Chapter 6 : Fresh Meat
"So, it's Fields right?"
Emily nodded her head, somewhat reluctantly while settling into her bed she could only compare to a cot. She lifted her eyes to meet the eyes of her roommate, a young Hispanic girl with green eyes and dark brown hair.
"And you're Rojas? Right?"
Her roommate nodded and lifted her chin, "yeah, but don't get too attached, I'm leaving this week."
Em stiffened, although she had barely known this girl for a mere hours, she had grown used to her presence and was surprised at the girl's attitude towards her, Em wasn't too excited to to have to adjust to someone knew, especially if she didn't know who that new someone would be.
"Hey, ease up Fields, what's eatin at you?"
"Uh, nothing."
"I don't even know you and I can tell you're lying, what is it? I mean unless you want to talk to Grey about it, if not, I ain't gonna tell, so what's the harm?" Rojas shrugged and Em nodded softly.
"Uh, I was just wondering, how it works?"
"Um, you're being really vague there, how what works?"
"You, leaving."
"You're gonna miss me already? Aw how sweet, but I'm not leaving by choice, I'm getting transferred."
"Oh," Emily sounded defeated but realized was it possible for her to get transferred too? Somewhere away from Rosewood? Her parents had yet to find out she was in jail, and for something she knew they would know was Hanna's fault, but the impending fear that her parents would call sooner or later was dawning on her and she groaned in frustration.
She heard a silent chuckle come from across her new living space and tilted her head.
"Nothing, "Rojas replied as if reading her mind, "it's just, I've been in here for a few months already and you're the first person I've seen who actually rolled her eyes and sighed, you looked totally like a teenager."
Emily sat back up and leaned against the cool wall, "yeah well, I was just thinking of the conversation I'm going to have to have sooner or later when my parents find out I'm here."
"Wait, your folks don't even know you're here, what, do they live under a rock?"
"Right now, no? But they are overseas by now, my dad is taking my mom to travel finally, it's been their dream."
The other girl nodded and seemed to be sizing Emily up, "so let me guess, you're the only child, you had...well seems like you have strict-ish parents, your dad, mom or both obviously had a good career to take time off to travel, and… you're single?"
Em dropped her jaw slightly and instead of protesting, she accepted the facts and laughed, shaking her head, "correct on basically all accounts," then she explained, "I'm the only child to a military dad and a very strict mom who worked in the police force for a while, yet she always had the ideal daughter imagined in her head that she always projected onto me," Em sighed and puffed her chest in exaggeration, "the perfect lady, like she was. Should have seen how she reacted to me being a lesbian, oh no, that wasn't right, it was a phase I'd grow out of, years later and she's glad I'm single, maybe the right guy for us will come along." Em laughed to lighten the mood she suddenly darkened.
"It's okay, don't get me wrong, she's come to accept me I guess, but I know deep down she wishes I was more traditional and fulfilled the perfect daughter duties."
"Damn, Fields, I'm gay too but my parents were a little more laid back when I "came out," she laughed at a memory flooding her mind, "come to think of it, I'm pretty sure they suspected it all along, I fell in love with my best friend, it would've been crazier if both our families didn't know."
"Aw that's cute, and you're still together?"
"Damn straight as long as she isn't hooking up with people out there."
Em shook her head, "why would she, she's got you right?"
"Hey I don't like the sarcasm, if I wasn't wearing this god awful orange in this frumpy suit, you'd see just how hot I am, then my girl would be in here just to kick your ass."
"Charming."
Em's roommate laughed, "you remind of a friend of mine, her name was Annabelle."
Nodding, Em added, "and you remind me of my best friend Hanna. Sucks you have to go so soon, I was looking forward to having someone to tease."
"You mean someone to tease you?"
"Yup, I can hear Hanna's voice now."
As silence fell between them, Emily's short-lived new friend squinted her eyes at her again, "Fields?"
"Hm?"
"What did you do to get your Ms. Goody Two Shoes ass in here anyways?"
Em froze up, she didn't know whether or not to tell Lauren Rojas, a complete stranger, why they were sitting 10 feet apart from each other, but she did anyways, what was the harm?
"I stole something."
"Hm, then why did you say it like it was a question?"
Emily's eyes widened and she had to come up with something, and fast, "I just, I haven't said it outloud to anyone really."
"Uh huh, so it was also your first time stealing?"
"You can say that."
"Hmm, that's funny."
"What is?"
"Nothing, I didn't peg you as the sticky finger type."
"Type? Oh, then what type did you peg me as?"
"I don't know, what with what you said about your family, I was thinking like some protester or activist, getting arrested for something your mom probably doesn't believe in, but it seems I was wrong. So what'd you knock off anyways? A bank?"
Em shook her head, "knock off? I didn't kill anyone, Hanna just needed the necklace."
"What was that?"
Shit. "What was what? I said…I just wanted the necklace."
"No, it sounded like you said, wait what was your best friend's name?"
"Hanna?"
"Oh shit, I get it now, you stole the necklace for your friend, I bet she's kind of superficial and you wanted to give her something worthy, because….no way, because you love her!"
"What, of course I love her, she's my-"
"No, because you're in love with her, aren't you?! Holy shit, I'm right aren't I? I have to be!"
Em shook her head somewhat violently, holding her hands out in front of her to stop the babbling brunette, "No no no, you couldn't be further from the truth, Hanna and I are just friends, and I am not in love with her, ew, she's like a sister, plus she's happily married, to her husband, who is also my friend."
"Rojas sensed the sincerity and sighed, "damn, I'm usually on the nose with these things."
"Ususally."
"Haha. Funny. So you stole a necklace, you robbed a jeweler's, my girlfriend tells me this town is small so it was probably at a mall, aaaand it was your first anything to go on your record, so you're probably in here for a few months? Am I right?"
"Ew god, now your tone sounds like my lawyer."
"Hah good all the hours watching crime tv shows has paid off."
"Maybe, but you probably should've watched How to Get Away With Murder a little more closely, then you wouldn't be in here?"
"Murder? You think I murdered someone? Wait, do I give off that vibe?"
Em nearly choked, "haha oh god no, not after a few minutes talking to you."
"Good, that's' why I've never been caught," she tried an ominous tone and failed.
"Nope, didn't buy it."
"Yeah, I'm a crap actress."
"Uh huh."
"Hey, so why'd you steal a necklace anyway?"
Em sighed, "it's…its really complicated," she had hoped the matter would be dropped, but here it was, sitting in her lap, weighing her down.
"It's okay, I think I get it. I don't know if you tried to take it for you or someone else, I'm in here for my girlfriend, it just goes to show that some of us do crazy things for love. Love is scary that way you know? And that saying that love is blind, well, it's kind of true, accept that love can be blind, and also things can be mistaken for love and that may lead some of us astray, crazy shit happens all the time, but you'll be fine Fields, I can tell."
Emily sighed and this time really lied down in her 'bed.'
"Thanks, I think I needed to hear that."
"Uh huh, no problem, besides you survived your first day without a scratch, that's a plus."
"Yeah, thanks, I feel really lucky."
"Good."
"Well, see ya in the morning."
"Yeah, you'll see me before I ditch this place and get sent somewhere closer to home."
Em closed her eyes, she hoped that if she was paired with another inmate by the end of tomorrow, whoever it was wouldn't be bad."
"Oh and Fields?"
"Yeah?" Em's voice was heavy with sleep.
"Just so you know I didn't kill for my girl though, I did however, do some breaking and entering, vandalizing property and totaling a few cars. But it's okay, I forgive myself."
"Why's that?"
"It was in the name of love."
Em laughed at her 'temporary Hanna' and fell asleep.
x-x-x-x
There was a buzz about the cell blocks the next morning, everyone seemed to notice that another inmate was "getting out" and more and more women started to crowd Emily's block and peer over the little ledge into the now vacant living space.
"Ladies, back off, Rojas has taken everything she needed and let her bunkmate keep everything else."
Emily turned around and faced her leaving roomie, "you did what?"
"What? I can't take anything with me that's not real personal, so you can have my clothes, pillow and I left some snacks and books in the cupboard thing, all yours."
Em stood, her mouth a little agape and brought Rojas close to her, "I wanted to keep a low profile and you give me your things that all these women are looking at ripping from my if I hold them too close."
"Relax Fields, you'll be fine, these women are just looking for anything they can have for themselves, even for dumb reasons, nothing is gonna happen." She turned around and shooed everyone else from her bunk, "I'm not gone yet, give me some space, I can still breathe this air without you all trying to steal that too, go on, nothing is here that you can have anyways, unless you like books, I can only give you my old toothbrush."
The buzz started to die and Emily felt herself relaxing.
"God, what's the big deal anyways, I mean you're not leaving me anything that valuable to anyone right?"
"Hey, I had those books in there for a long time, take care of them okay? Aaand it's good to have an extra pillow and clothes, so if they take longer to wash you have back up."
"I guess you're right."
"Wow, I don't hear that too often."
Emily laughed and a few hours later, she thought things would be fine. Maybe she'd get assigned a new bunkmate who was just as relaxed ad somewhat nice. But what happened next, Em never saw coming.
At breakfast, Em walked through the cafeteria and got glares from everyone, women cut her in line and purposefully brushed past her a little too hard, making her shoulders more and more sensitive with each 'accident.'
It was Rojas leaving, and Rojas leaving some of her things that had put an invisible target on her back. Em sat alone at the edge of a table and was sneered and scoffed at, accompanied with the grunts of "fresh meat" thrown her way. Em, who had gone unnoticed the first day, had managed to be acknowledged by everyone in the next 24 hours, well almost everyone. Em searched for the one other face she would be able to recognize from her day before in the library. Em searched desperately to find those blue eyes belonging to Alison…but to no avail.
Deciding that she was no longer hungry, Em got up as quickly as she could and returned to her bunk to shower before going to her "job." It was quiet and desolate except for one female guard in the room overlooking the whole sleeping quarters in the area. Em looked at the cell block that she knew Ali stayed at, but stayed away from it and into the showers.
It was her first shower in this new 'home' of hers and even though there were curtains and walls for each stall, Em couldn't help but feel like she was being watched, like she was too exposed to shower with a clear head. A slight feeling of fear started to tremor from her and those fears were confirmed when she heard snickering from a fear voices behind her.
"Oh, look, it's the fresh meat that thinks she better than everyone just because that bitch Rojas gave her her shit."
Another voice added, "…just because Rojas thought she ran this place, doesn't mean we have to respect this Fresh Meat…she's gone now."
Em swallowed and tried to ignore the girls and finish getting the cheap shampoo washed from her hair.
"Oh, what, you can't say hi Fresh Meat? You're too good? Hmm, figures, you think because you're hot that you're better than everyone else?"
Em shook her head, "n-n-no, I just, I d-don't think that, I'm just trying in peace."
"In peace? Or so you're not in peace, we're bugging her, do you hear that ladies?"
"Damn, I was hoping Fresh Meat and I could get a little more closely acquainted, I think I have some things she can help me with."
"Oh yeah, she'd be good at that, maybe she can help us all?"
"Yeah, Fresh Meat, do you do group discounts, I know Rojas was gay, did you give her a going away present before she left? Maybe she made you do it. Did she?"
Em couldn't see anyone behind her, nor did she want to, but she could hear at least 2 more voices confirm what the first had said and Emily's blood started to run cold. There should've been a guard nearby that would surely hear if she screamed for-
"Get her."
What? Emily grabbed her towel just in time to cover herself before the curtain was ripped open and 4 women stood in front of her, sneering and sizing her up. Emily felt the adrenaline start to catalyze in her veins, fight or flight Emily, fight or…
"HELP!"
"Shut her up!"
One woman, a taller copper skinned one, lunged forward and wrapped her hand around Emily's mouth and held her close to her body, another arm snaking around her torso to hold her in place.
Emily tried to kick and scream, biting down on the hand and drawing blood, managing a muffled groan that was only quieted when a fist belonging to the short red head, the seeming leader, made contact with the side of Em's stomach, knocking the wind clear from her lungs.
Emily tried throwing elbows behind her into the person who's arm were a vice around her and coughed hard when another blow met her other side. Emily kicked her feet out to keep her attackers at bay but all that managed to happen was a hand wrapping around her towel and being torn from her body.
"Lookey here, Fresh Meat works out..nice, who wants to go first?"
Emily's eyes burned with tears and she tried to brace herself for another blow to the midsection as one woman stepped forward or for whatever these women had in mind to do with her, when a blur of blonde caught her eye and the red head was sent flying, pushed into the wall and held inches above the floor by the collar of her jumpsuit.
The grip on Em's body loosened and she heard a voice growl at the red head, "leave her the fuck alone or you can be the first to find out if all those rumors are true."
Feet hit the ground and the women fled, the one behind Em tripping her and sending her to slip on the wet shower floor, her head coming into contact with the shower knob. And the last thing Em seen was a hand reaching for her, and voice somewhere in the distance calling her name.
That was right before Alison grabbed the towel and caught Emily before her head crashed into the tile below her…
**Hey, omg hi lovelies, I missed you all! Family shit and college shit…just a lot of shit lol, but I did NOT forget about my stories, I'm back for now and regular updates will be the Saturday of every week starting today! (also when I feel like it, I'll update more than once a week on any day that happens to be the day I write)
Please let me know how you all feel about this chapter/story…I'm craving your reviews/comments!
Love, Lina