by Cairo
She grunted. “Well, apology accepted. But I still fight old-ass bitches.”
Heaven blinked. Old? She wasn’t even forty yet. What the hell would she be called if she were? Ancient?
“Again,” Heaven said. “I didn’t mean to come at you like that. I was having a bad day. Haven’t you ever had a bad day?”
Her brows rose in response.
“Well, I have,” Heaven continued. “Many over the years. And I’m woman enough to apologize when I’m wrong. Anyway, I also wanted to thank you for coming by when you did . . .”
She tilted her head, and suspiciously stared Heaven down. “You wanna thank me for what?”
“You actually pulled me out of my mini meltdown without realizing it.” Heaven chuckled lightly. “You saved me from tearing up my cell. So for that, I say thank you.”
The young woman clucked her tongue, then twisted her lips. “Good for you. Anything else?”
Heaven frowned and took a deep breath. Usually, she said what she had to say, then kept it moving. She wasn’t for a lot of back and forth with these females. But there was something about her that kept Heaven standing there.
“By the way, I’m Heaven.” She held out her hand.
The young woman stared at her outstretched hand. “And I’ma hood bitch, so, in the future, watch how you come for me.”
Heaven raised a brow, pulling her hand back and placing it up on her hip. She looked her up and down and smirked. “Well, nice to meet you, Hood Bitch. Now what’s your real damn name, so I can go on about my day?”
Suddenly the young woman laughed, and Heaven could see the fillings in her teeth. “You stooooooopid. But, anyway . . . What you got in your hair, grade seven-A?”
Heaven scowled. “Excuse me?”
“Ya weave. That’s that virgin Remy hair, seven-A, ain’t it?”
Heaven ran a hand through her hair. “Oh, no, hon. My hair isn’t a weave.”
“Mmph. What you mixed with, Dominican?”
“No. Now are you going to tell me your name, or not?”
The young woman brushed by Heaven, flicking her weave over her shoulder. She waited until she got halfway down the tier, then turned around and said, “It’s Clitina. Don’t forget it.”
• • •
“Ohmygod,” Sabina said, walking into the cell. “Was that that girl Clit-something?”
Heaven flinched. “Clitina.” The name felt dirty rolling off her tongue.
Sabina shook her head. “Who the hell names their child after genitalia, any-damn-way?”
“A woman who has a boyfriend named Nuts—with the first letter Kay and last letter Zee—unfortunately.”
“Ohmygod. I have heard it all. You can’t be serious.” She gave Heaven a look.
“I wish I wasn’t.”
“So what she want anyway?”
Heaven waved her on. “Nothing. I wanted to apologize to her; that’s all.”
Sabina frowned. “Apologize to her? For what? It’s her momma that should be apologizing.”
Heaven chuckled. “I came off a little harsh toward her when she’d stopped by the cell one day last week asking for a tampon.” Heaven shook her head. “She was tore up, weave pulled out, face lumped up.”
“She’s kinda new here, isn’t she?” Heaven nodded. “And she got her ass beat already?”
“Yeah. By her mother and her mother’s friend. They jumped her in the visiting hall.”
Sabina’s eyes widened. “Oh, she’s the one everyone was talking about. I heard they tore her up, but she fought them both, even hitting one of them upside the head with a chair.” Sabina laughed. “I heard they tore the place up. It took at least five COs to hold one of the women down. Some chick with a humongous ass, they said. And then it took another three COs to hold that Clit chick back.” Sabina sucked her teeth. “I’m pissed I missed it. Nothing like a good ole family brawl.”
Heaven laughed. “Girl, your ass is silly.”
Sabina kicked off her Reeboks, then tossed her ID holder up on her bed. She pulled off her T-shirt, then grabbed her robe and slipped it on, tying it at the waist.
“Anyway. I apologized to her for not being more sympathetic to her when she was upset.”
Sabina rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why you were feeling sorry for her. I heard that girl is wild as hell. Anyway, moving on. Enough about chicks named after clits.”
Both women laughed.
“Don’t you ever get bored staying holed up in here, looking at these dingy-ass walls?” Sabina asked. “I don’t know why you like staying up in this cell all the time.”
Heaven swept an arm around the cell. “Look around you. How could I ever be bored with all this luxury around me,” she said sarcastically. “There’s flat-screen TV, a Sony radio, MP-3 player, three hot pots and a locker full of food. And a bitch has access to twenty-two basic channels from eight a.m. to eleven p.m. What more could a girl want?”
Sabina smirked, peeling off her ankle socks, then sliding her feet into her shower shoes. “How about some fresh damn air, smart-ass? You need to come out and play with the rest of us convicts sometimes,” she joked. “Some of us are starting to think you don’t like us.”
Heaven tore her eyes away from the six-foot television cable. “I don’t.”
Sabina laughed, looking into her acrylic mirror as she applied Noxema to her face. “That’s exactly what I told them.”
Heaven shook her head. “Oh, I’m sure that went over well at the card table.”
Sabina shrugged. “They’ll live.”
“I’m going to need another one of your jumper creations,” she said, eyeing Sabina. “Ask your connect down in supplies how much it’s going to cost me for two new jumpers?”
Sabina shook her head. “And what exactly do you want done to said uniforms?”
Heaven grinned. “I’ll let you know when it comes to me. Maybe something crotch-less.”
Sabina gave her an incredulous stare. “Crotch-less? Stop the press. Am I missing something? Is Miss Uptight planning to give up the cookie?”
Heaven smirked. “A lady never kisses and tells.”
“Uh-huh. Whatever,” Sabina said, leaning over the small sink to brush her teeth. “Anyway. I’ll probably see her Thursday. She only comes out to the big yard Tuesdays and Thursdays to take orders. Speaking of which, you need to leave out this cell and get some sun. You’re looking a little pale. Keep it up and you’ll be as white as me. Then all the girls will be calling you, Becky.”
Heaven laughed, opening a pack of salami slices. “Not.” She popped two in her mouth, then offered her cellie some.
“Tramp. Now you wanna feed me. I just brushed my teeth.”
“Fine. More for me.”
“Speaking of feedings,” she said, gathering her toiletries from her footlocker. “What’s for dinner?”
Heaven sucked her teeth. “Oh, no, hon. Don’t even try it. Tonight’s your night to cook.” The two women usually combined their commissary orders and took turns cooking their meals in their cell. “See if your girl in the kitchen can get us some chopped onions and peppers. I have a taste for some sausage and peppers with some brown . . .”
Officer Ferguson walked by and she suddenly lost her train of thought. “Hey, Miss Ferguson,” she called out.
The CO backtracked her steps and peeked in their cell. “What’s up, Lewis? Grover?”
“Hey, Miss Ferguson,” Sabina said back, placing her shower supplies in her shower bag. “You doing OT over here?”
“No. I’m in outer control tonight.” She looked over at Heaven. “Lewis, you staying outta trouble?” She narrowed her eyes. “No more lockup, right?”
“That’s the plan. I’m staying far away from solitary unless someone else comes at me.”
The CO gave her a look, then slowly shook her head, glancing over at Sabina. “Grover, keep an eye on your cellie.”
Sabina sighed dramatically. “I’ve tried, Miss Ferguson. But this ho a wild child.”
<
br /> The three women laughed.
As soon as the CO left, Heaven turned to Sabina and said, “Wild child, huh?”
“Yup. You might have everyone else around here fooled, but I know you, boo.”
Heaven gave her an incredulous look. “What? You know me how?”
Sabina started moaning low. “Mmm. Oooh. Yes, yes,” she cooed, rapidly moving two fingers in front of her crotch. “Fuck me, baby. Give me that big dick . . .”
Heaven’s eyes widened, and her cheeks heated. “Ohmygod! And here I thought I was being discreet.”
Sabina waved her on, seeing her embarrassment. “Girl, don’t sweat it. I’ve known all about the little sex parties you have in your panties at night.” She grinned. “I’ve heard you on the phone a few times in the middle of the night.”
Heaven gave her a questioning stare.
“I might snore heavy, but when my ears are on alert, I hear everything.”
Heaven rolled her eyes. “Next time, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Oh, no. Don’t. The moans are sexy. Next time I might join in.”
Heaven laughed. “Bitch, you silly.”
She smirked. “Oh, no, hon. I’m very serious. What, you think I don’t need a little late-night action sometimes, too?”
“So you want me to moan in your ear, too?” Heaven teased.
Sabina licked her lips. “That’s a start, boo. I ain’t no lesbian. But with the right incentives, I’m liable to do anything—once, or twice—for an orgasm.”
And with that, she gathered her shower bag and trotted out the cell, walking down the tier to where the showers were located.
TWENTY-FOUR
Anticipation . . .
“Take ya dumb asses back to bed,” a booming male voice barked, causing Heaven to quickly hide her cell phone. It was him again. She was wondering when he’d come back on their housing unit. The clinking of keys, followed by the sliding of metal, made her cringe. “Let me catch either of you bitches so much as breathing wrong, and I’ma have your asses in lockup so fast, it’ll make your ugly-ass heads spin.”
What a fucking asshole!
Heaven swung her feet over her bunk, slipping her feet into her shower shoes as she ran her fingers through her hair to give it a more tousled look. She tied her T-shirt in a knot at the small of her back, then stood up.
She sashayed her way toward her cell door in her pink, lacy panties, then called out, “CO.”
“Lewis, don’t do it,” Sabina warned as Heaven called out for the CO again.
Heaven waved her on.
“I’m telling you,” Sabina hissed. “You’re playing with fire, and you’re gonna get burned fucking with that nut.”
“I’m a pyromaniac,” Heaven teased over her shoulder. “I love playing in the flames. CO!”
“Yo, what the fuck you want, Inmate?”
“I need to see you,” she yelled back. “Please.” She added the last part—please, for emphasis. It seemed men liked it when women begged. It seemed to be an ego booster, or some shit. Well, hell, she’d happily stroke his ego since it sounded like it was bigger than his dick, any-damn-way. She giggled to herself.
Sabina shook her head, shutting off her book light, and shutting her magazine. She settled herself against her pillow, then pulled the sheet up to her chin. “Okay, then,” she whispered. “Play on, and get burned if you want. But you’ve been put on notice.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Heaven said, rolling her eyes up in her head. Who the fuck did this bitch think she was, putting her on notice?
Bitch, bye.
Sabina shook her head. “Goodnight, then.”
“Yup, sweet dreams,” Heaven snidely replied.
Sabina’s jaw tightened. That self-righteous bitch deserved whatever she got fucking with Struthers. Right then, she decided she wanted no parts of whatever it was Heaven was scheming up. So she was done with it.
She liked things the way they were—quiet. And she wanted nothing to do with having her bid disrupted behind some wet-behind-the-ears chick who obviously didn’t know shit about jailing.
She’d been sent to lockup once for having a lighter and rolling paper—contraband that wasn’t even hers—hidden in a pair of her Reebok sneakers that a CO had found during a random shakedown on her tier. The items had belonged to her cellmate at the time. And, instead of her sneaky-ass stepping up and claiming the contraband, she’d kept her mouth shut and watched Sabina get led off the tier in handcuffs. She’d received an institutional charge, and ten days in lockup behind that.
It had been absolute hell there. And she’d be goddamned if she was going to let this bitch get her hemmed up in whatever dumb shit she had going on in her pretty little head. She didn’t need another reckless bitch in her life. Right then, she found herself considering putting in a request for a single cell over on 2 South. Hell, she’d even try to get over to the dorms on 7 North if possible. Shit. She’d paid her dues sharing cells with crazy bitches. She’d been charge free for the last year. Now it was time she finished out her bid away from these reckless bitches.
Still, she liked Heaven, but she had to look at her sideways at the moment. She’d told her in so many words to fall back. Don’t go fucking with Struthers. But—noooo. This whore just had to go and do the opposite. She lifted her head from her pillow and looked over at her cellie.
Just look at her, Sabina thought—frowning, standing over there with all of her ass hanging out like she’s some damn video vixen. If she hadn’t been so annoyed at her, she’d probably get off at the sight of all that big, juicy ass.
Maybe tomorrow she would.
But before her head hit the pillow again, she had to admit she looked sexy as fuck. She sighed. Heaven was cool, she reasoned. But she thought the chick was too stuck on herself, like her shit didn’t stink. Some of the other women on the tier didn’t particularly care for her, either, but they respected her for slicing up Snake, then for fighting Coletta.
Snake.
God, she’d done good not thinking about her. She had been a terror on the tier, a troublemaker and a bully.
But—mmm, yes—she had been a damn good lover, too.
Sabina felt her pussy quivering at the thought of Snake’s tongue snaking its way inside her walls as she attempted to lick out her ovaries. Ooh, she had known her body better than she did. And, every night, she’d make love to her with her mouth, tongue and hands. And she’d made her cum, heavy and hard.
Sabina swallowed at the memories. She hadn’t let Snake fuck her—per se, but she’d come damn near close on several occasions to letting her stick her dick in her. Kissing, grinding, and lots of pussy eating had been their nightly pastime.
God, yes.
They’d been cellmates for almost a year. And from the moment Snake had stepped over the threshold, into the cell, she’d made her intentions known. “I’m gonna be fuckin’ you by nightfall. I know how you white bitches love good dick.”
And there had been—all-night fucking. With her tongue and fingers.
Sabina hadn’t minded playing wifey as long as she respected her. And she hadn’t minded her having other lovers as long as she was coming home (to their cell) to her. But, somehow, she started putting her hands on her, choking her, and smacking her up.
Then, out of the blue—after almost a year—Snake had managed to get moved out of their cell, and into the cell of some ugly black bitch on the other side of the tier without so much as a goodbye. And, as if that hadn’t been enough insult, she’d run off with all of her commissary; stole her shit while she was out in the yard.
Just thinking about how she’d done her made Sabina’s blood boil. Her nose flared. Thieving bitch! She didn’t know why she’d ever fucked with that ghetto black bitch in the first place. Broke bitch was only good for licking her asshole and sucking her pussy walls clean, any-damn-way.
Oh—and toe sucking.
And, and . . . God, yes . . . licking all over her breasts.
Still, sh
e had loved her once—or at least had wanted to. But, now, she was glad someone had the heart to take her ratchet-ass down a notch. Heaven had sliced that bitch real good. She—
“CO!”
Sabina shook her head again, her thoughts returning to the present moment. “This dumb bitch still fucking yelling,” she mumbled under her breath as she shifted in her bunk and rolled over on her side, facing toward the wall.
She shut her eyes, holding her breath, before the storm came.
“Yo, why the fuck is you hollering out your fucking cell, huh, Inmate?”
His booming voice alone made Heaven’s insides shudder. Her gaze drifted down to the center of his crotch, then down to his long, booted feet before she craned her neck upward and took in the menacing face of her next mark.
Around his waist hung from his duty belt were a radio, flashlight, handcuffs positioned at the small of his back, and a set of keys.
He wasn’t exactly what she’d envisioned. And she hadn’t expected her cunt to respond so excitedly, either. She had expected him to be some old, greasy-looking, big-bellied fucker. Not this handsomely groomed man with skin the color of sun-kissed copper and a beautiful set of full lips.
She slowly licked her lips. “I wanted to ask a favor, CO.”
He scowled. “It’s Sergeant,” he corrected. “Now what the fuck you want?”
She hesitated for a moment, holding her breath deciding whether she wanted to risk disrupting her bid. But Sabina had piqued her curiosity, and she wanted to see his dick for herself.
Shit. She thought she had a strategy in mind—well, sort of—but the plan hadn’t unfolded in exacting detail. And now he was standing at her cell in all of his six-foot-six glory and she felt momentarily dumbfounded at what to do next.
His overwhelming presence had totally disarmed her.
Shit, shit, shit . . .
TWENTY-FIVE
Playing with Fire . . .
“That motherfucker!” she hissed, walking into her cell the next morning. She felt blood rush to her head, making her ears burn. Her flat-screen TV was gone. And the lock on her gray footlocker had been cut off. The lid was up, and all of her commissary and extra hygiene products were gone, along with the hygiene products she’d had on her shelf.