章 12: Getting into the black book

Soon, the inmates were seen in ample open space, queuing for food. Jeslyn promptly joined the queue when she got there.

The line was well arranged and traffic-free until it got to her turn.

Just when she stretched her plate to get her weird-looking share of the food, a complete rogue who resembled a wild man with her uniform tied to her waist and hair left to look like that of a porcupine showed up.

Most of his face and body were scrawled with tattoos of different types and colors and face and ear piercings that would disgust any onlooker. She pushed Jeslyn's empty plate away then stood in front of her to queue for food.

Jeslyn sighed.

It was apparent the person was a troublemaker, so Jeslyn took a step back for all her followers to get in front of her, unbeknownst to her that she just made a huge mistake.

Well, not her fault though. What could she have done?

After the five troublemakers had taken their share, Jeslyn was about to walk forward when she was unceremoniously pulled from the back and shoved out of the line.

"Nuisance,"

"Slow"

"Dimwit"

"Stupid"

"Pretty idiot"

Those raw abusive words came out from the lips of a few people in the queue as they glared at her.

Jeslyn stood dumbfounded. She didn't understand why she was getting hated on for staying out of trouble until she heard, It

"No more food. You came too late. Come back early next time."

"Huh?" Jeslyn widened her eyes in horror. What do they mean by 'no more food?' In this large and beautiful prison?

Well, not very beautiful, but better than those she had seen with toilets and water in the same space where prisoners sleep.

Jeslyn glanced around the place and saw that there were only five people, plus herself that hadn't gotten any food.

Those prisoners who got nothing to eat glared at Jeslyn with fire brewing in their eyes.

Jeslyn felt her head growing numb from all the glares she was receiving from all sides and just wanted someone to save her from this situation.

"Hey, little bunny, come here."

'God, thank you!'

Jeslyn hurriedly scampered off to her friends, who were waving for her to come over. Standing alone made her an easy target for people like the woman who looked like a man.

She sat beside the two while looking at the disgusting food they were eating. It looked like beans, but the water was enough to drown a fish.

The bread or whatever they called it was burnt on both sides. She subconsciously frowned when she saw the poor quality of the meal.

'Why would the cook even bother to burn bread? Does it add to the number they produce?' All she could come up with was that whoever made those bread was plainly wicked!

"You just got into the black book. Stick with us from now on, or else you'll be getting your a*s whopped." The pink said while her eyes were focused on her food.

"But I haven't done anything wrong," Jeslyn tried to counter,

"Listen, little bunny. In here, you don't need to do anything wrong before you get killed, so obey her when she tells you anything," Yellow advised.

"Ok, I'm Sorry."

"Don't be apologetic when you are sure you did nothing wrong. However, that only applies to when you aren't weak like you are right now," Pink lectured.

"Ok, I understand, I'll remember that, thank you."

"Giving thanks should also come when the person you are thanking deserves it." Pink recited again.

Jeslyn blinked. But she deserved the appreciation, right?

"So, older sister, do you mind telling me what I did wrong?" She asked with pleading eyes.

"Stop acting coquettish with me. I might rape you right here," Yellow frowned.

Jeslyn bit her lip and lowered her head. What was she supposed to do as the humble girl she was?

"You are doing it again. Keep doing that and the queen might think you are calling her attention by seducing her. Get into anyone's bad book, but never, I mean, never, allow the queen to notice you. If she does, even though you get freedom from here, she will get out of jail just to look for you," Pink warned.

"Let me tell you a secret," Yellow smiled.

Jeslyn looked towards yellow and nodded.

"The queen is not simple. She goes in and out of jail the way she likes and nobody can stop her. Just now, she and her babies took two portions of food, which included yours and those four other girls and that's why they want to eat you whole."

"But don't worry, you are safe with us. No fly can hurt you when you are with us, well, except the queen and her babies, so watch out for that group of five."

Jeslyn nodded.

"Why are you so nice to me?" She asked after a while of silence.

She knew that it was rare for anyone to be this nice, especially in a place like this.

The two ladies ignored her and continued eating their food.

Jeslyn also stopped feeling curious. She just sat there with her palm placed under her jaw and with her elbow on the table as she watched them eat. She wasn't hungry as the food wasn't appealing.

In fact, putting that thing in her mouth would cause her to puke her guts out.

After they were done eating, the prisoners were taken to the open field to work on planting grains.

Jeslyn, who had no idea of how farming works stood by those two colored hair ladies while watching as they planted some grains, corn to be precise.

After a while, she learned that one had to make a little hole in the soft soil with a stick and put in two seeds before closing the hole.

Due to how new it was to her, she saw it as fun while others saw it as hard labor.

Yes, they had been doing this for the past one month and they still hadn't covered half of the field that the eyes couldn't even see where it ended.

Some places they planted on had just grown, some were just sprouting, and others were still bare.

She carefully admired the field whenever she decided to take a rest.

During the day, Jeslyn tried to act like everyone else, like she had nothing eating her up, but at night, she cries herself to sleep.

It's been three days since she was brought here and she hasn't eaten anything.

Those prisoners were taking revenge on her and she was sure of it.

Whenever she gets in the queue, they push her out.

At first, she didn't feel anything, but after not eating for two days straight, her body started to protest, and today being the third day of starving, her stomach no longer had that resilience, it was threatening to give up on her so she had no choice than to find a way to eat something.