‘Am I fuck! I dumped the bastard. I was sick of him messing me around. That tosser couldn’t keep his dick in his pants if you paid him! What kind of a fuckin’ mug do you think I am?’

Denise could tell that Shazza was getting rattled so she nudged Louise again.

‘So, what’s the news in here?’ Shazza asked.

‘Not much to tell really,’ said Denise. ‘We’ve got a few newbies. She’s one of them; that fit blonde bird over there,’ she said, nodding towards Cheryl, who was standing chatting with a large group of women several metres away. ‘And then there’s her, Adele fuckin’ Robinson,’ she said, pointing her finger at Adele, who was standing on the other side of the recreation area with Caroline.

‘Gather you don’t like her then?’ asked Shazza, chuckling.

Denise spat on the ground in response.

‘Like that, is it?’ said Shazza. ‘So, who’s been top dog while I’ve been away?’

Before Denise had chance to reply, Louise cut in, ‘She is. Adele.’

Shazza sized Adele up. ‘You must be fuckin’ joking! She doesn’t look handy to me.’

‘Well, she is,’ said Louise. ‘She’s a kickboxing expert.’

‘What’s she in for?’

‘Killing her dad,’ Louise replied while Denise stared contemptuously. ‘She bashed his head in.’

A look of realisation flashed across Shazza’s face. ‘Aah, I thought the name rang a bell,’ she said. ‘That’s the sick fuck who hit him with a brass ornament, isn’t it?’

‘That’s the one,’ said Denise, with a grimace on her face. ‘She’s Peter Robinson’s sister.’

‘No wonder she fancies her fuckin’ chances,’ said Shazza, looking across at Adele once more.

‘Not only that,’ said Louise, who had now become quite animated, ‘she beat Anna up. Nearly killed her. Anna’s throat was a mess.’

‘Did she fuck!’ snarled Denise.

‘Well, she hurt her, anyway,’ said Louise. ‘And what about what she did to you?’

Denise sneered at Louise. Her girlfriend’s admiration for Adele was beginning to get on her nerves. ‘That was nowt!’ she snapped. ‘She just caught me off guard, that’s all. She thinks she’s tough but, don’t worry, I’ll fuckin’ have her. I’m just biding my time.’

‘Anna’s no big deal anyway,’ said Shazza. ‘Everyone knows her bark’s worse than her bite. She might be a fat cunt, but she’s as soft as shit. How long’s this Adele been in?’ she asked.

‘Only a few weeks,’ Denise replied. ‘But she got a seven-year stretch.’

‘That’s not much for what she did, is it?’

‘They gave her manslaughter. It was self-defence. Apparently her dad was a right twat. He’d been abusing her mam for years.’

Shazza nodded her head, a look of steely determination painted on her face. ‘So, she thinks that bumping off her old man makes her a hard case, does she?’