Freedom

Part 20: Keen on Barbara

Well, Danica thought irritably,  I hate this place.
They put her back in general population, fuming. They kept Jerome in solitary confinement since, to them, he was the one who had supposedly initiated the entire thing. ("Out fucking takes two to tango, you idiots," Danica argued with the warden as they took Jerome out of the office, though Jerome had been smiling the entire time). Danica's destructive behavior left her pining for him, so in place of her anger, she had taken a hefty about of pills and alcohol—which apparently the warden had no problem allowing her to abuse. Some weird fucking treatment, isn't it?

Sitting among others, Danica paced the floor, tweaking out of her goddamn mind. Greenwood and Aaron had tried to talk her down, but all they did was receive a fresh amount of bitchiness.

A guard, a male guard, approached her with his hands on his utility belt. He touched her shoulder, pulling her out of her heady thoughts.

Danica turned to him, eyes dilated dangerously.

"Danica," said the middle-aged guard.
"What?"
"I have a proposition," he said.
"Like what?" she asked.
"You come with me for a few minutes and we can discuss letting your boyfriend out before his time is up."

He was one of the guards who had caught she and Jerome together. Danica smiled derisively and turned to face the guard. The man stood there expectantly. Then Danica leaned forward, gave him a small peck on the lips...

"Babe," Danica said gently, "I could do that, but—"

The inmates whooped as she took the guard and kneed him hard in the balls.

"You're just not my type of funny." Danica said. "Get the fuck away from me."

The guard fell to the floor. His co-workers cocked their guns at her; Danica held up her hands carelessly, rolling her eyes.

"I didn't hurt him," she said, laughing, "He's perfectly fine—" she swiftly kicked the downed guard in the face. "Okay, my bad, now he's hurt."

The guards came forward. Barbara Kean briskly stepped in front of Danica and smiled brightly,

"Boys, don't you think you're kind of insensitive about why she is angry," she coined in. "You kind of waltzed in on them bumping uglies, and honestly; let's think about it. When have you ever been cock-blocked and actually been in a good mood?"

Her hands came up in front of her. "And," she added, "the bitch is coo-coo for cocoa puffs and sex is not on the list of amenities, so..."

One of the guards approached Barbara.

"You can't defend a patient. She's as crazy as they come," he said.

Barbara dropped her hands sassily and scoffed, "Yeah, like your wife has never lost her shit. You, men. You see us crying, you think we're over-emotional. We have sex with someone right after you, you say we're sluts. We get angry, and suddenly we're all psycho. That sums it up, right?"

Danica nodded behind Barbara's back. The guards looked at each other and shrugged. Barbara bent forward and took the guard up to his feet.

"Now," Barbara said cheekily, "take your pervy friend and leave the junkie alone, hey?"

The guards walked (or limped) back to their post. Barbara turned to look at Danica.

"Jeez," she said, "your pupils are fucking huge. What did you do? Oh, wait," she resolved. "Addict. Right. Yeah, next time, probably shouldn't beat him while he's down. But," she smiled, "that guy deserved it. He gave me that schtik for a telephone before Jerome told me about Richard. You know him as Sionis."

Danica nodded.
"Thank you," she said.
Barbara beamed, whether it was fake or real, Danica didn't know. But she appreciated it all the same. Barbara took her hand and brought her to one of the tables, sitting next to her.

"So," Barbara said, "you and Jerome. So gingers are more of your type. He did that to your face, huh?"

Danica nodded. She felt odd talking to her while under the influence. Barbara was still a person whom she associated with law enforcement. But life had changed her; perhaps, in question, Gordon has changed her. She had a mad glint in her eye, but very likeable.

"Look, babe," Barbara said, "We got off on the wrong foot; and you're the only gal in here who can speak without screaming. Talk to me."

"Yes, Jerome and me," Danica stated.
"Are you together or do you just fuck?"

"We're lovers," Danica answered.
"So both, yeah?"
"Yeah."
"So you let him do that to you."
"Yes," Danica answered.
"Willingly?"
"Not at first."
Barbara gave her a look.
"He tied me up," Danica said as if that explained it.
No dice.
Barbara shrugged, "I guess you just had to be there."
Danica laughed, "I guess."

Barbara indicated her face,
"I can see why he likes you. He likes you more than just the casual romance in places like these."

"I'd like to think that, yes."

"But you don't?"

"We don't project into the future about what we have. It's more of a day-to-day sort of thing."

"But don't you want to know?" Barbara asked. "If he loves you?"

"He expresses his feelings in different ways. I don't need to ask. Just like he doesn't ask me. The reason why this works," Danica explained, "is because we don't set expectations on what this is."

Barbara nodded. Danica gazed at her.
"Those questions aren't really for me, are they? They're for you... and Jim?"

Barbara shrugged it off.
"Of course not."

Danica smiled.
"It's okay to feel hurt." She said. "Just don't let it run you. Hey?"

Barbara nodded.