While Louise hovered over Denise, she continued to lie curled on her side. Then, after a few deep breaths, she rolled onto her knees, using her hands to lever herself up. ‘Give me a fuckin’ hand then,’ she snapped at Louise, who was still standing over her.

Louise put out a hand to help Denise up. Denise grasped at it, pulling herself upwards until she was on her feet. Just as she rose, Prison Officer Fox walked into the cell.

‘What’s going on here?’ she demanded.

‘Nothing,’ Denise and Louise replied in unison. ‘It was an accident,’ said Denise. ‘Louise shut the door as I was walking in and I banged my nose.’

Sly looked sceptically at her. ‘Aye, and pigs might fly,’ she said. ‘I hope you’ve not been fighting, my girl, or you’ll be in trouble.’ Then she assessed Denise before adding, ‘Get yourself cleaned up.’

Once Sly was gone, Denise covered her nose with her right hand. ‘My fuckin’ nose!’ she complained. ‘And look at the state of my top. It’s a fuckin’ mess.’

Louise looked at the blood spatters on Denise’s top. ‘Do you want me to get you a clean one?’ she asked.

‘Leave it for now! Help me clean up my face first.’

Denise’s dark complexion was smeared with blood. She was boyish in appearance, which was accentuated by her cropped hair, her clothing and her larger-than-average muscular physique. The only makeup she wore was thick black eyeliner, narrowing her eyes to menacing slits.

Louise was anxious to ingratiate herself, knowing it was her fault Denise had reacted the way she had. She should never have tried to kiss Adele, but she hadn’t been able to help herself. She knew there’d be repercussions from Denise, who was very jealous and possessive.

Louise hoped that Denise hadn’t seen everything. Fortunately for her, she was so slight that she had been hidden behind Adele’s body so all that Denise would have been able to see was Louise’s arms wrapped around Adele’s back and Adele stooping over Louise, comforting her. But that had been enough for Denise to lose it.

‘What the fuck were you playing at anyway?’ demanded Denise, while Louise dabbed at her bloody face with a damp flannel.

‘Nothing. She was just comforting me ’cos I was upset, that’s all.’

‘Well, in future, when you’re upset you fuckin’ come to me, right?’

‘Yeah, sure,’ said Louise. ‘I didn’t go to her anyway. She came in here, then before I knew it she had her fuckin’ arms around me.’

‘Yeah, well, that bitch had better watch her fuckin’ back if she knows what’s good for her,’ hissed Denise. ‘No one fuckin’ smacks me like that and gets away with it.’

‘Are you gonna get her?’ asked Louise, becoming animated.