A Bullet (Ruby Rose fanfic)

EIGHTEEN (ISELEN POV)

"Come on..." Ruby takes my hand and pulls abruptly, forcing me to walk out of our cage.

"What's wrong? What's the hurry? Is there a new riot going on?"

But my girl doesn't answer and keeps dragging me across the minimum security ward that's almost empty at this time of the day because, after breakfast, most inmates go to their workplaces at the other end of the yard. Officers look calmed and they ignore us as usually although those poor guys had a hard time after the riot: the newcomers were thrown to the hole and sent to other prisons later while some officers spent a few days in hospitals but no one was seriously injured. Their workmates monitored our movements like hawks for a week and didn't tolerate any disrespect, the members of the Irish car behaved like good girls, they didn't smuggle anything or treated the governor with familiarity. Everybody around me seemed to be holding back their breaths and I didn't understand why.

One day, a group of smartly dressed men and women were guided by the governor while they toured around Bayview and the officers straightened their backs, inmates talked in whispers focusing on their jobs while Ruby and her friends kept their heads low and I obeyed Glenna's instructions, pushing the library rolling cart that was full of real books for a change. I understood those people were inspectors from the Department of Correction and they wanted to check if everything was all right after the mess and I couldn't help but get tensed. My girl told me that Owen had bribed some of them and some of their bosses too but he wouldn't need to pay an extra because the inspectors wouldn't notice anything weird. She was right, in fact, they left very satisfied praising Mr. Mason for the cleanliness of the facilities and his fast reaction to quell the riot. We went back to our routine the next day but I'm afraid something bad is happening again.

"What's going on? Where are we going?" I ask out of breath while following Ruby down an empty corridor.

"To the chapel..."

"Why? Is Jasmine rehearsing for her next performance?" I frown, confused, and my girl stops to look at me smiling.

"We're going to pray," the beautiful Irish woman winks at me before pulling my hand again.

"We're going to... what? Ruby, what's going on?" I ask getting upset.

"Iselen, babe, in this prison praying is the key word for fucking, we're going to the chapel to fuck, it's the quietest place in Bayview right now..."

"Are you crazy?" I ask outraged. "We can't do that... what if they catch us?" My girl stops again and sighs, frustrated.

"Moina and Glenna had a fight last night..."

"I know," I cut her off abruptly. "I felt the tension between them this morning, they haven't said a word while having breakfast and left the cafeteria through different doors. But I don't understand what this has to do with..."

"A little disagreement can become a big fight in prison," now it's her turn to cut me off. "Feelings are confusing and intense here and we can't help reacting dramatically, under normal circumstances the girls would go back home, to a pub to have a drink or to a friend's house, they'd cool down a little and would try to fix things after having some time for themselves. There's no way to avoid each other in Bayview, they'll meet every day all the time, during every meal, in the cell or the library, they'll keep fighting and throwing their mistakes in their faces constantly... It happened once and I can assure you they got on our nerves, it was unbearable for us. I won't tolerate it again so I asked them to be on guard duty while we make out in the chapel, they'll be alone standing in the middle of a boring corridor... I hope they'll talk, eventually, and will fix things."

"And what did they answer?" I ask suspiciously, I don't think they're satisfied with this arrangement.

"That they wouldn't do it..." Ruby pulls my hand again and I follow her completely floored. "So I ordered them to do it... Perks of being the fucking boss... There they are, smile, babe..." I obey automatically although the grin freezes on my lips when I see Moina's pissed-off face, Glenna leans her back on the wall across the corridor and is staring at the tip of her boots obstinately when my girl passes by them, shoves me inside the chapel and closes the door.