Orange is the New Black: A New Life Chapter 10

Piper

The lecture hall has the look of a small amphitheater with desks arranged in curved, tiered rows. It has filled up with a crowd of twenty-somethings. They look like so many eager little puppies jumping all over themselves for the affection of the teacher. In this case the teacher is Monique Jackson. She is the most amazing woman. She's a younger, black version of Red, except she has not done anything to her body to impose her will or dominate the classroom. She simply does.

I like to sit back and observe as the puppies, as I like to call the most eager of the kids, raise their hands and stumble through the recitation of facts related to contracts and the law. I also listen, knowing that any minute she will ignore the upright hands, which she does often, and call on some unsuspecting member of the audience. I can expect for her eyes to light on me at least once a class, sometimes more. So, I stay on my toes, but in a relaxed manner. So I listen. I take notes on substantive facts and points I believe will help me. I don't write everything down or even that much, but I have filled a couple of pages with definitions and the way Jackson wants us to think about contract law.

"Bailey. Hamer v. Sidway."

Bailey, a young girl with long black hair tied back, stands. She looks down. I'm sorry, ma'am. I didn't get that far last night."

"Sit. Chapman." She turns to me. I look her in the eye. "Hamer v. Sidway. Describe the case."

I stand as required. "William E. Story told his nephew, William E. Story II, that he would give him $5,000 if he would abstain from drinking alcohol, smoking, swearing, and playing cards or billiards for money until he reached 21 years of age. The nephew accepted the promise and refrained as promised. After he turned twenty-one, the nephew wrote to his uncle and asked for the promised money. The uncle responded to his nephew in a letter that he would fulfill his promise. He also told his nephew that he would prefer to wait until his nephew was older before giving him such a large sum of money. His uncle said the money owed would accrue interest while he held it on his nephew's behalf. Story II consented and agreed the money would remain with his uncle until he was older. His uncle died without having transferred any of the money. The nephew had transferred the $5,000 financial interest to his wife; the wife transferred this financial interest to Louisa Hamer on assignment. The elder Story's estate refused to grant Hamer the money, believing there was no binding contract due to a lack of consideration. As a result, Hamer sued the estate's executor, Franklin Sidway."

"Nice."

I go to sit.

"Ms. Chapman." I straighten and face her. "What was the outcome of the case?"

"Oh, sorry. The Court of Appeals ruled that the consensual abstinence from 'drinking liquor, using tobacco, swearing, and playing cards or billiards for money until he should become twenty-one years of age'' constituted consideration in exchange for the promise given by the uncle. Because the forbearance was a valid consideration given by a party (Story II) in exchange for a promise to perform by another party (Story I), the promiser was contractually obligated to fulfill the promise."

I remain standing this time.

Jackson smiles. "Nice."

"You're welcome." I sit. The class goes on.

Jackson comes back to me a little later, catching me off guard because I was making a note on a point she made about consideration.

"The consideration," I stand again, "does not have to benefit the promisee," I say. "According to the Exchequer Chamber in 1875. the Court will not ask whether the consideration benefits the promisee or a third party, or is of any substantial value to anyone. 'It is enough that something is promised, done, forborne or suffered by the party to whom the promise is made as consideration for the promise made to him.' "

"So does that apply to Hamer?"

"It does," I reply. "Neither the uncle nor his estate benefited from the contract made with the nephew. One might argue, that by staying sober and accruing gambling debts, which the uncle out of the kindness of his heart, might feel he needed to handle, the only one who benefited was the nephew; although, the nephew might not have seen it that way, as he would have had to recuse himself from the antics and play of his friends."

The class chuckled.

"Good," Jackson smiled.

I sat.

At 1:50, Jackson dismisses the class. I have ten minutes to run to the bathroom and go down to the second floor. I place my notebook in my briefcase and slide out of the row where I sit. Seats are assigned. By habit I take out my phone. Every chance I have I check to see if Alex is still in Oklahoma. It's my way of having her with me. It's stupid, I know. Before I go to the search, I find a checkmark on the homescreen of my phone.

"Ms. Chapman." It's Jackson.

I open the app. "Fuck!"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh," I look up from my phone. "I'm sorry. Not you."

She stares.

"My wife." She stares some more. I hope the professor's not homophobic.

"She called … I missed her."

"So what? You'll see her."

"She's not in Cleveland." I don't want to explain any more to her. "Look, I'm sorry. Our being together's complicated right now. I shouldn't have said 'fuck', but we haven't had a chance to speak for a long time."

"So it was important."

"Yes."

"She'll call back."

"I hope so. Did you wish to speak with me?"

"Yes. You've been doing well."

"Thank you." I smile. Who doesn't like acknowledgement?

"You're one of my older students."

"Thirty-three, not that old."

"Still, you are doing well. Why don't you raise your hand."

"The puppies want…."

"Puppies?"

"The younger students. They need the attention."

"And you don't?"

"Sure. Maybe. I like knowing I know the material, but I don't need to win."

"Win?"

"Yeah."

"Is this a game?"

"Class … school. I guess. I read once that when Janet Napolitano gave the valedictorian speech when she graduated from Santa Clara University, she congratulated her fellow grads for winning the game."

"Ms. Chapman, the law is not a game!"

"Oh, you're right. I take the law seriously. It's school, school is a game; it always has been for me, and I like to win. I'm a bit of a control freak. You can ask my wife."

"I see."

"You're doing well. What kind of law do you want to practice?"

"Criminal and constitutional," I reply without hesitation.

"You have conviction."

"You don't know how right you are," I grin. I gather my backpack and place my notebook inside. "I'm sorry, but I need to make a stop and get downstairs for my next class."

"May I suggest you take Meredith Überman's criminal law classes."

"I will," I say.

"She's my wife."

"Thanks, I will."

"Have a good day."

She walks back into the well and I climb up to the exit. I look at my phone again. "Sweetie, please call back."

(This is a work of fanfiction based on the Netflix series Orange is the New Black. The story begins at the point the series ended. I do not intend to make any money from this endeavor. If you make any comments, please do so. I enjoy relevant feedback and critiques. I apologize for any mistakes in any foreign language, especially my Spanish. Please let me know of the proper usage. I hope you enjoy the story. I plan to upload updates at least every week.)