As they walked along, she nodded to the inmates who were returning from the yard. Some of them nodded back. Some of them ignored her. The odd one scowled at her. Generally, they were fairly closed when it came to communicating with the guards, except when they wanted something like an extra privilege such as cigarettes or additional visiting time.

‘Well they mostly seem in a good mood today,’ said Amber. ‘It looks like it’ll be a day without friction.’

Friction meant trouble.

Maggie smiled in a knowing manner and looked at her watch. ‘It’s nine thirty now. Let’s hope it’s still that way by twenty-one thirty.’

‘Are there many fights in here?’ she asked.

Amber hadn’t seen any serious occurrences since she’d started, something she was quite grateful for, but she knew it was only a matter of time before something did happen and she was kind of dreading it, especially if it entailed anything approaching the kind of viciousness that had been seen with the murder.

‘You should always be prepared for a slam,’ said Maggie matter-of-factly.

‘A slam?’

‘A fight. They’re much less of an occurrence in female prisons than they are in male prisons… but when something does kick off you never know what might happen.’

As prison officers, they weren’t allowed to carry batons and thus had to rely on techniques of unarmed physical restraint, and on each other. That was why it was so important to be able to trust your fellow officers. The personal safety of the guards was something Terry was always sounding off about amongst other things.

‘Any trouble that kicks off mostly boils down to their routines,’ said Maggie.

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Time passes slowly in here and the only way most of them stay sane is to have a routine of some sort. Most problems start when the inmates mess with each other’s routines.’

Maggie paused and nodded politely to a passing inmate, then she continued.

‘The same goes for us. We need to respect their routines as well. If you respect their routines, they’re much more compliant, much easier to get along with, and that’s so much better for everyone in the long run.’

‘Sometimes it’s hard to know how friendly to be. I feel that we’re not supposed to be too friendly. But I want them to like me.’

‘Be friendly but don’t be friends,’ said Maggie. ‘Respect them and they’ll respect you. But remember there’s always a line between us and them.’

‘There’s just so much to learn here that isn’t in the book.’

‘The book will only get you so far. You’ll be fine just so long as you remember the following things.’ Maggie counted the points off on her fingers. ‘Always help an officer in trouble. Always back up an officer in an argument with the inmates. Never rat on an officer. Never make an officer look bad in front of the inmates. And, most importantly, don’t let yourself get corrupted by them. The main thing is that your fellow officer always comes first. Above this lot. Always.’