by Nana Prah
They walked up the stairs in silence. When they reached the blind spot, his heart hammered. He pulled her to the railing, taking her into his arms. If he didn’t release his feelings, they’d rot him out like acid. “I’m going to miss you.”
She swallowed. “I’ll miss you, too.” Her voice came out thick, as if holding back tears. He didn’t want her to cry. He only desired her love. He couldn’t get the words out of his own mouth so he leaned down and expressed it with his kiss.
He closed his eyes to savor the moment as he touched his mouth to hers. Her lips were so soft he could stand here with her like this for the rest of the night. He nibbled at her bottom lip. When his tongue flicked out and traced it, she let out a soft purr from her throat. He tightened his arms around her at the beautiful sound.
Her tongue slipped out and met his. The wet interaction remained slow and deliberate. With each stoke he explained how much he loved her. Wished life was different. Wanted to stay with her forever.
He ended the kiss and opened his eyes. Her eyes were glazed over when she lifted her eyelids. His body felt the enticing softness of hers. Her generic soapy scent and something unique to her became engrained in his nostrils. He couldn’t get enough of looking at her lovely face.
He zip locked the intense sensations deep inside, committing every detail to memory.
“Nothing is ever what it seems.” Her voice was so soft he could barely hear her.
“What isn’t?”
Instead of answering, she touched his cheek with her finger leaving a burning sensation. She ascended the stairs leaving him no choice but to follow, feeling as if a piece of his heart had been scooped out.
He cleared his throat before repeating his question. “What isn’t?”
She glanced at him over her shoulder and out came her sweet Sarita smile. Only this time sadness laced it. His heart lurched, not knowing how to assist her. He wished he knew how to help himself.
Chapter 19
“What the fuck happened here?” Sarita demanded.
All the room doors were open and the things once held inside the cells had been tossed out. Sarita ran to her cell. She breathed a sigh of relief when Hana paused from picking up the junk food from Sarita’s canteen bag.
Sarita shifted her attention to the room next door. “What happened?”
Natasha and her cellmate were in the middle of placing the mattress back onto the top bunk. “Inspection.”
Sarita glared at Matt. “This was an inspection? It looks more like a raid.”
He shrugged.
Ursula came to the door, looking too excited for Sarita’s comfort. “You should have seen it. I swear they had to be the most gigantic guys in the whole prison, built like trucks.” She held her arms out wide then high. “Four of them. They ordered us out of our rooms and into the television area. Then they went into everyone’s rooms and tore the place apart. Sheets went flying. Canteen food and bags careening through the air.” Her arms mimicked the throwing of items. “It was awesome.”
Sarita had difficulty comprehending that the carnage these guards had wreaked was anywhere near awesome. “What were they looking for?”
“Drugs, contraband items, weapons. I don’t know. They didn’t find anything and left looking disappointed.” Ursula fanned herself. “They were hot!”
“I’m sure they were.” Sarita let the sarcasm flow.
After one last lingering look at Matt, who would leave soon because his shift had ended over thirty minutes ago, she went in to help Hana clean.
“They take their jobs seriously.”
Sarita’s body stiffened at the sound of Matt’s voice when he appeared at her door. She paused in the cleaning. “Did you know about this?”
He raised both hands. “No. None of the guards ever do. It’s called a surprise random search for a reason. It keeps everyone on their toes. Not just the inmates.”
“They can come in here at any time, even at--”
“Night,” he finished for her.
Their remembered first kiss hung between them.
She lowered her head. “Oh.”
“Its way past time for me to leave so I’m taking off.”
Instead of those words of departure, she’d have preferred to hear, ‘I don’t want to leave you. I tried to get my co-worker to switch with me so I could work the night shift, but he wouldn’t budge. I love you and I’ll miss you. Whatever happens please don’t leave without seeing me tomorrow. I want to give you my address so we can stay in touch. So that I’ll come visit you, marry you, and then try to get you back into the US as my wife.’
“Cerez? Did you hear me?”
She shook herself out of her fantasy. “Have a good night.”
He hesitated before saying, “You, too.”
When they’d gotten their room back in order, she and Hana joined the others for the rest of evening rec. Instead of sitting at a table, Hana went over to Otoo.
Marianna came up behind Sarita. “Since you and Berlinda are leaving, I think we should make a cake.”
“A cake? Did those guards hit you with something when they did their sweep?”
“No, Sarita. I learned how to make one from Gladys who learned it from a criminal inmate who used to reside on this unit. It’s delicious.”
Sarita looked around, thinking she’d missed seeing the oven they’d need. “Where’s the oven?”
“We’ll use the microwave.”
Baking a cake while in jail? This she had to see. “I’m in. What do we need?”
“What flavor do you want?”
“I get a choice? Well then, I’ll choose chocolate cake.”
“Did I hear cake?” Natasha butted her nose into their conversation. “I want some. I’ll bring a Hershey’s bar for frosting.” She called Berlinda, Otoo, and Ursula over. “We’re making a cake.”
Berlinda didn’t hesitate to join in. “Yum. I have a packet of chocolate and vanilla cookies. What kind are we making?”
“Sarita wants chocolate,” Marianna said.
Otoo nodded. “That’s a good choice. I like the chocolate better than the vanilla. What do we have for ingredients so far?”
Marianna filled them in. “Berlinda and I are bringing a pack of cookies each. Ursula volunteered a Hershey’s.”
“I’ll add another one,” Otoo rubbed her hands together. “You can never have enough frosting.”
“It looks like we have enough for two cakes,” Ursula said. “I’ll bring M&M’s for the topping of one cake. Sarita do you have any candy for the topping of the other one?”
“What is this, stone soup?” Had she been transported out of the prison and ended up on the Food Network? “I’ll add a Hershey’s for the frosting. Shoot, why not make it as rich as possible? And a Mars bar.”
“Break it up ladies,” Donnelly’s irritating voice droned.
Marianna ignored the order. “How about tomorrow, during afternoon rec?”
“Sounds good,” Sarita said. “I can’t wait to taste this prison cake,”
Berlinda placed the tips of her fingertips on her mouth, kissed them, and opened them out like a blossoming flower.
“It’s marvelous, darling.”
“Do you each need a personal invitation? Move it, now!” Donnelly sounded pissed.
“Bitch,” Ursula growled. “She should’ve been suspended with Atherby.”
They broke apart. Otoo walked back to her new best friend Hana, leaving Sarita alone.
Sadness weighed Sarita down. She’d rather be in her cell.
The memory of Matt’s kisses on the stairwell made her stomach flip. The caresses had been full of longing and perhaps love.
She groaned and laid her head on the table.
“Not a good day?”
Sarita raised her head when she realized Latrice, with her heavy Caribbean accent, had spoken to her. “It was a great day. It’s the evening I don’t care for.”
She looked on the verge of patting Sarita on the shoulder. “H
e’s gone and it upsets you.”
“Does everyone on the unit know?”
Latrice responded with no pretense. “Yes. There’s nothing to do around here but observe and gossip. Don’t worry, we’re all for you two to be together if it is any way possible.”
“All of you?”
“Most of us. You know Jessica wants Carter, and every other guard, all to herself. And some of the other girls are jealous of you.”
“There’s nothing to envy.” How could she be having this conversation with a woman she’d only spoken to briefly a few times? Privacy and jail were not synonymous words.
She hoped Matt didn’t get into trouble.
“There’s plenty to be jealous of.” Latrice touched Sarita’s arm. “Not that I am, though. Seeing you two together makes me happy.”
She had to get off of this embarrassing subject. “Have you heard anything about going back home?”
“Not yet.”
“Where are you from again? I can tell you’re from the Caribbean but all the accents from that area sound the same to me.”
“Just like you Latina chicks sound the same to me. I’m from Trinidad, the most beautiful island in all of the Caribbean.”
“But you left your beautiful home to come to the US.” She hoped she didn’t sound too facetious.
Latrice sighed. “It may be beautiful, but the poverty rate is high. I was looking for money.”
Everyone had the same story. Poverty tended to be the main driving force for immigrating to the US and then overstaying the visa, if they ever had one to begin with.
“I hear you’re leaving tomorrow,” Latrice said.
“Good news travels quickly.”
“Yeah, but the negative stuff gets around the fastest.” Latrice’s generous smile revealed a gap between her upper front teeth. “I know you will do well in Columbia.”
“How?”
“You do so well in here that I can’t imagine you not excelling in your home country.”
Sarita winced. The necessary lie of her going to Columbia tomorrow once again tore at her conscience. Although deception is an integral aspect of undercover work, she wished she could do without it. “Thanks. If I don’t get to talk to you tomorrow, good luck in Trinidad.”
“Thank you. Be happy in Columbia.”
Everyone ambled back to their cells when rec ended. Hana climbed onto her top bunk while Sarita nestled on the window seat for the last night.
The abundance of lights both in the city and the sky above mesmerized her. “You have a long journey tomorrow.”
Hana’s sheets rustled as she changed position. “Yes. And so do you.”
“What did Yong say about moving back to South Korea?”
“I did not speak to him about it. I want to know we have my father’s approval before we discuss it.”
“I have a feeling he’ll move back for you.”
“Why do you say that?”
Sarita blew on the glass creating a fogged up area. Within that space she drew a heart with an arrow piercing through it. “Because you’ll be there and if he’s a smart young man, he’ll know that your father will probably never let you out of the country alone, at least not for a very long time. In order to have any chance of being with you again, he must come to you.”
Hana burrowed onto her mattress without response. “Tomorrow we’re making a cake.”
Hana bolted upright. “Cake?”
“That’s exactly what I said.”
***
Sarita had difficulty accepting that the muck rotating in the microwave would taste anything but gross. Marianna had mashed the cookies into crumbs and added water.
She then stirred until it became a smooth, batter-like consistency, split the concoction into two separate bowls and put them into the microwave.
After ten minutes Marianna removed a now congealed bowl of something that actually looked like cake. “We have to let them cool before we can remove them from the bowls.”
Sarita took a whiff of the sweet treat. “They smell good.”
“They taste even better,” Marianna gloated.
Sarita snorted. “Tasting is believing.”
After Latrice mentioned last night that everyone knew how she felt about Matt, she’d decided to keep her distance so he wouldn’t be called into his superior’s office because of her.
The task was like keeping a cow away from grass. Impossible. Their conversations were meaningless, consisting mostly of teasing each other throughout the day but being near him lightened her heart.
While waiting for the cake to cool, she sauntered over to Carter when he hung up the phone. His puckered forehead didn’t bode well.
“What’s wrong?”
She clenched the edge of the desk to stop herself from reaching out to caress his cheek.
“Change of work schedule. My replacement is coming to relieve me in ten minutes.”
“Oh.”
His gaze never left hers. “I guess this is goodbye.”
“Are you in trouble because of--” The wave of her hand between them indicated what she couldn’t say.
“I don’t think so, but in this system you never know.”
Her heart sank. Would the consequences be so atrocious if she scaled the desk to wrap her legs and arms around him? If possible she’d reassure him that she’d be able to date him on the outside if he wanted because she wasn’t going to Columbia. Of course, he would want to, professing his love right then and there. Wake up Sarita. Only in her imagination would such a scene work out well.
Instead of saying something witty or consoling to remove the sorrow from his eyes, all she could come up with was, “Take care of yourself.”
She didn’t think it would be possible but his features drooped even more.
“Remember what I told you.” She angled her body forward. “Not everything is what it appears to be.”
“What does that mean?” His gaze broke to the right. “We have an audience.”
Sarita did an about-face to see the whole unit staring at them. “Don’t you have a cooled cake to remove from the bowls and frosting to make?” she called out to the Nosy Nellys with a flick of her hand. She concentrated her attention on Matt. “Good thing they couldn’t hear what we were discussing.”
“Damn, I’ll miss you.”
“You, too.”
His slow, sexy smile weakened her knees. “Don’t get caught up with any drug lords down there.”
“It’ll be hard, but I’ll try.” She waited for him to give her his contact information so she could at least write to him, but with him being a good guard, he’d never break a self-protective rule.
A knock on the door drew their attention. A guard she’d never seen stood awaiting entry. Greene let him in and they spoke.
“Goodbye, Cerez.”
“Bye, Carter.”
Their eyes locked, keeping her glued to the desk as he took a couple of steps back.
Greene stepped between them. “Carter, get going.”
Sarita took the not-so-subtle cue and walked away. At least she’d have chocolate cake to help console her.
Marianna poked her in the ribs. “Don’t tell me you’re going to cry.”
“I don’t cry.” Sarita wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “It would take an elephant stepping on my foot for that to happen.”
“Good.” Marianna’s firm hand gripped her shoulder. “You two are destined to be together.”
With all her heart Sarita wished the Venezuelan’s words to be true. “Where’s the cake?”
The mound of something indescribable sat on the table, with chocolate covering and candy pieces sprinkled all over it. Not impressive.
Marianna jiggled the cake. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
“That’s what draws you to the book.” A chill raced along Sarita’s spine. Spinning, she caught Matt staring at her from the door. She waved and he nodded. The door clicked closed behind him.
Marianna rol
led her eyes. “Destiny, my friend. Destiny. And wipe that damn tear off of your cheek.”
Sarita touched her face. Her fingers came away wet. She hadn’t lied to Marianna when she said she never cried. So why now?
“Must’ve been that elephant I saw charging through here,” Marianna said.
Grateful for her friend’s quick ability to lighten the mood, she smiled. “You saw it, too? Let’s dig into that weird concoction.”
It turned out to be quite tasty. Not a Betty Crocker creation, but all right for a jailhouse confection. Fellowshipping with something other than Ramen noodles and microwave popcorn raised her spirits. Sarita handed over what remained of her canteen goodies to Marianna, Otoo, Latrice, and Natasha. They were happy for the gifts.
She gave Marianna her library books to take back for her, tying up the loose ends of her prison stint. When rec finished, Hana and Sarita went back to their cell for what would be the last time.
Chapter 20
Hana’s uncharacteristic pacing irritated Sarita’s own jagged nerves. Poor Matt. Hell, poor me. In less than two weeks she’d come back and clear this whole mess up and they’d laugh over a cold beer. Did he drink beer? So much to learn about him.
“Hana, have a seat. Everything will be all right with your father.”
“How are you sure?”
She didn’t know the man personally, but anyone who would send his daughter to prison as punishment to make her a better person must love his child. She’d yet to bear children, but she could venture to guess that tough love tended to be harder for the parent to endure than the child. “I just know. With your mother on your side how can you fail?”
A few minutes later, their door clicked open. They looked at each other and then, with as much dignity as possible, bolted out the door.
An ICE officer with sandy blond hair and beautiful blue eyes towered over them at the guard’s station. “Cerez, Sarita.”
“That’s me.”
“Rhee, Hana.”
“Yes.”
“Stand by the door.”
He didn’t have to tell them twice. Every cell door had a face peeping out.