Chapter 6-1: Kubra Pit.

The blindfold was lifted roughly from Piper's face, and she was completely blinded for a moment. Or at least that was what she hoped she'd portrayed. As soon as the blindfold was off Piper glanced right at Kubra before shutting her eyes again. Piper scrunched her eyes shut as she waited for the rhodopsin to work it's magic. After about 10 seconds the snapshot image of Kubra became vivid in front of her eyes as if it was film.

Kubra's image was violet shifted but it was clear enough for getting an idea of how he was feeling that she'd never know by staring at him. In his image Piper saw he was merely glancing at her with a mild expression. She almost heaved a sigh of relief but controlled the urge. If her snapshot was accurate things could go well with this meeting, on the other hand, it was only one image.

The rhodopsin chemical buildup in front of her eyes enabling the snapshot trick was still good for another 10 minutes, but wasn't worth it. Kubra was waiting and if she tried the trick again he might easily catch on. So Piper let her lids flutter open and begin to adjust to the intense brightness of the rather dim room she found herself in. She took the time as her eyes adjusted to get a bearing of the situation. Kubra had started pacing back and forth seemingly lost in thought while Piper noticed at least 5 guys behind her with automatic weapons. Piper's eyes finally adjusted and she stared straight ahead calmly at Kubra.

Once she'd done so Kubra turned to her and spoke in his usual business tone,

"So you wanted to see me then Piper Chapman."

"I did indeed."

"Good, and now we are here. Luckily for you I was in town and I came to the meeting because I remember what you did for me. You openly and convincingly lied about never seeing me before that day in court, even though we'd met more than half a dozen times."

"I did indeed lied about that."

"Sure you aren't the reason I got off, but you stilled helped me. You tried to protect me, and that I appreciate. But did you do it out of loyalty, or fear?"

"I did it because I thought I was protecting Alex. I'd heard she was going to lie as well and we'd be back to prison until the end of our sentences while letting you go. I did it because I love her and want to be with her."

"Hm, it's a shame she didn't keep up her end of the bargain, for both our sakes. I know you can't choose the one's you love, so I feel sorry for you falling in love with her."

"I don't regret it for a second. If I could do it over I would still be with Alex. Alex is simply…"

"Simply what? A liar, a rat, a manipulative cunt, I mean she betrayed me, and betrayed you after she forced you to help her. You can do much better than her."

"No I can't. Alex may seem like nothing but a pain, but it was entirely because she was afraid and alone. Her mom died, I left her, and you had her only friend Fahri executed right in front of her. She was addicted to heroin, and sent to prison with years to serve for her crimes with no way out. She betrayed us because we weren't there for her."

"It isn't our job to be there for her. You left her behind, so why are you defending her? She stabs you in the back more than once and yet you still go on supporting her?"

"I do, and that's why I'm here to convince you to let her go."

"Hah, she sent you as what, a bargaining chip, a sacrifice, a peace offering? She is such a fucking coward."

Piper sat forward, staring straight into Kubra's eyes intensely.

"She didn't send me. I came here entirely on my own accord; Alex has no idea what I am doing besides missing visitation with her today. But I am here to convince you to let her off the hook; take your hitmen off her and let her go entirely. From what I know about you, you are a very intelligent man. You aren't rash, and you're a businessman doing your best to run a thriving business. But I get it, when someone close betrays you, breaks loyalty or gets lazy, they need to be punished," Piper trailed off as her voice became ice cold with her last words.

Kubra smiled. "I never really gave you enough credit. You know a lot more than you ever let on to me before. You're observant but silent. I'm beginning to like you more. But since you understand my situation so well, what do want with me?"

"I want you to forget about Alex. Let her off the hook and walk free."

"Hah, I can't do that so easily."

"I know she was good at moving product. She was one of your most profitable importers; doesn't she get some credit for that?"

"No, she knew the risk and was paid extremely well for that job."

"Maybe, but she was loyal…"

"Loyal? She was still a rat."

"Sure, but what point is there in killing a rat that is running away telling other rats about poison? Let the rat go and that'll reduces your infestation."

"I don't have an infestation, I only have Alex. Sure others have betrayed me and have all been silenced. Now she is the only one. She is a shining example to everyone of what happens when someone close betrays me. Not only is there death, but also suffering for waiting for it to come. If I silence her in 7 months I get respect and keep my ring strong and loyal. So what do I get out of letting her go? Do you have a better offer than that."

"Well," Piper said leaning in until she was only inches away from Kubra, "I know everything Alex ever knew about the your business and how your importers move all that product so perfectly without being caught. I know the secrets that keep your products getting in while all the others lose half their shipments."

"Are you trying to fucking blackmail me," Kubra snarled.

"No, but Alex had a friend. A friend in the Mediene drug cartel close to Pablo Escobar. They wised up and split before they were sunk with the rest of his empire. But now they're still in columbia and they move their own cocaine in bulk into the United States. But they deal with idiots who lose half their shipments and can't cover their loses. With you they could ship all over the US and it would expand your empire beyond heroin into the world's purest cocaine as well. With one word you'll easily get 500 kilos a month at less than 20% of the street price. That's at least an extra 15 million dollars a month that I can guarantee you with one phone call. 15 million a month for 7 months is 105 million dollars. Now is that enough money to cover one rat?"

Kubra seemed shaken by her argument. He turned away from her and paced around the room, considering her offer. Then, after a minute, he turned back to Piper. "I like that off a lot, but a rat like Alex goes for 110 million dollars. So I want you to pay me 5 million dollars with this business connection, that will be our deal."

"Um, you'll easily get 110 from this deal. I used minimum sale prices and highest buy prices. That's the minimum amount you'd make, and.."

"And I don't only care about the money. You're offer is more than worth it, but I am not so easily bought by giant sums of cash. Money is work and I want you to work and earn that 5 million dollars for me. If you are a tenth as skilled at importing as you were with handling this meeting, then you can easily make 5 million dollars in 7 months, and have plenty of cash to spare."

"But I'm not a criminal, I..."

"Piper," Kubra interrupted in a softer tone. "I didn't start off rich, or as a criminal. I know what it's like to have nothing. You grow up with some money in your family, and everyone expects so much out of you. Everyone expects something else and they just push you so hard to be perfect."

Piper felt her emotions rush through her as she recalled that exact feeling in her life.

"They expect so much out of you, they want you to always be someone you're not. That's when I put on a shell to always please those kinds of people. But that wasn't me at all. At the end of the day I was still poor and I didn't even have my own humanity to compensate for it. All I had was the empty shell I'd pretended to be for so long. I had no clue about anything else and I was as poor as could be without even having anything in the shell of my existence. So I broke free and escaped that but was left with nothing and no one. I turned to crime because I was good at it, and I wanted to do it. No one else was controlling me, I was in charge for the first time in my life. I see a lot of myself in you, and this is a chance for you to have the prosperous future you deserve. To me you look like you know business. You know how to negotiate, and the way you speak of business experience you know how to run it. You know the thrill of success and understand that you need to punish failure only when necessary because that is how people learn. But laziness and complacency isn't tolerable. You know all this and more. You were sent to prison, losing so much of your life. But this way you can gain it back. You can do something that will make you rich, that will make you powerful, that shows everyone you aren't a disappointment, that you are better than they are. So Piper, I want you to import product when I tell you to. I'll set you up with a nice place to stay in new york, a real apartment compared to that 2 room dump you're in now. And as for your friend of a friend, I'll give you 5% of the total profits for a contact as useful as the one you speak about. Now just move my heroin from point A to point B. That gives you 20% of the profits on the H total. But I don't want you to tell Vase anything, no contact, until she's free, then I want to speak to her and explain the situation myself. Do not tell her before I do or the entire deal is off. That means no letters, no phone calls, nothing. If you truly love her like you say you do, you can do this for her and make that 5 million dollars in the next 7 months. So what do you say, do we have a deal?"

Piper thought about it quickly. She had almost no money, and she had a problem getting hired before she was a convicted felon. Now she had a chance to make some real money, and save Alex's life at the same time. Not to mention if she didn't take the deal she wouldn't be leaving. Fuck it, she had to try.

"I'm in, but I have some conditions."

Her earlier escort frowned and shook his head ever so slightly but still enough not to attract attention. Piper ignored him.

"What conditions?" Kubra asked skeptically.

"I want a get out of jail free card, or rather, if I get caught, I want the evidence to be mishandled, so I never end up back in prison again."

"I can have something like that arranged, but it would require more money out of your share into a fund for that."

"Fine, it beats prison food by a light year. Now I want total immunity for Alex. If I'm paying 5 million dollars to keep her alive, I want her to stay alive after she's out, forever."

"I agree. As long as she doesn't backstab me again or interfere in my business, she will have total immunity."

"Finally," Piper said ominously as she narrowed her eyes, "If you ever have me killed, I want you to kill me, and look me straight in the eye when you do it."

Kubra paused for a second as he stroked his beard pensively.

"It won't come to that, but if I kill you, I'll do it myself and do it honorably, eye to eye."

"Then we have a deal," Piper said confidently.

She extended her hand and Kubra firmly shook it..

"I'll order some burners to your new place, and send you the details on the imports in a few days. Just don't fuck me Piper. Don't you ever fuck me, and you and your Alex will be fine."

"I won't Kubra, I assure you I'm on your side."

Those words echoed through Piper's mind as she blindly road away from the compound in the back of the truck. She thought about the deal she'd just made with the enemy; 5 million dollars for illegal drug transportation would be possible for now. Alex knew it well and she knew it too.

Just this one last job and she could get on with her life. But why did she need to get out? What was with this need for complacency? That was who her parents were, not her. She was unique and could accomplish anything.

The feeling of excitement and anticipation rushed through her, and Piper felt more alive than she ever had before.

Author's Notes:

Hello again fellow readers. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I assure you the action is picking up. I've gotten a few more chapters done for the next few weeks and I'm throwing in some curve balls that I hope keeps you on your toes and enjoying this piece. And for my hint at what's coming next here's a short poem:

Alex has lost control.

No Piper and no parole.

Chances are slim that she'll live.

A taste of drugs for humanity she will give.

-TheClownsAreThere