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MARCHING POWDER

'Yes, but I don't do it every day and I never do it on my own. Cocaine is fun, Tommy, but I just think it's not good for you to do it while you're in prison.'

'Well, I'm stuck here now. I haven't got any other fucking option, have I?' I yelled, banging my fist on the table so hard that the coke went everywhere. 'I'm sorry that I can't go out dancing and sightseeing like all your other boyfriends.'

'Yes, you do,' she said, throwing the remote control on the blanket and getting up from the bed. 'You do have an option, Tommy.' I could see tears starting to form in her eyes. 'You could not do it at all.'

'Where are you going?' I demanded, scraping the pile of coke back onto the CD case.

'Out,' she said, glaring at me in a way that dared me to say something or try to stop her. I turned my back on her and started chopping up another line with the same defiance, daring her to say something more.

'You don't need it, Tommy. You think you do, but you don't,' she whispered softly, closing the door behind her and pushing it from the outside to make sure it had shut properly.

It was dark, but I wasn't going to chase after her. That was exactly what she wanted. Visiting hours were over and the gates were locked, so I knew that she would have to come back eventually. Half an hour went by, then another half-hour. I changed my mind and went out looking for her. However, she had left the prison on her own. Apparently, she had banged on the main gates and yelled until the guards came and let her out. The lieutenant told me she was crying.

'What did you do to her, inglés?' he asked me through the bars. 'She's a very pretty girl.'

'I didn't hit her,' I snapped at him, and suddenly kicked at the gate without knowing why, so that he jumped back in surprise. If it had been any other officer, I might have been in trouble, but that guy was my friend and he was also fond of Yasheeda.

'All right. Tranquilo.' The lieutenant shook his head and looked at me strangely. 'I didn't say you did.'

Two days after our fight, Yasheeda went on another trip, this time to Rurrenabaque to do a tour of the Amazon jungle. After that, she was