Page 4 of Tank

Today’s meal was beef stew over noodles. There was homemade buttered bread, peas on the side, as well as lemon meringue pie for dessert. She had a bottle of water too, which she never drank, but the coffee was five-star. She could drink it all day and not feel the least bit guilty about it. Pulling at her jumper, she knew that she’d put on some weight since being in jail and blamed that on Lisa. If she’d just given her the boy, then none of this would have happened.

David, her only child, had married a slut. She didn’t actually know that she was going to be a slut then, but she forbade him from marrying her. But he said he was in love and wanted her in his life. She could no more begrudge him that than she could anything in the world. As the months and years went by, she began to hate Lisa even more. Her son wanted to spend all his time with her and not with his momma. Right then, she plotted to have them move in with her so that she could keep an eye on what went on between them. Then he was killed.

David had been a lowly cop, and she had told him that something was going to happen to him. And it did. One night, while off duty, he’d been killed in a robbery gone bad, and that had been the end of her baby boy. She wanted to blame that on Lisa, but the police had told her that he’d only been at the wrong place at the wrong time. By then, Lisa had had a baby boy, David Eugene Manchester the third, and she wanted her to live with her so that she could make sure she raised her grandson the way that he should be raised. But she didn’t do it.

Lisa had gotten herself a house to rent, and it had taken Janice three years to be able to buy it. It had cost her a lot of money, too, and she raised the rent on the house immediately. As soon as she did that, instead of living with her like she wanted, she’d gone and got herself a second job instead of coming to her for help. She wanted the damned slut to be beholden to her, and it wasn’t working out.

She wouldn’t allow her to babysit the boy either. That should have been her right as a grandmother to be able to make sure that his education was good. Instead, she put him in daycare so that he’d be raised by them. Damn it to hell and back, she hated Lisa with a passion, and now she was married to some Savage person, and they were living in some shack that she didn’t care for. Nor had she approved of her getting married.

“My son should have been the only man in her life until she departed from this life. And now I’m going to have to make sure she’s out of her life because she won’t allow me any access to my David, my grandson.” She wanted to train him to be beholden to her, too, but that wasn’t working out. It was her duty to make sure he married well, unlike his father had, and bring up the next Manchester in the world. “If she thinks that she’s going to get away with adopting him to some Savage, I’m going to have to kill her. I might anyway.”

Finishing her meal, she was happy to see that she’d not eaten all her peas. And she’d left the crust of her pie. The doctor told her time and time again that she was going to die in jail if she didn’t take better care of herself, and she was going to prove him wrong. She was getting out today, and that was going to be the end of a lot of people.

“I’m going to bulldoze this jail too and everyone in it.” That was her plan to make sure that everyone paid for how they’d treated her, and she wasn’t going to leave the jail system there to make sure they could take her in again. The damned people wouldn’t do what she wanted, and that wasn’t going to bode well for them. She’d been making a mental list of things that she was going to do to the little town as soon as she got out. “Well, today is the big day, and I’m going to make sure I’m the last person standing.”

By the time she was ready to go to the courthouse, she’d been given a clean jumper and a pair of slippers. She hated them with a passion, too, but since they wouldn’t allow her to have any of her own clothing, she’d have to put up with their rules. Her attorney had better have things ready when she got out, or he was going to be next on her list of people that were going to be ended. She wasn’t messing around with them, and they’d better be ready for her to tell them what was going to happen. When they came for her tray, she asked what was going on with the judge and her court hearing.

“Things are running behind still, but he said he was going to get to you today.” She asked what the holdup was. “I have no idea. Every time you ask me, I tell you the same thing. I’m not there, so I have no idea. Why don’t you listen?”

“I listen just fine. You tell him that if it’s too late, he’s going to have to pay for me to get home. I’m not going to have my driver out late just because he doesn’t know how to stay on schedule.” Her head was hurting her again, and he belly was upset. “You tell him what I said, or I’m going to have your job.”

“Take it. Putting up with you for the last three months has made me rethink what I chose for a life career. I might put my notice in if you get to stay with us any longer.” Before Janice could comment, he was walking away with her empty tray. “Supper is going to be a cold sandwich if you’re here.”

“It had better not be.” She shook the bars to no avail. They were stuck to the floor tightly, and she couldn’t even get them to make a noise when she did that. She knew better than to use her coffee cup on the bars; they denied her coffee for three days when she broke the cup. That stuff was golden, and the only thing she had to make her day better. “Damned people. When are they going to realize that I pay my taxes and I own their asses? Never, it sounds like to me.”

Since there was no clock in the room or hall, she had no idea what time it was when they finally came to get her. The day had been cold when she’d been arrested for hitting Lisa and being a threat to the community, she’d been told, but now it was nearly cold enough to freeze her feet off. Getting into the bus, she sat where she was told and was strapped down. As soon as they were on the road, Janice decided that she was going to ask her attorney for some pens and paper so that she could write some of her list down before she forgot it.

Janice had been having trouble with her memory for a while now. They said it was because she was in jail and had no access to newspapers or television. She thought that they were putting something in her drinks, but never said anything. She’d have her list, and that would be all she needed to make sure that people paid for how they treated her. Especially Lisa and that damned husband of hers.

The courtroom was filled. There were people standing along the outside corners like they were at some kind of spectacle. If she had any trouble, she was going to make sure that they got their money’s worth because she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She looked at her attorney and wanted to slap the shit out of him. She didn’t know why; it’s just the thought that came to her mind when she saw him.

“What took so long?” He told her that the judge had asked if anyone had anything to say about her. “And that took all day? Christ, I hope they were saying good things. If not, I hope you took names. I’m going to own this little town when this shit is done.”

“Keep your voice down.” She again had the urge to hit him, but sat on her hands. She was chained up anyway, so there was no way that she was going to be able to hurt him. “Didn’t I tell you that the judge is a shifter and they have great hearing? I know that I did. Just be nice until this is over, and we can get you out of here.”

“I want a pen and paper.” He handed it over to her, and she started on her list. “This is going to be epic. I’m going to take care that everyone in this little town pays for what’s been done to me.”

While she tried to remember everything that had been done to her, she didn’t pay attention to what was going on around her. She would look up on occasion, when she heard her name being said, but she didn’t really care. Today was the day, or she was going to know why not. As soon as her attorney poked her in the arm, she looked at him. Dazed for a moment, she didn’t know where she was or what she was doing, much less who the man was sitting next to her.”

“The judge wants to know what your plans are when you get out of here.” She said that she was going to ruin this town. “I’m pretty sure that’s not what he wants to hear. Just behave yourself and tell him you’re going to be a good citizen when you’re released.”

“I’m not.” He rolled his eyes, and she tried to hit him. “Damn it all to hell and back, I’m going to make you pay for that.” She stood up when told and looked at the judge. He asked her again what her plans were when she got out of here. “I’m going to talk to Lisa about giving me my grandson. And if she doesn’t, then I’m going to take him. He should have been mine in the first place. She no more knows how to raise him than a circus animal does. And he’d be a better man, too, than with that Savage fellow.”

“Your grandson is now a Savage. He’s quite proud of the fact that he’s been adopted. What are your plans concerning that?” Her attorney, she never learned anyone’s name that was beneath her, pulled on her elbow. Looking at him, she asked him what the hell he wanted. “You’ll watch your language in my courtroom, Mrs. Manchester, or I’ll have you in jail for a lot longer. I might even send you to something bigger this time since everyone at the stationhouse is sick of you telling them what you’re going to do to them.”

“Then there won’t be any surprises when something befalls them.” She was quite proud of herself in having something to say. When he banged his gavel on the table in front of him, she jumped a little. “Today is the end of my ninety days. I want out so that I can make a few heads roll. It’s the least you can do after making sure I wasn’t able to do my duty by them in the first place.”

“You’ll spend another ninety days in prison this time. Until such time as you can learn to control your temper they you’ll keep getting ninety days until you either die or learn that you can’t go around hurting people when they don’t do as you wish.” She told him no. She wasn’t going to do that. “I happen to be in charge of what goes on today, not you. You’ll be remanded over to the prison today, and I hope you learn something.”

“The only thing that I’m going to learn is your name so that I can take care of you when I get out.” He asked her if she was threatening him. “No. Of course not. I’m telling you like it is. You’ll be the first with his head to roll, and I’m going to enjoy every second of it. When are you going to learn that I’m in charge of myself and that you need to get your head out of your ass and let me do what I do best, and that’s get what I want.”

“One hundred and eighty days for threatening a sitting judge, ninety more for cursing in my courtroom. Would you like to go for more?” She started to open her mouth, but her attorney stood up and started talking about the stress she was under. “I don’t care if she’s having a bad day. I’m going to sentence her to years now if she gets mouthy with me.”

~*~

“Your grandmother ended up getting five years in prison for mouthing off to the judge.” Lisa asked Davy if he understood what she was telling him. For a seven-year-old, he was pretty smart, but he might not understand what was going on with the judicial system. “It means when you’re twelve, she’ll be ready to get out if she learns anything.”

“I hope she doesn’t.” She had the same feelings but didn’t voice them to her son. “I’m glad that she’s not around. When that nice police officer told us what she was planning to do to us, I don’t want to ever call her grandmother again.”