Intro:
The sound of the buzzing was consistent….her eyes were closed. The striking planes of her face were a picture of solemnness….devoid of emotion. It had become almost peaceful, she thought, the last six months was finally coming to a culmination. The tattoo artist paused to soak up the small amount of blood pooling against the pale inner forearm of her subject.
Jenny couldn't quite place why but something about this woman was constantly pulling her in…like a magnet…every time they made eye contact…those striking green depths were like cat eyes.
She made the final swipes with the tattoo gun to finish the last image and sat back in awe. "Let me look at it…just one more time?" Jenny begged with her bottom lip between her teeth and gazed up expectantly. She was granted with a mysterious gaze…penetrating. Then suddenly, albeit unwillingly, her client rose to her full height from the chair. Turning around, she began to unbutton her black tailored dress shirt to unveil the finished back piece.
"Most people start off with something small for their first piece…but not you…it's amazing….,she trailed off …receiving shoulder shrug in reply…."well, you're the artist…
"It's helluva lot of work…it takes years to get the kind of ink you've gotten….not to mention the pain tolerance…"
"Yeah, well…I don't have a lot of time…
"I can't believe you're going to walk out that door and I'm never gonna see this again, or you…Alex…." Jenny batted her eyelashes hopefully as she buttoned her shirt back and slipped the fee into her palm. "There's a very good chance of that but…thanks for all your hard work."
Just as subtly as Alex had strode into her shop with drawings to replicate full of large graphics and an intricate maze of overlaying lines that now adorned her back, ribs, and both arms…suddenly Jenny was watching her leave—She had paid with cash only, asked to be kept off the books. Sadly, Alex had refused to have any demo photos of her tattoos for her to put in her portfolio even….such a shame…..damn she was hot!
Hawthorne Suites
Alex strides purposefully through the door of her high rise apartment-moderately and simply furnished with all black furniture and expensive paintings. Immediately, in the center was a large open study with all glass walls showing an impressive view of the skyline and water below. In it was one large table, overflowing with books, empty bottles of water and endless Starbucks cups. Adhesed to the glass walls were papers of all kinds… overlaying one another in places- squares and rectangles…newspaper articles, hand written notes, architectural drawings, intricate city and residential maps, and pictures.
She hurriedly begins to rip it all down, shoving it into a black trash bag…her calculating eyes flash onto a NY Times article "Governor's daughter wins Humanitarian award her picture was captioned 'championing for prisoner's rights for better healthcare'. The titles flowed before her, as she ripped them down…
'Final appeal for, Galina Reznikov denied and execution still set for May 11'
'Scientific research shows new breakthroughs for Insulin dependency'
'Cisneros treasure hunt still alive….after 40 years since her conviction'
"Life sentence for Mob boss, Yvonne Parker, handed down for NY police murders"
One last image, one that she had probably spent too long looking at on certain nights, the young doctor with such an innocent face, her blonde hair and blue eyes looking every bit the epitome of her famed upbringing. She crumbled it…a bit more sternly that was warranted….she couldn't let any wandering guilt get in the way of what needed to be done.
Alex's face was set with grim determination, as she unhooked several external hard drives from her laptop. She walked calmly out onto her balcony. Taking one last look around at the life she had made for herself…it had been a good one…and then she threw the electronics as hard as she could, clearing the boundary and into the watery bay below.
The next morning...
Alex stood calmly in her tailored charcoal suit in the middle of Grand National Savings Bank at approximately 12:30 pm , brown leather briefcase in one hand, and reached just inside her jacket for the pistol with the other. Without warning, she fired three shots into the air…. A chaos of screams erupted, various bystanders having no idea what was happening…she looked as normal as any other sophisticated businessperson in there, yet now she was holding a loaded firearm.
She walked directly to the closest teller, a middle aged lady, and pointed the gun inches from her face. She tossed a khaki messenger bag over the counter. Alex simply cocked one eyebrow arched up as if to say you know what to do…. The lady immediately opened her drawer full of deposits and the other tellers followed suit, dumping their contents into the bag and scurrying back down below the desks. She glanced at her stopwatch….four minutes had past since she had seen that one of tellers had already tripped the silent alarm. She angrily swept the gun back and forth across the crowd of bewildered bank customers just to make sure that they all stayed put and no one tried anything.
"Open the Vault"…she spoke only those three words..
"We can't the branch manager isn't here….she fumbled nervously, her eyes never leaving the barrel of the gun…
Alex's eyes flashed with impatience, a movement out of the corner of her eye, quickly she looked to see if it was the guard back from the bathroom…but it was just a child running to his mother….she flicked her eyes back to the teller.
"Where is he…?"
"It's lunch time…he's out with his wife like every Tuesday."
Alex fired off two more shots…this time directly into the wall behind her, close enough that she was shaking like a leaf…"I'm not kidding, lady…. open it…. NOW"… her tone was commanding in a way that let it be known that she was the type of person that people obeyed. Eight minutes and counting…..
Sirens began to wail in the distance…her eyes edged towards the exit. The guard who had just spent the last seven minutes playing Candy Crush on his phone decided now was a good time to come out.
Alex simply shot the wall directly in the restroom plaque right where he had poked his head out...He jumped back alarmed...
"I'm thinking if you're a smart man you'll stay in there pal..."
Six shots...that was the final round...she hadn't intended to really use it anyway other than for intimidation. Ten minutes. ..they were nearly upon her.
"M'am, you already have 400 thousand in your bag….don't you think you ought to be leaving soon…I don't have the access code…none of us do…"
Alex made no motion to run as the helicopter blades could be heard before it could be seen…the sirens deafening from the multitude of cars sliding into the parking lot. She took no hostages, made no attempt to shoot at the approaching policeman.
A look of relief was seen clearly on her face as the loud booming voice from bullhorn stated "This is the police, put down your weapon, we have the building surrounded." She simply smiled, laid her pistol and the money on the counter…. raised both hands in the air…and kneeled down on both knees.
District Attorney/Judge
The trial was very short…given that Alex had opted for no better representation than the free court appointed one, though she had the income to hire the best, and pleaded no contest to armed robbery. The judge was incredulous, hardly believing in all her years in the chair that no criminal had ever seemed so willing to be sentenced for their crimes. "Are you sure that you don't want to reaccess your plea?...Alex only shook her head negatively.
The judge narrowed her eyes and surveyed Alex closely…"Very well then, I'll retire to my chambers to decide your sentence.
She was lead back to the holding cell by the baliff, followed closely by her attorney. "Veronica Diaz, Can I have one minute with my client, please.." " Just one minute", he gruffly agreed.
"Don't you understand what you've done…you just gave her all the power and she will use it against you..you'll get a full sentence for this without a trial. You have no prior record of any kind..not even a traffic violation, you don't seem violent in any way, and I can tell by your designer suit they arrested you in and your listed address that you didn't need the money."
Alex's face only flinched slightly at her reasoning…but made no response..her lips pursed tightly. "Now you're just gonna roll over and take a ten year sentence….why won't you let me help you?"
Two hours later
Back in front of the judge again, Alex stood resolute, ready to face her sentence. The judge eyed her suspiciously… "Given your lack of prior criminal conduct, I'm inclined towards probation, but that fact that you discharged a deadly weapon during the criminal act suggests malice and cannot be ignored. For that reason, I find it necessary that you see the inside of jail cell, Ms. Vause. It says here that you've requested to be placed in a facility close to your home. Given your agreeable nature, I'm willing to honor that request. The closest level one facility nearby….
"Level one…that's maxium security..", her attorney interrupted, alarmed
"I would ask counsel to refrain from interrupting me…she replied, clearly rolling her eyes in frustration…As I was saying..the closest level one facility for women will be the Litchfield State penitentiary, as for the duration of your sentence I'm giving you eight years and you'll be eligible for parole in half that time..sentence is to be carried out immediately."
Alex's green eyes glittered like glass with only faintest of smiles on her lips.
Litchfield
As the transport van edged closer to what would be her new home, her ever-calculating gaze held to the beige walls that encirled the chaos within. They were stone, very tall and shaped in one giant rectangle holding seven to eight smaller buildings inside, several fenced in yard areas, and four towers were high above it all. The towers were manned with armed guards, two a piece per tower and the walls were covered with coiled barbed wire, with electrocution cables running the ground below the wall on either side if anyone tried to come too close.
Alex took a quick glance around at some her busmates, it was a mixed bunch. CO-ED at the moment, she could feel their horrible, lecherous eyes on her body without even making eye contact. The men were en route to Fox River, just a ten minute drive north of Litchfield. She noticed a few of women looked as miserable as she should have felt. But, she was actually in a weird way... excited, the adrenaline of everything that was to unfold a heavy pit in her stomach.
Well that was all of the outside from what she could see so far, as her and the other new inmates were rushed off the bus and inside. The guards could be heard before they were seen, yelling names and directions.
"Keep the line moving ladies, we haven't got all day. Get your new prison issue orange jumpsuits here and leave your clothes with the guard and your inmate number." Officer Bell, urged as some of the other prisoners followed her into a diffferent room to be strip searched, the standard squat and cough, done by the few female officers on staff.
"Vause", her name was bellowed...she hurriedly grabbed her intake sheet clipboard and approached the guard. Standard navy officer uniform, with badge displayed and shining, his eyes were dark and the way they traced her body up and down caused Alex to fight the urge to squirm. His cologne was cheap and heavy and hit her nose before she reached in front of him. She stopped three steps before and peered closer at the nametag....Mendez.
"Name and Number", he barked out...his breath smelled worse than his cologne.
"Vause, Alex", number 94941." He had yet to look up at her, marking on the clipboard. "Would consider yourself a religious person?"
She huffed indignantly..."never really thought about it", her tone held more sarcasm that appropriate.
He made eye contact then.. she was as tall as he was so they were eye to eye...he squinted like a animal does when its trying to intimidate another one...
"Good, because the ten commandments don't mean shit in here Fish...we only got two rules in here...First one is you're owed nothing in here...no rights no privileges...you ain't got the right to shit unless I say so and Second...You do what I say, when I say it or me and you are gonna to have trouble...something tells me that you're the kind that likes trouble... Mendez held eye contact waiting for her to cower...
It took all she had to swallow her pride but Alex trained her eyes to the ground and tried to slouch submissively. "No Sir, just trying to lay low... do my time, fly under the radar...and get out."
He continued checking her paperwork.."There is no such thing as flying under my radar, believe that...he held eye contact with her for a long pause...
"Good to know", Alex couldn't help but give him her sarcastic smirk...his right eye twitched and then he pointed over his shoulder for go to bag her personal belongings for storage. Alex sighed long and hard...she could tell this bastard was going to do whatever he could to make life difficult.
He took a backward glance at Alex and then back down at her intake sheet. Vause, Alex. Female. DOB 9/8/82. Medical History: TYPE I Diabetes
Just outside the west corridor building
The breeze gently whipped around the edges of her dirty blonde hair, just yellow enough to catch the eye. She could've used a shot of whiskey...but was forced to settle for a hurried cigarette break instead. She savored these few minutes of silence, as she blew out a long stream of smoke. She briefly glanced sideways out towards the road seeing another bus unloading more unfortunate souls, while simultaneously swiping her ID badge into the magnetic lock. Looking for what...she didn't know... but her stomach had felt anxious today... Inhaling deeply and composing her face into a confident smile, Dr. Piper Chapman walked back into the notorious Litchfield Penitentiary to finish her shift.
Cell Block D
Alex gazed out at the sea of bodies and bars before her...the cells were lined squares across the gap maybe fifteen across and stacked up high..five or six levels and below them at bottom was a tiled open area with a few chairs and tables. The noise was deafening as nearly 400 women all talked, yelled, and laughed at once. She watched as several guards paced the bottom level eyeing the cells above. She could see one guard on another level below her dismiss a complaint about the air conditioning while two inmates passed a cigarette between the cells as his head was turned.
"Yo fish...what you looking at?.." Alex sees a large woman with dark hair cut into man's style...white tank top and khaki jumpsuit pants on her level directly across the way..."you look too pretty to be in here fish...me and you need to have a proper meeting"...the overweight dyke smiled in what she thought was a seductive manner but only served to disgust her.
"yeah, fish, why don't you take a seat...I don't like any unneccessary attention my way huh?...a gravely female voice interrupted her thoughts
For first time, Alex took at look at her bunkmate. The first distinguishable trait would be that her hair stuck out on her head as though it may have been dreads at one point and was now just a homeless looking type mess.
"Why does everyone keep calling me fish?...her bunkie only chuckled..."fish is like freshman or fresh meat is more's the case in here...you'll learn soon enough'.
Alex simply stared at her bunkmate, aside from her ridiculously messy hair, she was slender with big brown eyes.
"Like I said, the best thing to do is lay low, there ain't nothing to do up in here but serve your time...and watch your back...these bitches are in Maxi for a reason.
"Maxi?"...Alex hedged her voice.
"yeah...maximum security...ain't no fucking Martha Stewart up in this bitch...More women have been killed here than in the men's facility." Her voice rose a little as she swung herself down from the top bunk. Alex turned from the cell bars to face her. Just as she turned her back from the large group area below, a shout and then a pained groan could be heard below.
Both inmates pressed their faces to the bars just in time to see a young mexican girl fall to the floor with blood pooling out from a wound in her right side. Suddenly the whole block erupted in shouts and cheers. The other prisoners just continued walking in a straight line...some simply side stepped the body, some shaking their heads, a few looking around for the perpetrator...some had their heads down walking like robots...
A loud wailing siren blared as the guards saw the body and the prisoners not already in their cells immediately fell to the floor,lying on their stomachs, faces turned to the side with their hands clasped to the back of their heads.
Mendez's voice could be heard above the noise..."Everybody down, and don't fucking move..." The inmate's body was picked up by two guards and taken immediately to the infirmary. A third guard, O'neill had his weapon drawn on the ones on the floor. He had them file into their cells in groups of four. They would be questioned later, but would be unlikely to talk.
Alex's face was now whiter than it had ever been. It'd been several hours since she had stepped off the bus, and she'd just seen someone most likely murdered judging by the amount of blood on the floor. Her face strained in an attempt to hide her emotions, she knew it would be violent here... but it was too late to admit that she might be in over her head now.
"Like I said, fish...watch your back..." She extended her hand...'Name's Nichols, but you can call me Nicky."
Alex paused still a little stunned, she stuggled to find her voice and grasped her hand giving it firm shake..."Vause ...but you can call me Alex".
"okay, Alex...well you got shipped in on a good day, we get yard time."
The Yard
The inmates were filed in a line and escorted out through several chain link fences with guards at each stop. They poured into the yard, which had several areas that were already packed with members from other blocks.
Nicky shuffled closer to Alex... giving her the lowdown on who was who. "Things here are like you stepped back into the 50s, most races keep to their own kind..their own gangs. They each got their own racket going on also. She nodded to the basketball court, "That's V's crew...they sell cigarettes, drugs and alcohol..pretty much anything goes for them...they're bad news..trust me ...just stay outta their way, they were mean even before she got here.
Alex held eye contact for a minute in their direction and then looked away. Nicky nodded to the bleachers, "Mendoza, Flaca, Dayanara and the rest of Mexicans get the bleachers and the all the ex Meth heads and other white girls usually walk the track...and the CO's run all the rest of it.
She pointed up to the towers where the guards tracked their movements with semi automatic rifles in their hands.."I'm telling you.. the guards are the dirtiest gang in this whole place...the only difference between us and them is the badge.
Alex noticed a woman sitting alone, petting a tabby cat, whispering softly to it. "So, who's the animal lover?"...Nicky chuckled..."She'll deny it, but rumour around here is that she was part of a bank heist team called 'the Dead Presidents'... fourty years ago made off with two million dollars that she hid somewhere before she was arrested...the other members were all killed. "Wow," Alex nodded seeming impressed...Nicky trailed off...
"But she's sick now", Alex questioned...noting the lack of hair atop her head..."yeah cancer's a bitch..even in here...nobody messes with her."
Alex and Nicky are approached by two women in khaki...they exchange a series of hand movements that end in a shake "Hey, why are you hanging with this fish...?"
"She's my new cellie...Alex, this are my friends Gina, she's got the hookup in commissary...whatever you need until your money comes in, I can help. And this is Taystee, she has any pharmacuticual needs covered...
"Hey now, don't be blowing up my spot...we don't know her," Taystee frowned and invaded Alex's personal space considerably. "Chill, who is she gonna tell...? Nicky placed a calming hand on her chest. "She just got here, better to get her on our side, before she's approached by Tucky and her religious regime" she nodded to the track to a group of girls gathered there. Several furtive glances were thrown her way.
While they argued, Alex's eyes continued to scan the yard...she keyed in on the yellow hydrants placed throughout the yard in a linear fashion with a grated hole where steam was erupting from. She paces the yard to different grate, while looking down into it, she can see water running along the bottom of the large pipe below. She casually bends down and pretends to tie her shoes, while dropping a magazine she plucked off a table down into the grate. The rushing water flows in and around the magazine as it flows down a short ways and then stops as it gets caught on larger circular stopper. As Nicky's conversation ends and she walks back over to Alex, she stands and walks away to draw her back towards the fence. She eyes the tower closest to the them, trying to peer inside.
"Hey, I'm looking for someone...named Reznikov..."
"Rez...you mean Red?"
"Is that what they're calling her now", Alex scoffed slightly at the nickname.
"Where can I find her ?"
Nicky takes her to the edges of the fenced in yard, there towards the east wall of one of the outer buildings was a small fenced-in concrete area, one woman sat with her back to them, and another with short dyed-red hair could be seen standing along the far fence.
"They say she killed the Vice president's brother...and she's getting the electric chair in something like a month I heard...which means there's no one more dangerous than her in here right now ...because she's got nothing left to lose..."I mean what are they gonna do..kill her twice...", Nicky whispered as though they had any chance of being heard.
"Is there any way I can get to her?"
Nicky shook her head negatively..."No way, the only time they get out is for chapel and PI."
"What's PI?", Alex asked
"You sure ask a lot of questions, fish...PI is prison industries. Its for inmates that can get along, they do manual labor around the prison...painting, repairs, electric work all that shit...but I wouldn't get too excited...there's no way you're getting in on that action."
"Yea, why is that?"
"Because its run by 'Parker'..."Oh, you mean Yvonne Parker...Alex trailed her words off... Nicky only nodded,"Exactly...no chance."
They were being herded back inside now..."Hey why you wanna see Red so bad anyway?"
Alex hedged, not sure if she was ready to answer that question...but chose to anyway.
"Because she's the closest thing to a mother that I ever had, took me in after she found me digging through the trash for food behind her restaurant when I was 12. I was staying with my mom in a cheap motel nearby, one day when I came home from school...the room was empty and the guy at the desk said she had skipped out on the bill. I was in and out of homeless shelters nearby...doing everything I could to avoid being picked up by CPS."
Alex kept walking forward, head down, giving all the information that she intended to for the moment, while Nicky's mouth gaped wide with astonishment. She thought about asking further questions but could see Alex's face had seemed to close off.
Cell Block D
As the inmates are relaxing in their cells, Alex can seen folding an orgami swan out of a small sheet of letter paper that she got from Nicky. "Hey, what 's another word for love?", she quizzed.
Alex arched an eyebrow..."mmm, I don't know what's the context?"
Nicky chuckled..."Like I love you so much, that I'm never knocking over another liquor store again...except ya know classy..." Alex didn't respond..."Fine, I'm proposing to my girl...if you must know."
Alex made a disappointed sounding grunt..."In a letter?"..."Well, yea, you gotta a better way?"
"Last time I checked...face to face..works pretty good.", Alex spouted in her usual smartass way.
"This place ain't exactly a romantic spot...I'm gonna have her go to the restaurant where we had our first date, order her favorite glass of red wine...and then open it...it'll almost be like I'm there...Nicky crumbled the paper and threw it hard against the wall..."Except that I won't be there...", she grumbled angrily.
Alex got up and picked it up, uncrinkling it..."Try the word passion"...Nicky's eyes lit up.."Oh yeah that's a good one...wait how do you spell that...P-A-S-H? Alex only smiled and shook her head.
Her head began to pound as she had so many thoughts racing through her mind at once. All of Alex's deliberate planning had led her to these moments, but there were some parts of this scheme that were held together with blind faith and pure luck.
Although she'd spent months pouring over every single document, planning and re-planning for every contingency or loophole, any possible mistakes... it would take more than her structural engineering background and good looks to make it out of this hell hole alive. One of the many documents she'd spent a few nights staring at was the Humanitarian award given to Piper Chapman. She had researched her past knowing full well that her need to get into the prison infirmary rested entirely on falsifying the need for insulin shots and a little charm. Alex needed to gain her trust, which in their given situation was not going to be easy.
She read the article many times detailing her rising academic star at Northwestern University. A Phi Beta Kappa member, logging seemingly tireless hours of volunteer work while graduating top of her class. Piper's speech during the graduation ceremony detailed her deep connection to the works of Gandhi and quoted him as such, "Be the Change you want to see in the World." Basically the complete opposite of her strict, right-wing ,conservative, Governor of New York father who believed very little in the "good" left in basic humanity . Particulary, those currently housed in the prison system in which his precious daughter worked . Piper seemed to have it all - good looks, political family connections, stellar academic record, brilliant future, and a gracious personality.
Infirmary
Piper flipped through the manila folders stacked the height of a small toddler on the desk in the medical records room, just adjoining her office. Just for fun, she thought she'd close her eyes and take the next patient whose file she grabbed. Her hands fumbled over the edges and grabbed a file halfway down of the stack of newly inducted 'winners' . Technically , that meant new inmates that had been processed today as having a need to be seen in the infirmary for various reasons. She quickly scanned the intake sheet, noted it had a thicker personnel file with it, but disregarded it. Vause, Alex...Type I Diabetes...that was fairly important and should have made known much sooner as the day was nearly over, had the inmate went a full 24 hours without a shot of insulin the consequences would be drastic.
Song lyrics-
I remember the day...that our eyes first met,
You ran into the building to get out of the rain, cuz you were soaking wet
And when I held the door...you wanted to know my name,
Timing is Everything...
Cell Block D
"Open on four", Mendez shouted as he made eye contact with one of the newest fish on the block . "Vause, infirmary", as Mendez waited for the prisoner to begin moving. Alex bounced up with one quick step, and was at the now open entrance. Eye contact held for a second, steely green and unblinking, enough to relay that this one -if pushed-wouldn't be easily cowed, and then down to the floor.
"Yes boss" were her only words. Alex ignored Mendez's heavy breathing during transport, her mind racing with all the possibilities about to unfold. Each step leading her closer to the fulfillment of a destiny, already the wheels turning just as she had planned.
As she sat in the sterile, white looking exam room, she scanned the area for any personal items belonging to Piper. Something that she could play off of for ideas about small talk, but surprisingly found none. She hadn't expected to be this nervous, wiping her palms on her jumpsuit, wishing feverently she could have met a woman like this at the Red door or another favorite bar instead...this place had her off her game. A woman with round, warm face came to the door, and said "Dr. Chapman will be with you shortly..."
A/N ok well there's a sample to see how you guys feel about the mashup of the two prison shows...so if you like it and want more let me know...thanks for reading so far