M I D N I G H T Chats [Joelle]

[LIBBI DANIELS]

Libbi let her head fall back against her shitty thin pillow and she sighed, her cell was like a million degrees it was hotter than hell in the prison today, or maybe Libbi was coming down with something. Either way she was hot, sweating and in an arsey mood because of it. Libbi’s cell door was wide open just so the little breeze attacked her legs as the night took over. She just began to stare at the ceiling realising she hasn’t spoken to Joelle for a day or so, being far too engrossed in Leo and herself.

Libbi smiled as she thought about Leo Marker, they had flirted and played pool together that day and she was just finding the entire experience rather child like. She felt like a little girl in high school flirting with the hottest boy in the year. She begun to smile as she began to blush, Libbi then snapped out of it and sat upright deciding to go and see if Joelle was still up. One of the only females on Death Row that she actually liked, the poor girl hadn’t been in the prison for long and still hadn’t told Libbi why she was here either yet.

Libbi stood upright, slipped her boots on and walked out of her cell and a few cell doors down was Joelle’s cell. She lightly knocked on the metal cell door and she creeped her tall slender frame inside. “Joelle? You up?” Libbi asked softly hoping not to wake her, it was probably about 12pm at night, so it wasn’t late really but late in prison time considering there was nothing to do. Libbi put a hand through her black hair, it had a few knots from the day in it but overall still soft as a shampoo advert. “Just a little bored, can’t drop off to sleep so I thought I’d come and mither you instead.” Her voice laced with a little giggle at the end.

[JOELLE BRADY]

Joelle had been tossing and turning for the past two hours. Her mind had been on how quickly her execution date was approaching. She wasn't sure exactly when it was, but she had a general idea. Soon they would be dragging Joelle out of her cell to take her down for the official execution. She had been in the room itself many times before. It was like some kind of sick torture technique the staff used on the inmates. Were they trying to make them mental or something? It seemed to be working on Joelle, although she never showed how scared she was. Showing you were scared was showing you were weak, and you wouldn't survive in this world if you were weak.

A sudden knock on her cell door made Joelle jump. She sat upright in her bed. Panicked thoughts ran through her mind. Who the hell could it have been? It couldn't have been her execution already, could it? So when Libbi Daniels spoke, Joelle was instantly relieved. She breathed a sigh of relief before turning to face the other brunette woman. Joelle smiled slightly. Libbi was probably the one woman in the death row area that Joelle actually liked. The rest of them were flat out scary.

"I haven't been able to sleep either. Been thinking a little too much." When you were in jail, it was best not too think. The only unfortunate thing was that you had too much time to yourself to think...There was really no way around it. No matter how hard you tried, you were constantly thinking. Sometimes you lost your grip on reality and got lost in your own head. Joelle had been trying her hardest lately to not let that happen to her. She was not going to get crazy like her sister. She wasn't going to let it happen.

"Y'know, I never told you why I'm in here." Joelle interlaced her fingers underneath her chin and stared at the other woman. "Do you want to here why?"

Everyone that Joelle had told her story to had told her that she was crazy...but she wasn't crazy. She hadn't killed those people. There was no way that she had killed those people. She was completely innocent. But, of course, the cops couldn't prove that. Unless Joelle could figure out a way to get them to at least talk to her sister, she was pretty much fucked. She was going to get executed for a crime she absolutely had not committed.

"I'm not supposed to be in here." Joelle smirked and shook her head. "I know you hear that a lot, but I really am not supposed to be here." She hoped that the force in her tone would be enough to make Libbi believe, but she doubted it.

[LIBBI DANIELS]

Libbi walked into her friends cell, noticing she was on her bed she sat down next to her friend on the bed. She smiled at Joelle who looked like she had been trying her best to sleep but can’t quite switch off due to the driving herself mental over being in prison. Libbi knows all of what the girl is going through, she knows that Joelle has been shown the execution room, and probably been walked through the execution process. It was Jack’s way of torturing and making the inmate go completely insane. She knew that Joelle was probably not going to be executed for a while, hell they even told Libbi that she would be executed quickly but it had been 9 months now and definitely not going to dying anytime soon despite the daily threats from Jack.

“Been torturing yourself? Have you been thinking about the execution or something?” Libbi asked knowing that yes would be the answer. She wanted to lend a helpful hand or perhaps just a friendly face so she could smile a little. Libbi had taught herself not to think about the prison sentence she had be given, she had even tricked herself into thinking that she had another 25 years in this place and she could walk out the front door, but that would never happen. “You just have to block it all out, try and smile again and everything will be fine” Libbi flashed a smile to Joelle, and she hoped her words would help somewhat.

Libbi looked at Joelle when she said she had never told her before why she was in here, Libbi often never asked inmates why they were in here because it was always the same story, every time it would be the typical “I am innocent story” or the other would be “i did it and id do it again” the scary response. “Yeah if you want to share then yeah id love to hear you out. It might do you some good getting it off your chest” Libbi looked at Joelle with a look of contentment.

“Were all not supposed to be in here Joelle” Libbi turned to look at the ceiling, her hair falling down her back. “But we get on with it because there is no chance were getting out sweetie, not a chance” Libbi turned her head back to her friend knowing what she said may not go down well. “Killing a human being just because they killed a human being isn’t just and it isn’t humane, but unfortunately there is nothing we can do” Libbi sighed, she didn’t want to be executed either but it was inevitable just like the rain on this island.

[JOELLE BRADY]

Joelle sighed slowly. She wish it were as easy as smiling and pretending everything was alright. But, of course, life was never that simple. She laid her head against the cool concrete and clamped her eyes shut. For now, she would just talk to Libbi like this. Her body was too sore for her to get up and walk around...Jo would just have to wait until the morning to do that.

"My sister framed me, Lib." Joelle let the statement hang in the air before she continued. "We're twins and were both born with a super rare disease that causes us to not have fingerprints."

Joelle held her hands out so that Libbi could see what wasn't there in the lack of light. "My parents got divorced when we were ten. My sister freaked out. Full on psycho. My dad put her in two different mental hospital's for twelve years. So much happened in that time...I graduated high school, graduated college, got a job at a major fashion label...If none of this," Joelle motioned around her, "had happened, I'd be the CEO of that fashion label."

Joelle crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the wall. She had told this story hundreds of times, but that didn't make it any easier telling. Deep down, Joelle was still pained by everything that had happened, although she would never admit to it out loud. "My sister calls me one night frantic and practically screaming. This throws me off guard because she's not been like this since she came back...so I head over there. Her clothes are bloody. I assumed that she'd been attacked, but she wasn't. So I offered to trade clothes for the time being."

Joelle smirked and shook her head. "Stupidest fucking move I've ever made in my life. There was a bloody knife on the floor, bloody fingerprints on the phone...And I was the one wearing the bloody clothes. Who do you think the cops arrested when they showed up? And so I've been stuck in this hell hole ever since."

She glanced at Libbi and shook her head. "Of course, you're probably not going to believe me, but will I blame you? No. The story's pretty ridiculous."

[LIBBI DANIELS]

Libbi prepared herself as Joelle told her the story every person in this prison had, everyone had a story whether it was a innocent story or “they made me do it” story, everyone had one. Even Libbi had one, but hers was a bit more different. Her story was all about how she doesn’t even remember committing the crime but all the evidence stacked up against her was incredible, so Libbi had been convinced that she did it.

“Your sister framed you?” Libbi nodded and repeated just so she could get it out of her mouth, “I get the whole twin thing, but having no fingerprints?” Libbi looked down at her friends fingerprints, and noticed that she actually didn’t, the light was terrible in their cells but from what she could see it there wasn’t anything on her fingertips. “Never heard of anything like that before, how strange” Libbi thought she had been smoking too much weed again, but then realised she hadn’t smoked any in months due to being stuck in the prison.

Libbi listened to her friend tell her the life she wished she had in fact, but Libbi had the same life her twin sister possessed, the rebel life. Libbi wished she was clever like Joelle and had the ambitions but Libbi just hasn’t been able to grasp it. “I am so sorry to hear that you have been ripped from a life that you have worked your arse off for” Libbi sighed and looked down at her hands, Libbi wanted to do something, to try and sort something out at least but they were both powerless right now.

She was shocked that Joelle even thought it would be a clever idea to swap clothes, now which was a bit stupid for Libbi. Not even Libbi would have done that, she had done some stupid things in her time but definitely hadn’t tried that before. “Didn’t you think it was all a little convenient? She phones you up and lets you to swap clothes round?” Libbi raises an eyebrow at her friend. “Why didn’t she put her hands up and own up to it? Are you telling me your own twin sister sold you out?” Libbi found it all far too strange to believe but she listened and participated in the conversation all the same.

Libbi nodded as Joelle commented on how the story was crazy, “Yeah it sounds a little mental, but then again were all mental in here. I know I am a little, were innocent in our own little ways” Libbi sighed not knowing what to say.