The Escape (7 page)

Colin was in a great deal of pain and made yet another big mistake, one he would regret for the rest of his life. Unable to use his hands, he brought his knee up and kicked with all his might
into the officer’s crotch. The guard let out a howl of pain. The two officers behind Colin swept his legs from beneath him, so that he crashed yet again face forward onto the concrete floor.
He tried to get up, but one of them used a baton to hit him over the head. He wasn’t sure how many times he was hit as the blows were so painful and hard that he passed out.

Colin woke up the next morning in the hospital wing. His bandaged head was throbbing and his left hand was cuffed to the iron bed post. His mouth felt dry, and he had a
horrible bitter taste in his mouth from the dried blood. His face was aching terribly and he had lost two teeth.

The prison doctor examined him a few hours later. Colin was feeling dreadful. His head still throbbed and his jaw ached. In fact, his whole body felt like lead. The doctor unbuttoned
Colin’s shirt but said nothing as he looked at the awful bruises. He felt his ribs, then his stomach, pressing it with his fingers and causing Colin to flinch in pain. He shone a torch into
Colin’s eyes and ears, then asked him to open his mouth. Clicking off the torch, he picked up the clipboard from the end of the bed and made notes. Colin moaned with the pain.

‘Well, that’s what happens when you run off and accidentally fall down stairs, Mr Burrows,’ the doctor said without sympathy.

Colin tried to answer him, but he was in such agony that he couldn’t find the energy. He wanted to explain just how he got the injuries, but the words would not come out. They felt trapped
inside his mouth.

‘Just stay calm. You’ll remain here for a while, and I’ll check on you again tomorrow.’

A week later, Colin was still in the hospital wing, but the handcuffs had been removed. The bruises were healing and turning banana yellow. He still had headaches, but,
thankfully, they had not been too bad, and he slept for most of the time during his recovery.

The Governor had visited him on his second day in the hospital wing. The interview had been short and disturbing. As soon as Colin’s condition improved, he was to be placed in a
high-security wing with loss of privileges for two months and solitary confinement. He was told he was very lucky that his sentence had not been extended but, if any other incidents arose, he would
be given more time inside. Colin knew that the truth was the Governor was embarrassed by the whole affair and just wanted it to be forgotten as soon as possible. Taking more action, such as holding
a hearing to increase Colin’s sentence, would just drag it out.

Colin learned that Barry Marsden claimed that he had been threatened into aiding the escape. The Governor believed that, because the man had learning difficulties, it had been easy for Colin to
force him to help with the plan. Colin wanted to defend himself, to say that it had been Barry’s idea in the first place and that he had in no way threatened him, but he said nothing.

The Governor was aware that Colin had been injured during his arrest, but warned him that it would not be wise to make a complaint. If he chose to ignore the Governor’s warning and did
complain, the rest of his time at Barfield would be very uncomfortable.

‘Do you have anything you wish to say?’

The Governor waited for him to reply. Colin still said nothing. It was partly that he didn’t want to get Barry, or himself, into further trouble. But it was also because he was finding it
difficult to form the words. It was as if his brain was not working properly. He knew what he wanted to say, but he just could not get the words out.

‘I know, Burrows, that you wanted to be with your wife for the birth of your child. I also know that permission was refused and that you simply decided to ignore the ruling and escape. But
rules are there to be obeyed, not broken. You are serving a prison sentence for your crimes. You must now face the punishment of remaining here for your entire sentence without any hope of an early
release.’

So that was it, and there was nothing Colin could do about it. He closed his eyes, not wanting to show that he was close to tears, as the Governor turned and walked off with a smile on his
face.

Colin stayed in the hospital wing until his injuries were healed and the doctor said he could return to the main prison. They had given him painkillers and were concerned that
he was again suffering from depression. The doctor suggested that he be watched with regular visits to his cell. Colin had not spoken to anyone the entire time he had been in the hospital wing, and
had answered queries only with grunts and nods. They assumed he was just being difficult and that he still had anger issues.

Colin was deeply angry. He felt that no one understood. He had never been allowed to explain what it meant to be refused permission to be at the hospital for his child’s birth. He had
never even been able to say that he had always intended to return to the prison.

It felt as if the world was against him, and worse still was having no contact with Karen. He had no phone card as he had left it with Barry when he had escaped. He had no money to buy another
one, and he wasn’t sure they’d allow him to make calls even if he did have one. Besides, he wasn’t certain he would be able to speak to her, as he had not been able to form a
single word since his so-called ‘accident’. It seemed that all he could do was grunt, and he was getting more and more frustrated. He thought about writing a note to the doctor, but
decided not to bother as he thought that, after his escape, the man would just ignore it.

The strain was getting worse and he felt that the only thing that could make him better would be seeing Karen. Only she understood him, and only she could help pull him out of this awful mess
and depression. He just hoped that he hadn’t upset her too much. He wanted so badly to talk to her face to face, to explain himself, and hoped that she would forgive his stupid mistake.

Karen had been shocked when Colin had been arrested at the hospital.

How could he have put them both in that kind of danger? Her mother and father were equally disgusted, and they didn’t accept the apology that Colin had given Karen as he was taken away. He
had lied to them, he had lied to Karen, and they knew he had ruined any hope of an early parole. Karen was also depressed, since she was finding it difficult to cope with the new baby and she
couldn’t sleep from worry. She needed her mother’s help and decided to move back in with her parents.

Soon, the small flat she and Colin had rented was taken over by another young couple. Karen had moved all her possessions over to her parents’ house and the couple bought what little
furniture was left.

Karen wrote to Colin only once, and her father read the letter before she sent it. He suggested that it would be best for Karen and the baby to make no visits and to have no further contact with
Colin. Also, it must be clear that there was no longer a job open to him on his release.

Colin received Karen’s letter on his first day back on the new wing. He shared a cell with a tough illiterate prisoner, serving eight years for armed robbery and grievous
bodily harm.

Barry Marsden appeared at the magistrates’ Court four weeks after Colin’s escape. He was persuaded by his solicitor to plead guilty. His months on remand counted as time served
against his sentence and he was released from prison. The magistrate arranged for Barry to be placed on a twelve-week care-in-the-community programme, where he would be monitored, but could go on
studying and having therapy. Once he got out, Barry had applied for visiting rights to see Colin, but had been turned down.

Eleven months passed before he was given permission to visit Colin. Barry now wore contact lenses, had lost a lot of weight and was dressed in a smart suit. He looked healthy
and felt good. Thanks to Social Services and various charities that found work for ex-offenders, he was an apprentice plumber. He sat in the waiting room at Barfield, looking forward to seeing his
friend, scanning the faces of the inmates as they were let into the visiting section.

He was not the only one whose looks had changed. Barry was shocked to see how poorly Colin looked. His dark hair was greasy, his face gaunt and unshaven, and he had a hollow look in his eyes. He
seemed to shuffle rather than walk, and his prison-issue denims looked filthy and crumpled. At first, Colin didn’t recognise his friend without his glasses. Then, when Colin sat down opposite
him, Barry noticed how Colin sort of crouched and darted frightened glances around the room.

‘I have been trying to come and see you for months,’ Barry said.

Colin did not reply and Barry patted his suit lapel. ‘I got a job and bought this so I’d look respectable. I’m working as a trainee plumber and I really love it. I’ll
work with a qualified bloke when I finish my training.’

Colin still said nothing, and Barry began to feel nervous.

‘I wanted to come and say that I never meant to make out that you threatened me. They slapped me about and sort of put words into my mouth. Truth was, when everyone got to hear about the
escape, it give me a lot of respect. I’d never been so popular. Everyone wanted to be my friend.’

Colin still stayed silent, and Barry was finding the one-sided conversation difficult. He blurted out that he had passed his driving test.

‘On the second attempt. I failed the first one ’cos I didn’t indicate I was turning left and I got a couple of the road-safety questions wrong. Where can you park on a motorway
was one. I said that I could park on the hard shoulder, but that’s wrong. You are not allowed to park anywhere on motorways. Did you know that?’

Colin stayed mute.

‘What I should have said was, in an emergency you can stay on the hard shoulder to call for help. It was a trick question.’

As Barry looked at Colin, he noticed beads of sweat running down his forehead. It was awful, and he couldn’t understand why Colin wouldn’t talk to him. He was certain that his friend
blamed him for his arrest and capture, but he had only been trying to help.

‘Listen, Colin, I’d do anything for you. I’d even swap places with you again, if it would help.’

The bell to signal the visiting time was over was going to ring at any moment. Barry was almost in tears, and then, slowly, Colin reached over to grip his hand.

‘No . . . ooo . . . No . . . not your fau . . . fault.’ It was hard to understand what he was saying as his speech was so slow.

‘Why you talkin’ funny?’ Barry asked.

‘I can . . .’t s . . . top sllurr . . . ing . . . sin . . . ce . . . I hh . . . hit my . . . my he . . . ad . . . when I fell.’

‘Bloody hell!’ Barry exclaimed, and held onto Colin’s hand. ‘Have you seen Karen and the baby?’

Colin shook his head, and Barry leaned in closer to whisper.

‘Did the officers do this to you?’

Colin nodded, with tears in his eyes.

‘Does Karen know what happened, or the state you’re in?’

Colin shook his head and tried to explain, but he stammered so badly that it took a long time for him to say that he had no money to buy a phone card to make calls. Barry knew that he
couldn’t write a letter about being assaulted because the prison officers checked letters. If they saw anything like that, they would destroy it.

As Barry sat listening, Colin’s stammer got worse as he became more upset. Barry was sorry to hear that Karen had not been to see him and that she and the baby had moved out of their flat
and in with her parents.

‘You can write though, beg her to come and see you and then explain everything. Promise me you’ll write to her?’ Barry said, looking directly into Colin’s eyes.

The bell rang. Neither man was ready to say goodbye, but the officers told the prisoners to go back to their cells, and there was nothing they could do. Colin gave Barry a weak smile as he
joined the line-up of inmates, and then a small wave of his hand before wiping his tears on his shirt cuff.

Barry sat for a while, feeling wretched and sad. Colin had been such a bright spark, really intelligent and, more than anything, a man with a dream of his future. He was determined to go
straight and had been so excited about becoming a dad. He adored his young wife and should have his whole life ahead of him, but now he seemed broken. Barry felt awful because he had encouraged the
escape, and now it had destroyed Colin’s hopes.

Barry went to the exit, where he recognised the officer who was standing by the doors. He knew he shouldn’t, but he was so upset about Colin that he stopped and glared at him.

‘You bastards, what you done to Colin? He can’t even talk right any more.’

The officer hardly recognised Barry, but then stepped back a fraction.

‘Don’t you go pointing the finger at any of us. He did a runner, made everyone look like idiots. He fell. No one touched or pushed him. He fell, all right? And, if you really are his
mate, then you give him some advice. Tell him to behave himself. Tell him to stop fighting the system, and to go and have some sessions with the therapist for anger control. Because, if he goes on
the way he’s going, he’ll be banged up for a few more years.’

Barry walked out and into the visitors’ car park, where he had left his ten-year-old red Ford Escort. It had a lot of mileage on the clock, but he owned it. He sat inside it, watching all
the visitors leaving in their various vehicles – wives and kids, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers – and it made him feel deeply for his friend. Colin had no one. He had not
seen Karen or his son since the child’s birth, and that was about a year ago.

Later that day, Barry was still so distressed that he almost walked out of McDonalds without paying for his hamburger and chips. He caught himself and delved into his pocket
for the right money, before taking his tray to a table to eat his meal. By the time he had finished, he knew what he was going to do and he was going to do it now.

Barry hoped that he had the right address. He remembered Colin talking about his father-in-law’s decorating business, which was near his home. He got help at the library
from an assistant to look through the Yellow Pages for the address of Scott’s Decorators. Then they used the register of voters and found the home address in a nearby street.