Kerr, Michael
Prisoner: Cell Block H #4: the frustrations of Vera
Los Angeles, Calif. : Pinnacle Books, 1981. - 224 p.
ISBN: 0-523-41215-0
Paperback. Out of Print.

WHEN THE GATE SLAMS SHUT, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM.

'... a gritty and gripping dramatic series... lots of tension...and in very unHollywood fashion, realistic.' - Variety

THE SCREW...
Hated by the inmates, she rules with an iron fist, Vera Bennett makes their lives miserable by her constant bullying and harassing.... But their bitterness has no comparison to the seething resentment that is building up within Vera as she sees her future slipping away....

SOLITUDE . . .

  Vera sat in stunned silence in the living room, her hands clasped in her lap. After a moment Greg Miller came from the mother's bedroom, removing his stethoscope. "It was to be expected," he said gently. "You knew that, Vera."
  She didn't look up. Instead, she again hear her mother shouting at her in disgust. "You're a shriveled up old prune. What man would look at you twice?"
  And whose fault is that, Mother? I've been looking after you for twelve years. When have I had a chance to even meet a man?
  As she subvocalized her taunting reply, the memory-picture dissolved to the scene of less than an hour ago: "You want me out of the way, Vera - your own mother!"
  Her thoughts returning to the present, Vera assured the doctor she would be all right. Then Greg picked up his bag and she saw him to the door, standing there until he drove away. After a minute, she turned to her mother's bedroom. The lights were still on, the bedclothes thrown down where Greg had carried her mother to the bed. But Mother wasn't there. The house was empty for the first time Vera could remember. She listened, straining, but there would never again be that sharp, querulous voice calling after her, chiding her, nagging her.
  Bitter tears filled her eyes as she reflected on her life. This is what her mother had done to her, keeping her a prisoner as much so as the women locked in Wentworth were imprisoned by its bars and walls. And alone in her empty house, Vera Bennett cried her frustrations into the deepening night....