Nicky laid with her lover's arm wrapped around her, their bodies still slightly damp from the past half hour's romp in the sheets. Her mind was still spinning from the fact that Lorna had actually said yes to her proposal...just fourteen more months and she'd be out of Litchfield.. a year and some change...it was all coming together.
They stared into each other's eyes for a few final moments, then pounding on the door outside, Lorna gasped as the door cracked open and a pair of black beady eyes stared at their still topless bodies.
"Hey, back off, we're getting dressed... damn you Mendez", Nicky shouted shielding Morello's body with her hers until she could fasten her bra.
"I hate to leave you", Lorna trailed a finger down her stomach before Nicky put her jumpsuit back on hurriedly.
"I'm sorry too, I know the bus sucks"...Nicky trailed off...Lorna's face scrunched up as she reapplied her red lipstick..."What?'
"well, I didn't have the money for the bus this time...", her tone was flat
"How did you get here then?'
"Now, don't get mad", Lorna knowing that she gets easily agitated, "But, well Christine was already driving this way for some advertising pitch, and when she heard from my mom that I was coming this way...well she offered..."
"Christine...why...why is she talking to your mom"
"She still comes around the old neighborhood, ya know, stops by the store"
"She offered to drive you 350 miles...your ex-girlfriend... of course she did"...Nicky slammed her fist down on the card table shaking it violently...
"She knows we're engaged, honey, please it doesn't mean anything...Lorna grabbed her face in her hands, lightly kissing the corners of her mouth..."I only want you, baby, you got nothing to worry about...a few more heated kisses.."just a little over a year"
Mendez swung the door open, his smile was wide and knowing..."Nichols, let's go"...he snapped the cuffs on for transport, never taking his eyes of Lorna. He leaned forward whispering softly in her ear, "Your girl's got some nice tits...bet they feel even better...I'm going to enjoy patting on her down.
"Go to hell", Nicky spat out as she struggled against his grip, he only smiled and transferred her on to the next guard, "Take her back to cell block D".
The Cafeteria
Alex shuffled her plate down the line, barely registering which entree or vegetable was put on her tray. She sidestepped around Officer Bennett as he was talking to another inmate, Daya, requesting to search the walk-in. Her mind was reeling, concoting a plan to fool the metabolic testing.
Her research of type I diabetes and all its medications running a path in her brain, but she needed one to reverse its effects...bingo...PUGNac...that was the only one that would work. But, getting it in here would prove difficult, but then as she strolled through looking for a seat, her eyes landed on Taystee, and she remembered that Nichols had said she sold pills from the outside, mainly narcotic pain pills but it was worth a shot, or her plan would quickly crumble.
She edged her tray down next her and another inmate, Poussey. She disregarded the evil hard stares from a few others and whispered in her ear, "Nichols told me that you were the local pharmacy in here."
Taystee merely looked at her with distrust and stood up to find Nichols sitting with Tricia and Norma. They maintained eye contact as she nodded her head at Vause in silent question, and Nichols discreetly nodded hers back in affirmation.
"Ok what you need", Taystee gruffed
"PUGNac"
"Ain't nobody got time for that, I only speak English, white girl", her tone brisk
"Its an insulin blocker, standard generic variety will work, you can get it at any local pharmacy.", Alex stated
"Then you should be able to get it at Medical then, you don't need me", Taystee reasoned.
"I can't go to medical"
"Why"
"Because they are already giving me the insulin shots," Alex laughed at the irony of the situation.
"You're one mixed up cracker, ya know that?" Taystee laughed, Poussey joining in.
"Look, can you get it for me or not," Alex grabbed her tray and started to rise up to leave.
Taystee stopped her with firm hand on her forearm," Sure , as long as you tell me why its so important that you wanna keep going back up to Medical to get an insulin shot that you don't even need?"
Alex just slipped $50 dollar bill in her hand instead, "Let's just say , I like the ambiance okay, are we in business, and I need by the time I have my appointment tomorrow"
"Its noon now, dammit fish, you better make this worth my while", Taystee looked as if she had some other dissenting remarks to make but just turned and left.
Taystee took the money and dumped her tray walking off, Alex hoping that meant an agreement and not the last she'd see of her money.
Cell Block D
Alex was woken from her nap by Mendez wrapping on her cell bars. She had fallen asleep listening to Nichols going on and on about the stories from her old neighborhood, dumb shit she had done with her old gang and meeting Lorna for the first time...she was happy to learn that the wedding was on.
"Well, I don't know what you did, but Vee asked me to give you this...", his distaste for her falling none too subtly out of his mouth.
Alex looked at a freshly laminated ID with her mugshot and number for PI, prison industries , restricted access badge to other locked warehouses and buildings on the grounds. She didn't dare to meet his probing eyes. She mumbled out, "Thank you, CO Mendez"
"Congratulations...I'll see you in the morning", he continued to bug eye her and then moved on.
Warehouse 112
Alex looked down the row of other inmates to see Red slowly lifting her brush heavy with white paint up and down on the wall's surface. They made eye contact ,and then she quickly began to paint also as Mendez walked slowly by, watching her intently. She adjusted her black frames on her nose and wished that she wouldn't have him on her back while she strung things together. She was already scrambling to keep up her charade with Piper, now between him and Caputo, she was running into more and more setbacks. Human nature seemed to be the one thing that she had not accounted for….ah the best laid plans of mice and men they say…but Alex would not and could not fail. There was no turning back, she either pulled off this escape or she watched Red die and then rotted in here for another decade.
Suddenly Vee broke her from her errant mind, by creeping up behind her to whisper menacingly…"You got some balls, fish, and a little backbone will do you real good in here."
Alex said nothing, ignoring the cold sweat that broke out on her neck at the thought of what the woman might do later... if she was holding a grudge, hell Alex was still sore from the cracked rib they gave her a week earlier. Vee paced down the hall to her other henchman holding clipboards and filling out work orders for the paint and equipment.
Officer Bennett came in and whispered something to Mendez ...suddenly they were breaking down early and filed in a line back to the shed to store supplies and then into a small locker room to change. "Inmates have three minutes to get outside and in line", Mendez barked sliding his dark aviators over his eyes.
Vee's crew eyed Alex not liking their new "friendship" one bit, "Why did you hire her, Boss?"
"Well you know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer, " Vee said with a predatory smile stretched tight across her teeth.
Alex quickly pulled the navy PI jumpsuit over her head, while Red did the same but edged close to her.
"Did you really mean what you said the other day?, she quickly whispered
"I'm not here on vacation", came the sarcastic reply
"I mean somehow you got yourself put on PI with me so now I know you have something serious planned that is already moving forward, I'm just so worried for you and there's nothing I can do to help stuck in solitary permanently…I'm going crazy", Red pulled on the spiked tufts of red hair anxiously.
Sliding the khaki jumpsuits on and readying themselves, "chill, ok we wont have much time to talk"
"Getting outside these walls is just the first step of many, you know that, what are we going to do for food or money", her accent thick with stress.
"I didn't have myself put in prison with a half baked idea, trust me," Alex looked as she stared at the still dressing figure of Cisneros who also worked PI.. "Don't worry I'll have it."
"And, where will we hide…..what about people to help us disappear indefinitely?", Red's eyes roamed the room to see if they were being overheard.
Alex eyed Vee and noticed their not subtle stares, she held eye contact, she'd come too far to back down now, they either could work this out or she'd be killed there was no doubt about that. Vee had lots of connections outside and inside this prison. "I've already got them, they just don't know it yet."
They filed in line one by one, Red whispered over her shoulder, "You gotta start filling me in, I have no idea what's goin on"
"The less you know, the better", came the quick answer.
"Fine...long story short...Chaperile associates passed the files along for this prison and subcontracted them to be drawn up by a guy in my firm, proofread and then finalize it. He dotted all I's and crossed the T's, marked every inch of this prison. I helped him as an intern. It took months to finish when we finally did, he had copy of the blueprint framed and gave it to me to commemorate my first engineering project nearly six years ago."
"So, you saw it many times then?", Red's eyes now bright with the possibilities of pulling a heist from the inside out...
"Better than that, I have them on me, inside the tattoos all over me"
Red's quizzical face was funny, "This I've got to see"
Their time was cut short by another guard transfer that had Alex headed to D block while she was going back to solitary, her one hour out for PI over.
Mendez yanked on Alex's handcuffs as she was positioned in front of her cell. She spun around on him itching to say something about what a douchebag he was, when he stopped her short.
"Be careful what you say to me, inmate, just because you think you have the Warden under your little whore charms don't think that it's smooth sailing from here. Because while he runs this place during the day, when he clocks out"…..Mendez reached out and grabbed a strand of her black hair running it through his fingers…" I run Litchfield at night…and I've got you all night long sweetheart", his smile made her want to vomit in his face but she managed to keep her subpar lunch down. He locked the bars and continued down the row.