"She did this to you, didn't she?" Susan asked in the soft voice she knew he loved to hear.
"I told you not to ask, okay? Just keep your mouth shut when your brother comes here, and we will be fine. I will be here again before your time is up."
"Okay, my love," Susan said with a smile.
He looked at her and looked away.
An awkward silence descended between them, and Susan knew she did not have much time before someone would come sniffing for her like a hound.
"Do you want to leave now?" she asked, trying hard not to wrinkle her nose at the stale smell coming from him.
"Err, yes," he answered uncertainly. He looked like he wanted to say something, but then he nodded and said, "Keep your head low, okay?"
"Always," Susan said with a smile.
He nodded again, and just as silently as he had come, he left again.
The smile on Susan's face died instantly.
It was that bitch!
She was sure of it.
Not only was Thomas looking like something the cat had dragged through the alley, but he looked like he had been chewed and spat out by a feral animal too.
Fading bruises were all over his face.
His lips were cut and looked like they were healing badly.
Gone were his neat clothes and cocky attitude.
She was just sure that it had something to do with the bitch!
Had she found out what Susan did and was taking it out on Thomas?
Was she taking it out on her children?
Susan gripped the mesh wire as that thought came to her mind.
She swore in pain at her pricked hand and pulled back as she consoled herself again.
"She wouldn't dare," she muttered to herself.
Thomas told her that her kids were with his mama.
He wouldn't let anything happen to her sweet babies.
Right?
The fact that she couldn't answer that question with confidence, made her quickly pull out her phone.
She looked around again, just to be sure she was not being watched.
She was not supposed to have a phone on her while on duty.
Well, if they searched her, they would never find her phone with her.
Her phone was currently lying snugly in her drawer, in case those silly asses decided to do a routine check.
What she had on her was Manaois' phone.
It had come in handy since she discovered how she could beat the system and show these idiots what a fool they were.
The man would never know.
He had given himself a self-imposed no-electronics rule even after they had started allowing them to use phones and TV at special hours.
All the better for Susan.
If anything was ever connected with any of her calls, Manaois would be the one under fire.
She was going to make sure he was readily available for it.
Just as a good partner should do.
In the meantime, she opened the flip phone and quickly dialled the most-dialled number on the phone while looking over her shoulders to be certain the coast was still clear.
Just as she thought he wouldn't pick up, the call engaged, and a rough voice snapped. "What?!"
"Maze, I need your help," she said in a seductive tone.
"I am done with you, bitch. Call me when you have my payment."
"Maze, Maze. Please don't hang up," she said urgently.
His breathing on the other end signified that he was still there.
"This is different, Maze. I promise it is not about cr**k or the type of job you did for me the other day. This is not risky at all. Please, Maze"
"You don't tell me what is risky, bitch, you hear me?!" The man raged from the other end. "You are of no use to me yet, and you owe me so much now that every inch of your body would not be enough to pay for it. I am not…"
"One month!" Susan said urgently. "I promise I will stay with you for one month after I get out. I promised you two weeks before, but now I will make it one month. Just please get me this information, okay? And a little something to tide me over till I can leave this hellhole."
The man must have been considering the offer because he was silent for a minute, and then he said, "This is the last time. One month it is. What do you want?"
She quickly explained what she wanted.
She was just giving him the final details when she heard, "Susan, you..."
She turned with the phone in her hand as the man on the other end disconnected immediately.
With frustrated anger, she turned to see her roommate, the chirpy annoyance, who was as bad as Manaois'.
Everyone knew Manaois's phone, so the young lady recognised it immediately and said, "Isn't that Man's phone? What are you doing with it?"
You have to silence her. You can't let her tell anyone.
Susan's gaze went to the rake she had dropped nearby while she was going to meet Thomas.
She slowly walked towards it and smiled as she said, "Oh, I am sorry, Gwen. I needed to call my..."
The rake was right beside her.
She bent suddenly and heard.
"Gwen! Nurse T said she saw you come..."
Susan swore to herself as Rio, the bumbling idiot who had been sniffing after her roommate came running after her like the puppy that he was.
Ignoring Rio, Gwen asked, "What are you doing?"
Susan realised she was still bent with her hand just a few inches from the rake. "Nothing!" she said as she picked up the rake and smiled at Rio. "What do you want, Rio?"
"I came to call Gwen for..."
"Of course," she said sarcastically. Then she moved closer to Gwen and lowered her voice in plea. "Please don't tell anyone. I needed to call my family... my kids... urgently. They have missed me so much, and this has been really horrible for them. I am going to put the phone back right now."
With that, she moved past Gwen and smiled at the curious Rio.
If her godforsaken roommate knew what was good for her, she would keep her mouth shut.
Oh, she would.