Thank you for beta'ing, A Star In My Universe!
If you read my long fic "The Calming Neon Lights In Our Dark Stormy Skies", where Diane and Fahri are both alive and well, you know I ship Gloria/Fahri; Diane/CO Ford; and Aleida/Leon with all my heart, and you'll catch the references to those pairings. If not, enjoy anyway!
Seeing her had been hard. After eight years, Alex still remembers what she'd done, and how Piper had betrayed her. Then, out of the blue, the blonde woman clad in an orange jumpsuit shows up in the prison yard and literally screams right in her face.
Fuck.
Alex tells herself it's Piper's own fault. She'd named her ex, but out of revenge. It had felt great. She'd love to yell back at Piper, but not today. It's too hard to face her after everything. She's only been here for a week, along with Gonzales, Jefferson, and Taylor, but it's all sinking in.
They have visitors-friends, family, boyfriends.
She doesn't.
Sure, there's that one girl from a couple of weeks ago she'd picked up at a bar, but the chick means nothing to Alex. The two main people she'd ever loved are gone.
Forever.
"Really, a fuckin' King Cone?" Gloria hisses as she yanks Flaca up off the ground and away from Jefferson.
"I wasn't gonna eat it!" the young Latina protests. She nods her head towards Chapman. "That new whitey was thinkin' about it, though, the way she stared at it on the floor! Fuckin' bitch Jefferson had it all sticky...I had to get rid of it!"
"That's her business. You don't like it where it was, tell her, but y'all don't gotta fight!"
Flaca looks down in shame. "Okay. Sorry."
"Go back to what you were doin'," she instructs Flaca.
"I'm just bored. Ramos is bein' a bitch..."
"Your bunkie?"
"Yeah, she got a mouth on her...like, I'm missin' my mom, it's gonna be my first Christmas and everything without her...but Ramos just wanna play! Why'd they stick me with her? She got like, no compassion!"
Gloria notices the girl's eyes are starting to moisten, causing her makeup to run. With a sigh, she leads Flaca to her cube where the newest inmates are, along with DeMarco, Cisneros, and Nichols. Diaz is flipping through a comic book on a top bunk, but Watson and Chapman aren't present in the room. "I dunno, kid, but you can be here for now. It ain't just you...she wasn't that friendly to Diaz either."
Flaca glances around uncertainly and purses her dark red lips. "You sure you want my company?"
"Imma take care of you, 'cause I know what it's like when you got real close family on the outside."
"Gracias," Flaca chokes out.
"Yo...you can't cry in here, nena, you gotta be strong, alright, 'cause they take crying for being weak, and that makes you a target...come here, I'll hold you..." Gloria rocks Flaca back and forth in her arms until she calms down. "I got kids...my sons...they're twelve and fourteen now...six and eight when I was arrested...and two daughters, but they can't be bothered to visit. The boys are currently with my tía in Florida. They'd come if they could."
Flaca sniffles. "Shit...why that far?"
"Well, I used to suffer domestic abuse, so I was gonna take 'em all and run, but some dickhead customer I had at my bodega, called the cops since I did some food stamp fraud and he wasn't happy with me, since when I did a practice called Santería, where you leave a candle near somethin' you're praying for, like in his case, it was a job application, which he failed to hand to his prospective employer. Therefore, he thought I scammed him. When the police came, Lourdes...that's my tía...she and Benny and Julio, left for Florida, so my boyfriend wouldn't find 'em and kill 'em! He'd hurt my baby, and that was the last straw!"
"Oh wow, that's so unfair...you're like the only one, besides me, who really don't deserve to be in prison!"
Gloria shrugs. "It is what it is. So...tell me about your motha."
Flaca manages a tiny grin. "She's super awesome...and she's real skilled at sewing...we poor, but I still got to wear fancy dresses and shit, thanks to her. I helped her sometimes, though I didn't wanna. What're Lourdes and Benny and Julio like?"
"Oh, Benny and Julio, I'm sure they're a handful now," Gloria murmurs and then chuckles softly. "They're the sweetest ever, and I long to hug them and my tía. Lourdes was strong-willed and independent...she's a santera. I learned a lot from her. My parents ain't in the picture...they passed when I was young."
"I'm real sorry."
"My mom died, too," a low voice pipes up, and they see Vause standing in the doorway. "I apologize...I couldn't help but overhear. Gonzales, you're lucky you even have a mom!"
"It's cool," Flaca responds. "My condolences."
"Mine, too," Gloria adds.
"Thank you." Vause goes to Nichols' bunk and taps it. "Uh, you know where Chapman is?"
The frizzy-haired woman pulls out her headphones. "Visiting with her yuppie fiancé. You just missed her!"
Vause sighs. "Whatever." She glances up at Diaz. "Hey...I recognize you, we sat next to each other at orientation."
"Oh, yeah! I'm sorry to hear about your ma."
"Thanks. Mind if I sit in here for a bit? Taylor's driving me up the fuckin' wall...she's not only my roomie, but she's also my co-worker in laundry."
"Sure," Gloria allows. "You might get kicked out and have to return to the suburbs."
"I know..." Vause reaches into the pockets of her khakis and pulls out two photographs. One is of a white woman with striking blue eyes and brown hair, who resembles Vause, and the other is of a handsome Arabian-American man.
"That your ma?" Flaca wants to know, and Vause nods her head yes.
"Who's he, your stepdad or something?" Gloria asks, pointing to the man's picture.
"No, but he was basically a father to me."
"He's cute...and your motha, you look just like her."
Vause grins. "Thanks, Mendoza. Uh, don't go getting your hopes up on getting hooked up with Fahri...he's in heaven."
Gloria puts her hand on the raven-haired woman's arm soothingly and her heart breaks. "Shit...I'm sorry."
"Yeah, so no visitors for me."
"I don't got nobody either."
"Ditto," Flaca adds to Gloria's statement.
Nichols and Diaz stop what they're doing and appear to be interested in this upcoming conversation, as they're leaning over the top of their bunks. "Nobody comes to see me in this shithole, so that makes four of us," Nichols chimes in.
"I guess I should be grateful I got my ma's shitty boyfriend and my abuela, who Aleida hates," Diaz mutters.
"You wanna tell me about 'em?" Gloria asks Vause.
"Sure."
"It ain't gonna make you too upset?" Flaca wants to know.
"No...it was eight years ago. It's just this time of year...my girlfriend left me right when my mom died, and I always get sad. Diane, my mom...she passed because of an aneurysm. A few weeks later, a day after her funeral, Fahri was murdered by our drug lord's hit man. He was my friend in the business...and he and Diane were the best people I ever had in my life. They never let me down." Vause scoffs. "I severely disappointed them, though." She begins to choke up.
"They're looking down at you with love, I'm positive. We all made stupid choices, that's how we wound up here...but that don't mean they hate you now or somethin'," Gloria assures Vause.
"My mom thought I was just a world traveler...little did she know that I was part of an fuckin' international drug cartel. I didn't go home enough. I could've helped her get rich, at least. I grew up in poverty...we lived in a trailer park, all 'cause this loser got her pregnant and left her...fuckin' Lee Burley could've made us rich with his Death Maiden money...he was a drummer for that band. Every time I think about it...I hate myself with each passing second. Why did I not pay her a visit more often...and I should've taken Fahri more seriously when he told me we had to leave the club to pick up a mule from the airport! She was arrested instead...and Kubra saw that as a risk of exposure...so that's how Fahri got killed."
"None of that's your fault...you could be a successful CEO of a company and be too busy to see your family...and nobody expects an aneurysm, it's just sudden," Diaz murmurs.
"Also, how the fuck would you know that Kubra would overreact?" Nichols asks.
"I didn't...I wasn't really prepared for the unexpected," Vause says glumly.
"Nobody is, baby." Gloria tells her and wraps her in a hug.
"You guys would've liked them...my mom and Fahri," Vause murmurs. "My mom was a pretty cool one...she and I were best pals. She'd be like, sixty-five now, but she'd never tell anyone her real age...she'd say she's forty or whatever."
The other girls in the room smile and Gloria chuckles a bit. "It's a shame I never met her. We'd get along. She sounds like my tía...aunt."
"She was great. Fahri, too...he was like the dad I always wanted...or uncle. He and my mom were always there for me, through whoever or whatever I was having problems with...they protected me. He and I would smoke together and do drugs...but he mostly had a bump every now and then."
"Oh wow, he sounds perfect for me, because I could use a smoke right now, too," Gloria murmurs, staring at Fahri's picture, and everyone laughs. "For real, I'd go for the guy, he seems protective and everything my abusive ex wasn't."
"He would've been," Vause lets her know.
"What I would do for a cigarette, damn," Nichols mutters.
"Hey, isn't that your other addiction?" Alex gestures to the driver coming in. Morello beams up at Nichols, and the blonde gazes at her lustfully.
"Fuck yes!" Nichols climbs down the ladder, slings her arm around Morello's waist, and leads her out of the room.
Vause talks more about Fahri and Diane. "My mom was so amazing at dancing...sometimes, when I was very little, I'd stand on her toes while we danced together to the radio."
"Inmates, you need to go back to your-" CO Ford stops himself when she turns to face him with tears streaming down her face. "What's going on, you alright, Vause?"
"Her ma died," Diaz informs him, and Vause sniffles. "It's fuckin' hard, man."
"Yo, I gave Maritza a real stern lecture, she's ready to say sorry. I helped Gloria out with this shit when she was new and missing her boys and tía," Aleida cuts in. "Now go make up with your bunkie, Flaca."
Flaca sighs heavily. "Okay. Thanks, Gloria." She gives Gloria a hug and then Vause. "I got sympathy for both y'all." She follows Aleida out of the room. "I appreciate what you done..."
"Diaz! Go take this to the newest member of our staff, Leon McDonald," Caputo instructs Aleida, and she sighs internally while bringing the plate of fully-cooked hamburger outside of the cafeteria.
Aleida rolls her eyes. "Fuckin' white men and their needs...why I gotta be the one to deliver it to one 'a' those higher-ups..." She stops herself short when she sees a musclebound African American man in a casual purple shirt and Wrangler jeans talking to one of the guards. Holy shit...
She starts to feel self-conscious in her prison garb since it hides her figure completely. "Um...Leon...er, Mr. McDonald, here's your, your meal...uh, dinner?"
"Oh, sweet, I was hungry! Thank you so much." When he smiles at her, she stands up a bit straighter and quickly yanks her hairnet off so her brunette locks can hang down in loose waves. He takes it from her and their fingers touch. She feels the most powerful shock shoot through her entire body. It's so strong that she staggers back a step.
She bites her lip while gazing at him suggestively, her eyes traveling up and down his fine figure. "My name's Aleida...and it's real nice to meet you. Sí, I'm a criminal and I got a fierce scorpion tattoo, but I ain't hardened or nothin'. They call me Diaz here."
He hasn't even taken a bite of his food since he's too busy gazing at her and grinning. "It's a shame I can't ask you out for a drink, then."
"Maybe in a year or two when I'm released, we can do whatever we want in the free world." Aleida winks at him and stands on her tiptoes so she can whisper in his ear. "There's always the supply closets for sexy shit, though. We could be the hottest secret couple in Litchfield."
Leon smirks. "I like that idea."
She closes her eyes and blushes at his warm breath fanning her face. "Diaz, get back to work!" Caputo barks at her, and Aleida jumps.
"Shit! Sorry, Leon...I'll see you in a bit."
"Goodbye, Aleida, catch you later!"
Aleida glances over her shoulder and beams at Leon. She passes Flaca and Maritza, who are now chattering and giggling while holding hands, and she just knows that they'd just seen what happened between her and Leon. It would get back to the rest of the Spanish Harlem soon enough, and Daya would hear about it, too.
She's not sure how she feels about this. Maybe she shouldn't have slapped her daughter...but she was so angry upon seeing Daya after everything with Cesar.
"It's been eight years...and I really miss my mom and my father figure," Alex explains to CO Ford. "Mendoza's been making me feel better. She's listening to my sad stories."
"Oh, that's good. You can keep talking, but I need to be present to make sure there's no funny business, such as escape plans."
"Alright." Alex proceeds to tell him everything that she'd opened up to Mendoza about. "I just wish they were here, especially since now that I'm in prison, it's lonely. I had to get through the first holidays...each one...and my birthday...alone. They were my family, and now they're gone." Vause shakes her head slowly and wipes her tears away underneath her glasses with the pad of her thumb and then her knuckles. "Come visitation day, I won't be expecting anyone...so depressing."
"All the firsts are hard," CO Ford sympathizes with her.
"Yeah. I'm gonna put these on my wall in my cube soon." Alex shows him the photos of Diane and Fahri.
"I'm deeply sorry for your losses. Your mother seemed like a wonderful human being, Fahri, as well," CO Ford says.
"They were. I don't think they dated anyone, though, not when I was with 'em. It sucks, because they deserved romance! My mom always said nobody would ever be attracted to her, no matter how sweet and kind she was. She thought of herself as too poor."
"She's beautiful...I would definitely want her as a girlfriend."
Alex beams through the lump stuck in her throat. "I wish she were alive to hear that. She would've been the best dance partner, like, ever...and not to mention, the most special woman in your life. She would've made you feel important."
CO Ford smiles sadly at Diane's picture. "I bet. She and Fahri are both looking down at you from Heaven." He exhales slowly. "Vause, it's almost time for count, so you should return to the suburbs." He sounds guilty as he gives her the order.
"Okay, I get it...back to reality. Thanks for listening, guys." Alex squeezes Gloria's hand quickly and stands up, prepared to leave. She smirks at the fact that she'd just made friends with one of the baddest bitches in Litchfield and possibly even a guard after her heart-to-hearts with them.
However, Piper couldn't go through two days without fucking up. She'd done the stupid thing of pissing off Red by insulting her food. Alex, one. Piper, zero.
"Yo, white girl, I got a rep in here, so don't go around tellin' nobody I been soft! Aleida would never hear the end of it!" Mendoza calls out after her in a tough voice, and Alex salutes her while nodding in understanding.
Happy New Year! Cheers to 2018!