Sleep abandoned me the night before the interview. I felt the same nervousness as when I was about to start the trial. In the early hours, I began throwing up the bolognese we ate for dinner that day. Tool got up and called the guard. Tool is a good person, and as long as you don't mess with his sacred sleep hours. Even though he wasn't really worried about me because he just wanted me gone, taken to the infirmary so he could sleep peacefully, I appreciated that he called the guard. The doctor on duty examined me, although intern or practitioner would be a more accurate term than "doctor". 

I don't know how they select the people they send to prison to take care of all the ailments afflicting the inmates, but someone new arrives with zero experience approximately every two years, except for René, who lasted a week. I guess it was a mistake. This shows the little attention they pay to prison matters. Perhaps the person in charge of assigning interns to institutions only read the name and made a mistake. It is the only explanation I can think of for them to send us a woman. When the rumor of a girl doctor in the infirmary got out, obviously, all the prisoners started pretending to have any ailment to see her, smell her. For many, René was the first woman they had seen in months. Some others were more fortunate and could catch a glimpse, now and then, of the Puerto Rican girl arriving in the truck that periodically brought all the hygiene products. They would peek from the window of their cell, and if she parked in the right position, they could see her. Then, they would share details of her visit when we met at the dining hall, whether she had smoked a cigarette, if her hair was loose or tied up, or whatever helped us imagine her. When they caught sight of the tattoo on her neck, we went crazy. 

Doctor René seemed willing to do whatever it would take to remain in charge of the prison infirmary. Still, some thought she would last two days, but I was hopeful and said we would at least see her for a month, though I hadn't counted on the Crocodile faking a sore throat to go see her. But what happens when the most violent prisoner picks up the scent of a girl for the first time in months? Fucking Crocodile ruined it for us. As he looked at her blond hair up close, her small hands, her fragile neck, he couldn't control himself and laid hands on her. The eight seconds the guards took to get him off her were enough for her to request a transfer. When the administration realized she shouldn't have been there in the first place, they made an immediate change.

I spent the night in the infirmary, on a more comfortable mattress and receiving IV fluids as recommended by the attending physician, so Tool had actually done me a favor. He would let me know himself days later. You owe me one, he said, and after a few weeks he would collect on that debt. In the morning, I was discharged and headed to the showers because I wanted to look presentable, or as presentable as possible, given the current circumstances, for when the filming team arrived. I bumped into Blackjack, a quiet but smart guy. He was drying off while I was just stepping under the water spray. He got dressed, and before leaving, he gave me some advice: don't spill everything at once, make them come back a hundred times, and if they really are interested, they will make an effort.

Blackjack had experience in this. His trial also gained significant media interest because he managed to scam several Las Vegas casinos. Only the casinos that could prove his involvement in roulette manipulation testified, although they couldn't prove how he did it. Their strongest arguments were built with the support of expert mathematicians, who explained through statistical formulas how improbable it was for someone to win twice on the same night in different casinos. Blackjack never confessed how he did it, and the publishing house offered him a large sum to publish a book detailing everything about the scam. The casinos also didn't know exactly how much money he had obtained, as he always sent someone else to play roulette to avoid it being obvious that he was involved. 

Alarm bells in Vegas intelligence went off when three casinos in the same week handed out huge sums to different people, two of those roulette winnings were related, the other was a coincidence. It would take a year to build the case, but the big mistake for Blackjack was getting emotionally involved with one of the girls he had hired to play roulette. Love and business, they say, don't mix. He learned that lesson the hard way. Vegas intelligence kept tabs on her, doing everything to find out who she was, following her, getting to know her habits. It's very strange when someone wins so much money in Las Vegas and doesn't spend it immediately. When an extraordinary sum comes in by luck, people tend to squander it, make ostentatious and unnecessary expenses. But Blackjack's girlfriend didn't take any beach trips, didn't buy a luxury car, undergo cosmetic treatments, or go to a spa. Her behavior was atypical and very business-like. For instance, when exorbitant sums enter a company, they usually reinvest the money or cover expenses, but never expend it casually. It was because of her, Talia, that they started to follow and investigate those who won at roulette in the following months. The behavior was similar. That's how they thought that the winners were actually working for someone else. 

The casinos joined forces and hired a private detective who reviewed all the videos of all the roulette winners and, after a long time, they managed to identify Blackjack, well, that nickname was given to him here in prison when it was known what he had done. It couldn't be a coincidence that every time someone won, James Taylor was in the casino, drinking  at the bar, at the slot machines, or, for example, at the blackjack tables.

The cherry on top came when they identified that Talia and Blackjack had stayed at the same hotel, but on different floors. They also didn't consider it a coincidence when they took a trip to New York just a couple of days apart, coinciding in the Big Apple for several weeks. All the evidence seemed circumstantial, but when Talia, now James's ex-girlfriend, agreed to testify against him, he was doomed. It seemed she loved her freedom more than she loved James, and in exchange for immunity, she became the person who would ensure the scammer's sentence. In his book, he details all the technological aspects of manipulating the roulette, and since he took more time than agreed to describe his process, he was able to renegotiate the contract.

The idea of prolonging the interviews stuck in my mind. That's why I decided to take my time in answering the questions because I knew the production had a limited schedule. This way, I could have some cards in my favor and see what I could obtain in the future if things didn't go as planned.

—How was the second time you saw her? The reporter continued.

That same day she texted to meet at the cafeteria, I said. Alice took her role very seriously and was willing to introduce me to everyone she knew. I told her it wasn't necessary, but she insisted. When her friends saw me arriving to their table with my lunch tray, none of them showed a friendly face, they looked at me rather curious or with disdainful eyes. She introduced me as Mario. No one said anything in response, just made a gesture with their hand or nodded in greeting. I sat in silence and look down, quietly began eating my lunch. They talked about all kinds of things. Gossip about other classmates, who was dating whom, the upcoming weekend party, and the school team's position and their upcoming rivals. Two of Alice's friends were athletes, and all the girls were in the cheerleading squad. I was never good at sports, so, instantly I knew I wouldn't fit in with that group.

After finishing lunch, I thanked her and got up. I gathered my things, and as I was leaving, I heard her voice again. She told me she would wait for me after school to introduce me to the club presidents and other extracurricular activities. I would have preferred my relationship with her to end there. That's why my bewildered expression caused much amusement among her entourage. This guy doesn't even know what country he's in, I heard one of them say.

—Did it bother you that Alice was so insistent?

—No, not at all. It just threw me off. I thanked her again and reiterated that she didn't need to introduce me to all the activities, that I could find them by myself from now on. She told me to relax, she was happy to do it, also, she would get extra credits for helping me, and she really needed them. With a benefit involved, I didn't feel so uncomfortable with her plans. What I didn't expect, and I suppose neither did she, was that we would become friends.

—When did you think you could be friends?

I remained silent for a moment, pretending to think. I glanced at one of the guards checking his watch and figured this first session was coming to an end. The director gestured for us to hurry up. Then Omara changed the question. How did you realize the credits didn't matter as much anymore? I told her I couldn't be sure and that, in fact, the uncertainty of whether she was doing it out of interest or genuinely wanted to be with me remained for a long time. But the day she invited me to dinner with her mom and sister, I began to doubt whether our relationship was just business.

The buzzer sounded, time was up, and the guards immediately got me on my feet. Thank you, Mario, she said, see you next week. I didn't respond, but I could see the frustration on the look she shot at the director out of the corner of my eye. In this session, she didn't get much.