable employment, or adequate resources. Each day and
the night that followed were especially long and hard. Tina sat on
a small stoop and rested for a moment. Each breath was a simple
sense of sweet relief and recognition of life in the harshest of
circumstances in the inner city but also carried with it the innate
fear that it could inevitably be her last. She had regretted the
sad life that she had grown accustomed in the proverbial middle of
nowhere lifestyle in Chronix Bay. A loud noise crackled across the
darkening sky and rain drops began to fall in a massive storm. She
sat with her head slumping between her legs and groaned
incessantly. Then she was approached by someone who appeared to be
a perfect