Surviving Litchfield

Chapter Two: You're In Here For Drugs?

A few hours after my conversation with Nicky, it was time to get dinner. I almost decided to completely skip it, but I was starving. I had never wanted to decline food so much in my life. It's not like I'm being offered a home cooked meal and it's not like I have any real friends in here yet. I prayed that the food would at least be edible, especially since prison food was notorious for being gross. I followed one of my bunkmates because she obviously knew where to go.

As I finally approached the room, I couldn't help but realize how much it looked like a school cafeteria. What do they even call these rooms? Do they actually call them cafeterias? And where was I going to sit? I continued to ask myself these useless questions as I lined up behind a ton of other inmates.

The line surprisingly moved fast, which I hadn't expected. Before long, I was grabbing a tray and trying to look for a table to sit at. To be honest, I was terrified. Even if the room reminded me of school, this was definitely far from it. I couldn't just walk up to somebody and ask to sit with them like I would've done as a child. This was prison.

My eyes darted from table to table and I felt my hands shaking slightly. Where could I go? I wasn't sure if I could bring my food to my bunk to eat, but I didn't want to take a risk by trying. Just as I was starting to give up, I noticed Morello and Nicky. And to my luck, there was an open seat across from them at the table.

I quickly shuffled over to the table, trying not to be extremely awkward. As I stood in front of the open seat, a blonde girl and a girl with dark hair and glasses stared at me.

"Hi, um, Morello... Nicky..." I choked out, nervous as hell. "Can I sit here? I'm terrified to look for another place to go and you're the only two people I've met so far."

Nichols nodded at me, putting her arm around Morello. "We'd love to have you here, kid."   

I smiled and thanked them as I sat beside the girl with dark hair. She turned and stared at me.

"Let me guess, you're in here for drugs?" She asked, adjusting her glasses. Why was she asking me this? Did she know a druggy who looked like me? I made a very puzzled face at her.

"No, sorry." I responded. "Why are you asking?"

"You just look like the type of girl who would be a great drug dealer. You should take that as a compliment, I was one of the best." She smiled.

"Alright, stop interrogating the poor girl." The blonde girl said, laughing and lightly punching the girl who had asked me about drugs.

"Blondie over there is Piper Chapman, and glasses with the tits is Alex Vause." Nicky said in attempt to introduce me to them. "Piper, Alex, the newbie seated next to you is Natalie Davidson."

I was slightly surprised that Nicky had remembered my name, but it definitely made me happy. People seemed to actually care in here. I shoveled a spoonful of the prison food into my mouth, suddenly feeling more comfortable.

Just as Piper began to ask me something, I choked on the slop that was in my mouth. What was this stuff, anyways?

"You'll get used to the food eventually. It's not great, but you'll eat it if you're hungry enough." Nicky said, looking down at her tray. "I miss when Red was able to make our food instead of the shit in the bags."

"Who's Red?" I asked as I tried to successfully eat some of the food.

"She's my mom... Well, prison mom. If I'm being honest, she's better than my real mom. Sometimes I really wonder why Red cares so much about me. I'm pretty fucked up." Nicky smiled sadly and went back to eating.

Prison mom? Those types of things exist? I really had a lot to learn about this place. It was pretty safe to say that I had a group of "friends" now, so I wouldn't have to be incredibly alone. After all, my biggest fear about this place from the start was being lonely. Besides the crappy food, I could probably survive this place.