The two of us - Nichorello

13. Only 10 to go

<Nicky's POV> 

"Don't go," her thick Russian accent repeated over and over again, assuring me of her affection and love. Her arms wrapped around me, her dark red hair mingling with my dark blonde strands. 

"I'm still here for a few days. And still, I will call you every week and certainly I will come to visit. Alright, Ma?"

She nodded, smiling at me in an proud, yet depressed way and held my hand. A rare sight of Red, acting so vulnerable, but every since I had told her about my early release, she was spending more and more time with me, treasuring every moment we had left. 

The time I did not spend with her, due to her filled working schedule as a cook, I spent with Vause talking about our future and speaking to Caleb and Logan over the phone who were going to pick me up from prison. The rest, I was planning on the execution of my plan, which seemed to become more urgent by the minute. 

<flashback> 

Muffled sobs escaped from the blanket across the room, tearing my heart slowly into pieces. I tiptoed to the other side of the room, careful not to awaken anyone. In the darkness I climbed up the ladder to her bed and scooted under the covers next to her. She tensed up for a moment, but then relaxing and slowly snuggling into my chest. The thin sheets covered our entangled bodies as I whispered: "What's wrong?" 

All she did was shake her head, holding onto me even tighter as if her life depended on it. The normally so communicative Lorna remained completely silent. "It was Vee, right?" 

Her body started to shake as she heard the name, grasping for my hand. My knuckles turned white from the anger burning inside of me as I clenched my fists together. It was in that moment, I knew that I had to protect her before I left. 

<flashback ends> 

--------------------

He came towards me grumpy as ever, grinning at me with that crooked smirk. He was a bastard, I thought. But still, I enjoyed his company and he was indeed the funniest of all COs. But most importantly, he was the perfect match for my plan. Unfortunately the plan was based 10% on knowledge but 90% on speculation and luck. Luschek was the one to decide what happened to the 90%. 

Looking around cautiously, checking if anyone could overhear our conversation, I began to put my plan into motion. 

"Hey Luschek, let me ask you a question." I rubbed my hands nervously together, reminding me of the fact that I was doing this for Lorna, "You like candy, right?"

"Body by Butterginger," he answered rubbing his stomach. Uh, this moron, didn't understand anything I was saying. THIS IS A METAPHOR,  I thought. Remaining chill on the outside I made myself clear. 

"I'm speaking allegorically here."

"You wanna talk about Al Gore?" 

I couldn't help but role my eyes at his dumbness: "Oh, Jesus. Okay," I chuckled nervously. "Hey, listen, all right? Focus. Let's say I happen to be out of here soon and have access to infinite Costco-sized boxes of candy, right? And I... I fuckin' love candy, but I can't eat it anymore, because, you know, it ruined my life, it gave me cavities, I am in Candy Eater Anonymous now, eh? So I could get rid of it in here, yeah? Like into-the-prison rid of it." 

He frowned at me with his moron face, still not understanding a single word. I inhaled deeply suppressing my anger before whispering annoyed: "I've got a shit-ton of heroin I need you to smuggle in here." 

He jumped back in surprise, his eyes widening to twice there size before yelling: "Are you out of your mind, inmate?"

I grinned at him, hoping he would say yes. 

"You're asking me to smuggle and then sell narcotics?" He stood upright: "I'm a Federal Corrections Officer." 

My facial expressions dropped. He stepped towards me: "All right, let's go." Luschek violently grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the building. "We're gonna go to Caputo's office!" 

"No!" I yelled panically, trying to process how this could have possibly happened. 

"You're gonna tell him exactly what you told me, every word, even that weird Al Gore thing."

I stopped, the voices in my head yelling, "You ain't getting out of here no more." How could I mess this up after 4 years of prison. The panic spread through my body as I began to persuade Luschek: "Okay, look, Luschek, you must've misunderstood me, all right?" I panted helplessly.

A grin spread over his face" I'm fucking with you."

He what?  "Of course I'll sell it." 

"Oh my God, Jesus." I exhaled in relief. Man, come on. You know I got a bad heart. You can't do that shit to me, man." 

"I want 80%." He interrupted me. 

"Of the drugs or the money?"

----------------------

Humming quietly I entered Vauses dorm and sat down next to her. "Why so happy, Nichols?" 

"I'm outta here in 10 days." 

"Can't believe you're actually leaving." She mumbled both happy and sad. 

"I need you to do me an favour Vause. Can you do that for me?" 

She nodded as if it were obvious. 

"Keep an eye on Lorna, will ya?" 

"Sure thing, Nichols."

Now that I had eyes on the inside with Vause watching Lorna, I could move on to stage 3 of my plan. It was by far the most tricky part, which I resented the most, but it was necessary for Lorna's safety. Keeping this from her, wasn't as easy as I had initially planned, since she just appeared out of the blue, sensed my weirdness and started asking questions about why Luschek and I were hanging out that often.