Chapter 1
Chapter 1.
It has been six weeks since Bea Smith walked away from topdog. Six weeks since Allie promised her that she would never take another drug. Six weeks of passion, where Allie taught her what sex could be if it was with the right person.
“Lookin’ good Bea!”
Bea turns to Juice’s voice. Juice is smirking, “You must be likin’ what she does huh? You know if I knew you were inclined that way I would have taught you a few tricks myself.” She guffaws, wiggling her fingers and moving her tongue.
Her crew laugh, but let Bea move on.
Bea shakes her head as she walks towards H1. Maxine is still in medical after her latest chemo and Boomer is beyond herself with worry. Sonia is talking to her Bea notices that Boomer seems to calm down. Her instincts tell her not to trust Sonia, and she watches them from the couch, as they sit at the table, not letting her emotions show.
“Why the face?”, Allie whispers, as she sits down next to Bea. Bea shakes her head and smiles at Allie. “Nothing”. Allie turns to watch Sonia with Boomer, for a minute. “Worried about Boomer?”
“I told Franky I would look after her girls”
Allie is silent. Bea turns away, eyes running over the block, watching Liz as she knits, sitting across from Boomer, before looking back at Allie.
She looks at Allie’s face for a moment and opens her mouth as to say something when they hear a loud “Bea do you have a moment?”
It’s Vicky Kosta. She walks in. “Can I talk to you?” Bea lifts her eyebrows, resting her hand over Allie’s shoulder and settling deeper into the couch. It’s the topdog attitude that Allie fell for, but Kosta says “Alone?”
Allie feels the arm on her shoulder grow heavy. She sits back, leans into Bea. Bea smiles, but she has what Allie calls her topdog face on. “We can talk here” the tone is final. Kosta takes a moment to gather her thoughts and then talks about Tina. How Tina’s drug trade is spoiling her fight club. Bea listens to her for about a minute. “Kosta” she says, in a clear voice. “Take it with Kaz.”
Kosta looks around before dropping her voice. “I can back you” she whispers. “Kaz doesn’t have what it takes..”
Bea looks amused. “Not doing that again”
Kosta turns to Allie. There is something in her eye, that Allie can’t place. “You ruined the best chance that this place had!” her voice is full of bitterness.
Bea leans forward, catching Kosta’s eye. Kosta takes one look at Bea and she takes a deep breath. She seems to want to say something else, but decides not to.
She leaves.
Bea runs her fingers over Allie’s neck. “Kaz not doing her job?”
Allie smiles at the gentle touch. “Kaz has her own ways”
Bea nods. “I only hope that she doesn’t let it till there is a revolt”
Vera Bennet finishes the last of her paperwork. Last count was two hours ago. Apart from Maxine, there is no one in the medical. The isolation cells are empty too. She does her final walk around the center, most blocks are dark, a few have some women watching tv, drinking tea. She doesn’t stop. The past six weeks had been eventful. Joan Ferguson was tried and found guilty. The testimony of Nils Jesper and the corroborating evidence given by herself, Bea Smith, and a few others had done that. Jesper had had an attempt on his life on his way to the court which was prevented by a fast thinking police officer who had shot a masked man who was trying to kill Jesper in his leg. It turned out that Jake Stewart had quite the past. The 90,000-dollar payment from Ferguson’s account was now tied to him. Stewart was at Walford, awaiting his own trial.
Ferguson was at Brankhurst. Given the previous history with Wentworth, the court had specifically ordered that she be placed somewhere else. Vera had felt a sense of relief at that.
As she drives home, Vera thinks of the last few months, and of the new struggles that have been happening in J block. Maybe she should reassign inmates, shuffling them into empty cells. Given that now H block had more than a few empty cells. Bridget has resigned, given her emotional involvement with an ex inmate, and Vera needs to schedule interviews for the next psychologist. She frowns, as she walks into her home, wondering how many applicants there are. And whether she should appoint a man this time.
As she brushes her teeth, she suddenly realizes that she hadn’t thought about Ferguson today. The thought slips in. She lets it sit for a minute. She smiles to herself as she turns off the light.
Maxine is moved to the hospital a week later. Boomer is inconsolable. Bea struggles with her own emotions about Maxine as she helps Boomer cope. She is suddenly glad of Sonia’s support and her willingness to take Boomer on.
It was not just Kosta who complains about Kaz. Bea listens to Juice’s grumbles as she sits in the yard. “I didn’t like your no drug policy”, Juice says, smirking a bit, “a girl needs a little something to take the edge off you know? “
Bea tilts her head and looks at Juice. “She’s got new rules with panic buttons and laggers” Juice goes on, taking in Bea’s silence. “The boys… I don’t know”, she drops her voice, “we’ll back you Bea”
Bea lets that wash over her. She looks at Kaz and her crew sitting in the middle table. Boomer and Allie are playing basketball with some of the younger girls. Vicky Kosta watches Juice and Bea.
Bea suddenly misses Maxine. Then she hears Allie laugh as she gets a shot in. “I need to hear that” the thought is sharp, like a wound. “I need Allie’s laugh.”
She shakes her head at Juice. The shake is so small Juice almost doesn’t see it. But she sees Bea’s eyes. She looks at Allie. She sighs. She walks away to where her boys are. Kosta looks at Juice’s face and then back at Bea. She turns away to look at the women training for her next fight and walks towards them.
Bea catches Kaz looking. She meets Kaz’s gaze impassively. Kaz looks away. Bea turns to watch the game. Allie comes back and sits next to her. She leans close and places her head on Bea’s shoulder. Bea slips an arm around her pulling her closer. She drops a kiss on her head. “Who won your game?”
“You didn’t watch?”
Boomer sits next to Allie. “We’ll get them next time Allie”
“Yes, Booms we will.”
Allie and Boomer bump fists.
As the announcement comes for them to return to their blocks, Kaz has a hard look in her eyes. She walks in front to lead the women inside. Bea holds hands with Allie and walks slowly back to H1.
Later when they are alone, Allie asks, “Did Juice complain about Kaz?”
Bea turns trying to look at Allie’s eyes in the dark. “yeah”
Allie is silent. Her hands move over Bea, gently stroking.
“I hope Kaz knows what she is doing” Bea smiles.
“I hope so too.” Allie’s strokes become gentler, almost stopping. She moves closer kissing Bea’s neck. “Do you have regrets? “
Bea moves her head to give Allie more access to her neck. “No” she sighs. “Not a single one”
Allie stops and moves over Bea. They look at each other. Allie must have seen something in Bea’s eyes, because she smiles and bends down to kiss Bea’s lips.
Bea pulls her closer, returning the kiss.
A week later Bea is slotted.