The OCTOBER Sisters: An Occupational Hazard>Act 3

Here on Devil’s Island we have our various gangs, the most notorious of them are the OCTOBER (Obsessive Compulsory Terrorists On Blood-Etched Rituals) Sisters, simply know as the OCTOBER Sisters.

The three OCTOBER Sisters came in at varying times to Devil’s Island and although the prison system can be one gigantic place to fraternize in, all three women has managed to find each other within a relatively short period of time. They are named the OCTOBER Sisters for good reason, as each has earned a distinct title on their own without even trying!

First, there’s Abominable Amy, the illegitimate child of the infamous Abominable Snowwoman & Groggleman. Groggleman has fathered numerous hideous & extremely ugly & mean children, including the fraternal Goon Twins, never apart for more than 20 minutes at a time. It is sad to note, however, that Groggleman's illegitimate fathering techiniques although unwritten law & common knowledge here on Devil’s Island, has not been widely-reported as much as it should be to proper prison authorities.

Abominable Amy found her way into the system after leading a relatively quiet life in a remote part of Devil’s Island. What trapped her finally was her own omission of smoking too much, a crime punishable for life on Devil’s Island. Abominable Amy never says that much, she does what she is told, which according to some on Devil’s Island is a result of Groggleman’s constant bad habit of badgering his children even when they haven’t done anything wrong!

Then, there’s the frightening Mother-Hen Mary, the smartest of the trio. Her worst, yet widely-known trait is what gave the OCTOBER Sisters their name to start with, that being her awful obsessive compulsive disorder, always mothering, always waiting on others, always specifically choosing to walk a specific pathway, just to be close to inmates she waits upon, hand & foot. Sadly, this is what brought Mother-Hen Mary to Devil's Island for life without parole.

Often, when other cellmates are in another part of the prison system, Mother-Hen Mary makes it a point to tidy up their cell. Other times she will do little favors, like trade packs & cartons of cigarettes for food & clothing, just so she can give it to her best friend & bosom buddy, Loud-Mouthed Lucy.

Loud-Mouthed Lucy is the most complex & complicated of the three OCTOBER Sisters. Loud-Mouthed Lucy, my bunkmate for the past two & a half years, has been anything but helpful, as she already riddled with bad luck & loads of leeches attached to her body, she continues onward, claiming that she’s “a survivor.” With a walking stick, she stumbles around the prison & prison yard like a lopsided bag of hay.

Her bad luck, based mostly on bad choices she’s made in her life have afflicted her mind one way or another. Lucy’s crime against humanity that landed her on Devil’s Island was being sentenced to life without parole for raising her voice uncontrollably with no visible means of stopping or controlling it. It is to the point where everyone can hear her & being inside a prison where the walls tend to be made of steel & metal, sounds can get a bit echo-y.

There are other prisoners who do chit-chat & chatter, but none to the extent of what she has incurred. Everyone within the system can hear every single last word, breath or sound she utters. At first I was able to live with it, but then severe complications set in. My ears bled hard from the shrill volume alone. I used varying devices such as cotton, bits of yarn & old cloths to cover my ears, but still the blood kept flowing.

I have even asked Loud-Mouthed Lucy to quiet down her voice several times, to which she has always responded, “well I’ll try,” but only does it for a brief moment and then begins screeching like a wounded animal left to die on an empty road.

Loud-Mouthed Lucy’s one & only designated job on Devil’s Island is that of cigarette girl. Inmates & others flock from all over Devil’s Island to her, mostly trading and attempting to bum cigarettes from Loud-Mouthed Lucy.

Loud-Mouthed Lucy’s life has always been in agony, in other words there has always been something terribly wrong with Loud-Mouthed Lucy. Pain should have been her middle name. She always likes talking to everybody, but not everybody always reciprocates and that is truly sad.

Too many people abandoned Loud-Mouthed Lucy by the wayside, both outside & inside Devil’s Island, still she carries on. Perhaps that’s why Loud-Mouthed Lucy has screeched so much, just to draw attention to her plight. Sure, she is always friendly & kind-hearted, but she gets burned so quickly & easily that she accepts whatever people do to her, carte blanche.

I never have understood why Loud-Mouthed Lucy has subjected herself to this kind of abusive behavior. God only knows I have tried to help her steer clear of trouble. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work. Like many others here on Devil’s Island, both past and present, I’ve become too frustrated with her and have just given up. She seems married to her abilities & rightfully so. I appreciate Loud-Mouthed Lucy in ways that are almost indescribable, but in other ways I cannot stomach, because it is so gross.

The OCTOBER Sisters or Nicotine Queens as my good inmate friend Roger Dogma refers to them as such, have always smoked together in the Devil's Island prison yard, always yelling, always screeching & most of all, always obsessing. Witnessing the OCTOBER Sisters is like witnessing an unruly mob of demonstrators being loaded into a police paddy wagon, after a session of rocks & bottle hurling at a politician.

Together, the OCTOBER Sisters on Devil’s Island are a powerhouse packed with punch & vigor.

Individually, they are as thin as icicles hanging from the prison roof.

And ice-cold too.