Gangsta (OITNB/VAUSEMAN)

3 - Mama

Alex was bewildered.

The chapel, in it's current situation, looked nothing like a standard christian place of prayer and worship. It wasn't even remotely a room for prisoners to fulfill their spirituality need. The whole venue was colored orange and khaki, indistinct chatter in the backgroung, people were everywhere, screaming, laughing loud, making noise. Alex cringed to the sight. This wasn't how a chapel should be treated. A chapel ought to be serene, quiet.

Mess declines holiness.

A brief flashback reminded Alex of her mother's voice whispering prayer in her ear every Sunday they used to spend at church together. A sigh. Only so much have changed since those days which, in retrospect, seemed way happier in comparison to nowadays. Now, Alex was in prison, and this place was far different from the parochial church she grew up attending to. This place was awful, disrespectful and too public. Alex knew her mother would never want her to stay there just one bit. Thing is, this time she didn't have a choice.

The surface was wide, with high ceiling and about fifty long lines facing the stage. Alex braced herself and proceeded to take a seat, or find one at least. Almost every single chair was taken, and some persons preferred standing up or sitting in the stairs. Alex had lost Frieda and the rest of her roommates as soon as she walked through the doors so she had to figure it all out alone. Alex considered to stay up on her feet, but her knees demanded otherwise. Her knees ache chose to erupt and she couldn't support the strain while standing. Searching with greater obstinacy, Alex finally spotted a vacant chair at one of the back lines. She politely pushed through people and reached the middle of the line.

"Caputo!" Someone exclaimed all of a sudden, and clapping were heard, next, the noise and chatter were winding down.

"Morning ladies."

Up at the stage, two men appeared. The one who was taking the speech, was a balding man, with a walrus mustache that is graying at the ends. He was wearing a pair of glasses and a fine elegant suit. He smiled warmly at the audience and cleared his throat. "For those of you who don't know, I am Mr. Caputo." Silence fell as the inmates were listening to what he had to say. "I am the Director of Human Activity here at litchfield." Alex couldn't help but feel more relaxed at the sound of him. Mr. Caputo was speaking clear and his voice was stable, which impressed her in a way. His aspect gave the impression of a relay able, nice man and Alex appreciated it. Maybe it was something about how confident he was that conveyed honesty. But whatever this was, Alex foolishly felt like she could trust him. "And this is CO Piscatella." Mr. Caputo pointed at the man standing one step behind him. "I have asked him to stay on here at camp as our new Captain of the Guards."

The first thing to notice about the guy behind was his large frame. He was around 6'4 tall, sporting a full brown sandy color beard and hair. He stood erect, looking straight in the distance and just nodded to Caputo's introduction of him. Piscatella gave the complete opposite impression of Caputo. His presence tensed the ambience in the room and he suggested coldness.

"It's my old job." Caputo added shortly after. "So, things have gotten a little crowded around here, huh?" He nervously grinned, and recieved a faint response of agreement from the crowd. "We at MCC are aware that new situations can be trying for you ladies. So we called this meeting to let you know of the measures we're taking for your comfort and safety." Less confidently, Caputo roamed his eyes around the area to trace any sort of cooperation, with no luck, he continued. "For instance, porta-potties have been installed out in the yard to take some of the... pressure from the bathroom." Alex, along with most of the inmates, groaned in disgust. The image of taking care of your business in the yard surely wasn't very appealing.

"Are we gonna shit outside now?!" Someone called, and was rewarded with another wave of inmates protesting in annoyance.

Caputo was doing his best to ignore the negativity and kept smiling comfortably. "Side note, porta-potty maintenance will be an additional responsibility for our janitorial job-"