Divas Prison, Ch5

After finally getting a full nights sleep for the first time in ages, the buzzer woke Paige with its deafening noise. The bright light in the cell made getting back to sleep impossible but Becky was out of her bunk and getting herself ready a little quicker today than she had during the few short days Paige had known her. "Come on girl, get moving" Becky said. Paige looked confused "What's going on? You seem, I don't know how to put it...bouncy?"

Becky looked back in a half joking, half serious manner. "We've got to be quick. We get to go shopping today." "It's our day to go to the commissary and get supplies" She quickly added to clarify for Paige in case she didn't know what she meant. Paige had heard the commissary mentioned before when she first arrived and had used a lot of the hygiene products she was given at the beginning. She wanted to get some more of those and hopefully some snacks and something to help their small cell feel a little bit more like home since that was what it was going to be for many years and they had to spend a lot of time each day locked up.

They were led to the commissary area in small groups, escorted by a guard. Any hope that this might have been a chance to lose herself in a little grocery store shopping trip were quickly dashed as the commissary itself was a large glass front. Behind the glass there were other inmates who were handing out items to those who were waiting. The guard handed a sheet of paper to each one. "Make your choices fast and remember to keep to the limits. $50 spend maximum and no more than the shown limit of each item." The list of products that she was given was much longer than Paige had expected. There were choices in areas such as food, drink, hygiene, clothes, health and others. You couldn't have a lot from each area but it would certainly make things better. Paige selected several hygiene products first to replace what she had used, shampoo, toothpaste, shower gel and such, but went for slightly better products than she was given, in hope that she could just feel cleaner. The next selection was easy: coffee. That was one thing that she really was missing since being arrested was a decent cup of coffee. Although what was sold wasn't exactly Starbucks, just the ability to have coffee at all felt like a joy at that point. The only thing was there was no hot water in the cell. They had a hotplate for making coffee but it was going to mean she couldn't get much more as it was taking her to the spend limit. So she got that, sugar for the coffee and two candy bars to finish. Once all the group were ready, they were put in place to hand in their orders at the window.

A tan skinned woman wearing secretary like glasses called 'next' and Paige stepped forward, slipping her paper through the hatch. The woman took it and looked it over. "Name?" She seemed to enjoy being the one in control here. "Knight" Paige said, the woman typing it in as she started fetching products. She looked back at the screen and then started putting the items back. Paige was confused and a little upset by this. "What are you doing?" The woman looked at her like she was nothing. "Your account balance is zero so you can't pay for your goods so you can't have them. Next!" Another inmate pushed past Paige to hand in her own request. Paige walked back, feeling quite despondent. She had to wait for the the rest of her group to finish before they could go back to the cell block. When they did, Paige just went straight to her cell. Becky was still out getting her items so she had the cell to herself. She just laid down and found a tear running down her face. Once again she felt helpless and alone.

Becky came back with a box full of items, which just made her feel worse. "What's up lass, thought you'd feel better for your shopping?" Paige told her what happened and Becky's smile faded. "Geez, that's awful, we only get to go there once a week. How come there's no money in your account."

"I don't know, how do you even get money into your account."

Well when I got arrested, I was on a night out so was carrying cash, I think they put some of it into account and the rest I get back when I get out of here. Weren't you carrying any money when they got you?"

"I didn't have any money, that's why I did what I did to get myself sent here, just trying to get some money to clear my debts."

"Well you can get money put into your account from the outside. My friend, the one I was defending, has stood by me this whole time and sends me money almost every month. I'm going to pay her back one day. What about yours?"

Paige scowled at the thought. "The only friends I thought I had abandoned me the moment I got to jail. I doubt I'll hear from them while I'm here."

"Well what about family? Do you have any family?"

Paige went silent at that. She had tried not to think about her family since all this began. Becky realised that and put her hand on Paiges. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's ok, It's just something that worries me. I do have a family, Mum, Dad, siblings. I haven't spoken to any of them for well over a year. I'm not sure if any of them even know I'm in prison. There were press in court so it may have been reported but if they do know, I don't think they care."

Paige went on to tell Becky more, she has moved away from her family because she didn't want to join the family business and wanted to do her own thing. They were not happy about this and when she lost her job and fell on hard times, she didn't want to ask for help and they probably wouldn't have done so if she had. Paige wished she had done thing differently with them and maybe she wouldn't have ended up where she has. It was too late for that now of course. "If they don't know I'm here I'd like to keep it that way and if they do I don't want to ask for their help now if I wouldn't before." Becky understood, but noticed that Paige did smile talking about her family, even when describing the rift that existed between them.

"Well then there's only one thing you can do to get some money in your account, you'll have to get a job." Paige was fairly sure that was what she was going to say. "So what work is there in here that I can do?"

"I don't know what there is right now. I don't think Emma needs more help in the kitchen. I think you just have to do what they give you. When we get free time later after dinner you can get a form from whoever is on duty at the control desk, fill it in and hope for the best. Most of it pays the same, which is very little but it'll pay for your commissary requests."

Paige was grateful for the help. She hoped she'd be able to find work quickly, it was going to take time to save up for the hotplate she wanted for her coffee.

After yard time and dinner, Paige got the form and took it back to her cell to complete. Neither Becky or her had a pen so she went to see if Emma had one she could borrow. She felt a tug on her arm, and before she knew what was happening, she was slammed into a corner with a hand around her throat. Paige recognised the assailant as the woman who demanded her cake at lunch a few days ago. Naomi, she remembered. This time though, there was another woman with her, smaller, with a really smug look on her face. Paige tried to break free from her grip but couldn't with her airway being cut off by Naomi's hand.

"So, you think it's ok to make my girl here look like a fool?" The smaller woman said. She spoke quietly, but viciously. "I'm The Boss around here and it's best you learn that fact quickly, or I can make life more miserable than you ever thought possible." She then drove her knee into Paige's stomach, doubling her over. Naomi let go and Paige dropped to the floor. She looked around for help but saw nobody, no guards, no inmates, nobody. She struggled to get back up, not wanting to look weak. "Am I understood?" Sasha asked Paige, staring daggers through her. Paige was sure this wasn't the right side to be on. "Lita is on top here, I understand that. You're just a bully, leave me alone." Paige knew what would happen next but could do nothing to stop the right hook that caught her right in the face, knocking her back down, followed by kicks from both. "Lita's old news. I will be running this whole place soon. You made a big mistake." Sasha whispered in her ear. "See you again soon." With that they both walked away, laughing.

Paige tried to get up again but the pain was too much right then. The buzzer sending them back to their cells rang out and guards appeared again to get them all inside quickly. One of them headed straight for Paige, almost as though he knew she'd be there. He helped her to her feet and she tried to walk with his support. She felt grateful for his help and tried to thank him but couldn't speak. At least she knew there was a guard there who cared. Or so she thought. As soon as they reached the entrance to her cell he let her fall back to the floor. "Get inside." He said it with no emotion at all, he just wanted to get them all locked up for the night. Paige had to crawl into the cell and the door was slammed the moment she was through it. She couldn't make it to her bunk so laid on the floor. Becky was over to her right away.

"Oh my god, are you ok? What happened?" Paige was getting her breath back so couldn't talk, but gladly accepted help getting onto her bunk.

Becky got her some water from the sink. Paige was glad she was there, the pain was still there but she was able to breath better now and could talk. "Naomi...Sasha...

Becky right away got angry at hearing that, she started banging on the cell door. "You two are gonna pay for this! You hear me?!"

Paige reached out and pulled Becky from the door as best she could. The pain was still clear on her face. Becky felt terrible, she had been hanging out with others and had no idea it was happening. She gave Paige a hug to try and help her relax. She felt Paige hug her back. Both women felt a bond form between them. As they tried to get some rest, Both of them knew they had found a friend, not just while in prison but for life.

A/N Well you had to expect that Sasha wasn't going to let things drop. Things aren't likely to be over yet either. Another unnamed diva in the commissary, did you spot who?

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