He sat on the edge of his bunk bed. ‘Be positive,’ he thought and he began to copy Barry’s signature over and over again in his notebook. His friend had simple handwriting and,
after only a little practice, he could almost do it with his eyes closed. Even so, in the pit of his stomach, he worried that everything they had planned and done so far might have been a waste of
time.
It was nearly an hour before Barry came back to the cell. He was carrying a large clear plastic bag and, as the officer locked the door, he gave Colin a big smile and thumbs
up.
‘You won’t believe our luck. I heard them saying that there are new officers coming onto the wing in the morning who won’t have ever seen either of us.’
‘What did they want with you?’ Colin asked nervously.
‘I, well, you pretending to be me, have got to be at the screws’ office on the ground floor straight after breakfast. You need to put all my personal belongings in this plastic bag.
I, I mean you, will then get escorted across to the release area, before being taken to Clapham Magistrates’ Court.’
‘This is madness, Barry. If I escape, I’ve then got to get all the way over to Croydon. We’ll never get away with it.’
‘Yes, we will. I heard them talking about a shortage of prison vehicles, and the senior officer said to use a taxi.’
‘A taxi! Are you joking?’
‘Nope, that’s what I heard. Apparently, they regularly do it when they’re short on paddy wagons and the prisoner is low risk like me.’
‘Which officer is going to accompany you? Sorry, I mean me. What if he knows you?’ Colin asked.
‘I clocked the rota on the wall and it’s an officer from another wing. Like I keep telling you, I’ve only been in here four weeks, so none of the screws knows me.’
‘But he may recognise me and know I’m not you.’
‘Not when you’re wearing my glasses. The lenses are so thick even my mum would think you were me.’
‘How on earth are you going to see then?’
‘Don’t worry, I got a spare pair.’
Colin was now really worried that they would never pull it off. But Barry insisted they had come so far that Colin couldn’t back down now and miss seeing the birth of his son.
‘So it’s tomorrow then, eight a.m.?’ Colin said nervously.
Barry nodded and clapped his hands, really enjoying the adventure. He had never been happier or felt so positive. Nor had he had such a close friend as Colin who depended on him so much. It all
made him feel good about himself.
‘We can do it, Col, but don’t give anything away tonight when you talk to Karen on the phone. Take some deep breaths, keep calm and act normal.’
They were lying on their beds, waiting to be let out for dinner, and had not spoken for a while. Colin broke the silence and asked Barry if he ever made phone calls home.
‘No, not got a phone card and there’s no one who’d listen anyway. Nobody gives a toss about me. They never did.’
‘I do. I care a lot about you, and I won’t ever forget what you’re doing for me. I owe you big time.’
Barry beamed. It felt great to have a friend like Colin. It was a deed well worth doing, just to know that he could help him be present at the birth of his son.
As usual during dinner, they ignored each other and ate at separate tables. The changeover officers had just begun their shift and would be on duty for the night. The next shift would take over
before breakfast, at 6 a.m. the next morning.
After dinner, Colin joined the telephone queue to call Karen. She was very down, saying that she was so heavily pregnant she could hardly move.
‘The last scan was good, and everything’s on schedule for the birth tomorrow. Mum’s going to take me to the hospital. She’s even packed a bag for me.’
‘I love you so much and you’ll be fine,’ Colin said, desperately wanting to tell her he would, if all went to plan, be with her.
‘I wish you were going to be with me, Colin. I miss you so much and I really need to see you. It’s been weeks and I don’t know how I’ll be after the baby is born. I hope
I’ll be able to travel to the prison. My mum has bought a VW for me to use so that will help. I know I’ll be able to bring the baby with me at visiting times, but it’s just not
having you here to give me support, and I get really scared.’
‘You keep strong, darling. I will be thinking of you and our baby every minute of the day.’
‘I know, but it don’t help, because I miss you so much.’
Colin was getting upset as she started to cry. He changed the subject, trying to distract her by asking if she’d thought of any other names to call their son. They often talked about this,
and she had said that her favourite name was Justin, after the pop singer Justin Bieber. Colin said that he had been thinking about what name he would like the baby to be called.
‘Why? You’d agreed to him being called Justin.’
‘I know, but can we call him Barry instead and maybe have Justin as a middle name?’
‘Barry!’ Karen exclaimed.
‘Yeah, do you like the name?’
‘No, I don’t. What do you want to call him Barry for?’
‘Listen, darling, next time I see you I will explain it all.’
The prisoner behind him tapped on Colin’s shoulder, and pointed to his watch. Time was up on his call. Not wanting a row, Colin said goodnight to Karen and hung up. He had so wanted to
tell her that he would soon be with her, but had managed to stop himself. He couldn’t help being really happy, as he was starting to feel more and more certain that he could pull it off.
Until now, he had been doubtful, but hearing her voice made him very excited. He was nervous, yet he firmly believed that in only a few hours he would be with Karen.
When Colin returned to his cell, Barry was looking at a comic on his bunk bed.
‘Guess what we decided to call him?’ Colin asked with a big smile.
‘You’d told me Karen wanted to call him Justin.’
‘I changed her mind. We want him to be called Barry.’
Barry sat up, his eyes brimming with tears.
‘You mean that? You would do that?’
‘Yeah, if that’s all right with you?’
‘Of course it is. Wow! That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I really appreciate it, Colin. Thank you so very, very much.’
‘That’s OK. Let’s just hope it all goes to plan in the morning.’
The lights went out, and they both lay on their bunks as the cells were locked up for the night. There were the usual catcalls and tinny radio sounds that would continue into the wee hours.
Neither of them had a radio. They had talked about maybe getting one, but they had no money and no one brought one in for them. They had sometimes watched television in the communal TV room, but
deliberately never together, so if one saw a show he would tell the other all about it.
‘Do you want a final run-through?’ Barry whispered.
Colin whispered back that it would be a good idea. Quietly, they went through all of Barry’s relatives, his childhood and school days until they had covered everything. At last, they fell
silent.
‘Not long now,’ Barry said after a while.
‘Fingers crossed,’ Colin answered, yawning.
After a few minutes, he could tell that Barry had fallen asleep because he snored, but Colin just couldn’t get to sleep himself. He was too wired, thinking about what it would be like to
see Karen and how she would react. He thought about her parents, and worried that her father might tell the prison or police where he was. He decided that he would explain to Karen’s mum and
dad that he had been let out on day release for the baby’s birth.
If everything was on time and the baby was born on the due date, he was certain he would get away with it. They had planned that Barry would stay in the cell all morning and not go down for his
lunch or mix with the other men on the wing. He prayed that Barry, who would have to pretend to be him, gave nothing away before he himself got to court and carried out the final part of his
escape. He also hoped that he would have plenty of time before the prison officers started asking Barry questions and found out the truth.
Unable to sleep, Colin paced round the cell. He looked over at Barry, sleeping like a baby apart from the snoring. He sincerely hoped that his friend would not get into deep trouble for helping
him. Colin had considered tying Barry up and gagging him, but quickly realised that was a stupid idea which could give away everything at an early stage. He had even suggested that Barry should say
that he was threatened and forced to do the tattoos and swap places, but Barry had rejected the idea. He would rather just play dumb and act as if he had forgotten about the arrangements for his
court appearance. He also told Colin that he did not mind getting months added to his sentence, as he preferred prison life to his life outside.
Colin had tried to make him aware of what it could mean, as Barry had not even been convicted of a crime yet, but was on remand until the magistrates’ court sent him for trial. It was
during that conversation that Colin learned exactly why Barry was at Barfield.
‘I was charged and kept in custody for stealing food.’
‘Stealing food! What was it, an Iceland truck full of the stuff?’ Colin had asked, astonished.
Barry laughed. ‘No, McDonalds and KFC.’
‘Burgers and chicken?’
‘Along with French fries and a large drink. I’d even order a triple Mac with double fries and the warmed apple pie. I was doing it like every day, sometimes twice, and always ran off
without paying.’
Colin shook his head in disbelief as Barry continued, ‘I waited until all the food was on the tray and then, when they asked me for the money, I’d pick it up and run like
hell.’
‘Didn’t you spill it off the tray?’
‘The first few times, yes, and I was only left with the chips or burger. The more I did it, the better I got and eventually never spilled a thing. One time though the drink went all over
the floor, and the manager who was chasing me slipped in it and went arse over tit!’
They both laughed out loud as Barry recounted his balancing skills.
Colin was surprised that Barry’s crime, which seemed little more than a minor theft, was serious enough for him to land up in prison on remand. Barry giggled and explained that he had been
dodging paying for his fast food for as long as he could remember.
‘I’ve been arrested loads of times, given warnings, fines and probation.’
‘Then why haven’t you learned your lesson?’
‘Because I just can’t resist doing it. I know every fast-food place from Chelsea to Fulham, Putney to New Malden, Kingston and beyond. You name an outlet and I’ll have tapped
’em.’
‘You must be a walking satnav for fast-food joints,’ Colin said.
‘I’d always return the tray,’ he said with a shrug. ‘I’d leave it in their doorway after eating the food. I had to keep switching where I went, so that the staff
wouldn’t recognise me. I never thought I’d get caught, but they got me in Clapham High Street last time.’
Colin was taken aback as it was a ridiculous series of petty crimes that didn’t, in his opinion, warrant a prison sentence.
‘Why are you going for trial and pleading not guilty? If you plead guilty at the magistrates’ you might not even get a prison sentence.’
Barry giggled again. ‘Because I know that I will be found guilty and get a longer sentence at Crown court. You see, Colin, I’m glad they got me. I don’t really want to go
anywhere else. I’m even going to ask for two hundred other cases to be taken into consideration.’
Colin could not understand Barry’s attitude. He himself hated being in prison and had always thought that Barry was just making the best of a bad job when he’d claimed otherwise. Now
he realised that Barry was genuine, and that Barfield was the closest thing he had to a family and home.
Colin still felt extremely bitter that after going straight he’d been locked up for crimes he had committed over a year before. He was angry that the judge had not taken into consideration
that he had changed while he was on the run and had been hard-working and honest. It had meant nothing to the judge that he had married Karen, she was pregnant and they were due to start a family
together. It hadn’t helped that when Colin had been caught he had put up quite a struggle. Although all he had done was to push the arresting officer over, the judge described him as
‘violent’ and, peering at Colin over his half-moon glasses, had spoken in a clipped cold manner.
‘You were originally due for a sentence of probation and community service. You alone chose to abscond, and the courts will not tolerate that type of behaviour. You only have yourself to
blame. Justice will be served and you, young man, are going to pay your debt to society.’
Colin went back to bed, but he tossed and turned and kept checking the time. The night seemed to go on forever, and he was growing more and more restless. He decided that, when
he did give himself up, he’d start to use his time in prison more wisely, especially since he wanted to win back his chance of early parole. He would apply for the educational programmes and
really try to better himself.
The more he thought of it, the more certain he became that, after the baby was born, his life would improve. He knew that in his teenage years he had been very rebellious and often, as the judge
had said, he could be quite violent and had got into scraps. But after meeting Karen, he had calmed down. Now he hoped, when he gave himself up after the escape, he would be sent back to Barfield
Prison and would share a cell with Barry again. They could study together and he would take classes in computer studies and business, or anything that would give him a greater chance of work when
he was finally released.
At some point, he must have dozed off, because suddenly Barry was shaking him awake. It was 6 a.m. and they needed to double-check that none of the tattoos had smudged.
Satisfied they were still intact and looking very realistic, they switched clothes. Barry was a lot plumper than his friend and the shirt looked too large on Colin, but he tucked it loosely into
his prison-issue jeans to make himself look bigger than he was. Barry put on Colin’s shirt and started to button it up. It was very tight so he decided it was best to let it hang open,
exposing the white prison vest.