Michaella McCollum - Youll Never See Daylight Again: My Prison Journey as one of the Infamous Peru Two

MICHAELLA McCOLLUM

MY PRISON JOURNEY AS ONE OF THE INFAMOUS PERU TWO

Published by John Blake Publishing,

The Plaza,

535 Kings Road,

Chelsea Harbour,

London SW10 0SZ

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First published in Trade Paperback in 2019

Trade Paperback ISBN: 978 1 78606 880 4

eBook ISBN: 978 1 78946 014 8

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data:

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Design by www.envydesign.co.uk

Text copyright Michaella McCollum

The right of Michaella McCollum to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright-holders of material reproduced in this book, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers would be glad to hear from them.

John Blake Publishing is an imprint of Bonnier Books UK

www.bonnierbooks.co.uk

For my mother

M ichaella, look out!

The voice belongs to Lyra. A Spanish girl. A friend. I turn just in time to see the blade. Its a kitchen knife, unmistakably sharp, unmistakably gleaming. And unmistakably aimed at my head.

I freeze. In a film everything would slow down and Id see my life flash before my eyes. There would be a powerful soundtrack and the whole thing would take minutes. But this isnt the movies. This is real life. My life. And I dont have minutes. I know for sure that in two seconds Ill be dead.

I feel myself twist, and raise my arm, as if thats going to stop the piercing steel from reaching my heart. I close my eyes. Its stupid, its the wrong move, but its instinct. Im terrified. What else can I do? Theres a scream blood-curdling but its not mine. I open my eyes just in time to see Lyra flying in front of me, rugby-tackling my assailant to the floor. I know my attacker all too well its Danielle, a Brazilian, and a psycho by any other name.

Im not her first target and I wont be her last. She has serious mental health issues, and she doesnt mess about when her bloods up. Both women stagger to their feet and Lyra grabs Danielle around the waist from behind. Lyras tall, big built. The Brazilian is tiny, small and skinny, but she has a dozen different drugs in her bloodstream and, for that moment, the strength of someone twice her size. Maybe three times. And she still has a knife.

Get out of the fucking way! Lyra yells. She cannot believe Im still standing there. She has lifted Danielle off the floor but the Brazilians a wildcat. Shes screaming all manner of curses in Portuguese, her arms and legs flailing. In truth, the way shes windmilling her limbs, shes as likely to cut herself as she is me, but Im still a target.

I snap to my senses and get out of the way in time to see the blade swish through the space Ive just vacated. What now? I literally have no idea how to help Lyra. Ive never hit anyone in my life. What am I supposed to do?

For Gods sake, Lyra says, get Vanessa.

Of course! Vanessa. Shes the boss. Shell sort it out. I tear out of the room and into the corridor. A group of women are running towards me. Luckily, one of them is the Colombian Im looking for.

Thank God, Vanessa, youve gotta come. Danielle tried to stab me.

Keep your voice down, she hisses, and grabs my arm to lead me back to the room. Danielle is stable and disarmed when we arrive but flares up again the second she sets eyes on me.

Look, Vanessa, I say, you need to sort her out. Shes crazy.

Ill be sorting out nothing till Ive heard both sides, Vanessa says.

Are you not listening? She tried to kill me.

And I suppose you did nothing to her?

What? No, nothing.

Really? Nothing? Nothing at all?

All I did was change the channel on the TV. Thats all, okay?

Vanessa nods. Shes judge, jury and executioner. Shes heard the evidence and shes going to deliver her verdict. Even psychotic Danielle quietens down for this.

So, its simple then, Vanessa says. You two are going to have to sort this out by yourselves.

And what the hell is that supposed to mean? I cant believe what Im hearing.

It means, my child, that you and Danielle are going to be locked in a room and the winner will be the one who walks out of it.

It takes a few moments for the words to sink in. But Danielle has already worked it out. Shes smiling, gesticulating at me like some cage-fighter winding up her opponent. In a flash, she breaks out of Lyras grasp and spits an inch from my feet.

What if shed still had the knife?

I feel sick. Im going to be put into a locked room with a madwoman who has already tried to kill me once. Im not a fighter. Theres no way Im coming out of there alive.

Come on, Vanessa, I beg. Dont make me do this. Ive done nothing wrong!

The crowd of women laughs. Vanessa most of all.

Look where we are, girl, she says, gesturing her arms around her. Everyones done something wrong whether they admit it or not.

*

There are many things a girl would do for a couple of hours with Leonardo DiCaprio. I never figured getting myself killed to be one of them.

The DVD of The Wolf of Wall Street had been burning in my hand. Id had it a couple of weeks. Never had the chance to see it. Not that I didnt want to. Not that I didnt have the time. Time was all I did have.

It just wasnt my turn.

There was always someone ahead of me in the line for the TV who wanted to watch their own movie. Im not talking about my family or a housemate. The people Id been queuing behind were strangers. But then I wasnt at home. I wasnt even in my own country. I was in a maximum-security prison.

In Peru.

Ancn Prison isnt on any TripAdvisor must see lists. Youd be hard pushed to find it on a map. Even if you knew exactly where to head, youd struggle to find it first time. Trust me, I know. Ancn Prison is in a desert in the middle of nowhere, outside Lima, the capital of Peru. Its not easy to find because you shouldnt want to go there, simple as that. Its like anyone who visits needs to be punished as much as the people they know on the inside. And if you do find yourself living in that hellhole, youre just getting what you deserve. And that includes all the other people in there with you.

People like Danielle, who get so irate when its your turn to choose the movie that theyd kill you rather than let you watch your film. Whats it matter to her if she kills me? Shes in for life. What are they going to do? Keep her alive longer so she serves another sentence?