Chapter 10

An Offer You Can't Refuse

Piper, still lying on the track, sat up quickly when she saw Red. It was a relief to see her. They had all been locked up in the SHU for over a week.

"Red?" Piper wondered if perhaps she had hit her head a bit too hard when she fell and maybe she was imagining her.

"What is wrong with you, Blondie? Why are you on the ground? Isn't the point of this thing to run around, and not lie around," Red asked motioning her arms around the track.

"I tripped and fell," Piper said as she started to stand. She brushed the dirt and grass from her clothes, and felt the scratches on her face. "It's so good to see you, Red." She leaned in to give Red a hug, but Red backed off.

"Tell me who this woman is in our cube," Red began. "Is this the Martha Stewart type that was on TV not too long ago? Please tell me no."

"Yep, it's her, and I have a feeling the two of you are going to get along splendidly," Piper joked.

"Tell me she's not working in the kitchen."

"She sure is. She has a whole new crew in there and Caputo's even letting her add some fresh garden vegetables to the pre-packaged food. It's actually getting a little more tolerable," Piper cringed a little at her words. She probably shouldn't have said that last part. The last thing she wanted to do was piss Red off again.

"I'm going to talk to Healey about this. This is ridiculous. But first, Blondie, I just checked my commissary and my 8 percent from your little panty business was not deposited to my account last week. What's going on? Where's my money?"

"Yeah, well, about that... there's been a slight set back and with most of my girls being locked up in the SHU for the past week, it's been a little difficult getting the product out," Piper explained.

"Tough shit, Blondie. Your girls being in the SHU are not my problem. We had a deal. I get 8 percent off the top each week. It looks like there are plenty of new girls around here, you need to start recruiting. I expect my share to be in my commissary account by the end of the week," Red said in a threatening tone.

"Okay, okay. It'll be in there by the end of the week," Piper promised. "Hey Red, is everyone that was in the lake out of the SHU now?"

"Yes, Caputo let us all go, but we have to work the entire month with no pay as part of our on-going punishment. I guess that's better than getting time added to our sentences. To be honest, it was worth every penny to set foot outside those fences and enjoy that lake for a while."

"Right," Piper said distracted, while looking towards the greenhouse.

Red noticed where her attention was aimed. "You never said why you were crying, Blondie? Does it have something to do with Vause? Have your lies finally caught up with you?"

"No. I was crying because I fell. Because I hurt my face when I fell onto the ground," Piper snapped back.

Red peered over her glasses looking at the cuts on Piper's face. "Wounds heal, Blondie, but scars still remain the same." Red turned and walked away, leaving Piper standing on the track still looking at the greenhouse.

Piper reflected on what Red just said. Wounds, like cuts and scratches, would heal eventually. Most never leaving a scar or any indication that they were once there making you hurt or making you bleed. But scars—scars like losing that one person in your life that sees through all your bullshit but decides to love you anyway—scars like that never go away.

Alex and Steely were in the greenhouse alone, and Alex had made sure no one was lurking close enough to hear what she was about to ask Steely to do. She hated to put her in this position, but she knew she needed help moving these drugs. Come on, Vause, you can do this. You've done this hundreds of times before, she thought while looking at the lovely girl standing before her.

"Okay, so now that you've got me all alone, what are you going to do to me?" Steely asked, smiling a sexy smile at Alex.

"I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse," Alex began. "Look, I know we don't know each other very well, but I feel like we have a lot in common and you seem like you can be trusted. I need someone that I can trust."

"You think you can trust a con-artist slash computer hacker like me, huh?" Steely asked holding back a laugh.

"Well, you didn't have to tell me that you were a con-artist slash computer hacker, but you did. That makes me think you trust me as well. I need someone I can trust and someone who's not afraid of getting their hands dirty. I may be wrong, but you seem like the right girl," Alex said.

"So, what's the job? And how much does it pay? I'm not a cheap girl, you know?"

Alex smiled and leaned in towards Steely a bit, "You know what I used to do for a living, right? So I was thinking of maybe trying that out in here. I've heard you can make a ton of money. How do you feel about helping me sell?"

"Hmmm, sounds risky. I'm going to need to have more information before I can make a decision here," said Steely, "and you still haven't told me what the pay will be."

"My cut is ten percent of what we sell each week. I figured I'd split that five ways between myself and four other girls. Other girls like you that we can trust. I've scoped out the potential recruits and I feel confident about them. The drugs will come in on Monday and we have until Sunday night to sell it all. When I get paid, you get paid. You'll need to have someone on the outside get you a prepaid credit card that I can load your money onto."

You could see the wheels in Steely's head turning, "Wait, four other girls? That's too many, Alex. We can just do this. The two of us. We can split the money 50-50."

"You think just the two of us can pull this off? I mean, have you seen how many women are in here now. I just don't see how it will be possible to pull this off with just two people," Alex countered.

"Look, this is my third time in prison. I've seen how this works in other prisons. More often than not there's just one drug runner and one 'assistant' who is kind of like the muscle. The one who breaks legs when they don't pay kind of girl. It's less risky that way and it sets you up as the boss. Everyone looking to buy knows you're the one in charge. It gives you great prison cred, and it forces others not to go in business against you," Steely explained.

"Shit, you sound like you know what you're talking about. Maybe we can pull this off. We'll have to get the word out and see how much business we can drum up this week." Alex's mind was racing now. "Fuck, I forgot. The drugs will come in each week through Whispers. We're going to need someone working there to carry the drugs out for us each week. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Nothing comes to mind right at the moment. Oh, wait, what about your ex, Piper?"

"Fuck, no. Piper cannot know about this," Alex said.

"Alex, really? How do you think you're going to become a prison drug boss without your ex finding out about it?"

"Maybe you need to be the drug boss then, and I can be the muscle," Alex said.

"I don't know. That's a little fucked up isn't it? I mean, you're the one who wants to move drugs in here, not me. Doesn't that make you the boss automatically?"

"To me, it doesn't matter. I'm not doing this for power," Alex replied.

"So, you're just doing it for the money?" Steely asked skeptically.

"Yeah… just for the money," Alex lied.

"Okay, so for all intents and purposes I will appear to be the big bad drug boss bitch and you'll be my badass bodyguard? We'll split the money 50-50, and Piper will never know you're selling again."

"Sounds like a plan. Do we have a deal, Steely?"

"Deal. Do you want to shake on it? Or we could hug it out, or even better kiss it out?" Steely asked while running her long fingers down the side of Alex's tattooed bicep.

Alex smiled, "I think a hand shake will suffice. For now."

A/N – Sorry for that, don't hate me! I love Vauseman just as much you do, but Alex needs to get all the attention she deserves right now. I decided to do another quick 'middle of the week' update. I plan to post another chapter later this week. I had wanted to do a chapter a week until the Season 4 premiere, but I think this is going to wrap up sooner than that. Maybe by the New Year or sooner. I may write another after this one. It's been so much fun so far. I enjoy reading your reviews and I appreciate you all taking the time out to read my little story. Please review - J