Bennett headed out to the yard, his eyes searched for Daya. He was still breathless from sprinting down the stairwell when he realised he was late.
As he rounded the corner he couldn't help but slow down and just gaze at her. The mother of his child, of their child. She was beautiful to him, she always would be, alas, such was the nature of love. A love tempered with anticipation and hope, but riddled with the naivety and hotheadedness of youth.
"Sorry I'm late..." Bennett managed as he reached her, she cast him an annoyed glance.
"At least you finally decided to show up."
That stung but he deserved it. He had been short with her and had missed their last three meets, yet she still showed up in hope of him showing his face. It wasn't lost on him.
"Thanks for coming...How are you?" Bennett tried.
"Our time is limited, Bennett. So how about we don't waste it with small talk. What's been going on?"
"Daya, it wasn't small talk."
"Oh, so now you care?"
Bennett flinched. There it was. All the sass he loved and hated.
"I've been working hard, making extra money on the side and getting it to our daughter."
Daya studied him, as if she were weighing up whether it was the truth or not.
"Cesar says you haven't been to see her."
"I'm afraid that if I see her... I won't be able to leave her with him." Bennett confessed, he looked troubled.
"Look, Daya. Be mad at me, hate me, do what you have to... I'm doing all I can to make sure our baby's okay. Yeah, I haven't been around much since, but we're living in a fishbowl for God's sake. The outside world is miles away. Out there I'm a single father."
Daya's expression softened as Bennett continued, "I'd rather be a one of two parents our kid has, in here. Than be anything else out there. I'd rather be with you. I don't wanna abandon seeing you in here, to go and raise our child without you. You haven't got long left."
Tears glistened in her eyes as he peered at her. That was when she said it, the most crushing thing she could possibly have said, "While you've been busy in your warped idea of being a good man... Mendez has visited her everyday. He's been giving Cesar money too. Making sure she's okay, he even brings me photos. And the kicker is...? He knows she's was yours. He knows we had something."
Bennett's face fell, "had...?" He said barely above a whisper.
"All we have right now is a bunch of intentions."
Bennett looked as if he had been punched in the face. Daya shrugged at him "Anyways, I better go. It's lunch time. Mendez will notice."
Bennett remained in the yard with his feet glued to the ground as Daya walked away from him and his intentions. His body trembled with the bottled up anger and frustration he carried deep inside, a tear streamed down his cheek indicating something had finally snapped inside him. He stalked toward the building.
Leanne strolled through the large room, it brimmed with inmates who ate voraciously. She glanced at the powerful ones, Red, Gloria, Diaz, they were pre-occupied overlooking the kitchen and their respective tables. Bursett was bickering with another inmate about a late commissary payment.
"This is exactly why I don't do favors on loan!" Bursett tutted beneath her breath, then turned on her prison made flipflops and walked off, brushing roughly past Leanne. Leanne scowled at Bursett, then scanned the room. She glanced at her table, the girls were preoccupied eating lunch and discussing the bible. Pennsatucky, their very own Judas, was seated at Vause's table. Leanne felt a wave of anger drift over her, she shook her head at Tucky. They were supposed to be allies, partners. But since Vause beat Tucky down, Tucky had changed. And good riddance to her, Leanne thought, their cause didn't need no spiritually fickle spokes people.
Leanne studied her victim from afar, she could walk past her and stick her in the neck. Too public, no chance of getting back from SHU. Maybe even the kidney? It didn't kill Nichols though...
Leanne pondered on how to do it. A moment passed then her face lit up. She reached into her jersey and pulled out the sleeping pills she had palmed from Chang. They were soluble. Perfect.
Leanne walked up to the table where Chapman, the Taylor Swift lookalike, sat with her friends and Tucky. They all looked at her.
"Oh, hey Leanne..." Pennsatucky greeted sheepishly. Leanne put a pile of bibles down on the table in front of the women, blocking their view of their drinks.
"I'm gonna need the bible back." Leanne said as she slipped the pills into her intended victim's drink. Nobody noticed.
"But Leanne-" Tucky objected.
"Never thought you'd be such a Judas, Tucky. We trusted you."
Leanne picked up her bibles and walked away, she could feel Tucky's eyes on her as she went but she never looked back.
"Don't mind her," Alex said.
"The worst she can do is preach at you to death..." Piper added.
Nicky joined the women and sat beside Piper, "Or she can bless you all the way to hell." Nicky quipped, "welcome to the table Judas. What brings you to these parts? You lost?"
"Leave her be. She's cool." Alex said, defending Pennsatucky.
"She's helping us with that thing..." Alex said.
Morello had tear-stained cheeks as she joined them at the table, "what thing?"
"Oh..." Nicky said, "that thing?"
Piper nodded, "the one and only."
"What thing?" Morello interjected, visibly annoyed.
"When's the thing going down?" Nicky asked, ignoring Morello.
"Tonight." Pennsatucky answered. Piper glanced from Morello to Nicky, those two hadn't been the same since Morello ditched Nicky once again for her fiancé.
"Right. Got it. Thanks for phasing me out. I needed that today." Morello said in her thick Bostonian accent. Nicky, Alex and Piper looked at her.
"Lemme guess..." Nicky said, bored of Morello's shit, "He left you for good once you agreed to transfer the money you two swindled together for the wedding. Right?"
Piper's eyes widened, "is that what got you in the Litch? You were a con artist?!" Alex kicked Piper under the table, implying it was not an appropriate time to grill Morello. Tears streamed down Morello's face, she ignored the tears as well as her friends and ate her lunch.
"Well, go on..." Nicky nudged, "Because that's the only reason you ever come back down to the earth where the rest of us are just kicking back. I mean jeez, Morello, you could pretend you cared about other human beings, rather than come back when your safety net disappears..."
"Nicky, stop..." Alex said softly, noticing Morello was close to losing her shit.
"Aw, what? Nobody wants to know if the destructive cycle of what will-never-be is over yet?"
Morello leapt to her feet and threw her drink in Nicky's face.
"You can be mad at me all you want, but your anger is selfish Nicky. Whatever you feel for me, can you imagine feeling ten times that for someone else then having them screw you over? I didn't think so."
With that Morello walked away. Nicky licked her own face, enjoying the drink.
"Is it just me, or do people seem more batshitcrazy lately? There's gotta be something in the cool aid." She quipped.
"It's not my place to comment...but that was shitty of you." Piper answered.
"Life is shorter than we think, and we'll all be outta here before we know it. I'm just trying to work out if Morello will be crazier outside of this place."
"And if she loves you." Piper added.
"No, I think it's pretty clear she doesn't. I'm just her back up plan." Nicky said with a shrug.
"But she's your only plan..." Piper said, weakly re-using the metaphor.
Pennsatucky cleared her throat, they all looked at her.
"You folks sure talk about gay stuff a lot."
"It's not gay stuff. It's human stuff." Piper corrected, Pennsatucky nodded then raised an eyebrow and looked away, making it clear she did not agree.