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Chapter Six-Saving Alex
The next morning Piper had nowhere to be. Without a work assignment she slept in a little and ran to eat just before the food line closed. All of the suburb inmates were gone already, but Taystee was still finishing up. Her work in the library didn't start until later in the morning.
"Well if it ain't the white warrior!" Taystee called out as she beckoned Piper over. "Loungin' around this morning?"
Piper sat down and attacked her food. She was still feeling underweight and hungry most of the time. "Yeah. No work assignment yet. But don't worry, Mr. Healy has promised something special for me." Piper's sarcasm could only cover up so much of the disdain she held for the counselor.
"Hmm. Could be cleaning crew, toilets and all. Maybe trash detail, that pretty much sucks." Taystee entertained herself thinking of the worst jobs in the prison as Piper continued to eat.
Finally Bennett announced to the few stragglers, "Doors closed in five minutes ladies. Finish up and move out."
As they left Taystee directed Piper toward the ghetto dorm. "Come get your stuff. I've got it in a box for you under my bunk."
Piper nodded and followed as the other woman continued to spout off any gossip that came to mind. "Couple of newbies comin' in today I hear. Drugs of course, what else. That seems like what everyone is here for, even you, right?"
"Sort of." Piper answered although the words barely broke the other woman's stream of talking. By now they had arrived at Taystee's cube. Piper looked around. Whoever was sharing the cube didn't have much stuff. "Your roommate a ghost?"
Taystee laughed. "Nah, she's ok. Short stint, says she doesn't need much which is fine by me, no messy shit everywhere." With a grunt the box appeared from under the bunk. "Not like you Blondie, I mean, look at all this stuff!"
Piper sat down on the floor and flipped the lid open. She could see the box had mostly books in it, with a few letters and items she had bought at the commissary. She was surprised to see the item on top. It was a small address book. She picked it up and showed it to Taystee. "You calling my people while I was in the SHU?"
"Not me. That was Vause. She asked for your friend's number, the one who just had the baby? Didn't think you'd mind." Taystee held up her palms in mock supplication.
"No, no, that's fine. I'm just surprised. Alex didn't say anything about calling Polly, and Polly didn't mention it either." Piper put the book back and stood, picking up the box. "Thanks again for keeping the vultures away from my stuff. I definitely owe you."
"Works for me. Just don't get yourself sent back down; I can't protect your stuff in the burbs." Taystee called out after Piper as she walked away deep in thought.
Piper made a point of sitting next to Alex at dinner that night. She didn't say much, just watched and listened to Alex interact with the others, and what she saw and heard concerned her. Alex had always, without fail, oozed confidence. Part of it was probably being tall and beautiful, but much of it was a hard earned belief in her ability to make good decisions and take decisive action. Piper had seen Alex's indomitable attitude on countless occasions and several times it had gotten them both out of touchy situations back in the drug running days.
Now Alex was sitting slightly slumped and she had visibly flinched when someone had dropped their tray. Her eyes were darting around and not one sarcastic comeback had passed her lips during the meal. This was not the Alex she knew. Whatever was going on that had caused all the bruises on Alex's abdomen and back were clearly taking their toll on her psyche.
After dinner she followed Alex back to her cube. "Hey. Can we talk?"
"Is this about yesterday? Because if it is, there is nothing to talk about." Alex was immediately defensive.
Piper decided she would have to take this slow. She was worried about Alex, but she couldn't force any disclosures. She gave Alex what she realized was probably her first real smile in months. "How about I try this again. Hi, I'm Piper. We haven't talked much since I spent almost six weeks locked in a small concrete box and I wanted to see how you are doing."
Alex shook her head, but patted the spot next to her on the bunk at the same time. "I should be asking how you are doing. I've wanted to, but things were not good between us before you got sent to the SHU and I honestly didn't know what to say."
"I know you've been keeping an eye on me, and I appreciate that." Piper turned so she could face Alex completely. "I know you were worried enough about me to call Polly."
Alex looked up a little surprised, but just shrugged, which made Piper laugh. "How many foul names did Polly call you when she realized it wasn't me calling?"
"Not too many, I handled it." Alex smiled before looking more serious. "So you're doing alright?"
Piper gave a non-committal nod. "I think so."
"Well, despite me starting out putting topics off limits, I want you to be able to talk to me Piper, about anything. I was angry when you picked Larry and I said some shitty things in December." Alex tried, but just couldn't quite look Piper in the eye. "Maybe we could try to be friends again."
Before Piper could respond Nicky came hustling into the cube, her constantly disheveled hair flying around her shoulders. "Hey. Vause. Chapman."
Piper jumped up from her spot next to Alex. She didn't know if Alex and Nicky were still involved or just fucking occasionally or anything else and it wasn't her business. She waved for Nicky to take her place on the bunk and got ready to leave. She caught Alex's eyes once more. "Maybe, but the problem is we were never just friends."
The next morning Piper was called to Mr. Healy's office again. She was thankful this meeting was more perfunctory. With a full sneer in place on his face, the counselor told her to report to CO Bell who was in charge of supervising the cleaning crew. He made sure to tell her she was in charge of the prison garbage, emptying the cans from the kitchen, bathrooms and other common areas into the large dumpster. She would also be responsible for keeping the receptacles and the dumpster clean.
It truly was the worst job in the prison and they both knew it. Piper assumed her neutral face, one she was getting better and better at, and asked him if there was anything else. When he said no, Piper strode casually away.
She had taken about ten steps when Healy called out, loud enough for several other inmates in the corridor to hear, "Oh Chapman. One other thing. You lost all your good time for attacking me, so plan on scrubbing the dumpster for at least another year."
Piper stopped long enough to make sure Healy saw that he had been heard. Then she continued on without giving him a glance.
When she got back to the cube Red was there again. Piper had just intended to find her crappiest shirt and pants for work attire before reporting to Bell and was surprised to see her cube mate. "So you really don't go to work?"
Red put her finger up to her lips. "Shhh. Not much. I have an arrangement with the medic. He gives me notes for illness and injury in exchange for some help he needs. I go out on nice days, walk around in the sunshine a bit."
"Good for you Red." Piper found the ripped shirt she was looking for and quickly changed. "No surprise, Healy put me on trash."
"Sorry Blondie." Red offered neutrally.
CO Bell showed her around, pointing out what needed to be emptied and how to request supplies to clean the cans and dumpster. The bathroom cans were the worst; things always stuck to the sides. Piper took the opportunity to be distracted by calculating how much her sentence had just been extended by the loss of good time. Her original sentence of 14 months had included 70 days off for good behavior. That meant she now had to stay in Litchfield over another holiday season, which was really depressing.
It only took a couple days to get a routine down. She would start in the dorms after most inmates had reported to work. Next came the bathrooms, followed by the common rooms. After lunch she swept through the dining hall and kitchen which required a separate trip to the dumpster. She would hit the work spaces like electrical at the end of the workday. Last stop was the laundry.
Piper had seen Alex there one day, but not the next. She had seen Taylor and two of her crew on the day she didn't see Alex. She didn't like the thought of Alex working with the crazy meth heads, but they had all been assigned to the laundry since before she had started her sentence at Litchfield. She decided she would try to stop by the laundry as often as her own work assignment allowed and see how Pennsatucky's old posse was treating Alex.
The air in the laundry had a hum of electricity all day, and not the usual static variety that drove Alex to distraction. Taylor and her crew had been nearly silent today. Lately they had taken to throwing out insults and threats on a regular basis, but she had not been on the receiving end of a single one during her shift which was close to ending. The older, taller meth head whose name she could never remember had passed by the counter where she was folding towels repeatedly with no apparent destination. Leanne had kept to the washers at the other end of the large room, her minions venturing forth on her orders.
The oppressive silence had one major side effect. It left Alex with hours to think about her recent interactions with Piper. She had been so certain that Piper would need her when she got out of the SHU, not the other way around. So often inmates went into solitary cocky and defiant and came out traumatized and broken. Maybe that was the difference; Piper went in traumatized and returned, not cocky, but with an air of self-assurance that also seemed to have created a thick shield around her. She was keeping everyone out, even Alex to some extent.
They had started on a promising conversation, both acknowledging their previous harsh words, but wanting to move forward. Then Nicky had shown up and Piper had fled. Alex knew Piper was probably suspicious that she was still involved with Nicky and she wanted to clear that up the next time they talked. Alex decided she should initiate the conversation, maybe take Piper somewhere they could talk privately for a few minutes.
Alex considered bailing out of her shift early. She could always say she felt sick and needed to lie down. At most it would get her written up. The atmosphere felt off and her instincts told her it was time for a tactical withdrawal. She finished the stack she was working on and grabbed one of the large canvas bags the towels were stored in.
Alex didn't hear footsteps until the canvas bag was yanked out of her hand and stuffed over her head. The sound of multiple sets of feet was muffled by the thick material that now covered her down to her shoulders; in fact the sound of her own rapidly panicked breathing was just as loud. She bucked backwards, attempting to sling off the bag, only to find someone was directly behind her holding it with both hands.
The two women crashed into a second folding table until Alex heard someone, probably Taylor, bark out to get a hold on her. Multiple sets of hands grabbed her roughly around the arms and shoulders and pushed until she fell to her knees. Alex knew this was truly bad. She began to yell, flail and squirm with every ounce of strength she could muster, fueled by a huge surge of adrenaline. For a second she thought she could get free. It seemed there were only three women holding her, one on each arm and one around her neck and shoulders, and even without trained fighting skills she was no small woman.
Her struggle came to a sudden halt when the world tilted and not only her limited vision, but her hearing lost focus in a haze of blinding pain. Now her assailants were holding her up as much as keeping her from escaping. Leanne's voice came through the canvas at her left ear. "Hurts, don't it. One of my sisters in Christ told me about this. No marks, but it will scramble your brains something good. Nice of the library to keep this big Bible for us to read. Fittin' ain't it, you need to be getting some of the Lord's word into your sinner head. I'm thinking about ten thumps outta do it for today."
As the second blow landed on the back of her head Alex slumped forward. Her brain was sloshing around like condensed soup in a tin can and the pain reverberated from back to the front of her eyeballs and back again. She didn't see how she would stay conscious for ten concussive strikes.
Instead of more pain, Alex was released so suddenly she fell to her floor. She slowly extricated her head out of the canvas bag as she heard a scuffle followed by a screech of pain. By the time she oriented herself and her vision cleared Alex was shocked by what was happening.
Her attackers had been Taylor and three of her crew, one of whom was now sitting on the floor cradling her hand in her lap with one of her fingers skewed in an unnatural direction. The other two were glaring in the direction of their leader who was currently on her knees with part of a flat sheet wrapped around the front of her neck. Leanne's hands were scrabbling trying to loosen the hold Piper had on the ends of the sheet without success.
One of the crew started towards Taylor, but Piper tightened her hold. "Stop. I won't kill her unless you attack me."
Leanne vaguely waved them back as Alex got up off of the floor. She was focused entirely on Piper's eyes. Her pupils were huge and held a cold darkness she hadn't known existed in Piper until that moment. Seeing that expression she had no doubt the sweet naïve girl she had met in a crappy neighborhood bar all those years ago was fully capable of taking a life. She wondered if this Piper was the last thing Pennsatucky had seen before she slipped into unconsciousness.
"Piper, I'm alright." Alex made the statement factual and without judgment.
Piper looked at her with the first glimmer of emotion. "Good. That's good. I came in and saw. . ." The sheet began to tighten around Taylor's neck again as Piper spoke down to her. "I heard what you said to Alex you piece of shit. We both know I'm not much of a Bible reader, but I don't think Jesus would condone your use of the good book. My method won't leave much in the way of marks either by the way. So this is how it is now. You will leave Alex alone. If I even think you are hurting her I will take you out, and I won't get caught. Tomorrow you will go to Caputo and tell him the laundry is giving you allergies, a rash or something, and you really want to change your work assignment to the trash detail. You understand Leanne?"
They would all have to assume Taylor understood Piper's instructions as she slid to the floor gasping for breath, unable to talk. Piper walked towards Alex, but the two uninjured meth heads were still standing between them, unsure what to do. Piper solved the problem by punching one in the gut and stomping hard on the other's toes with the heel of her boot.
Alex watched as Piper started to hold out her hand as if to take Alex's, then paused in indecision. Alex had no such compunction. She reached out to Piper, interlocking their fingers as soon as their palms touched. "Let's get out of here."
Piper looked down at their joined hands and blinked before the smallest smile touched her lips. She nodded as Alex led them around the moaning remains of Pennsatucky's crew and back to the dorms. She hadn't noticed that Piper was carrying the huge hard backed Bible in her other hand. When they arrived back at the suburbs Piper steered them over to Sister Ingalls' cube.
"Sister, maybe you could make sure this book is kept in a secure place. Seems certain Christians want to use it for unholy purposes." Piper finished by handing the book to the older woman.
Sister Ingalls gave them a slightly confused look, but took the Bible from Piper. "Certainly. It always brings me solace Piper, perhaps it could do the same for you."
Piper gave her a kind but slightly amused smile. "I will find no solace in this place Sister, but thank you."
Alex followed Piper out into the aisle that ran the length of the cubes just as Taylor and the others came into the dorm. Piper strode to the middle blocking the path Taylor was taking to get to her cube. She didn't say anything, just waited for Taylor to act. It took only a moment before Leanne looked down at the ground and shuffled around Piper with a muttered apology before scurrying into her cube.
Two seconds later both women heard a huge guffaw followed by loud clapping. Nicky had watched the walking wounded of Pennsatucky's crew and wondered who was responsible. When she saw the showdown her question had been answered. "Way to go Chapman!"
All Alex wanted to do was get somewhere where she and Piper could talk, but fate seemed to have other plans. Before they even got to Piper's cube Bennett walked up to them. "Chapman, you need to go see Caputo. Doggett's fully awake and telling anyone who will listen how you tried to kill her."