After English class, Nicky and Alex spot Blanca walking sluggishly down the hallway with her hair a mess and her eyes practically closed. "Jesus Christ, look at her," Nicky mumbles, remembering herself in Blanca's position. She'd never been an alcoholic, but as a drug addict just wanting to get high, she'd stumble around everywhere, too. "We need to get her help for her drinking problems."
"Yeah, like an intervention or something. I doubt her mom would pay for rehab, they don't have all the money in the world," Alex states as Blanca crashes into some students and mutters a faint apology as she staggers up to the girls. Something's stuck in her tangled locks. It looks like food or a beige leaf.
"Hey, it's good to see ya back," Nicky greets Blanca. "We got rid of Badison...I don't think she'll be bugging you anymore."
Blanca yawns and rubs her eyes, which are completely bloodshot. She grins. "Lo sé, Diablo let me know about the humiliation y'all inflicted on her. Gracias."
"De nada," they respond.
"It's like ten in the morning, though, you missed homeroom and second period," Alex informs her. "Where's your boyfriend?"
"He drove us to school," she slurs and then slings her purse strap over her shoulder. "So, he's parking right now."
"Holy shit, you smell like liquor," Nicky points out. "Is that vodka?"
Blanca shrugs as she leans back against the lockers and sinks down to the tile floor. "It'll wear off eventually. I just had a screwdriver this morning with breakfast. Diablo didn't drink, though, he wanted to be sober so he wouldn't get us into a car crash." She places a hand on her forehead and groans as a few empty cans of beer roll out of her purse.
"I didn't know you collect cans for recycling," Alex mutters sarcastically. She hurriedly tosses them in the trash and Nicky kneels down beside her.
"I can't get this god damn Rice Krispies Treat out of my hair," Blanca complains. "I took a little nap on the ride here and must've laid my head on it...I dunno why I didn't eat it instead. Diablo didn't see it, and I didn't wanna bother him..."
"I will remove it for you," Nicky tells her. She gestures for Alex to help, and they both work on getting rid of it. Blanca's coarse strands are practically wrapped around it.
"Gracias..."
"Oh my-what the fuck are you doing to yourself, Blanca?" Daya wonders aloud as she and Lorna join them.
"Yeah, you're a hot mess," Lorna comments. "No offense."
Blanca glares up at her. "I'm a beautiful disaster, actually."
"There ain't no difference, really." Daya folds her arms across her chest. "Why do you keep getting so wasted? You know what that shit does to your liver?"
"I'm fine," Blanca insists. "I can handle my liquor. Anyway, you're one to talk! You got so drugged up that you-"
"Oh my god, don't give me that shit, You came to school trashed! I never did."
Nicky gets up to throw the food in the garbage. "That's...not okay. We're worried about you," Alex mutters as she gets up. She extends her hand toward Blanca's and helps her up.
Blanca squeezes her eyes shut and then reopens them. "I've just had a lot to deal with, alright?"
"The Badison stuff is taken care of, we told you," Nicky assures her, standing to her feet as well. "She's no longer a problem."
"No, not just that..." Blanca chews on her bottom lip, seeming slightly nervous.
"Well, what, then?" Alex wonders aloud.
"It's...it's Theresa's fiancé," Blanca mumbles, her gaze fixed on her black studded boots.
The other four girls give each other puzzled looks. "Kubra?" Lorna asks.
Blanca nods. "He...he made a pass at me."
Daya's eyes narrow. "When was this?"
"Last night. I went to the Sparrow Tavern to get a snack, and that cabrón rubbed my back for what felt like hours...he also called me señorita, like in a flirty tone...it was so weird and I had to go-"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Alex demands. "He's a nice guy, he would never-"
Nicky holds up her hand. "Wait a minute, Al, we haven't even heard the whole story." She turns to Blanca. "Go on."
"You think I'm lying?!" Blanca almost hollers, glaring daggers at Alex. She goes to push the taller girl, but Daya and Lorna pull her back. Nicky frowns in Alex's direction and shakes her head in disapproval.
"No, of course she doesn't!" Nicky says quickly. "It's just that we all know that when girls and ladies go out somewhere by themselves, bad things happen. This sounds wrong and I'm sorry in advance, but why would you put yourself in that situation? I always made sure I had a buddy or two when I was homeless because I knew some asshole or another would try taking advantage of me being on smack..." She'd really thought Blanca would've just had a nasty retort to whatever Kubra said and then kneed him in the balls.
"Yeah, like when I went to the prison alone basically, 'cause Daddy ain't no protector. I was on drugs. Maybe you were just really smashed and didn't know what was happening," Daya chimes in. "Perverts are everywhere, you just gotta know how to defend yourself against them."
"How the fuck dare you!" Blanca growls, shoving the girls off her. She gives them all the finger on both hands and glowers at them.
"Well, you shouldn't have been out so late especially while buzzed, as women we need to be extra cautious!" Lorna protests. "My mother and Franny told me that..."
"Yeah, maybe you were so delirious that you mistook his friendliness for flirtatiousness," Alex puts in. "He's about to be engaged, why would he hit on you...or anyone, in fact? He's not a pedophile!"
Blanca grits her teeth. "No one blamed you when your dad told you that inappropriate shit, in fact, I was part of physically defending you! I took a drumstick to his throat! If you bitches can't even support me, how the hell am I gonna tell Flaca?" With that, she storms off and she passes Shani and Karla, who are just coming out of the girls' bathroom.
"Wait, where are you going?" Shani wants to know.
"Blanca, what's wrong?" Karla asks concernedly.
"Nothing. I just need to get out of here." Her breath hitches and her chin quivers. "Stay together, watch out for Litvack and Juarez. Leave me alone. Por favor." She pushes past them as the final bell rings and runs to the school's front doors as fast as she can with hot tears making their way down her cheeks. Quickly, she escapes the building just as Diablo is coming up the stairs. Upon seeing him, she bursts into sobs and starts trembling all over as she collapses into him.
"Baby, baby, ¿que pasó?" he asks as he holds her and leads them away from the entrance. She can barely walk; she just clings onto him and tries not to trip.
what happened?
Blanca can't believe how fast things had gone downhill with her friends. Diablo, Karla and Shani would most likely believe her; so would Alison, Taystee, and Poussey, but she just doesn't want to bother anyone else with this except Flaca, only because it would directly affect her since Kubra is engaged to her mother. "Es nada," she lies, but keeps wailing in anguish and hiccuping anyway. "I...I just wanna stay with you for today. Veinticuatro horas, por favor..."
Twenty-four hours, please
"Alright. Bien, whatever your pure corazón desires. I need to buy more beer for us."
"Sí, por favor." Blanca sniffles as he helps her into his truck. "Also like, a grande bag of Doritos."
"Of course, mi amor." Diablo kisses her hand and she tries to smile, but she can't. She's just so sad and scared about officially losing any of her girls. She'd really felt like one of them, but she doesn't now. She only prays that Flaca will knock some sense into them. She, too, had been a victim.
He hadn't said they were going to Walmart, though. Obviously, she isn't stepping a foot in there. It's just too crowded and she'd like to be away from as many people as possible. "You sure you don't wanna come in conmigo?"
with me
"Nah, I'm staying here. I don't feel like being pelted on by por las gotas de lluvia en esta tormenta loca that just brewed and I can't deal with idiots knocking into me every five seconds."
by raindrops in this crazy storm
"Okay." He kisses her lips and exits his vehicle. She leans her head against the window and closes her eyes. She slowly breathes in and out. A few minutes later, he knocks on the window and the door opens.
"That was fast," she mumurs, but then upon seeing who is actually in the vehicle with her, she jumps in her seat and lets out a short shriek.
"Jeez, calm down, it's just me," Kubra tells her, laughing. "I liked you better when you were a naughty chick last night." He writes something down on a piece of paper and hands it to her. It's his phone number. "Call me sometime. I know you wanna fuck me."
"My boyfriend's right in the store, and he's very protective of me." Blanca tries to get her car door open and fly out, but her hands are shaking so bad and she's afraid she'll just fall onto the pavement and break something. "Get the fuck out!"
"He's not here, is he?" With a creepy grin, Kubra places his hand on her jeans-covered thigh and squeezes it. She hacks and spits at his face and then turns to look out her window. She watches for any sign of Diablo, but he's probably stuck in a long line. The raindrops patter on the glass and it'd be so calming if Kubra weren't bothering her.
After what feels like hours, Kubra finally leaves her be. She flinches when he slams the driver door closed. It's a good thing he didn't kidnap her, but she's still feeling quite uneasy and on the brink of tears again. She really needs to speak to Flaca now. Rolling her eyes, she rips up Kubra's number into tiny shreds of paper. She places her hand on her forehead and rests it against the window.
"Lo siento, baby, la cola era muy larga," Diablo says as he joins her in his truck with his purchases, and she climbs over the seat divider, desperately wanting him to hold her. He takes the message and does so.
I'm sorry, baby, the line was so long.
"You're high, aren't you?" Diane asks as Alex goes upstairs to her room after selling some heroin and black tar. There's a pair of Alex's jeans slung over her mom's arm.
She stops dead in her tracks. "No, Mom, just tired! Aren't you supposed to be at Friendly's?"
"Yes, but I was doing laundry and I found this." Diane pulls a small packet of heroin out of the jeans pocket. Alex gasps and her heart stops and then restarts a moment later. She can't believe she'd forgotten about that. "I recognize what high looks like! I've gone through this with Lee. You're just like your father, and that is one of the worst things to be! I didn't raise you like that. You know what he is now? He's a washed-up musician living in a trailer park sitting on his ass every day, smoking and addicted to drugs, and it's a wonder that he isn't homeless!"
"I'm not going to turn into him! I'm exhausted, and even if I was on something, I'm not addicted! Fuck off and leave me alone!" Alex snaps.
Diane places her fists to her hips and steps closer to Alex, her face reddening. "Excuse me? I'm your mother! You don't get to disrespect me!"
"Awesome, I guess I wasn't adopted after all," Alex retorts sarcastically. The words come out before she can stop them since she's tripping.
"Alexandra Pearl Vause, you are grounded for one week for drug use and being rude to me!" Diane yells. "I can't believe I caught you a second time! No going anywhere except school! I'm only allowing you to attend the engagement party because I'm going, too. Do you understand me, young lady?"
"Sure, whatevs, Mama D," Alex mumbles. Her day can't get worse. Blanca making crazy accusations against her boss was bad enough, but her mom finding out her secret was never supposed to happen. She had only told Nicky in private about her drug cartel business, simply because they'd smoked together a few times more than they've done with Blanca, Flaca, and Maritza, but Nicky had vowed not to say anything and Alex trusts her. This is her own fault for not checking her pockets. "At least I didn't get scammed or mouth off to an incredibly dangerous person!"
Diane sighs sharply through her gritted teeth and wags her finger at Alex. "I don't wanna talk about Flaca or Daya, I wanna talk about you! I had a bad childhood, so I'm very laid back, but I don't tolerate you smoking or doing drugs since you don't need to escape from anything like the torture that I experienced as a girl!"
"I'm not even addicted! Sometimes, I just need to escape from the fact that one of my best friends died! All I'm doing is selling smack...I'm getting you money from it! You should be happy about that!"
"There are so many other better jobs." Diane folds her arms across her chest. "You're quitting this one and I'm signing you up for Narcotics Anonymous!"
"What? Mom, no, I don't need that, I'm not a junkie, okay? I swear," she protests, her heart hammering rapidly. She sits down on her bed and puts her head in her hands. "Just have Charles put me in jail or something..."
"He would never do that! You've really fucked up, though." She gasps sharply and once Alex glances at her, she's clutching her chest near where her heart is. She falters back a step and faints to the ground, but Alex catches her before she can hit her head.
"Mom..."
No response.
Alex shakes her slightly. "Mom!" she exclaims, close to tears. "Mom, I'm sorry..." Her words jumble together as she pulls her phone out of her bag to call for help. "I'll quit, I promise..." She deeply regrets being so nasty to her mother and the lump in her throat rises and expands, along with her guilt.
"Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?"
"My mom collapsed, she's barely breathing!"
As soon as she walks up Flaca's steps, Blanca rings the doorbell while knocking a few times. Her hair is sopping wet from the storm already, sticking to the sides of her face, and it doesn't help that there isn't an overhang to prevent the heavy rain from falling on her. The umbrella she was using earlier that day just broke with all the wind. She has Diablo's heavy coat on her to keep warm, but she's so upset that she forgot to put up the hood. She doesn't even care. She'd instructed him to stay in the car and watch the drinks, so he did.
"Holy shit, you're soaked!" Flaca exclaims as she opens the door to let her in. "So, what's up, why didn't you just text?"
"Well, what I'm about to say isn't something I can tell you just over the phone ¿Es-está tu mamá o K-Kubra en casa? " she asks anxiously, choking out his name.
Is your mom or Kubra home?
"No, he took my brothers somewhere..." Flaca mutters, rolling her eyes. "Some guy thing, I dunno...and my mom's shopping. I'm home alone with Maritza. We're trying to have some sexy time..."
"Oh shit, someone's here?" Maritza relaxes when she sees Blanca. "Mm, good, it's just you. ¿Por qué dejaste la escuela tan temprano y rápido?"
Why'd you leave school so early and quickly?
"Sí. Estaba molesta con las chicas. Pero, si quieres que vuelva más tarde, puedo."
I was upset with the girls. But if you want me to come back later, I can.
"Nah, you look upset. Cuéntanos qué te pasa," Flaca says.
Tell us what's wrong.
Blanca sighs and wipes at her wet eyes. "The thing is, Flaca...Kubra coqueteó conmigo. Twice."
flirted with me
Flaca and Maritza both stare at her, their mouths open in astonishment. "¿Qué the fuck estás diciendo, Blanca?" Flaca demands, folding her arms across her chest.
What the fuck are you saying?
"¡Estoy diciendo que era un asqueroso y que tu madre no puede casarse con él!" Blanca responds just as angrily.
I'm saying he was a creep and your mom can't marry him!
Maritza frowns and purses her lips while cocking her head to one side. "No puedes decirle algo así y no explicarte."
You can't just tell her something like that and not explain yourself.
"I did, Maritza! Anoche en la Sparrow Tavern, puso su mano sobre mi espalda de manera coqueta y kinda leered at me like he was checking me out, y esta mañana cuando Diablo went to Walmart, I was in the car waiting for him, when Kubra showed up...he just let himself in-"
last night in the Sparrow Tavern, he put his hand on my back in a flirtatious manner...and this morning when Diablo
"Duh, he was probably being nice! You're one of his soon-to-be stepdaughter's best friends! Maybe he was just taking in your beauty...Mari and I get that from older dudes all the time-"
"You didn't let me finish!" Blanca interrupts Flaca, holding up her hand. "He invaded my personal space both times! Entonces, cuando entró en el auto de Diablo, ¡me llamó una chica traviesa y dijo que básicamente estaba emitiendo vibraciones como si quisiera follarlo!"
So when he got in Diablo's car, he called me a naughty chick and said I was basically giving off vibes like I wanted to fuck him!
"Were you?" Maritza asks immediately.
"Of course not, tonta Colombian Barbie," Blanca shoots back.
"Hey, don't come at my girl like that!" Flaca snaps. "¿Qué mierda te pasa?"
What the fuck is wrong with you?
"¿Yo? He was pursuing me...like I was his side piece or something! Lo siento, pero tienes que decirle a tu madre tan pronto como llegue a casa."
Me? You need to tell your mom as soon as she gets home.
"Ay, coño, that's fucked up! Apuesto a que estabas jodidamente borracha como siempre," Flaca mutters.
I bet you were fucking drunk as usual.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Blanca hisses. "Cállate con este victim blaming!"
Shut up with this
"You're becoming an alkie! You already are one. Okay? ¡Y no lo entendemos! Why the hell would you wander into a fucking bar alone and not lock the god damn door?" Maritza asks sharply.
and we don't understand it!
"You need to stop drinking and making poor choices! You're like, blind or something when you're going through life with glazed-over eyes because of the liquor goin' down your throat! It's messin' with your head, you're imagining things that ain't there. It's like fucking Crazy Eyes part two. I mean, you do you, pero don't let it affect mi mamí's love life and try to steal her happiness!" Flaca screams, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I'm not at all. ¡Eres la que es ciega!" Blanca's vision is blurry with wetness and fury floods her whole body. She leaves the couple standing there and bangs the door closed behind her. She stomps down the steps and hurries to Diablo's truck.
You're the one who's blind!
"Hey, I came as soon as I heard." Charles rushes into the emergency room, appearing panic-stricken. He glances around wildly and goes to Diane's cot at once. Alex takes off her glasses and wipes across her eyes with her sleeve. She presses her quivering lips together to stifle a sob and puts her glasses back on. He'll be so angry at her, as much as she is with herself right now. She's on a chair on the other side of her mother. Charles gazes down at Diane with sadness clouding his features and moisture glistens in his eyes as he clutches her limp right hand in both of his and kisses it. "How is she, what's going on?" Diane's chest rises and falls, but it's so slight that anyone could miss it if they weren't looking closely. He bends down and kisses her cheek and her lips while smoothing her hair back from her forehead.
Alex blinks away her tears and sniffles. "She had a berry aneurysm and there's a surgery scheduled to clip it. The doc said she would've died on impact had I not gotten to her in time. We're really lucky. She's just resting for now."
"I'm glad you saved her!"
"Charlie..." Diane's voice is so faint that one would have to strain their ears in order to hear her. She squeezes his hand and then Alex's. "I'm sorry for frightening you both like this."
"Don't apologize, baby, these things just happen..." He presses her lips to hers. "I'm afraid to lose you, but it wouldn't ever be your fault."
"No. It's mine." Alex takes a deep, shuddering breath and holds herself. "She caught me with...um, heroin. Also, I was...not in my right mind. I was coming off a high. Her aneurysm was brought on by stress, because of me being a stupid fucking teenager. I'm so sorry...you can throw me behind bars for all I care. I deserve it. I could've killed her!" she cries.
Charles stares at her, bewilderment crossing his face. Then, he glances back down at Diane. "Is this true?"
"Yes, she was using drugs...but please don't be mad at her...I've already shouted at her enough, and look what it's done to me," Diane tells him weakly.
"Alex." His tone is firm, but calm. "There's no doubt that I'm angry. You've disappointed your mother and me. However, I will not lock you up and throw away the key. I know you're not some hardened criminal who's doing this on purpose...you just lost your way a little. You're fifteen, you made stupid decisions, yes, but you're not a bad person. I love your mom and I think of you as my daughter...I feel like we're a family already." She breathes a sigh of relief and Diane beams slightly. Her eyes light up with happiness.
"Thank you so much," Alex mumbles.
"So, as a good father would do, I'm going to give you permission to watch a program I like to call Scared Straight. It'll teach you a lesson that you so badly need to learn...and no, it's not some dumb homophobic conversion camp. I would never do that to you. It's for low-level juvenile delinquents who've strayed from the path of good, who we, as correctional officers, want to make sure don't end up in an adult prison. It's to steer them to doing the right things."
Alex nods. "This already scared me straight." She gestures to Diane. "I'll do Scared Straight too, though."
"You should, because you've never seen Litchfield."
Dr. Brooks comes in just then. "Diane, are you feeling better? Glad to see you awake!"
"I'm just tired."
"Okay, well, keep resting. While this berry aneurysm did not turn fatal, you are highly at risk for a more serious one if you continue to participate in strenuous activities-"
"She wasn't! She was raising her voice at me during an argument," Alex snaps, but Diane pats her hand and shushes her. "I did something wrong. Blame me, not her."
Dr. Brooks turns to Alex. "I'm not, I'm just saying for your mother to be careful." She looks back at Diane. "So, you'll recover in about three to six weeks, but still...stay away from stressful situations and don't be on your feet too much."
"I'm juggling three jobs, I need an income...and does this mean I can't dance anymore...or have...intercourse?" Her face pales and she points at Charles. "We haven't even..."
"I'm afraid not. I'm sorry. It'll be too much for your body."
Diane's face crumples and she groans quietly while covering her mouth and closing her eyes.
"Sweetie, I'll help you find other careers where you don't need to stand or walk around," Charles assures her and leans over to peck her cheek. "You'll get better soon."
"Yeah, you will," Alex chimes in and kisses her mom's other cheek.
Long after Blanca has left, and then Maritza a few hours after her, Flaca doesn't know what to believe. She wishes she could take back the insults she and Maritza had hurled at Blanca, but they were coming from a place of hurt. She's never thought Kubra was a douchebag before; he'd not once shown much of a gross interest in any of the girls and he hasn't ever spoken to Blanca, except maybe to take her order. Sure, he'd been in the vicinity of Flaca's friends, but he doesn't discuss anything personal with them. He seems so sweet to her and her mothers and her brothers, but deep down, she wonders if Blanca could maybe be right. While it's true that she's spiraling into a black hole of drunkenness, alcohol can make people very alert of what's going on. Every word is louder, every action bigger. It's why she's been watching Kubra like a hawk from the second he'd stepped through the door.
If he really did this, Flaca ponders what's in it for him. The Gonzaleses don't have enough money for him to be some kind of golddigger. Maybe he was drunk, or it could've been someone who just looked like him, and Blanca, through her intoxicated state, couldn't tell the difference. He could've been just kidding and Blanca had taken it the wrong way. There are a million possibilities and Flaca really hopes that Blanca is wrong about everything she'd accused Kubra of doing, and she'll apologize for the mixup soon. Maybe in a few minutes, maybe tomorrow. Flaca keeps glancing at her phone, waiting for it to buzz with a text from Blanca, but it doesn't come. Of course, she hasn't been talking to Blanca since this afternoon.
Right now, she's arranging fancy green place cards for the engagement party and not sure what to do with Blanca's, so she moves on to making more paper flowers. She's done twenty already. Kubra isn't too good at it apparently. Theresa just teases him about it in Spanish and then they kiss while smiling. Marco and Pedro had gotten out of doing it since they'd just waste the tissue paper. It takes delicate hands, which they don't have. They're on the couch playing video games.
"Wow, ¡gran trabajo, Flaca!" Kubra compliments her. "Like your mamá says, I suck."
Flaca chuckles along with Theresa. "Gracias...pero debería pausar esto. I'm getting worn out." She flexes her aching fingers.
I should pause this.
"Alright, let's do a movie break!" Kubra holds up The Mask of Zorro.
"Nah, I ain't really up to it," Flaca mumbles. She's not in the mood because of what's been going on so far with Blanca.
Theresa deflates. "Oh...lo tengo esta mañana desde que me lo suplicaste."
Oh...I got it this morning since you begged me to.
"Yeah, Flaca, why are you being such a crabapple?" Pedro asks, and she makes a face at her younger brother. "Mo-om, she stuck her tongue out at me!"
"At least you didn't get the bird flipped at ya," Marco grumbles. "Typical edgy Goth, always acting like it's a horrible mistake to have fun with la familia."
"Basta," Theresa scolds the boys while rolling her eyes. She switches her gaze to Flaca. "¿Estás bien, Marisol?"
Are you okay?
Flaca nods in a way she hopes is convincing and forces a smile. "Sí...never mind, it's cool. Let's do a family película."
"Yay!" Theresa cheers and they sit on the couch, with Flaca between her mother and brothers. She eyes Kubra warily as he squeezes in between her and Marco.
She doesn't have a clue of why he didn't take a spot next to his fiancée. He knows Theresa the best out of all of them, but in the darkest area of Flaca's mind, it raises a tiny red flag.
"Buenos días," Trina murmurs and kisses Blanca's temple. "I know you're mad at me for making you come home, but you've spent more than enough time at Diablo's. ¡Es como si estuvieras viviendo allí! Tienes quince y no emancipada."
Good morning. It's like you're living there! You're fifteen and not emancipated.
Blanca rubs her eyes open and groans while yawning. "Lo sé..." She sits up on her elbows and glares up at her mom. "He's going through a hard time. Necesito estar allí para él, always."
I need to be there for him
"Sí, pero no puedes just run away from home."
Yes, but you can't
"I didn't! I told you where I was, and still, you threatened to take my books ¡como si fuera una niña!" Trina had also sat outside Diablo's house, texting Blanca constantly to come out for about fifteen minutes, until she begrudgingly gave in. She'd also honked her horn and yelled at Blanca to get in the car.
as if I were a child!
Trina sighs and sets her mouth in a thin line. "You're still a child. My little girl...y no quiero perderte."
and I don't want to lose you
Blanca scoffs. "You won't. I'm growing up, whether you like it or not, y me humillaste anoche! Tocando la bocina así...tu loca..."
and you humiliated me last night! Honking the horn like that...you crazy woman...
"Bueno, deberías haber escuchado cuando te dije que salieras la primera vez." Trina shakes her head in disapproval. "Changing the subject ahora, vamos a hacer manicuras para la fiesta de compromiso de Theresa y Kubra cuando la escuela termine el día."
Well, you should've listened when I told you to come out the first time. now, let's get manicures for Theresa and Kubra's engagement party when school is finished for the day.
"No, no quiero que Aleida haga más trabajo," Blanca declines, shivering internally at the mention of Kubra. "I don't feel up to attending la fiesta."
No, I don't wanna make Aleida do more work.
"¿Por qué?"
Blanca shrugs. "No hay razón, simplemente no quiero ir. You have a great time tonight, though."
No reason, I just don't wanna go.
"You were so excited about it the other day...Marisol te querría allí, todas tus amigas estarían allí. Además, pensé que estabas haciendo chilaquiles para eso..."
Marisol would want you there, all your friends would be there. Besides, I thought you were making chilaquiles for it...
"Not anymore. They don't even give a shit, Mamá, okay? I can skip it if I want to. I need to go wash my face," Blanca mutters as she gets out of bed to do just that.
When she returns to her room to get dressed, she's devastated and feels like a deer caught in headlights. Trina is holding up a flask that had probably fallen out of Blanca's bag. She has a stern look on her face."¿Qué demonios es esto?" Blanca turns away from her and lies face down on her bed. "¿Para qué necesitas beber? You know you're not allowed to have alcohol until you're twenty-one."
What the hell is this? What do you need to drink for?
"Sí," Blanca mumbles. She'd already been crapped on by the girls for drinking and she doesn't need her mom to do it either. She just wants to be back with Diablo already.
"It's not good for you," Trina continues lecturing her. "No sé de qué estás huyendo, pero esto no está bien. Hay otras formas de lidiar con los problemas. Beber no es una de ellas. You can't be in a drunken haze if Gloria's ex escapes prison again thanks to that dirty cop Officer Clarke, or something else terrible happens. You could put yourself in great danger and not be able to fight back since you're intoxicated!"
I don't know what you're running away from, but this is not okay. There are other ways to deal with problems. Drinking is not one of them.
"Tienes un punto, así que no beberé más. ¿Feliz ahora?" Blanca asks, even though she's not being sincere in the slightest.
You have a point, so I won't drink anymore. Happy now?
"Sí. Gracias."
"De nada."
"Hey." Nicky greets Alex at school that Friday morning with a hug. "I'm really sorry about your mom." She's the only one who knows about Alex's involvement with the cartel since they did drugs together, therefore, Alex had just told Nicky about the fight she had with Diane that led to her mother's fainting spell. "She alright?"
Alex fiddles with her silver bangles. "Thanks. Yeah, she's doing a little better now, but I had a nightmare after seeing her in the hospital yesterday. First, I woke up in prison twenty-five years later, wearing a khaki uniform, such an ugly color, by the way, and I realized Diane and Fahri being alive was just a dream...and then I saw my mom's white gravestone. It was then that I started sobbing."
"Oh, Jesus...that must've been scary to imagine her being dead," Nicky sympathizes with her. "What brought it on about Fahri, though?"
"Gloria worried that he could get killed because of his quitting the illegal business...ya know, selling heroin around the globe."
Nicky tsks. "You know, I'm concerned about that for you, too."
Alex grins and twirls her blue stripe of hair around her finger. "Don't be. I'm meeting with the boss today. It'll be fine."
"You don't got nothin' to say to me?" Flaca asks as Blanca comes up to an outside table she's sitting at as she waits for more of her friends.
"No." Blanca seems like she's still sulking.
Flaca rolls her eyes and gets up. "Whatever." She brushes past Blanca, and while she's tempted to purposely bump into her, she doesn't. She doesn't want to be a bully; she'd been enough of one the day before.
"You all got on her case?" Karla is hissing as Flaca meets her, Maritza, Shani, Nicky, Alex, Daya, and Lorna in the cafeteria. "No wonder she avoided us the entire day like the plague, and she's still doing that now!"
"Babe, come on, I thought you're aware of how bad it is to victim blame our fellow girls and women!" Shani exclaims. "Did you feel that way when I got...mutilated, was it my fault?"
"No, of course not, but...you were terrorized as part of a disgusting ritual," Nicky murmurs. "Listen, it sucks that Kubra was a cunt and decided to feast his straight male gaze on Blanca, but I blame the alcohol for making her senses fuzzy. I mean, she probably couldn't think of how to get him to stop."
"It's why I always say to go somewhere with a big, strong man who can protect you," Lorna chimes in. "I wonder where hers was."
Daya scoffs. "Probably wasted at the bar, too. No fuckin' help at all."
"So you really think Kubra did it?" Flaca wants to know, her stomach churning with dread.
"Of course he did! He worked with Vee, how much shadier can it get?" Poussey asks rhetorically.
"Well, actually, Fahri had a job with her, too, so that doesn't really prove anything, except for that Vee is the slimeball, but Kubra might have gone her skeevy way, too."
"Taystee, no, he couldn't have!" Alex insists. "He's way too kind for that bullshit."
"That's what we always thought, but...none of us have actually been alone-alone with him. So who the hell knows? Blanca could be a hundred percent correct." Alison states.
"Nah, I know how it is to be out of it, I've smoked pot dozens of times...and while I'm high, I got no idea of what the fuck is happening to or around me. It's scary. That's why I'm always with a sober friend," Maritza points out.
Flaca, Nicky, Alex, Taystee, and Daya mutter their agreements.
"I doubted it too when I first heard the story, since it sounded so wild and Blanca's just drinking herself silly," Karla admits. "Then I backtracked because she's my best friend. She rescued me from being roadkill. I need to believe her."
"I do, too," Shani concurs. "I just met her, but she doesn't seem like the kind of chick who would lie about something so serious. Let's just take a deep breath and be on her side."
"Okay, well we can at least stop treating her like a pariah and join her in the courtyard." Nicky tells them.
Flaca wears a glum expression. "Yeah, she was looking a little lonely. It was depressing. I dunno why Diablo wasn't with her. You girls go...I gotta scram...she won't speak to me right now."
"Her mom dropped her off," Karla informs her.
"As soon as Diablo gets here, we'll discuss her drinking with him. It's not safe," Alison adds.
"I'll stay with Flaca," Maritza says, linking arms with her. "She needs someone to be sad with."
"Okay. In the meantime, think about every encounter you've had with this Kubra character," Shani recommends. "Check if anything pops out at you," she goes on as she walks away with the others. "Really dive deep into your memories."
Flaca has an idea, to mention Blanca's name in front of him and see how he reacts. She knows she needs to keep her eyes peeled now for anything suspicious about him.
"Thanks for taking me home," Alex says as Kubra walks her to her front door. "You didn't have to...Fahri usually just drops me off at my mom's restaurant."
"In your state?" he asks incredulously. "You want her to see you stoned?"
Alex laughs. "No, man!" She tries to get her key in the lock a few times, but it keeps moving around. "This is my last day, though, she knows I'm quitting. It's more like the last hurrah, since I can't do this anymore."
"I'll be sorry to see you go, then. Here, I got it." Kubra takes her key and successfully unlocks her apartment door. "I'll stay with you until you're sober so you don't run into trouble. I don't want that dryer fiasco to happen again. Leanne and Angie bragged to me all about it."
Alex rolls her eyes. "Ugh, of course they did," she mutters. "Well, thanks for looking out for me."
"You're welcome. Can I see your glasses for a second? They look dirty, I'll wash 'em for ya."
After giving Kubra her glasses, Alex can barely see him through her blurred vision but it appears as though he's just standing there. "What are you doing?"
"Cleaning your glasses. I've never seen you without them before. You ever think about getting contacts? Your eyes will attract more clients. A man could drown in those."
"More girls my age have then grown men, actually," she mumbles, feeling slightly uneasy.
"You're not ugly. That's all I'm saying. Remember, think of me as your dad, giving you a compliment. "
"Right," she mutters. "More customers means more money. I don't know if I can afford contacts, though."
"Hey, don't worry, I'll cover the cost."
She sends him a grateful smile. "Thanks! I guess I'll take a shower now."
"Good idea. I'll make you some lunch. I've been here before, when your mother and Charles invited Theresa and I over for a double date...so I know how to work the stove and everything."
"That's cool, thank you."
"Anytime."
She takes her glasses from him, goes into the bathroom, and locks the door.
As soon as she's finished with her shower, she dries off, brushes her hair and blowdries it, lathers herself with lotion, gets dressed, and goes downstairs. After giving Alex her grilled cheese sandwich with tomatoes and chips on the side, he hugs her. "I'll miss you. Who else is gonna work as hard as you did?"
His wallet is pressing uncomfortably into her crotch and she backs away slightly. "Gee, I really don't know. I hope you can find someone else to fill my position."
"So do I." After releasing her, Kubra takes off his shirt and flips it over his shoulder. "Is it hot in here or is it just me?"
"The heat's probably turned on too high, cold weather and all," Alex mutters, tearing her eyes away from his beer gut before she loses her appetite. "I'll turn it down."
"No, it's fine...great to be toasty warm and protected from the freezing outdoors."
So she just concentrates on her food and how delicious it is. Suddenly, she thinks of something to say. "Hey...congrats on your engagement. You're lucky, Flaca's mom's pretty awesome."
"Don't be jealous," he jokes as Luschek does with Nicky. Then again, Alex doesn't think Luschek is that funny, but more of a scumbag, so she doesn't laugh at Kubra trying to be humorous. "Thank you very much. That reminds me...I should go to Theresa's and get ready!" He hurriedly puts his top and jacket back on and gives her a quick squeeze around her middle before disappearing out the door.
Alex locks up her home right after he goes.
Thank you for reading and reviewing, VeraRose19 and Juliette45!
