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THE GOVERNOR

‘But, my governor, I don't know where to get any of that stuff. I don't take it and I don't know who does.’

He didn't like me arguing with him in front of his friends. ‘Stop playing games and just get it!’ he snapped at me suddenly, and I had no choice but to obey. I took one last look at him to make sure he was really serious, then went out of my cell and Marcela closed the door behind me.

Outside, the air was cold and I hadn't had time to put a jacket on, so I was even colder. All of a sudden I was no longer stoned. In fact, I was feeling remarkably sober.

I leaned back against the door, wondering what I should do. I needed to think fast, but I still couldn't believe that any of this was actually happening. The governor wouldn't have been risking his own reputation by being in a prisoner's room with two young women and a bottle of whisky for nothing. Unless it was a very elaborate trap.

Yes! I decided it was a trap. They were taping everything I did in order to set me up and track down the source of cocaine in the section. I wouldn't fall for it though; I would simply say that I couldn't find any. I knocked on the door and the governor opened it immediately.

I felt like I had been outside for a long time, but in reality only a few seconds had passed. The governor was surprised that I had come back so quickly, and empty-handed. When he saw how worried I was, he came outside, leaving the door slightly open, and wanted to know what the problem was. I tried to explain once more that I didn't take drugs and couldn't get anything, but he looked me directly in the eyes and spoke sharply.

‘You're not going to embarrass me in front of these girls, are you? I promised them a good time. Don't disappoint me, Thomas,’ he commanded, patting me on the shoulder again. Then he gave me a short but strong squeeze on the bicep before going back inside and closing the door again, locking me out of my own room.

The governor was a man who rarely gave orders because he rarely needed to; he was used to having his will obeyed. However, this was an order, and there was no way out of it. Even if it was a trap, I now had to comply. So off I went, with the governor's money in my hand, to buy five grams of cocaine.

As I walked through the section, I heard strange sounds and I stopped every now and then to look behind me and see if anyone was