Bea was watching how Maxine disappeared around the corner and then continued walking down the bright hallway to H1. Maxine and she were coming from the kitchen where they had a "talk" with Tina. That stupid bitch! Bea pulled the sleeve on her right hand down to cover her bloody knuckles. "Fuck sake!" – she felt really tired from all this crap going on.
That meeting Proctor and Stewart supposed to have never happened. She alerted the governor and mister Jackson for no reason. The information she got from Tina was not good and made her look like a fool. Even if that was not so annoying as the fact that they have never moved forward with this whole thing again and Bea felt that it was starting to get on her nerves.
There was no question about the fact that Tina had to be punished. It might have been her fault to listen to her but giving out false information and leading them on is something that has to be punished. They can´t let this become a common occurrence. Reliable information is something she relies on. She needs good and accurate information and there is no way someone can get away with a lie like this. So they went and found her. Tina said that it was not her fault that the info was legit but Bea did not care. Tina should have double check and make sure her source is reliable. Maxine was keeping the other girls at bay while Bea bashed the Asian. Tina fought back at first managing to defend herself with a pan what got caught between her and Bea but her attempt was short lived. Bea didn´t felt bad about it. Tina just came back from medical what means that Bennett will put her into protection for few weeks meaning that Bea won´t have to worry about her for a little while and that was good.
Now she was turning into H1 after sending Maxine into the yard to the others. She had to come back to the unit and clean her hand. Plus she was not in the mood for talking or putting up a nice face. She was too angry and tired for that. She closed the door to cell number 15 behind herself and sat down on the bed. She needed to cool down and breathe. "Fuck!" She couldn´t believe that the whole thing ended up as a fiasco. She was sure that the information from Tina was valid and that they will catch them exchanging drugs or something. But no. They have been waiting like fools and no one showed up. Bea was frustrated to no end. She was really hoping to move forward with this. And then there was Allie.
The young blonde still hasn't talked to her. Bea asked her few times how she was or if she wanted tea but the blonde ignored her or answered with a cold "no". Yesterday they never even spoke to each other because Bea stopped trying. It was almost a week since Doreen left the unit and the blonde still held a grudge. It was frustrating. Bea had to admit to herself that she got used to the blonde´s company. Their talks were refreshing and brought some light into the top dog´s dark world. Bea stood up and started pacing back and forth in her small cell. What the hell can she do to get out this situation? She has to force Proctor to make a move. Maybe she should just bash her real good. But that won´t help her to get rid of Stewart. He is probably even more dangerous. Bea Smith is used to having screws on her side. Going against one is dangerous and having one as the enemy is even worse.
- "Fuck!" – she growled through her teeth with anger. Stopping by the door she lifted her already battered right hand and punched the wall two times with full force. She hissed in pain and aiming at the bloody smudges her hand left on the gray wall she punched the wall once more. She took a deep breath to fight the pain and lifted her hand to another hit when the door suddenly opened.
- What the hell are you doing?! – Allie closed the door stepping between the wall and Bea. – Have you lost your mind? – She grabbed the redhead´s bloody hand looking at it closely. The skin on her knuckles was scrapped down completely and her hand was full of bigger and smaller wounds. Two most prominent ones were just above her thumb and the other above her little finger a bit on the side. Those were bleeding a lot. – Take this off! – Allie commanded and helped the redhead pulling her hoodie over her head and then carefully off her injured arm. She tossed it on the bed and dragged Bea to the sink. She glanced at the older woman quickly before turning on the hot water. Bea watched as the blonde checked the water temperature before holding her hand under the stream. It was warm and soothing. Washing the blood down and easing the pain a little bit. Allie walked around her to grab a towel from the shelf and then she stepped back into her place next to Bea checking if the hot water did its job. Bea let out a sigh and looked sideways at the young woman standing next to her. Allie closed the tap and carefully placed the towel under her hand and lifted her head their eyes locking on each other. Bea had no idea why but suddenly she felt relief washing over her. Finally, after one week, she got a different look from the blonde than an angry glare.
- Sit down. – Allie guided her three steps back until her legs didn´t hit the bed and held her hand while she sat down. – Hold the towel. Don´t make your pants wet, I will be back soon. – she said and quickly left the cell. Bea was dutifully holding the towel. It was soft and felt good against her painfully pulsing hand. Not daring to move she was just sitting there and waiting for Allie to come back. The young blonde was suddenly talking to her for some reason and Bea did not want to jeopardize it by disobeying.
Soon enough the door opened again and Allie slipped in carrying some supplies. Bea recognized just a pack of the bandage. She sat down next to her with one leg tucked underneath her.
- Turn around. – she said and placed the towel with Bea´s hand on her knee. –I don´t have spray just cream so I assume it will hurt more. But it won´t sting so suck it up.
- Where did you get these? – Bea did as she was told and turned a bit to her side so Allie had a clear access to her hand.
- Let's say that after moving to H1 and freaking out for the first time Boomer came back with a gash on her arm followed by you coming back the next day with a bruise huge as the size of the whole southern hemisphere. I have realized that it will be for the best to get some medical supplies. I´m gathering them since then.
Bea smiled watching as Allie pushed a huge amount of antiseptic cream on her hand and tried to spread it around with a piece of a cotton pad. It was not easy the pad was dry and the cream sticky.
- Shit! There is more cream on the pad then on your hand. – Allie said and swiped some cream from the pad on her finger. – Tell me if it hurts. - Carefully she was spreading the cream all over Bea´s hand. – I will leave those two big ones alone. I´m not sure if it is good to fill them up with this. We let it dry a bit and then we apply the cream on them too. They are clean and the bandage will help them stay that way and dry up.
Bea nodded. The smell of the cream was comforting. There was something soothing about it.
- What are you doing here? – suddenly she remembered that Allie supposed to be with the rest of the H1 crew in the yard.
- Maxine said that you were going to clean up and from her tone I have assumed that she was not talking about brushing your hair and putting some makeup on.
- You should not walk around alone, geez Allie!
- The whole Proctor´s crew is out in the yard and Maxine made sure nobody followed me.
- It doesn´t matter you should not be alone!
Allie pressed her thumb into Bea´s hand making her wince in pain.
- Shut up! – she said to the top dog and continued spreading the cream over the wounds.
Bea smiled despite the pain. Allie´s touch was comforting and Bea found herself leaning closer.
- Thank you. – she whispered and moved little back. Allie glanced up at her.
- What is going on? – she asked and Bea knew that she have to explain or the blonde won´t speak to her another week if not a month.
- Just got little frustrated that is all.
- I thought you usually use the punching bag for that.
Bea rolled her eyes.
- This is not all from the wall. Most of them are from the frying pan Tina grabbed. I think that I hit the edge few times.
- Obviously, you did. – Allie replied gently running her finger around the biggest wounds. Spreading the cream around them but not going inside. Thankfully they were not deep. She took the gauze and started to wrap it around Bea´s hand.
- Just leave the fingers out. It can´t be seen from under my hoodie sleeve.
- No, I want to wrap it all around your hand so you will have it as a boxing glove in case you feel the urge to punch the wall again. – Allie teased. Bea laughed and wrapped her good hand around the blonde´s neck pulling her head close and pressing a quick kiss on the top of it.
- Hey, careful! – Allie yelped laughing. – I´m not done yet you will ruin it.
- Sorry. – Bea mumbled lowering her eyes and focusing them on her shoes. She was little taken back by that kiss. It was not her intention to kiss the blonde. She never planned it or thought about it. It just felt good to finally see the blonde smiling and joking. Last week she was receiving just glares, furrowed eyebrows and rolling eyes from her. Allie taped the end of the bandage down and shyly glanced at Bea. One week radio silence with the top dog suddenly felt like a year. She ran her hand along Bea´s forearm grasping her by an elbow while leaning in and placing her head on the redhead´s shoulder. Her other hand landed on the older woman´s back and Allie relished in the feeling of the soft material under her palm as she ran her hand up and down. She missed Bea. She missed her more than she should have. She knew that and she knew very well that she is playing with a fire. She said to herself that she is alright playing the little sister for Bea but at the end, it will backfire and she will get hurt. It will be painful and hurt a lot. But this last week without Bea was terrible, so she will take what she can.
X
Bea was standing in front of the yard gate and waiting for Miles to open it. She took one from the grapes she was holding and threw it into her mouth. "Fuck sake! Miles is so slow she is probably waiting for some money in exchange to open the fucking door." – she thought as she swallowed another grape. Finally, she could walk in and she winked at the guard just to let her know that she doesn´t care about her pity examples of superiority.
She walked to their table greeting quickly some of the women on her way. Everyone was gathered around the scuffed old table except Allie and Boomer. Boomer was playing basketball while the others were just bathing in the sun.
- Where is Allie? – Bea asked after looking around and failing to spot the blonde.
- Don´t worry, I´m watching her. – Maxine said and bobbed her head towards the bench not so far from their table. Bea stepped little aside to have a look.
- What the hell?! Who is that? – the redhead asked after spotting Allie sitting on the bench with one woman she didn´t recognize. – Is she new? You shouldn´t let her go with someone we don´t know.
Maxine chuckled and Sonia too.
- You sound like a nervous parent of a teenager, Bea. – Sonia said.
- Do you want to call her parents first and make sure they are good people so the kids can play together? – Maxine added and they all burst out laughing. Bea rolled her eyes not sure if she should sit down or go there and disperse those two.
- That is really funny. – she said. – You well know that it is not safe. God knows who she is. It is dangerous. She could be from Kaz´s crew from outside.
- I patted her down Bea, she has no weapon and we are close. I´m watching her and if something is wrong I can be there in two seconds. – Maxine tried to reason.
- I think that for what that woman wants to do with Allie they need more privacy. – Sonia chuckled. Bea was about to sit down but she straightened up after hearing this.
- What do you mean? What does she want to do?
- She literally asked us if she can take Allie for a date. – Sonia said smiling. – I think it was actually adorable.
- Yeah, it was kinda cute. – Maxine said.
- It was not exactly like that. – Liz tried to put things in their place. The girls were exaggerating and from Bea´s pale face it looked like the top dog bought it all. – She just politely asked if she could talk with Allie, that is all.
- Are those grapes? – Maxine asked pointing at the fruit in Bea´s hands.
- Yeah, here. – Bea answered and placed them in the middle of the table. She tore off her eyes from the smiling blonde who was in quiet conversation with a tall brunette Bea never saw before.
- Hmm, those are good! Where did you get them? – Maxine asked after swallowing one grape.
- I have my ways. – Bea said with a forced smile and sat down next to Maxine.
- Bea. – Liz called her. – Sonia and I checked on the new girls, they are settling in nicely. All of them are in D block. Two of them look like they will need lessons about how stuff work here but the rest is alright. Am I right Sonia?
- Yes, she is. Those two will need a little guidance as they think they are criminal masterminds by being here but the rest is alright.
- Good, Liz, may I ask you and Sonia to keep an eye on them? If they are too much let me know and I will deal with them.
- You should ask Allie to do that. – Maxine said. – It looks like she has a good reason to go there and she has an informant already.
Bea looked over Sonia´s shoulder and a wave of anger washed over her at the sight of Allie leaning close to the new girl.
- She is still not allowed walking around. Just H1, showers, dining room and the yard. Under no circumstances, she can go to D block.
- Of course not, we know that Maxine is just joking. – Liz said turning back after having a look at the two girls talking on the bench. – They really look cozy though.
- It is good for Allie. – Sonia said. – The poor girl got beaten up and now is threatened by the very woman who got her here. She is waiting for attack all day every day. This will keep her mind off of it. Little flirt will do her good.
- Yeah, it will be good for her. She must be stressed out, some attention will do wonders.
Maxine said picking one grape and placing it into her mouth. Bea looked at her.
- Why do you have to make everything about sex guys? Like for real. Sometimes you make it sound like sex is a cure for everything.
- I´m not talking about sex Bea. – Maxine raised her eyebrows. - I´m talking about attention and affection. It is nice to have someone who looks after you. Someone who makes you laugh and is there for you. This is a clearly a stressful environment. Even on good days, you have to deal with a lot of emotional crap, having someone to hug and hold you is like winning a lottery here. Let her have some fun and affection.
- Nobody wants to stop her. Just make sure she is safe. – Bea said standing up. – I´m going to join Boomer. – she said taking off her hoodie and then walked towards the basketball court. Bea felt restless. Getting sweaty running up and down will maybe make her feel better. She still felt pain in her right hand but she didn´t care. She just wanted to focus on something else than Proctor or Novak.
The game was more fun than she thought. She teamed up with girls from G block against Boomer´s team and they won two games played to twenty. Bea had fun and the exercise felt good especially after she took a shower. Her muscles were nicely tired and she felt somewhat relaxed. During the dinner, she pretty much blocked herself into her thoughts trying to keep the world out from her head. She was not interested hearing about Boomer´s complains about losing the game or Allie´s gushing over the new girl – Jane from a little town near Sydney who was obviously really cool and different from the others as she is innocent. "Well, that is given." – Bea rolled her eyes. Obviously, she was one of those hundred of innocent women in here.
Now it was after the dinner and the evening count. Bea was sitting on her bed leaning onto the wall with her drawing pad on her lap. Rest of the H1 was about to start a game of cards but she wanted to be alone and just relax. Sometimes being constantly around people got on Bea´s nerves. She assumed it is like that with everyone. They are locked up here and constantly together always with people around. From time to time it was very refreshing to be alone. Tonight she didn´t want to see anyone´s face.
- Bea! – she heard before the door even opened. She closed her drawing pad and looked up to see Allie barging in with a force.
- Bea, is there any chance that you have more from those grapes? – she said plopping down on the bed. – The girls didn´t spare me even one piece. Greedy bitches! Can´t blame them though. – she laughed. Bea had to fight the urge to smile at the cheerful blonde.
- No, I don´t have more grapes. Sorry, you missed out.
- Ah, that is cool. – Allie shrugged. – Maybe it is for the best. Slowly I will forget how they taste and won´t crave them anymore.
- Yeah, that is possible.
- Are you coming playing cards?
Bea shook her head. She wasn´t in the mood.
- No, not today. Tonight I would prefer to be alone.
Allie nodded and stood up.
- Alright, good night Bea. – she said and walked out. Bea was watching after her, she had no idea why but suddenly she felt like crying.
Allie closed the door on Bea´s cell. Good thing Bea decided to stay in tonight, she looked tired. Hopefully, she will get some rest.
- Allie, are you coming?
- Yes Booms, just let me take my hoodie it is little cold here. – she said quickly crossing the unit to her cell. She spotted the hoodie on the bed and quickly pulled it over her head. Turning back towards the door she noticed an unfamiliar basket on her shelf. It was a small wicker basket full of grapes. She smiled and quickly took two. They were sweet and juicy. Allie moaned quietly before joining the others outside playing cards.