Orange is the New Black: A New Life Chapter 14
Alex
"Come in. It's good to see you again, Vause." I walk into Counsellor Berdie's office. "Sit," she says, her tone is friendly and inviting. I take one of the two chairs in front of her neat desk. A single file folder lays open. On her right, a computer monitor sits on a smaller desk with a pull out tray. The screen has a small picture of me, the same picture that is on the name tag dangling from my shirt pocket. A keyboard and mouse sitting on a mousepad with Disney characters sit on a pull out tray below the monitor. On the left a see a pink bakery box. She looks quickly at the topmost piece of paper in the file. "Wow," she says.
"How long were you in transit?"
"Hell if I know," I say. I am going to be my more typical sarcastic don't show any emotion self. "A fuckin' long time." I cross my arms.
"It sure seems that way. I see you were in Oklahoma twice, where else? Looks like they might have lost you."
"Felt that way."
She picks up the pink bakery box and opens it. "Would you like a donut?" She pushes the box closer. I look. I see a small variety. The maple bar catches my eye. "I know you had breakfast, but I bet you haven't had a donut in a while?"
How about two years? "Sure." I snag the maple bar. I know why she's doing this. Make me relax.
"How are you here?" She asks.
I take a bite of the confection. She has to wait until I swallow. "A few buses and several flights with stopovers at the worst hotels possible," I answer.
She can't help herself. She giggles and smiles. "No, Vause. Why did Litchfield transfer you?" She picks up the paper in front of her. "The paperwork doesn't list a reason."
The guard fucking you wanted vengeance? No, I won't say that. I swallow my second bite. "I take another bite. God this is so delicious.
"Why do you think you were moved?"
After I swallow, I answer. "I shrug."
"Vause, I'm your counselor. You can trust me."
"That's okay. I don't trust anyone. No one. Fuck, I'm getting that that for my next tattoo."
"Why?"
"I'm tired."
"Tired?"
"Yeah. I'm fucking tired. Just finish." I wipe an eye with my hand.
"I processed Diaz before lunch. She told me–"
I am livid, "Diaz needs to learn how to keep her mouth shut!"
"I'm glad she told me about what happened. Just the basics. I want to hear the rest from you. What happened to you is illegal. We need to report it."
"No."
"Alex."
Oh, my first name. Now she wants me to see she cares.
"Come on, Alex. I can't go by what Diaz told me. I need you to report it."
"Then what?" I snap. "I've seen what happens. Nothing. The system does nothing! Oh, you might be fired or transferred. As for me? No. Don't bother. You might be wanting to help. I'll give you that, but no. You need to protect yourself. That's what I'm going to do. Keep my head down. Serve my time and get the fuck out."
Berdie sits back in her chair and stares at me. In the silence I finish eating my maple bar. Berdie sighs and swallows. I suck the maple sugar from my fingertips and wipe my fingers on my pant legs. I'll wash up when I return to my cell. "I see you're not wearing your glasses." I pull them from my pocket and lay them on her desk. She gazes at them and takes them. "I'll have them replaced," she says. She turns around and pulls a file folder from a three-tiered bookcase behind her. She pulls out a sheet of paper and returns the folder to its place. She writes my name on the top line of the paper and sets my glasses on top of it. "There. You should have them in a couple of days. I know one of the guards beat you and that you were abused again just the other day."
"Berdie, no."
"Show me your side." I shake my head in dismay. "Come on. You need medical treatment."
"Listen, it doesn't matter. I know how the system works. If you're not dying, there's no help. They sent Blanca Flores back to the block after some of Carol's goons crushed her under bookshelves in the library. They fucked up her elbow and the prison did nothing, except hand her over to ICE to be deported. To them we're nothing but criminals. So be it. I'm a fucking criminal, but so is this system. This entire system." I sniff.
"I hear your bitterness and anger."
"Fuck you!" I wipe my eyes.
"Cleveland is better. Sure, we have our problems and problem COs, but I am doing my best to watch out for the women in my charge. I don't view you as criminals. You made some poor decisions, bad choices. My goal is to help you make better choices, to give you the tools to reintegrate into society when you leave prison. We have a GED program."
"I graduated from high school, thank you."
"What about college?" I throw my head back and let out a laugh. "We've teamed up with a local community and Cleveland State. You can earn your AA, Bachelor's, and some of the women are pursuing masters. One woman earned her doctorates. You can pursue degrees in a variety of topics: accounting, administrative justice, journalism, English, creative writing, history, business, a host of other subject. You get the use of an iPad. The fee is nominal, which you would have to pay."
I've let her go one enough. "Are any jobs available?"
"Not at this moment."
"There. That leaves me out. I left Litchfield with twenty-three dollars and a penny. I have over three years left."
She holds a finger in the air. "I don't think that's true,"
"I only have-"
Berdie cuts me off, "No, Vause, I was looking over your records before you came in. I saw," she clicks on a link and then another. "Yes, here it is. You have sixty-three dollars and a penny," she smiles at me.
"That can't be right. I only had twenty-three dollars and a penny."
She stand and motions to her chair. "Come see for yourself."
I walk around the desk. I sit and press my nose almost to the screen's glass. I see it. Commissary: $63.01. At first I don't understand, then I do. "Piper must have." I stare.
"Piper? Is that your wife?"
I stand.
"I heard you broke up with her."
"The marriage wasn't legal." I return to my chair.
Rogers retakes hers. "Apparently, she disagrees. She must love you."
"I guess so." My voice catches.
Berdie's voice softens, "And do you love her?"
I search for a sarcastic response, but can't. Piper put money in my commissary. I can't speak. A tear leaks. Angrily, I brush it away. "Yeah." My voice cracks.
"So, what if I move some of these funds into your phone funds? Let's say twenty." I nod. She clicks her mouse, types. "I know the prison charges a ridiculous amount, which is so unfair. I've started lobbying the BOP to make phone calls more affordable. It's not good for the inmates' psychological welfare or rehabilitation." She clicks the mouse again. Would you like me to put your wife down as your contact?"
I nod. She turns back to the computer and types again. I repeat just so she understands, "We're not legally married. A friend of ours performed a ceremony the day she got out."
She turns back from her computer. "You know, I can start the paperwork for the warden. You can marry legally. Would you like me to do that?" I don't say anything. Piper put money in my commissary. I sniff. I look away. "Well, you talk to her. When you want me to do this, I'll help. I am also going to fill in her information as your contact and put her on your contact and visitation lists." She sets her fingers over the keyboard for a third time. "Name." This is not a question.
But she didn't answer before. But the money? The money. Why? At least I need her to tell me why? I sigh, "Piper."
She types. "Last name?"
"Chapman."
"I remember her," she turns and looks at me. "You did that improv with the fruit."
"Yes."
"There was so much in that."
"We had some major shit between us, even then."
"I thought I saw a breakthrough, that you'd come to an understanding or something."
"We did. It helped."
"I could tell you loved each."
"I've been in love with Piper for a long time."
"I see." Rogers turns back and types. "Address."
"Somewhere in Brooklyn with her brother and sister-in-law." Or maybe somewhere else I think, but again I remember the sixty-three dollars.
"When you find out, bring it to me. Phone?" I give her Piper's number and she adds that to the database she is working on. "By the way, if you want to call her today, the money is ready for you to use."
I nod.
"Vause." I look at her. "I hear you about the system. I am here to help."
I nod.
I return to my cell and climb up on my bunk. Leaning against my bunk, I close my eyes. My face is wet now. I let it be. I think about the money in my commissary. I am aware of what I should do next; what I want to do. I am still scared. I can't believe what she's done. Why? I ask myself over and over. And when? It couldn't have been today. I've only been here a few hours. Why did Piper do it? Why? I can't believe it. I can't.
"What'cha doin'?" Diaz walks in with Jones. "Ain't you goin'ta come out and be friendly or you still mopin'?"
"Leave me alone, Diaz," I wipe my face with my hands.
"What happened? "asks Jones.
"My commissary," I say.
"What about it? You broke? We all are," cracks Diaz.
"That's it," I open my eyes and look down at them. "When I left Litchfield I had twenty-three dollars."
"Did somebody take it?" asks Jones.
"No, I have sixty-three."
"You gotta funkin' fairy-godmother," Diaz laughs. She slaps my back. I stare at her.
"Piper," Jones says.
I exhale, "Yeah."
"So what's the fuckin' problem, chica? Get out there on the phone and give that girl a call. Ain't that what I been tellin' you for weeks." Diaz goes off on me again. I look at my hands. "Get goin'!" Diaz orders.
Jones moves Diaz aside. "Alex," she speaks softly. "What is it?"
I can't answer. My feelings, emotions, they are mine. Mine. Yet, I quietly respond, "I hurt her."
"So a-pol-i-gize," Diaz quips.
"And did you apologize to your daughter?" I turn and glare daggers at Diaz.
"Why should I?" She answers nonchalantly. "She deserved what I done. I gotta protect my younger kids. She should apologize to me!" She yells in my face.
"No, Vause" Jones steps between up. She waits a beat to make sure Diaz and I won't escalate. When I turn away from Diaz, she says, "This isn't about Diaz and Daya. This is about you and Piper. You either want a relationship with her or you don't"
"I want her."
"Really?"
"Yes," Tears appear. "I love her so much, but us." I shake them away.
"If she loves you and is willing to go through all the shit you keep throwing at her and, you hers, you know what you must do."
"What if I'm wrong and I've blown it all to fuck?"
"So you'll know and you can move on."
"I am scared."
"She's probably scared, too. Piper put money in your commissary at some point and she hasn't heard from you. What do you think she's feeling? Think about it." She pats my leg. "Come on Diaz. Let's give her some space to think."
Piper
"I found nothing," says a tall skinny guy with shaggy hair and no butt two rows down and off to the right.
"Where did you look?" Professor Moskowitz takes a deep breath. Moskowitz is a tall, large man, just a little on the pudgy side. I can see that at one time he probably was an athlete, maybe basketball or football, a tight end. He's in his late fifties, maybe sixty, I'm not sure. His head is mostly bald with a tincture like one of Chaucer's monks might have had, very stereotypical, and stray strands of gray white hair adding a bit of camouflage to the empty ruddy dome.
"That website you gave us, Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules."
"And what did you find?"
"Stuff about the Tom Jenkins Memorial Highway, atomic energy, and optometrists."
"So what did you learn?"
"Ohio has no laws regarding peeping toms?"
"Oh?" He turns to me for the first time today. "Ms. Chapman. Did you come to the same conclusion?"
"No sir," I stand. Shaggy hair sits with apparent relief. "After conducting a search for peeping toms, I conducted a search using the key words trespassing and trespass."
"Why did you do that?"
"A peeping tom would have to come onto someone's property in some fashion."
"What if the person doesn't put a foot on someone's property?"
"I found a reference in my trespassing search for voyeurism." I flip back in my notebook, "Section 2907.8 paragraph A of Title 29, chapter 2907 on Sex Offenses says, 'No person, for the purpose of sexually arousing or gratifying the person's self, shall commit trespass or otherwise surreptitiously invade the privacy of another, to spy or eavesdrop upon another.' Surreptitiously, could be interpreted as someone in another building or on a hill looking in a home or backyard using binoculars, a telescope. No matter what, the privacy of the person or persons being spied on is being invaded."
"Thank you, Ms. Chapman."
"So what does this lesson teach? Mr. Caldwell." I sit and a youthful blonde with a Dudley Do-Right physique stands and appearance stands and explains the moral of the lesson.
I look at the clock. It's 2:43. Fourteen forty-three. Just seven more minutes and I have an hour off before I head to my final class, Legislation and Regulation. I need to pee, then coffee. I wonder if I can afford it. I can't run back to Starbucks for a coffee, well, I could, but I've already had my quota for today. Two more days until payday. I can afford coffee and yogurt, or maybe a banana, if they look good. That will have to hold me until I get home.
Moskowitz finally wraps up the discussion on trespass laws in the state of Ohio. We have a paper and he goes over the prompt. "I want this analysis Thursday." I'll need to do research. Another late couple of nights. "That gives you two days."
"Two days. I'll research tonight and write tomorrow. Plus the test tomorrow in contracts and another in civil procedures on Thursday. I should go to the library tonight, but that means grabbing a bite out. I can't afford that and I'm already hungry. The internet I set up for the apartment is good and there are enough online resources. I have mac and cheese. It's in a box, but I'll add extra cheese and some sour cream. That'll be good. Quick, easy. I should put something together in the crockpot this weekend. With payday on Friday, I can go to the grocery and pick up a chicken maybe. Practice the recipe I found for coq au vin. A nice, but cheap, red wine, maybe two if they're cheap enough.
Class is dismissed. Absent-mindedly, I grab my things and head out of the classroom. The bathroom is down the hall. That is my first stop before I go downstairs to the little coffee kiosk. I pull my phone from my coat and turn it on. No phone calls. I leave the phone on and slide it back into the pocket
I enter the last empty stall, hang my coat and backpack on the hook on the door. I sit and start to relieve myself when the phone plays the techno tones of Yazoo's Only You. I reach and snag my phone. Caller Unknown. I swipe and hear, "An inmate from–" Before the recorded intro has a chance to finish I interrupt. "Yes, yes, yes. God, yes."
"Press 1."
I press 1. "Alex? Al? Is that you?"
"Piper." Soft and cautious, it's Alex's voice. I don't want to talk in the bathroom. "Alex, hold on a sec." I set the phone on the toilet paper dispenser, wipe, and flush. "Al, I'm here. I'm here." I stand, snag my backpack, unlock the door, and grab my phone. "Don't hang up. Please don't hang up. I'm here." I put the phone on a shelf above the sink. "Sweetie, I'm here. I just need to wash my hands." I do that. I speak as I wash. "Alex, I've been so worried." I raise my voice as I step to get a paper towel to dry. "Are you alright? It's been so long. I'm sorry I missed your first two calls. I really am. The second time I was in the bathroom, like I am now." I grab my stuff and exit the bathroom, drop everything on the floor just outside the door, and slide down so I sit on the floor with my back against the wall. Now, hopefully she knows I want to speak with her. I take a breath, "Alex. I'm still here, baby. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere.
"Piper," Alex's voice cracks with emotion. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."
"Baby, it's so done and over with.
"I know I hurt you so much. The money. You shouldn't have."
"Alex, you're my wife. I love you. I am not going to abandon you."
"You should have."
"I am never going to leave you. Never. Do you hear me? I love you. I am not giving up on us, on you. I am not going anywhere. I am here. I'm in Cleveland."
Something clangs on the other end and I hear Alex sobbing. II ache to get to her. "Alex? Alex? Sweetie, speak to me. Al? … What's going on? Alex, talk to me. Baby … Come on, Sweetie. I love you. Baby, it's okay. I love you. I love you so much."
"Hey, Chapman!" A new voice, female, Hispanic, with a soft growling quality comes out of the phone's little speaker. I know I've heard it before. "Who is this?"
"Diaz. Aleida. "
"Why are you on the line?" I ask.
"Your wife's been having e-mo-tion-al problems," she says with a sarcastic inflection.
"Problems?" I lean forward and rest my elbow on my knee.
Yeah, "We travel together."
"You've been with her?"
"Yeah. Don't you hear well? That's what I said. I been with her."
"Yes, I'm sorry."
"She's become like a daughter, the way you were with Red, but she's stupid."
"Huh?" I interrupt. "Hey, Alex's the smartest–-"
"Don't interrupt, pendeja!" she scolds.
A group of students pass. They look down at where I am sitting. I switch to Spanish, "Alex no es estúpido. ¿Por qué dijiste eso?"
"¿Por qué hablas español chica blanca?" she asks.
I explain why I have switched to Spanish, "¿Alex esta ahi?" I ask if Alex is present.
"Sí," she answers.
"¿Hay alguien más ahí, mirando? " I want to know if anyone else is paying attention to the conversation where she is.
"¿Por qué estás preocupado por eso? Ya les dije lo que pasó y Jones ha estado hablando con ella, también sobre ser estúpida y triste."
I sit back astounded. "Why did you tell everyone? Who knows?" I ask in Spanish.
"Yoga Jones. Ella es la nueva compañera de celda de tu esposa. Big Boo, Red's Amigas, de Dogget familia."
Red's family? Nicky, Lorna, and Red are back in Litchfield. Who? "¿Quién más está ahí?"
"Jones, Big Boo, DeMarco, Romano, Murphy, Sabes. El quemado por el fuego y Tus Nazis." She means the gang I inadvertently put together. "La lesbiana japonesa llorando cuya novia negra fue asesinada antes del motín."
Japanese girl whose black girlfriend? "That's Brook. Soso," I say. "Poussey was killed."
"Yes."
"Las cabezas tontas de metanfetamina."
"Oh, oh, meth heads. Amigas de, Doggett?
"Okay. Why is everyone listening to the conversation? Eso es suficiente. Alex es muy privado. No quiero que nuestra conversación sea un entretenimiento para el bloque."
"It's not," she replies, keeping our conversation in Spanish. There is a pause for a couple of seconds. "Son sólo los de Litchfield. Ah y Montoya. Ella es una amiga. Se unió a nuestra familia durante nuestra primera estancia en Oklahoma. Y … Hey! Stop listening! Pay attention to your own selves. This doesn't involve you. Only people from Litchfield."
"What?"
"More of D block is coming over."
"No. This can't happen. Diaz, I don't want anyone to listen. Alex and I are not some God-damned sport," I say in Spanish.
Diaz doesn't pay any attention and continues with her story without listening. I end my protest. What happened? "Well, Melanie, ese es el nombre de pila de Montero. Ella también lo sabe todo. Intentamos que Vause llame durante nuestro primer intento. Ella lo hizo, pero no respondiste. Después de eso, nada de lo que dijimos ayudó. Ha estado demasiado deprimida."
"When?" I ask.
She tells me. Two times. That's good. I hadn't missed any other calls. I remember both calls. I tell DIaz I was at work the first time she called. I didn't have my phone on me.
"¿Donde?" she interrupts.
"Starbucks," I reply
"Hey, everyone. Chapman's working at Starbucks." In my mind's-eye I can see Diaz turning around and announcing my news to everyone.
"Ask if she gets free coffee?" I think the voice belongs to Taylor, Angie; she's one of the meth heads.
"¿Tienes café gratis?"
I shake my head. I can't believe this. "Yes. Aleida, where's Alex."
"Yes," Diaz tells everyone. "She gets free coffee. How much?"
"One venti a day."
"She gets one a day."
"Aleida, ¿Dónde está Alex?"
"Ella todavía está en el suelo. Jones la está abrazando. Ella me está mirando ahora. "Se está limpiando las lágrimas de la cara". Alex is still on the floor. I want to crawl through tour connection and take Yoga Jones' place. I want to be the one holding Alex, wiping the tears from her face. I want to kiss her and hug her. "¿Qué pasa con la segunda llamada?" Diaz asks about the second call.
"I was in the bathroom. At home." I explain how the phone went dead the instant I answered it.
"Le dije a tu esposa que había una buena razón. ¿Dónde estabas esta vez?"
I laugh. "El cuarto de baño. En la escuela, pero ahora estoy sentado en el pasillo."
"What school?" she asks in English
"Law school ... in Cleveland"
"¡Mierda! Hey, everyone. Guess what? Chapman's here, in Cleveland, and she's going to law school."
"Hey, can she get me out?" asks Angie.
Diaz responds with her usual tack. "She's only in school you dip shit. Even I know that. She's not a real lawyer yet." Then she can't resist. "Chapman, ¿Puedes sacarme?" she asks.
I laugh. "No," I tell her. "You're correct. I can't help. I'm not a lawyer, yet. But," I add, "Haré lo que pueda una vez que apruebe el examen de la barra. Ese es uno de mis principales objetivos. Quiero ayudar a las mujeres en prisión." WHen I pass the bar, I'll try, I promise.
"¿en realidad?"
"Of course,"
"Gracias, chica. Eres buena." Diaz starts telling me about what's gone on with herself and Daya."
"Where's Alex?" I ask.
"Oh, ella está de pie."
Standing. Good. I say. "Can I please speak with Alex, now? Is she okay? Her injuries."
That sets Diaz off. "¿Alex? Ese guardia la cagó mucho. McCullough golpeó la espalda, el costado derecho y la pierna de Alex. Su mano anular estaba hinchada como una toronja y casi negra. Moretones dolorosos por todas partes. Una costilla rota. En algún lugar del oeste, otro guardia nos golpeó, y a mí también. Alex, le volvieron a romper las costillas. Ella está bastante tranquila. Intenta sufrir en silencio y sé valiente. Lee todo el tiempo y puedo decir que quiere llorar. Está muy deprimida. ¿Cómo sabes de sus heridas?"
"Nicky, Nichols, she told me," I reply.
"Diaz," I hear Alex. "Let me talk to her."
"Can I speak to Alex now? Please?"
"Supongo. Ya no llora y está levantada al teléfono."
"I guess she's ready. Only a few tears, but she's standing again and looking grumpy with her hand out."
"Gracias, Aleida. Gracias por cuidar de ella. Estoy en deuda contigo."
"Debt. You better believe it. Hey, Vause, you think you can handle a simple phone call?"
"I've been waiting." It's Alex, impatient.
"You were bawling. Now, you look and sound better and you know more. Be good to your wife. She's moved to fuckin' Cleveland to be near you. She wouldn't have done that or put money in your commissary if she didn't love you. Stop being stupid, chica."
"Diaz, put Alex on."
"Now she's antsy and wants to talk to you. I think she'll hit me if I don't put you on the phone."
"Don't be stupid."
At first, I think Diaz means me, but then Alex is there, "Piper." Her voice is soft, lacking her normal confidence. "Al, I'm here. Are you okay?"
Diaz voice interrupts. "See I told you. Jones told you. You believe us. Your wife, Chapman's, been telling me. She wants to talk to you."
"Diaz!" Alex's tone is sharp, more than a little grumpy. "Piper." It's Alex.
Diaz laughs in the background. "That's more like it," Diaz says.
"Will you go away! Not you, Piper. My audience."
"We want to find out what happens, I hear deMarco.
Boo adds, "Yeah, this is the most interesting thing to happen since we got here."
"Come on, meth heads."
"Hey, stop calling us that."
"We're sober."
Boo's voice recedes, "Except for Linda from MCC getting her head shaved for lice. Now that was funny."
More voices fade away.
"Fuck! Piper, I'm sorry."
"Me, too. I'm sorry for everything. I love you so much." I sniffle. I have tears in my eyes
"Piper, stop. You have nothing to feel sorry for."
"You're wrong, Alex. If I hadn't left you back when your mother died or chosen Larry even though I knew I loved you more."
"Piper, I've already forgiven you for those."
"Maybe externally, but not inside. You always say that when things are hard or scary, I run. Maybe I did, but not now. Not now. I'm no longer that person, Alex. I don't want to be her. I don't like her."
"Piper, I fell in love with her."
"For the life of me, I don't know why? I wouldn't have. I've learned so much about myself over the last two years. I might have gone to Smith and graduated with honors, but my real education took place at Litchfield and you have been my greatest teacher, you and Red, Nicky and Lorna and Tucky and Taystee and Suzanne."
"Okay, Piper, enough." I love the deep throatiness of her chuckle.
"Okay, but I want you to understand. I am here for you. I promised you that I'd wait and I am. I am not leaving you, not now, not ever."
"Don't say never."
"I mean it, Alex. I am with you all the way. You are mine and I hope, I hope," I can't hold back the tears as I start to sob, "that I am yours. I'm working so hard to be what you need. You mean everything to me."
"Hey," I hear her sniffle. "Babe, make sure that you are happy with yourself, too."
"I am," I cry.
"Piper. I love you, too." Now the big question, "Please still be my wife."
"Always." I wipe my nose with a tissue from my pocket.
"What I did was cruel."
"You were scared. I understand that and I shouldn't have reacted the way I did when McCullough came to the apartment."
"You were scared, too. You said that. You told me you were scared."
"I wish I hadn't left prison. Then none of this would have happened."
"No, Piper. Leaving was best. Shit went down, a lot of shit, but I don't want to talk about it here. Besides, you wouldn't be in law school. Wow, Pipes. How did that happen?"
I tell her how I ended up in Cleveland and at my law school. "I looked for a school in Cleveland that didn't need the LSAT and would take me with just my transcripts from Smith ,and a lot of begging."
"And I guess you found one."
"Yes, I did. In fact, I'm here now, sitting on the floor outside the women's bathroom on the third floor."
"I'm keeping you from class."
"No," I say. I look at my watch. My next class starts in ten minutes. I don't care. "Are you alright? I've been worried sick."
"I'm getting better."
"Did you see a doctor?"
"There was no medical where they took us. Sometimes the plumbing barely worked."
"Al."
"Piper, don't worry. The swelling and bruising has almost disappeared on my hand."
"Your ribs and leg?"
"Leg's fine. Ribs, a little difficult to breathe or stretch in some directions. Turning yellow. Stiffness."
"I saw McCullough. Went to her apartment when she got off work."
"Piper, no."
"I almost Pennsatuckied her."
"Piper, you didn't."
"No. Going to jail wasn't on my agenda and I have your ring. Dixon gave it to Nicky and she managed to send it to me. I went up and saw her just before I left."
"How is she?"
"Lonely."
"Yeah, the gang's broken up. That's what she said when I told her I was leaving."
"Except, it seems that you've found a family."
"Yeah, Jones, Demarco, and Boo. Yoga Jones is my bunkie. Besides Diaz, she gives me lectures, too."
"Tell her, 'thank you.'"
"I will. How far away are you? Will you be able to visit?"
"Good traffic and even with snow on the ground, I made a trip out there last Sunday. Not knowing where I'm going and in light snow, no accidents, it took an hour. Without snow, it'll be faster."
"And you work at Starbucks?"
We talk about Starbucks and law school. I tell her my current schedule.
"So you'll be able to come this Sunday?"
"Yes," I say without hesitation. " I've been getting Sunday's off. I'll see the schedule tomorrow. You'll call?"
"Yes," she says.
"Good, I need to hear your voice."
"Me, too, and see you."
"God, Alex, I dream about touching you."
"Me, too."
"Holding you. Kissing you. Letting my hand, thumb if we're in public, very discreetly, slide over your breast."
"Fuck, Piper, I just want to take you to bed or a broom closet." She laughs.
I laugh. "Or Lolly's time machine."
"But get rid of Angie and Leanne."
"Definitely. Definitely." Both of us are laughing, quietly and softly, like we are sharing a secret. "I love you so much, Sweetie. … I don't want to go."
"But you have to. Your class has to be starting?"
"In a minute." I grab my things and stand.
"You're late?" She teases. "Piper Elizabeth Chapman! You're never late to class."
" I'm walking down the hall." I stop at the top of the stairs. I step aside as others go down. "Will you play hooky with me? Go to the mall or take a walk."
"Hooky, yes. Mall, no. You know I hate malls and its fucking freezing outside."
I laugh at her reaction. "I'll give you my coat." I say. I head down the stairs. "When you get out, I'm taking you to this taco place near the apartment and … oh, and, there's a Shake Shack less than a mile away. Everything is less than a mile away. I can't wait to tell you all about it."
"But for now, you need to go to class."
"I'm going," I'm walking down the hall on the second floor. "This is so hard. I don't want to hang up."
"Me neither."
"I love you, Alex."
"I heart you, Pipes. You mean everything to me. " Alex chokes up. "So much."
I pause outside the classroom and find a place to lean against the wall. "I love you, too, sweetie. So much. So much."
"I'll call. I promise," she says.
"You can always call me, Alex. If I don't pick up, it's probably because I'm stuck baristaing," is that even a word? "Or in class. Alex, I am always thinking about you. Oh, and I get paid Friday, so I'll put twenty dollars in your account. Oh, and do you want any books."
"Piper, I can't depend on you for money."
"Shut up, Al. Yes, you can. I'm your wife. Let me do what I can out here. I'm going to make sure you have funds for the commissary. I'm going to supply you with books. A couple a month. If you need anything, tell me.."
"Wait on the books, I'm getting new glasses."
"What happened to your glasses?" I stop.
"My counselor's taking care of that. I'll tell you about that tomorrow."
I walk again. "Yes, tomorrow, I want you to tell me about your trip. "
"I will, babe. I promise."
Alex says, "You need to go to class, Piper. I can't have you flunking out. Someone needs to have an income when I get out."
"We could both work at Starbucks," I propose.
"No."
I laugh and then am immediately sad. "Alex. I don't want to hang up."
"Me neither, but you have to do it. I'll call between six-thirty and seven tomorrow night."
"I'll make sure to be in the apartment."
"Good and you can tell me about it, the apartment. I want to know all about what you're doing."
"I will and I want to know what you're doing, and our friends."
"I love you, Piper."
"Alex."
"Piper, I know," her voice reassures me. In a snap, the inflection changes and it sounds like the confident Alex I know and love, "Bye. Go to class."
I sniff, but can't help giving a little snicker. Alex knows me so well. I wipe my face and with a deep breath enter class late.
(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.)