The Understanding - Part 2
It was ten o’clock before both Bridget and Vera walked to the carpark together. Bridget had convinced Vera to leave, despite her protests. So desperate to succeed, Vera was sometimes her own worst enemy as she pushed herself too hard sometimes, rather than just sitting back and trusting herself. Bridget considered her quite capable, just prone to frequent crises of confidence which undermined her. She just needed the right mentor.
Despite her somewhat tumultuous relationship with Vera, after Vera feeling betrayed that Bridget was in a relationship with Franky, she had worked hard at regaining Vera’s trust – at least on a professional level and often went out of her way to help Vera at work. Vera had also seen both her and Franky out of work, although Bridget didn’t like to make this a regular occurrence for fear that it would place Vera in an awkward position,
As she said goodbye and started the car, she thought about the women. Aside from Allie Novak, she was most concerned about Boomer. The speech that Boomer had prepared for her and Vera was, she thought, one of the most honest, genuine and heartfelt submissions she had heard for a long time. It actually reminded her of the raw honesty that Franky had shown in her hearing before the parole board.
Franky, she thought as she looked at the clock, it would be at least 10.30pm before she arrived home. Knowing Franky would still be up, she waited for her phone to switch over the Bluetooth and dialed Franky as she turned right out of the gate sof Wentworth.
Just as Bridget was about to hang up, she heard Franky answer with “I’ve just got a face mask on Gidgee, so I’ve got you on speaker”, Bridget smiled as she imagined a white faced franky, most liekly complete with cucumbers covering her eyes for the "full spa treatment" as Franky often called it.
“You ok?” she heard Franky say, there was echo which over the Bluetooth was difficult to hear.
“Yes darling I’m fine. I’m absolutely fucked though” Bridget responded.
“I can imagine Gidge”, Franky said, still sounding muffled.
“I can’t hear you very well baby so I’ll see you in about half an hour”.
“Sure thing, I’ll wait up. Drive safely, love you”.
“I love you too baby”, Bridget said as she hit the red button on her steering wheel with her left thumb, ending the call.
As she drove in the darkness, she couldn’t help but think of Maxine and that in the pandemonium that was the afternoon, she hadn’t thought to contact the hospital to see how Maxine was. She felt a pang of guilty and made a mental note to do so first think in the morning.
She knew that since Franky’s release, Maxine had become Boomer’s person and she had also appeared to flourish under Maxine’s almost maternal approach to Boomer. She contemplated whether she could make a case to Channing about letting Boomer out on day release to visit Maxine – but decided it would no doubt be blocked from the outset either by security or funding issues.
She then contemplated whether a visit from Franky might be good for Boomer. Franky had wanted to earlier in the year, but to Bridget’s relief she herself had thought it perhaps a bit too early. But now….
Her mind then turned to Allie. She knew the knot that Allie would now be carrying around in her stomach, the stone at the back of her throat and the tears that would be threatening to make their appearance at any second.
She thought about those long hours, when she knew only of a fire and nothing else… then of an inmate that had died. Then there was the long and agonizing wait to find out which inmate.
…And the relief when she heard that it wasn’t Franky, which she almost couldn’t believe until she was able to touch her, to feel, her and to kiss her. Thoughts of the women ricochet inside Bridget's head - unable to silence them she let the thoughts flow past, not giving them too much air space but moving on to the next as she tried to methodically unpack her day.
As she pulled into the driveway she needed to switch the thoughts of these women off. She took a breath in and then out, focusing on herself, her hands and the way her arms sat against her torso. She thought to herself how lucky she really was – despite all of the problems that their relationship had faced in those early months, and the slightly precarious position in which she still found herself in having a relationship with a former patient.
Bridget thought back to her grandmother, with whom she had been fortunate enough to have a relationship in her adult years, who had, surprisingly, been so supportive of Bridget when she came out – particularly when her own mother had struggled with it. Her grandmother had always said to her “I count my blessings” and as Bridget grew older, she understood more and more the importance of her grandmother’s words.
As she walked towards the door, she saw light appear as Franky stood in the doorway, opening to the door to wait for her. As Bridget walked in, Franky, cuffs of her jumper pulled over her hands, reached out to hug her. Despite the facemask that Franky had applied Franky’s, her red eyes Franky’s red eyes gave away that she had been crying.
“Gidge”, Franky said, relived as she hugged Bridget tightly and didn’t let go. Bridget needed that hug, as she pushed back into Franky’s strong body, so grateful that she wasn’t coming home to an empty house tonight. Bridget reached down to Franky’s hands and felt her sleeves were damp. Typical Franky, not using a tissue, Bridget thought to herself. She knew Franky must have been worried about her girls. As chequered as her history was with Bea Smith, they had become closer before Franky’s release – Bea had saved Franky’s life Bridget reminded herself. Her mind trailed off as to whether Franky would now be feeling the guilt of being absent from prison and not being able to help Bea.
“Big day”, Bridget said to Franky, Franky still hanging onto her tightly. “I can even being to imagine. What the fuck has happened this week, I don’t know about any of that shit you were telling me on the phone… see this is why if we don’t do our regular unpack with each other we get left behind” Franky said, trying to lighten the mood. Bridget smiled at Franky's use of words and that she actually enjoyed "unpacking" her day compared to having to prise any piece of infomation out of her when she had first met Franky.
Breaking the hug between them, but still maintaining contact,Bridget breathed in Franky’s scent. She lent in to kiss her as she gently touched Franky’s cheek. “You ok baby?” Bridget said to her.
“Yeah, I'm fine… I have just cried a river this arvo. I don’t even fuckin’ know why. Well I mean I do. I was worried about the girls.. Red, Booms even Maxi”, Franky said, looking back at Bridget’s worn face and the bags under her eyes that spoke of the stress and pressure she had been under.
Bridget gently threw her clear work bag to the ground near the door.
“I worry about you working there and I worry about you” she said to Bridget, almost relived to have said it.
As they walked together into the kitchen, Bridget stopped and turned to Franky “I’m OK Franky, you’ve got to remember I’ve worked in the corrections system for nearly 20 years” Bridget responded.
“Yeah I know, but that place just sounds out of control, unhinged at the moment. The freak is running wild, how the fuck did she even manage to get Red alone, let alone nearly drown her… fucking hell”, Franky said aghast.
Bridget sighed as she put her keys in the bowl and released the clasp from her hair, which had been too tight for most of the afternoon but she hadn’t had the chance to fix it. She rubbed the nape of her neck in an effort to exhume the tension of her day.
“I know, Franky”, Bridget responded, a sigh caught her off guard as she lent against the kitchen bench.
“And I don’t know how it happened, but I agree with you… there is no order anymore, no system, the women get unsettled too easily, it’s a melting pot and was a disaster waiting to happen…. it just happened to be Bea’s disaster”.
“Fuck Gidget.. is she going to be OK?”, Franky asked, concern written all over her face as her brow creased.
“They won’t know more until tomorrow apparently, she is in an induced coma but is showing some level of brain activity, but she was without air for some time”, Bridget responded.
She looked across at Franky who then said what Bridget had been thinking “She saved my fuckin’ life Gidge… without Red, I wouldn’t be standing here”.
Bridget nodded, not wanting to think about the possibility. 'I know darling", she responded, waiting to see if Franky wanted to talk more.
Bridget then grabbed a stool and sat at the island bench, tilting her head back. Closing her eyes momentarily, to avoid the glare that shone down from the overhead lights, she moved her head from side to side. It was hard work staying in control in moments like this afternoon, everyone always looked to her –the inmates, the staff. It was expected that she maintain an evenness about her, a measured approach. Which she did - it was what she trained to do, but it still took its toll on her.
She felt the warmth of Franky’s breath as she came up to hug her from behind and kissed her neck . They both let out a long sigh – Bridget leaned her head back into Franky’s chest as Franky asked “Hungry?? I made some pumpkin soup if you are up for it”.
Franky’s soup was to die for thought Bridget as she nodded and murmured “mmm”. Kissing the side of Bridget’s head, Franky walked over to the other side of the bench and started to heat up the soup. Bridget loved to watch Franky work in the kitchen, the way she moved so smoothly around, confident, methodical and relaxed.
Just as Bridget placed her hands on the bench to steady herself to step down from the stool, Franky, with her back to Bridget asked “red or white?”.
Bridget smiled...was she that transparent she thought.
“Red please my darling”, Bridget responded as Franky was already reaching for a glass from the overhead cupboards. As she sat and waited, she felt her head pounding – she hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink since lunch time. Maybe wine wasn’t such a great idea.
Franky grabbed the bottle that was sitting on the bench that Bridget had opened last night, and poured a glass, setting it down, along with water in front of Bridget.
Franky pulled the saucepan off the stove and poured the soup into two bowls and sat opposite Bridget at bench. Franky had waited for her to eat, Fuck she loved this woman Bridget thought.
“So, do ya feel like talking about what happened Gidge… only if ya want so” Franky asked.
She wanted to tell Franky about what had happened, the mess that Wentworth was in, Vera’s exhaustion, Ferguson having too much power, Bea nearly dying, Allie vomiting until her stomach was empty, the tragedy of Maxine’s decision that to save her life she was potentially going to have to live a life that she hated and which was not her own, Boomer’s devastation and how, driving home, she had thought about just how close she had come to losing Franky.
Bridget, however, was beyond exhausted.
Drinking nearly all of the water, Bridget stopped to respond “Franky I’m just so so tired” as she looked up to meet Franky’s eyes. She loved that Franky was now the one to prompt her to talk, when for years, she Franky had shied away from anything other than sarcastic or provoking communication.
“Yeah I get it completely Gidge” Franky said blowing on her soup in a similar manner to which Bridget did when she was a child. It brought a wry smile to Bridget’s face – a welcome relief to what she had been through today.
“Tomorrow, I would love to talk to you about it though. Tonight I am just done”.
“Gotcha Gidge” Franky responded, as she slurped her soup seemingly oblivious to the sound she was making.
“One thing though”, Bridget said, pausing as she put a spoonful of soup in her mouth, “I think that Boomer would love to see you”.
“Yeah??” Franky’s eyes lit up. “Look I know she would, I have thought about it before – and I don’t think I was ready before. But yeah, maybe I could now”. Franky sounded excited.
“What do you think Gidge??” Franky asked, as she wiped her index finger around the rim of her bowl and then licked the remaining soup from her finger.
“I think that for both of you it would be a good thing. You know that since you left Boomer has become close to Maxine?” Bridget questioned as she drank from her wine glass.
“Yeah you did mention that… good old maxi-pad” Franky said
“Franky” Bridget responded, feigning disapproval “ She has been really good for Boomer” Bridget added.
“Yeah, I know, she is a top…erm.. person” Franky said raising her eyebrows.
“You…” Bridget replied, and couldn’t help but shake her head at Franky as she smiled.
“Anyway, I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow but to cut a long story short, Maxine has breast cancer, has gone for treatment in hospital and Booms is devastated” Bridget said as Franky reached across to take the bowl from Bridget.
"Shit" Franky said as Franky rinsed their bowls. Bridget continued “She did try to put forward a case to accompany Maxine, but Channing didn’t approve it. You should have seen it Franky” Bridget said as she took a sip of her wine, “it was just the most thought out, heartfelt request I think that Vera had ever heard, Boomer certainly is loyal, you need to give her that”. Bridget added.
“Sounds like my Boom Booms” Franky responded.
“yeah, I’ll go see her. But let’s make it a surprise. I think that she put me on her visitor list as soon as I left anyway, so I’ll just ring up and request a visit - but can you tell Mr J or Vinega.. Vera to keep it a secret?” Franky asked, winking at Bridget.
“I’ll see what I can do” Bridget responded.
The soup in Bridget’s stomach felt good, as did the wine she had drunk.
“Alright”, Bridget said as she got up off the bench stool. “Time for bed?”.
“You don’t want to finish this?” Franky said as she held the stem of the wine glass, before lifting it off the bench.
“No”, Bridget responded, “I’m done”.
“Reaaaally”, Franky teased.. “Well that’s a first.. Bridget Westfall leaves wine in glass” Franky playfully said.
“Yes…you …I’d actually rather do something else” Bridget said playfully, despite the exhaustion showing in her voice.
“Well that’s an offer if I even heard one” Franky joked.
Bridget smiled as Franky stepped closer to Bridget, pressing her chest against her. Bridget could feel the warmth of Franky’s breasts against her and she shivered as Franky traced along the fine chain of her necklace. “Let’s go then”, Franky whispered as she leaned in to kiss Bridget, slowly walking her back towards their bedroom, holding her close and maintaining contact between their lips.
“I need you Gidge” Franky whispered, open mouthed against Bridget’s mouth. Bridget murmured, as she grabbed the back of Franky’s head, pulling it towards hers as Franky continued to gently navigate their way to the bedroom. Bridget needed Franky too, needed to be with her, needed to be fucked by her. Needed to lie with her, to be kissed by her and to kiss her, to wash away all the shit that had happened. To forget, to unwind, to lose control, to fall and to have Franky catch her.