Chapter 99: Chapter 99
The sun has risen, I fall asleep last night when my mind keeps thinking about my old lover. I take a shower at 7 AM, and there are a lot of people in the public bathroom. I make my way to my cell with a wrapped towel on my body, it’s a woman's prison and it’s fine to walk half-naked after taking shower, some of them not even wear anything when they’re brushing their teeth. I kind of like this place, I secretly love this place.
“Mmmm mmmm hummm” I hum as I wear my clothes and drying my hair. It’s my first breakfast in prison and I hope they have a portion of nice food in here. My back hurts and I think I got a wrong sleep position last night or my bunk is too gauzy for me. “Alright all done, you look perfect!” I say as I’m standing in front of a small mirror on the wall. I got money in my prison account and my dad left me 500 dollars last night.
I transferred all my money to this account just in case if I need something in here or maybe I have to pay for the food. However I got a lot of money in my account, and I can get my needs in here. I wait in the line and waiting for the food, the line grew, and I stand behind a white lady. “Thank you!” I take the food with me. I had an omelet, two tiny sausages, and hot tea. “Well, this is not too bad” I say as I leave the line and scanning for a seat.
The cafeteria is crowded, all people from every block gather in here together. I can’t find any seats, and I have no friends. All prisoners sit with their group and friends, and it’s scary to sit next to them. “Hey! Maia!” Someone is calling me. I turn around and looking around the place, scanning for sounds. “Hey! Right here!” Z shouts from her seat, she half standing on her seat as she calls me. I make my way to her seat and sit next to her after.
“Hey, good to see you” Z says. I smile and take a seat then I place my plate on the table. “Uh, hey, Maia, right?” A woman opposite me asks. “Yes?” I respond. “I saw you on TV last month, you are the woman who missing that day!” She surprises. I shocked and freeze in silence, my eyes bulged. “Did you guys really watched the news?” I ask. “Of course, we have nothing more to do in here to entertain ourselves except watching some boring news on TV” She laughs softly.
“Oh, I’m Katty by the way” She runs her hand to me. “Nice to meet you Katty” I shook her hands and smile. “I spoke to my counselor this morning. They’ll put me in the commissary start from today” Katty talks to Z as she chews her food. “Why are you out from your old job? I mean, work at garden it’s nice” Z says. I keep listening to their conversation and eat my food in silence. “How about you, Maia, You got a job?” Katty asks.
“W-what do you mean? I-I don’t get it” I respond in stutters. “Do you know who’s your counselor is?” Z asks. “N-no… I just got here, I don’t know anything” I explain. “Oh, right… you can ask the guard after you've done your breakfast” Z says. “People from C and D blocks work in this prison to get some money for living, some of B block work for a productive day, we have never seen any A block prisoners work in here” Katty explains.
“Ugh… that’s fine if you don’t want to get involve in any jobs in this place if you have enough money for living” Z says. “Mmm, you can go with me to my workplace if you have nothing to do” Z says. “I worked in the library” Z chuckles with a raised brow. “Sure” I say as I chew my food. “By the way, Katty is my roommate” Z says. “Yep, you can visit our bunk sometimes” Katty says as she sips her tea.
We finished our breakfast and I get into my room, I make up my bed and clean my room. I asked the guard about my counselor, the guard says my counselor is still outstate and I have to wait for him after he gets back to town. “Hey, you done?” Z suddenly stands in front of my room, she’s literally startled me. “Oh gosh!” I respond. “Sorry for interrupting you, hehehe… I’m ready to go, you wanna go with me?” She asks.
“Oh, yeah, for sure!” I stop cleaning my room. I leave my room and go with her after. “It will be nice to work in the library” Z states. “Mmm how long you work in there?” I ask curiously. “Oh, I’ve been here for over three months, and I just work for a month” She replies. “How much time you got?” I ask. “Here? Oh, three months left” She answers. “So, you will out of here in three months?” I say. “Yeah…” She shrugs and sighs.
I just make a friend and I found that she will be here in three months, I got around six months before my release and that sucks. Well, at least I got a friend in these next three months. “How much time you got?” Z asks. “Mmm six months” I respond. “Well, I’ll see you around then. I live in Manhattan” Z states. “Mmm right, I live in Queens. But my family’s town is in here” I say. We reach the library and there’s no one in here.
“Why the library is so dead, why don’t people come here and reading some books” I say as I look around the place. “Chill, this place is always full anytime, you will see that soon” Z says, she walks towards the librarian desk. I follow her and pull a chair closer to her and I sit next to her. Z grabs some book from the rack and place them on the desk. “Look!” She shows me the book. “Gosh!” I almost yelp. “Shhhsss…” Z shushes me and she put her index finger to my lips.
I can’t believe she hides weeds inside the book. “What are you doing?” I whisper in dismay. “It’s okay, it usually happens in here and this thing is not mine” Z says. “How did you find it if it's not yours!” I exclaim in whispers. “Hehe… there’s a lot of people come and go to this place, some of them hide candies, weeds even a love note!” She laughs softly. “And I collect the thing sometimes for my own enjoyment” She chuckles. “Not the love notes! Ughh…” She groans.
“I… love to get high” She groans as she shook her head and closing her eyes. “You know what, these things are illegal in my country” She’s grabbing the weed from the book. “But, um… they are illegal because my government is hick, which is why I do not respect that law” She ends. “H-how can you get in here if you’re not from this place?” I wonder. “Uh, I’m an American citizen who spent my childhood in my actual country and being pressured by parents” She responds.
“My mom is from Texas but she fell in love with a Tunisian man and they had me, they divorced when I was 20 and we moved here” Z explains. “But fuck man, I fucked up three months ago and end up in here” She ends. “Well, I’m fucked up too” I laugh softly and sigh. “So, tell me about you, Maia” Z looks at me. “Umm well, my story is boring as my life, but I’ll tell you” I chuckle. “I lived with a weird family, my life also boring as fuck” I start with a small giggle on my face.
“I spent my day work all day, mmm at my family company” I laugh. “W-what! That was so boring” Z laughs. “Huh, and I got drunk in the middle of the night, in my bedroom floor, and woke up on couch all the time” I end. Both of us laughing because of the story, our faces are getting red because of the laugh. “Oh, my goodness! That’s insane!” Z tried to stop her laughs and leave a little giggle on her face. “Yeah, my life was insane!” I laugh softly.
“I’m going back to my county to see my friends and have a nice vacation after I’m out” Z says. “I hope your friends back home appreciate the contraband” I chuckle. “Yeah, they would like to taste these American weeds” Z responds with a thrilled emotion within her face as she sees the weed which she held in her hand. “Can I ask you a personal question?” Z asks. “Mmm yeah…” I respond. “What’s your sexual orientation?” Z asks which is shock and freeze me.
“I’m a proud woman, my person is my person. I’m not into label hehehe… sorry” I reply and left an awkwardly face after. “Whooosss…” Z whooshing, her breath touches my hand which lay on the desk. “It wasn’t a come-on” She gives me a look with a raised brow and chuckles. “Oh, it would be okay if it was, I could do worse and you know” I laugh softly. “Honestly, I actually really get the whole girl thing, I do” I heavily breathe.
“My ex-girlfriend and I through a lot of things together” I smile. “You know what, girls really good at it… you know, that whole ‘thing’…” I quote my fingers. “Well, for me, it’s never just been about ‘this’…” Z points her eyes to her private bikini line. “It’s uhh… it’s more about ‘this’…” She places her hand on her chest. “Damn it!” I groan. “I’ve been much on boobs either” I laugh softly. Z gives me a look with a raised brow “You use humor to hide your real emotions, Maia...”