Kindred Spirits

Part 1

The brightness of the sun did nothing to brighten up the dreariness surrounding the atmosphere of Wentworth. It was a place dedicated to housing and correcting women that society had found guilty of any number of crimes, and here they were housed. Outside in the prison yard, some female prisoners were lulling away their lives playing basketball or making bets on card games. Most, however, were checking out the new inmates. 

One of the new faces was a young woman with hair so red the other prisoners were already taking bets that it couldn't be real. Her name was Stephanie Simmons, but she preferred Stevie, and she hated that she had drawn so much attention already. She had only arrived the night before, and besides breakfast, this was her first glimpse of the other women. A bigger woman named Boomer had been pleasant enough to give her a run-down of the rules earlier. Stevie had learned that the current top dog was in the hospital from a stabbing. After that, Boomer left her alone in the prison yard to fend for herself. 

Stevie was currently studying the other women and deciding who it would be best to make an alliance with. She had always been good at reading others, and now she hoped she could use that to her advantage. It could determine if she lived or died. She'd heard stories of the brutality of prison, and she wasn't looking forward to being knifed in the back.

As she glanced around the yard, she could imagine what the other women were thinking. They seemed to be on the verge of chaos. She could only guess it was because they were without a leader. From her experience, most people wanted someone or something to follow. It gave them balance, and without balance, the scales tipped toward chaos. Stevie noticed that the women seemed to respect Boomer, but Stevie wasn't sure Boomer was the strongest candidate to lead these women. In her opinion, someone with strength of mind, as well as a strong physical presence, would be the best option.

As Stevie's eyes searched the yard, her eyes fell on a tall woman with frizzy blonde curls who also seemed to be quite respected. She had her arm around another prisoner as they laughed and joked with a woman who wore an out-of-style mullet. A lot of the women were eyeing the frizzy blonde cautiously, Stevie wondered what her story was. Stevie also thought it best to keep her distance until she knew better.

Stevie's watchful eyes were suddenly drawn away from the group as she felt someone watching her. Every hair seemed to stand on end as she felt extensively examined by whoever it was. The pull to find the person was so strong it felt like her soul was being drawn from her body. She had to only turn her head slightly to the left to come eye to eye with the intense gaze. Dark eyes intensely took her in, and Stevie could not understand why she felt compelled to move toward them.

Perplexed to have caught such acute attention, Stevie let herself examine the woman across the yard from her. Long silver hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail to reveal a face that held as much wisdom as it did beauty. Extreme potent curiosity poured from the woman's gaze and made Stevie quiver inside. She supposed when she thought about it later that the woman's eyes were why she started taking determined steps toward the stranger across the yard. Her feet had started moving before she gave it any real thought, and the closer she came to the older woman the stronger the feeling of being in the presence of real power grew. The other prisoners might have had the illusion of authority, but this woman wore it like her own skin.

The other woman's gaze never faltered when, like a moth to a flame, Stevie crossed the yard and stopped within six feet of her. Stevie felt like a shadow in front of the woman. Stevie had always felt tall at 5'7, but this woman had to be close to six feet tall. It was a bit intimidating as the older woman's gaze devoured her as she stood there silently. It was as if the sun had turned to gaze upon her face.

Stevie suddenly realized it was much quieter in the yard than before. She glanced around briefly and furrowed her brows at the insane amount of hate-filled looks aimed at the woman in front of her. Stevie looked back at the woman in front of her, but the intensity had turned to curiosity. She was watching what Stevie was going to do. Without a word, Stevie stepped to the left side of the woman and turned her back to the wall behind her. The woman's gaze was still on her before finally flitting away and staring across the yard at all the women. They all seemed to retreat and averted their eyes uncomfortably until they were all busy again with their prior activities. Only then did the woman speak.