“I’ve been so worried.” Mari’s voice quakes as Quinn nods silently in agreement.
“I’m fine,” I assure them. “Just tired, dirty, and suddenly famished. How long was I in there?”
“A week,” Quinn answers. “And you’ve missed a lot.”
Like what?
Rodriguez clears his throat then, prompting the girls to release me and step back as I pivot to face him. “You’ve got an hour before your meeting with Judge. Why don’t you go get your shower bag, and I’ll walk you down to the bathroom?” he suggests kindly.
I nod appreciatively because I definitely do need a shower. I haven’t had one in a week. You don’t get to shower in the hole. They just leave you there to rot, only providing meals because it would be against the law not to.
“Walk with me,” I tell the girls. “Fill me in while I grab my shower shit.”
Mari and Quinn flank me on each side as we amble to my cell, various greetings thrown my way from the tables scattered through the common area. When we make it inside the quiet and very empty confines of my space, I have to stop for a moment to breathe through the rush of memories before I was dragged out of here that flood me.
“Why the fuck won’t you fight me?” Her fingers clench around my hair, drawing a hiss between my teeth as her arm presses into my throat. “Why?”
“Because what kind of friend would I be, if I did? I know I’m in the wrong, Lena, but I swear to you, I’ll fix it.”
Lena holds my stare for several moments, lip curling in a feral fashion, her breathing harsh. I’m hoping she can see the apology in my eyes, but it’s either not obvious enough despite all I’ve tried to say, or she doesn’t care.
I’m going with the latter.
In the same lithe speed as the first, she slams me three consecutive times, jamming the words down my throat as blood begins to pour from my nose. The pain is indescribable, and it’s only then that instincts kick in, alarm bells blaring for me to protect myself regardless of who she is and what she means to me. If I don’t, she’ll knock me out, and with her history…
Well, let’s just say that wouldn’t fare too well for me.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her, fisting the front of her shirt to reclaim some control. “I’m fucking sorry, but you asked for it.” And then, I wail on her, over and over again, each blow harder than the last.
The arm she’d lodged against my throat slips away, and the next thing I know, I’m slamming her back into the wall beside the desk. I’ve drawn blood already, too, feel it clinging to my knuckles, splattering onto my uniform every time my fist connects with her face.
“I’m fucking sorry!” I’m yelling it like a lunatic, my voice garbled as every emotion possible races through me. “I’m so fucking sorry!”
Somewhere in the background, I can just make out the sounds of other inmates belting out about the fight, and within minutes, maybe even seconds, I’m being pulled off my best friend. My chest heaves wildly from exertion as I watch CO Jordan detain Lena without any issue. She’s bleeding from both nostrils, head bobbing as she attempts to keep it upright. I can see his mouth moving as he says something to her, but I can’t hear the words. All I can hear is the roaring in my ears, combined with my erratic breaths. I can’t even hear the chaos of the block as I’m dragged through to the gate, can barely see it behind the tears still very much flowing.
“Birdy? You okay?” Quinn asks, grabbing hold of my arm when I sway to the side.
“I’m good, I’m good. Just really lightheaded.”
“Siéntate,” Mari instructs. Sit. “We’ll grab all of your stuff.”
I do as she’s asked, dropping onto my bunk as I clutch my head and force the vivid replay from my thoughts. Quinn settles in beside me, rubbing my back in slow, soothing circles.
“You’re off the hook,” Mari continues, dragging my unfocused stare up to where she stands.
“What do you mean?”
“Koko fessed up and told them it was all her.”
My eyes almost burst from their sockets in complete shock. “She what?”
“She told them it was all her operation. Word through the grapevine is Franca threatened her, told her if she opened her mouth, she’d kill her.”
That sounds just like Franca. She’s here for life. Killing a bitch and the consequences that come with it means nothing to her.
“Could be that,” I agree. “Or it could just be that Koko always did say she wouldn’t pin it on me if it came down to it.”
Both Mari and Quinn hum as Mari pulls a fresh uniform for me.
“What else did I miss? Is Lena still in Seg?”
“Creo que si,” Mari answers. I think so. “We haven’t seen her since you both went in.”
“Unless they switched her to a different block for some reason,” Quinn adds. “I mean, y’all did fight.”
“Yeah, but you and Koko fought, too, and you’re both still here,” Mari points out. “They’re probably just keeping her in there longer since she was out of Seg for a whole five minutes before going right back in.”
My heart breaks either way. Sure, she initiated the fight, but I still don’t blame her for doing so. She got pinned for something that wasn’t hers. All I can do now is hope that my coming clean will reverse whatever time they’d tacked on to her sentence.
“Oh, one of the guards quit, too,” Mari throws in, holding her hand out for me, my small shower bag slung over her shoulder.
Slipping my palm in hers, I rise onto my feet, squeezing my eyes shut as my head spins again. I
