so melissa allen has turned to another inmate, megan dooley, for help. you add 6 to 18 and it gives you the next answer. >> it's great. i'm not embarrassed when she helps me. i sit there and listen to her because i know shy ain't judging me and stuff. >> i treat people how i want them to treat me. math is one of my better skills. it comes easy to me. so something that she struggles with, that's easy for me, if i can help her with it, it's not going to hurt me to sit down for ten minutes and write out the multiplication tables. all i have here is time. why not use it for something constructive? 30, 40, 50 -- >> yes, okay. >> melissa sees learning math as a step toward getting her life back on track after years of drug addiction and prostitution. >> monday through sunday, nonstop, every day. there's not a day that passed, every day. i did crazy -- i looked like a damned fool. i could see myself out there. i looked like a damned fool, running around thinking i'm like [ bleep ]. probably smelled like one, i don't know. 37 years old. i can't do this no more.

allen family to catch our attention. >> straight from the bloody beat, you know what i mean [ bleep ] ferocious. >> siblings corey, melissand william were serving sentences at suffolk county's house of correctional facility. >> the allen family was definitely a family that definitely seemed they were having hard times. three siblings being locked up was certainly a lot coming from one family. even though they were all inside, they constantly were telling us about one another and stories about one another from home. >> my family is one of the dysfunctional families that's out here. i love my family. you know what i'm saying? there's something good about us, you know. >> my sister, melissa, is loving. she's kind. >> she took care of me. she made sure we eat when we didn't have food. >> my little brother, he called me ma. >> she couldn't really cook but she forced us to eat it. we had no choice. >> corey is a complicated person. >> my brother corey is a funny guy. >> nasty. >> we used to beat each other up, steal candy, steal bikes. >> my brother william is very smart. >> take money out of wishing wells together, set fires.