Chapter 8

Big Brother

Serena was woken up by a violent shake.

"Hey, Serena, wake up!" Chief Wiggum's voice murmured to her. Her eyes closed again, the sharp rays of sunlight blasted into her eyes. She turned away from it, wrapping herself with the warm sheet she had.

Sheet? She wasn't in bed.

She blinked and looked again, the faces of Chief Wiggum, Snake and Sideshow Bob blurred at her, but she recognised them instantly. She looked again. Around her body was a bed-sheet. She rubbed her eyes and looked at Sideshow Bob, who smiled happily through the bars.

She turned to Snake, who smiled at her too. That's strange…their argument last night…?

Suddenly, it didn't matter. She sat up and looked at the three men.

"Hello?" She yawned.

"Serena, what are you doing here?" Chief Wiggum laughed.

"I fell asleep here," She muttered. She grabbed the sheet and faced Sideshow Bob. She noticed his bed-sheet was gone.

"Sideshow Bob told us that you were here all night," Snake reported. His voice was deep and soft. He didn't seem to be angry. Serena smiled back at him and then she turned to Sideshow Bob.

"This bed-sheet is yours, I think," She smiled. Sideshow Bob chuckled, taking the sheet away.

"You fell asleep by my Cell," He replied. "You've been crying last night too,"

Snake bit his lip, suddenly feeling guilty.

"Well," Chief Wiggum flipped his cap upwards. "You better get moving. Sideshow Bob has morning exercise back at the Exercise Yard."

"What time is it?" Serena asked, feeling more awake now. Chief Wiggum looked at his watch.

"9: 35am." He replied.

"Just enough time before Church," She beamed. Snake's face suddenly flushed with shock.

"You go to church?" He asked in shock. Serena nodded.

"Well, I need to talk to Reverend Lovejoy." Serena answered honestly. "I need to ask him a few things,"

"Enough time for what, may I ask?" Chief Wiggum asked.

"I wanna do some exercise too," Serena replied with a cheeky grin. They all blinked. "Ohh, what?" Serena rolled her eyes, sarcasm thick in her voice. "A woman exercising with weights and doing push-ups? That's not normal. Well, you should all know by now that I am not normal!" She smirked. They all exchanged looks, but they let her be.

Serena, Snake, Chief Wiggum and Sideshow Bob walked into the Exercise Yard with the other Prisoners. The Prisoners watched in awe as the woman walked past them, her eyes fixed onto the heavy Weights. Some wolf-whistled her, but she ignored them.

In the exercise Yard, Sideshow Bob began with the Weights. Serena was trying hard to prove to Snake she could work-out well. Snake was chatting to her as she began doing push-ups as she waited.

"Serena, I just wanna say I'm sorry for last night. I don't know what happened to me then…" Serena said nothing, pushing her body off the ground several times. Snake sighed. "I was just wondering if you knew that Bob and I are best friends,"

She looked at him. That caught her attention.

"I didn't realise," She muttered. She started the push-ups again. "I'm just feeling twisted right now…" She glared hotly at him. "Why didn't you say sorry to me when you killed that woman and child and I got the blame for it?" She snarled lowly. Snake didn't reply, but by the time he was about to, Serena was walking away. She came upon the weights, closer to Bob, who was at the Dumbbells.

Snake followed her as she adjusted the weights. She had to lower it down.

'Wow,' she thought. 'Bob must be strong…'

She lay on the bench and began to lift the weights up. Snake stood beside her, like a Father waiting to take the child home in a playground. Serena looked through her hair, seeing Bob working out. He was chatting to some more Prisoners. She blinked and smiled.

She began checking him out without realising. Snake saw it. He smirked, wanting to ruin the golden moment like an older brother. He crouched down beside her and jabbed his fingers onto her sides, tickling her. She laughed loudly, catching all of the Prisoners' attention, and then suddenly, the weights fell down onto her neck and she scrambled around, getting chocked. Sideshow Bob panicked.

Snake laughed, helping her out. Serena sat up, coughing, when Snake replaced the weights. She glared at him, rubbing her neck and kicked him in the crotch. He crashed down onto the floor, clutching onto his crotch in pain. The whole of the Exercise Yard burst out laughing and Serena laughed too.

"You're like a big brother," She smirked. Sideshow Bob laughed too. He loved her humour.

Serena entered the Church back at home. The sweet, gospel music chimed her back to her comfortable zone. The Prison's Exercise Yard was quite difficult for her to be herself. Most likely because she was a woman surrounded by men. She knew that, back at Church, everyone welcomed her. Everyone loved her for who she is, and they even forgiven her for the incident of the murder…even though she didn't do it. But she knew that God was on her side.

She attended the morning service, meeting Marge and her family, who turned in late because of Homer and she smiled, pleased to be back at home spiritually.

After the Service and talking to Marge, she walked towards a tall man, dressed in shining white; his black hair shone the sunlight that beamed through the multicoloured windows. She looked at the man and smiled to the Boss of the Church.

"Serena," Reverend Lovejoy smiled happily, his arms wide open. She hugged him.

"Morning Reverend Lovejoy," Serena replied happily in the warm embrace. When they pulled away, Serena's throat tightened. "Reverend Lovejoy, I've been thinking about something, and I kinda need help from you and God,"

"Well, you've come to the right place," He smiled. He walked her to the Church Kitchen, where Nancy, the Church's Kitchen staff was making tea and coffee. He ordered two coffees for him and Serena. After getting their drinks, they sat down back at the Alter. "So Serena, you seemed troubled when you came in the Morning Service. The Lord has told me last night that you are troubled too. Please, do explain,"

Serena sighed deeply, thinking how to start it.

"Okay, here's the story…I've been coming back to Springfield Prison to get the old roots back into me. I've been missing it. Something told me to come back. During my return I have made an incredibly close friend. I mean, I told him about the incident I had with Snake…and he…he believed me! I was amazed. Not even my sister believed me. Anyway…he's so close to me. I want to help him. I want to reach to him and to show how much he means to me. He is such a sweet friend to me." She shook her head. "Problem is, apparently, he's Springfield's worse Criminal Mastermind, so I don't know it anyone would appreciate me for doing what I want to do with him now."

"Go on," Reverend Lovejoy's soft eyes were gentle to her and they helped her explain more.

"Like I said, he's my best friend. I want to change him for good. I want to let people know that I'm a caring person, and not what the lies have told them," She closed her eyes painfully. "I don't want to lose him…"

"Well, Serena, you are a very compassionate child to the Lord. You have a passion for the lost and the Lord have told me this. He told me that you wanted to help someone, who is lost, but has a bad reputation. But if the Lord is on your side, who's against you?"

Serena smiled at him, happy that he was pleased with her actions.

"Thank you Reverend Lovejoy,"

"May I ask Serena, who this friend is?" he smiled. Serena swallowed a hard lump.

"I rather not say," came the small reply.

"Oh, please do," He answered back. "If you don't, the Lord will tell me anyway,"

Serena laughed. Very true. She looked down and paused for a moment.

"Robert…" She muttered. Reverend Lovejoy leaned over. She looked into his eyes. He wanted more. He was looking for something. She sighed deeply. That trick she pulled on Nakita wasn't going to work on Reverend Lovejoy. "Sideshow Bob…" She whispered as if she was a terrified child seeing Ghosts. She closed her eyes, waiting for the Reverend to jump up and pointing at her, screaming 'Satanist' at her for having a passion for a bad person…

…but he didn't. Instead, he rubbed her back and smiled proudly at her.

"I know him," He smiled.

"You do?" Serena was full of life. He nodded.

"I do Church in Prison time-to-time, and he sings too. You should see him, a child of the Lord. He's just a rebellious one, just like Bart from the Simpsons family."

Serena laughed again. He was speaking the truth. She looked around though.

"So…God wouldn't hate me for helping him out?" Serena asked. Reverend Lovejoy smiled, pleased with her. He ruffled her hair.

"The Lord would be so proud of you. And so will Jesus,"