Cherry Bomb (Orange is the New Black fanfic)

Chapter 20

Sinner:

It was lunch, the only part of the day where I didn't want to gouge my eyes out. Or someone's else's... 

Thirty minutes of spending time with Nicky, talking and laughing about dark-humored jokes that cause people to side-eye us with horror. 

Strange, I thought people would find my joking about murder and crime to be funny. After all, aren't we in a prison? 

I guess people just don't want to face their current reality and would rather numb themselves to faux hopes and dreams. That's what happens when you are put in a place like this, you do anything to survive. 

Even if it means creating a whole new world in your mind, one where you are out of prison and with your family. 

But I think that would just make you miss them more, right?

 I imagine being snapped out of your daydream and having to come face to face with a prison guard yelling in your face. 

It would be a rude wake-up call for sure. Anyway, walking towards the cafeteria to sit down at my usual table, I slide into the booth and place down my tray with a smack. 

"You seem happy" Nicky comments with a raise of her eyebrows, both suspicious and intrigued.

  I think back to the meeting I had with one of the higher ups yesterday and getting the news about my new mission. 

Not only that but I'm finally getting out of here! As soon as I kill Mr. Healey (and maybe someone else, if I feel like it) I'll be shipped off right back to where I was before all things went to hell. 

Shit, I'll even see Romeo again, I'm so excited!

 Nicky stares at me with a frown, "Cherry? You there?" She waves her hand in front of my face.

 "Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Just thinking about the day I get out of here." 

Her frown deepens but there's a sad look in her eyes now, "Yeah, sure..." She seems genuinely concerned about my answer and I sigh, wishing I could tell her the truth.

 But then I would have to kill her, protocol and all. 

Plus, she wouldn't even believe me anyway, so it doesn't matter anyway. 

I'll be long gone, and she'll be stuck here, slowly forgetting about me as the years go by.

 I'll be just a blip in her memory, and that's a good thing.

 All I do is ruin people's lives. That what I was made to do. 

"So, you on laundry duty after lunch?" I ask, trying to move the conversation away before Nicky gets too concerned for me. 

"Yeah, you?" I nod, looking down at my food tray. I'm not sure why but the tension has suddenly gotten extremely awkward. And I hate being awkward. 

"Well, I'm just glad we can spend more time together." I say, looking straight into her eyes.

 Nicky's eyes go wide and a blush creeps onto her cheeks.  I didn't mean to say it so forcefully, sometimes my words just come out like that.

 "Yeah, me too..." She replies sheepishly. 

I've never seen her so embarrassed, almost shy like.

 It's cute. 

So, stupidly I say out loud, "Your cute when you blush." 

She laughs nervously but her cheeks glow a deeper red. "Then you should make me blush more often" She mummers, her eyes not reaching mine. 

Now I start to blush, her words swirling in my mind like a soft melody.

 "I can think of some ways to do that..." I reply smoothly, leaning forward and resting my chin on the palm of my hand. 

She smirks, "Yeah? I'd like to see you try." Her voice low and raspy. 

The bell rings before I can answer. I groan, stand up and throw away my tray then walk down the hallway with Nicky to laundry duty. 

Curse the bell and it's terrible timing. At least I can spend more time with Nicky, even though we'll be constantly annoyed by other inmates. 

Turning down the hallway and entering a large room full of washing machines and dryers, the guards put us to work. 

Since there's nothing technically that can hurt us, the guards don't have to watch over us like babysitters. So, with a grumpy wave the guard walks out. 

"Looks like we're on our own" Nicky smirks and nudges me with her shoulder. "Yup. Oh, all the mischief we can get into..." I smile wide and nudge her back. 

She shakes her head and laughs, "Time to start organizing clothes, troublemaker." 

I sigh dramatically, "Fine, fine." 

Numerous piles of clothes lay on top of tables, each one a mess that we need to organize so we could wash. Folding each clothing, my mind wonders and soon I notice that the pile is almost gone. This isn't too bad. As I go to tell Nicky that, a new group of girls come in and gather Infront of the door, each face turned in a snarl. It was pennsatucky and her fan girls, how unsurprising. I'm still pissed that she threw expired syrup over me, even though it's been about a week. I still can't seem to get the rotting smell out of my nose. 

"Look who it is, the crazy cutter and her loyal lesbian bitch" pennsatucky snaps. 

I sigh, hanging my head lazily to the side, "Once again, how original. I applaud at your limited intelligence. " 

She frowns and steps closer to me, "I see that you got a new haircut. Such a shame all that nasty syrup got all through it." She draws out her sentence, each word snarky and cruel. 

God, why can't she just shut up for one second? 

"All you do is whine, whine, whine. It's so fucking annoying, just shut the hell up for once. Please for the love of God, just shut up" I rant out, unable to stop myself. My words are louder than they meant to be and pennsatucky flinches. 

It was as if everything that I've kept bottled has finally spilled out into one messy sentence. 

"Cherry, hey, Cherry" I can hear Nicky call for me, but her voice is just static in my ears, all I can think about right now is hurting pennsatucky. 

In a sudden raw anger, I grab pennsatucky's hair and yank a wad of hair into my fist, pulling her forward. She yelps in pain and before anyone can stop me, I slam her down onto the table. 

She screams, her face spurting blood. Yanking her head back up I move her closer, angling her sideways.

"Stop!" She cries out. 

Without another thought, I slam her face down onto the table's corner, her right eye at the perfect angle for it to connect to the edge. 

Nicky tries to grab me, but I don't stop smashing her eye into the table's sharp edge. 

Over and over and over again. 

Finally, I throw her backwards, watching the flood fly from her face. 

Wet sticky blood covers the table like paint and her eye sprays fresh blood onto the floor.  

I smile, a crooked evil grin and look down at pennsatucky. Her eye is a ruined mush of skin and blood in her socket. 

Everything is somehow finally clear, as if all the rage in me had spilled out with the blood painting the floor. 

My boss is the devil and I'm his sinner.