Her laugh is like pure elation, reaching pitches and volumes I never thought possible after someone trips off a train. Others raise their eyebrows, but Janice keeps laughing. I shake my head at her antics. She’s never cared for the stares that she attracts. I’ve gotten used to it lately. We leave the station and Janice opens her mouth in shock. It’s her first time in a ‘real’ city as she puts it. I wouldn’t call Brisbane that, but she hasn’t worked here for the past twenty years. This is only her second time outside the small suburb we live in.

“Close your mouth already.”

Janice turns to me and laughs again. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.”

I shrug. “You wanted me to bring you here. So I did. There’s nothing to be thankful for.”

“Oh we both know that’s wrong Phoebe.”

“C’mon. Where did you want to go first?”

She looks around with a childish energy and chooses a direction. “This way.”

“Do you even know where you’re going?”

“Nope.”

I suppress a laugh. “Okay then.”

“How long do we have?”

“Don’t worry about that. Anywhere you want to go, anything you want to do, for however long that you want. All of it on me.”

She looks from me to the sky and back again. “Let’s go to a cinema. There’s a movie there that I really wanted to watch.”

“Alright. We’ll watch a movie then.”

Janice beams with excitement and we head to the furthest reasonable cinema. She really does look like a twelve year old when she’s this happy. It’s bizarre. The attendant seems to think so too because she asks for an ID. Janice pouts and I hand it over. I didn’t think that they still checked for 15+ movies. The attendant studies the ID for a minute or so before slowly handing it back over with a frown. She must’ve recognised the name. I nod to her and she lets us in. Janice is pretty oblivious to the minor commotion. Instead she’s complaining that a twenty-two year old shouldn’t still look fourteen.

“I thought about getting a tattoo so people would stop thinking that I’m underage, but apparently child care workers can’t have a green unicorn on their cheek.”

“It won’t be a problem anymore.” I point out.

“Yeah, being fired sucks.”

I notice her darker tone. “We can get that tattoo after the movie.”

“Really?” She’s practically jumping from excitement.

“Sure.”

“You’re a great friend Phoebe.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Please.

Soon enough I’m holding Janice’s hand as she cries. I don’t know why she chose such a sad movie if she didn’t want to cry. Apparently I’m just not empathetic enough to tear up. Janice has a terrible memory when being dramatic. But I let the remark slide because of how hungrily she eyes off a sushi train. She walks past it, refusing to say anything for some reason beyond me. I sigh and grab her arm, dragging her back so we can have some lunch. With all the options available, my back pocket is glad she chose this. I would’ve gotten anything she asked for.

Another chorus of thank you, thank you, thank you. Another person giving Janice a second glance before scurrying away. Another hour gone in a second. I consider making up some reason to catch a one way train ride up north so this trip won’t end, but Janice is insistent on getting her green unicorn and that’ll have to be the last thing that we do today. Of course there’s just one minor problem with her plan. The tattoo artist has been holding her ID for a solid three minutes without moving.

“No.”

Janice flinches. “Pardon?”

“No. I won’t play along. Get out of my shop.”

“But-.”

I step forward. “You don’t understand.”

He meets my glare. “Neither do you. I don’t support this...” He gestures to Janice. “This madness. Just leave and go somewhere else for your stupid unicorn.”

“Listen to me you impertinent son of a-.”

Janice grabs my arm. “It’s alright. Really, it’s fine. I just won’t get that tattoo and we’ll go. It was a bit too childish anyway. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Thank you.” He goes back to his sketch, his message clear.

It was stupid of me to think that something like this wouldn’t happen.

“We’ll take our business elsewhere then.” Janice goes to protest, but she catches the desperation in my eyes and nods. “I’ll get a matching one on my arm.”

“Thank you Phoebe.”

“It’ll be purple.”

“Thank you so much.”

“And have sparkles.”

“But we should head back now.”

“It’ll shoot rainbows.”

“I’m ready.”

“And tomorrow-.”

“Stop!” I do. She looks at me and sighs. “There’s no tomorrow for me. You know that.”

“It’s not fair.”

“I know. Can we take the Riverwalk back to the station?”

“Of course. I’m so terrible at navigation though, we just might end up going the wrong way.”

She laughs. It’s different from earlier. More forced. More full of pain. More like the Janice I’ve come to know. She was more like her past self today, but we both know just how much she’s changed in the past seven months. It’s been hard on her, too hard. I’ve lost count of the other inmates I’ve pulled off her. Hell, I’ve been her only company ever since she got put into solitary confinement. For her own safety, they say. Like that matters now. She doesn’t deserve this. The jury should’ve just listened. It wasn’t her fault.

“Do you think it’ll hurt?” she asks, as we walk back through the prison doors.

I look at her and force a smile. “Just like going to sleep.”

“Should be quick then.” She laughs again.

I hate that laugh. I hate this. I hate it.

“Will you hold my hand again?”

I’m the one crying now. Some guard I am. “Yeah. I’ll stay with you the whole time.”

She smiles weakly. “Thanks Phoebe. Seriously, best last day ever.”

“You’re welcome Janice. You’re welcome.”