The Easy Day Was Yesterday (32 page)

‘I’ll be ready Rajeesh, don’t worry.’

I was on my own again, but on a slight high having seen Sallie. Now I had to go back to waiting to see what tomorrow would bring. Sallie had brought me so much stuff which generated a lot of interest from my fellow prisoners, so I tried to stash as much as possible out of sight. As I went through it all I found a Sudoku book, pens, food, chocolate and juice as well as all those items previously mentioned. I couldn’t believe she had brought all this stuff. She had been so very thoughtful and considerate. As I went through all the different drugs she brought I saw two boxes of sleeping pills.

The old man and Sanjay came into my cell so I showed them the photos of my family and Sallie. They become very excited and the old man rushed next door to his cell and returned with passport-type photos of his wife and children. He was so proud of them, so I dropped all my stuff and spent the right amount of time asking questions about his family and the people in the photos. He was a good guy who clearly missed his family and I noticed a tear forming in his eyes. I couldn’t get a straight answer on how long he’d been here, but it seemed to be anywhere between three months and six months and in that time he hadn’t had a visitor. I quickly changed the subject and pulled out some of the Cadbury’s chocolate Sallie brought and we all shared it. Sanjay and the old man were delighted.

I decided to read the
Who
magazine first so I could give it away to the prisoners waiting outside my cell. Now I just wanted everyone to get out of my cell so I could go through my goodies in peace, but I had to be patient as these guys rarely received anything and were excited by what I’d been given. Satya joined the old man and Sanjay reading a magazine —
Men’s Health
I think. The group to whom I gave the
Who
magazine debated the meaning of an advertisement. There was a picture of a woman sleeping on her side wearing only underwear in a comfortable bed with the caption ‘
Sleep tight with Stayfree’
. They called me over and asked, ‘What is Stayfree?’

I started to laugh, but then saw the serious looks on their faces. Wow, this could be big. If I got this wrong, maybe we’d have an international incident.

‘It’s a pillow and it comes in that box,’ I said, pointing to the small pads box. ‘Oh yes. It must be expensive,’ one prisoner said and they all agreed.

Content with that answer, they read on.

The Nepali SP returned to the prison and I was summoned to the administration building. The SP told me that the meeting had gone very well, but the Indian SP had kept them all waiting in the sun for three hours — some power play I suppose. He told me not to worry as the Indian SP had assured him he’d write a very positive report and I’d probably be released tomorrow. He could only stay a very short time as it was 6.00 pm and he had to get back across the border before it closed. I got his phone number and thanked him for all his help. His generosity and the lengths to which he’d gone to help me were not lost on me. My morale was high as I was now certain I’d be released tomorrow.

Sallie and I spoke briefly on my phone. She said the police report was okay, but it still said that I had committed a crime. She wasn’t able to read the report, as this was illegal. One of the strange laws they have in India is that no statements can be made available to the defence team — all the defence is entitled to are the names of the witnesses, which begs the question of how you can mount a defence when you don’t know what you been accused of. Sallie thought I had an 85% chance of being released tomorrow. She also passed on a message from Colin Rigby who advised me not to get my hopes up for release. This was good advice and I knew this was how I was supposed to think — I teach this lesson on my training courses, but it’s almost impossible to the point that it can’t be done.

I returned to my cell thinking this was my last night in this hell hole. Sallie had also brought some Australia souvenirs to give to the guards and fellow prisoners, so I clipped one of the koalas to the bars of my gate. The photos from home were precious; I couldn’t stop looking at the kids and Sallie. I couldn’t imagine any other woman doing what she had done so far. She was beyond amazing. She had a gold ring that I sometimes wore as I could slip it on my little finger. This was another thing she had brought me and I wore it as I sat and looked at those precious photos. It was such a thoughtful thing to do; just a small thing, but it meant so much to me and reminded me of home. The caveman came by to close and lock the cage and saw the koala on the bar. He unclipped it as I got up and approached. He looked at it then played with it by clipping it to his finger. Then a miracle happened and he smiled and I was certain his face was going to fall off. Using hand motions I told him that he could have the koala. He realised what I was saying and re-clipped the koala to the bar and walked away. No problem, my pleasure, you grumpy old sour prick. Obviously this was a thought and not something I said. He wouldn’t have understood the words but would have heard the tone. Loud and clear.

Friday 6 June

For the first time, I slept for five hours straight and woke up a bit stiff, but grateful for the sleep. I woke at 3.00 am and crawled out from under my mosquito net and screwed in the light bulb so I could read for a while. At 5.00 am the cage was opened by Mr Personality, better known as the caveman, so I got up and started to pack those things that I wanted to take out of here and set aside those things that I never wanted to see again — like my sarong, thongs, my boots that have walked daily through this toilet and other bits that I wanted to give to the old man.

I shaved myself with my razor — another thing Sallie had brought me. The old man and Sanjay were disappointed, as they seemed to like shaving me. They had given me a good shave, but I didn’t like the idea of another bloke shaving my face. The old man and Sanjay were impressed with my Gillette triple blade razor with the pivot head and I made a mental note to give it to Sanjay when I left.

I dug out a pair of clean trousers that I’d been saving for a special occasion, and the only other pair I had apart from my Calvins, and also put on a clean T-shirt that Sallie had brought me. I found a clean pair of socks and, by 6.30 am, I was ready for court. At 7.00 am Satya came to my cell and told me it was time, so I walked to the administration office. There was some murmuring among the prisoners as they saw me in my good clothes. At the administration office I approached Manish and told him that I was here and ready for court. He told me that my day for court was tomorrow.

‘Yeh, right, stop bullshitting me.’

‘No, Mr Paul, you go to court tomorrow, not today.’

‘Are you fucking kidding?’ I replied, ready to blow.

‘No, Mr Paul, you go to court tomorrow, see it is written,’ he said and showed me my file with a court date written on the front.

‘Okay, thanks mate,’ I said as calmly as I could and wanted to fucking kill someone. On the way back to my cage to get out of my good clothes, a prisoner stepped in my path and, using a hand motion, asked what was happening to me. I made that same motion back to him and said, ‘What the fuck does this mean, mate?’ and walked around him to my cage.

I was totally deflated and wanted to kill Rajeesh, the High Commission guy. Clearly they had no idea what was going on. Back in the cage I decided to stay dressed as somewhere deep inside me I believed the clerk had made a mistake. But by 10.00 am I realised that I was not going to court and the poor clerk that I gave a mouthful to was right and bloody Rajeesh had got the wrong date. All I wanted to do now was sleep. I just wanted time to disappear. I couldn’t do anything to help myself in here so I might as well just slip into a coma until I was released. Maybe it would be six months. I supposed that would have me out by Christmas. I hoped Dad could hang on that long. I wondered if the kids would still think about me or whether they would take to my ex-wife’s new partner. Would the company still be generous if this dragged on that long? How would I pay the bills with no income? Would I lose the house? Where would the kids live? How could I have cocked this up so much?

At 1.30 pm, Sallie and Ujwal visited. I didn’t feel so good now — in fact I was suddenly very weak. I was not sure what had happened to me as I had trouble standing and walking — but it was still great to see Sallie and Ujwal. I told them about this morning and they were as annoyed with Rajeesh as I was. I’d settled down a bit as I knew Rajeesh hadn’t meant to get it wrong and he probably didn’t appreciate the mental let-down such misinformation could cause. Sallie told me they had been forced to wait in the hot sun yesterday by Siddiqui. When they asked if they could wait inside a room they were told that this was not allowed. This included the Nepali SP, which clearly indicated the level of hostility the Indian SP had for me. He told Sallie that, as a journalist, I should have known better. Sallie told him that I’m not a journalist, just a trainer, but he waved her off. Now I was worried.

They only stayed a short time. I hugged Sallie and they both left. Sallie lingered at the gate. I knew she was worried about my health, so I started singing the theme to the movie
Love Actually
:

You know I love you

I always will

My mind’s made up

By the way that I feel

There’s no beginning

There’ll be no end

You’re all I’ll love

I can’t pretend

Well, that drew some attention from the prisoners and the prison staff and gave them a topic of conversation for a while.

I returned to my cell to watch the curry-eating goose walk past my cage and the smart arse bloody thing gave me a mouthful as it went past. I tried to sleep the afternoon away, but woke up to see Sanjay at my gate staring at me.

‘Sir, this man wants to talk to you.’

Fuck me. ‘What does he want?’

Sanjay pushed the old prisoner forward and he said, ‘Hello mister.’

‘Yeh, hello mate, what’s up?’

‘Hello mister.’

Oh God, kill me. ‘Yes hello, how can I help you, my friend?’

Then just staring.

‘What do you want, mate?’

Nothing, just staring.

‘Okay, goodbye.’

As I rolled over to sleep some more, Sanjay started on me.

‘Sir, Sir.’

For fuck’s sake. ‘What, Sanjay?’

‘Everything okay, Sir?’

‘Everything is fine. I just want to rest, please leave me be.’

‘You want to be not disturb Sir?’

‘Yes, Sanjay.’

That was that sorted. Sanjay was a good guy, but could be fucking painful at times.

Satya and I walked that night, but I wasn’t up to his questions, so we sat on the wall and watched prison life slow down and get ready for lock-down. People cooked all day on stoves made from cement and mud using coal and ingredients delivered to them by family members. The food smelt good and I was often invited to share a meal, but politely refused. There was a group just outside my cell and when they started their cooking every morning, my cell would fill with smoke. It could be a bit suffocating at times, but at least the smoke cleared the mosquitoes and flies. I gave these guys excess biscuits when I had them for two reasons: first, I had too many packets and could never eat them; second, these guys never bothered me or walked into my cell or asked stupid questions. They just went about their business and politely said ‘hello’ when passing. I liked that about them, so gave them my excess biscuits, but only after I’d given some to the old man.

The old man had now taken to bringing the bucket of water into the courtyard area in front of my cage. I called it a courtyard for the want of a better term, but it was just the same open-air room that I walked through to get to my cage. I liked the idea of the bucket bath in this area as it offered some privacy, but not much, and it was certainly more comfortable than the area next to the pump. Now he didn’t even ask about washing my back every two or three days, because he knew I would stop him and we’d argue. Now he just did it. Bloody hell, I’m glad the boys couldn’t see this happening.

I was locked in now and managed a few hours’ sleep. Again the activity in my mind kept me awake. Even my nightly training session didn’t tire me enough to sleep. There was just too much going on for my poor, fevered brain to switch off.

Saturday 7 June

I was told on the first day by Manish that my court date was 7 June, but I insisted that was ridiculous and I wouldn’t even be here then. Well, here I was and it was 7 June — un-fucking-believable. However, I’d been disappointed before, so I didn’t even bother getting dressed; if they called my name it would only take me a minute to put on my trousers. It wasn’t as if I needed to jump in the car and drive 45 minutes to town. So, after my morning walk and wash, I relaxed in the cage. Then Gaz called the names for court and I was one of them. I also learnt from Satya that this court appearance was simply to be presented before my Magistrate to confirm I was still in custody and still alive. I quickly put on my good trousers and one of the Rivers T-shirts Sallie had brought me, and wandered over towards the administration gate where Gaz was calling names. The 20 prisoners going to court — including me — were moved into the administration area in preparation for loading onto the prison truck. I wasn’t looking forward to the prison truck or the cage at the courthouse, but going to court was going to be something different for the day.

The prison truck reminded me of my neighbour Carl’s cattle truck back in Dayboro on the northern side of Brisbane, although Carl’s truck seemed in better condition. This was going to be an interesting experience. When all the prisoners were in the administration area, they locked the gate behind us then opened the next gate and, in single file, we walked towards the back of the truck. As I approached the truck I could see a group of police watching me with interest and I braced for what I thought was going to be a beating. I was always surprised that one of the guards or a cop hadn’t taken the opportunity to try to smack me around already. As I came close to them and prepared to step onto the truck, a senior police officer pulled me aside and made me stand next to him as the other prisoners climbed onto the truck. When the last prisoner was on board, I made a move to get onto the truck, but the police officer held me back as the gate was closed and he told the truck to go. What the hell was happening now? I was worried. What sort of shit are these pricks going to pull that will legitimise the reason for my imprisonment? I suspected every member of the police of being in cahoots with the SP. Nothing they’d do would surprise me, but I had to be prepared.