Monday. December 5, 2022.
Valentina's POV:
The isolation I've subjected myself to over the weekend has been suffocating. I haven't left my apartment since Friday. I've just been in my bed, sulking and crying like an idiot.
I've also been thinking of course, about what happened, what's going to happen, and in the end my mind pictures only one thing— Sol stuck in that concrete box, alone, and suffering. Sol is strong but if she's in there long enough she will break.
They always do.
That image alone is what's keeping me going, I can't allow her to stay in that place for too long because of me...
I'm not gonna lie, I haven't made much progress in whatever plan I thought I was gonna come up with throughout this weekend. It's been frustrating and it's not helping my self esteem. If I'm going to help Sol I need to be in a better mind set rather than feeling like I'm stupid and useless which is what I'm currently feeling.
There's little I can do. I can't break her out, shit I don't even think I can see her. I have no idea what I'm going to walk into today when I meet up with the warden. I don't know if he's going to talk to me about taking Sol to court or try to convince me to keep this whole situation away from the DOC's ears.
Honestly I think that second option is what's going to be for the best. If Sol goes down quietly and remains in solitary then it'll be less messy than if we take this before a court.
Though if we do take this to court there's a possibility Sol could walk away with minimal punishment. I remember she told me that the drug lord she works for can give her access to good lawyers, corrupt lawyers but that's what makes them 'good'. She said Zetas didn't provide her with lawyers when she got caught because he likes to perform a test of loyalty. If someone snitched on him in court then he would take care of them and if they don't narc, well he'll know that person is reliable and they'll have earned a permanent spot in his good graces.
I honestly don't know. I don't know if that's a good idea.
Fuck. I need to get to her. She'll know what to do. She's smarter than me when it comes to these kinds of things. But like I said I don't even think that'll be possible. I doubt the warden will let her near me. I have to try though. This is the only concrete thing I've come up with and I won't give up and leave her in there.
But most importantly I have to keep this whole situation away from court. It'll get too messy and besides I know they can't leave her in solitary forever. They can't leave her in there for more than fifteen consecutive days, it's illegal.
After contemplating that information plus what I'm gonna say to Grimes when I show up, I finally force myself to get up and get dressed. I'm not gonna put on my uniform because I'm not officially back to work, technically I'm on paid leave.
After I look somewhat decent I grab my purse and keys and head out to Silverwater.
-
"How are you?" The warden asked, giving me a look of pity. I know he feels bad for what he thinks happened to me and I know he feels guilty for what he said to me on Friday. It's written all over his face.
I just shrugged and played with my fingers. He gave me a weak nod and sat forward on his desk. "I wanted to apologize for what I said last time I saw you. It was... it was fucked up and I disregarded your feelings. I'm sorry." He voiced while looking at me with regret.
I just nodded.
After a few seconds of silence he spoke up. "I want to know how you feel about this whole situation. What do you think should happen to Sol?" He asked which caught off guard a little bit. I didn't expect him to ask me this but I think I know what to tell him.
Obviously I don't want to say that I want to take her to court but I also can't say 'oh I don't want you to do anything to her'.
"I don't think... I don't want to take this to court." I told him and he furrowed his brows. He probably expected me to want justice and to punish her to the full extent of the law.
"I don't want to make this a big deal. I don't want my name or face on the news while they exploit me as a victim. And god I don't want my parents to know about this. They're not the most supportive people." It's not a complete lie. Truth be told they'd probably feel more sympathy for the warden than me. They'd most likely scold me for giving our family negative attention. They're not famous or anything but they are pretty well known in the business industry. Honestly if things were different I would do it just to fuck with them.
Anyways, I think he understood because he nodded in response. I'm about ninety-nine percent sure that his apology for what he said to me on Friday was genuine, but I can tell he was relieved at my decision since he won't have to deal with the press and whatever else he was dreading to do.
"I want to see her." I blurted out. I don't know what's going to happen to her or to me and my job, but if it all crumbles even more than it already has, then I have to take advantage of this opportunity now.
"I don't think that's a good idea." He shook his head.
"I know but I want to see her. I need to face her. I want to put this behind me and the only way I think I can is if I confront her." I explain, hoping he'll let me.
"I don't know, Baker... it's no-"
"Please." I beg him, my voice cracking a little bit. I know he can see that I'm desperate and in pain. I am, except it isn't in the way he thinks. I need to see her, hold her, kiss her, tell her that everything is going to be okay even though it could be a complete lie.
I need to touch her.
He sighed, "Okay. I'll go with yo-"
"Actually can I take Santiago? No offense but I trust her. I'll feel safe with her." I can't see Sol and do what I need to do if he's there watching. If I go with Santiago she'll be able to step away and give us some privacy.
"Y-yeah, I understand. I'll call her over." He said and reached for his walkie that was on his desk.
I'm honestly grateful that Grimes is the warden. I think he has a good heart but the guy is very gullible. If it was any other person I probably wouldn't be getting away with any of this.
-
"When we get there, could you give us some privacy? Please?" I asked Santiago as we made our way to the Segregated Housing Unit.
"Yeah of course, whatever you need." She smiled while squeezing my shoulder. I returned the smile, "Thank you." She nodded and we buzzed in to the lonely halls of solitary confinement.
Santiago leads me to Sol's cell and unlocked it, the heavy metal squeaking as it opened. I gave Santiago one last nod of appreciation before I entered.
"Oh my god." I said to myself when I laid my eyes on her. I heard the door close behind me and I quickly approached my girlfriend. She was on the ground in a corner of the cell, her body in the fetal position as she used her arms to tightly hold her knees.
I kneeled down and examined her heavily bruised body. Jesus there's barely any non-purple skin visible to the eye. Her left eye is swollen shut and she has a couple butterfly bandages on her forehead and cheek. I feel a pain in my chest at this sight and I feel my eyes begin to water. What the actual fuck?
"Val?" She whispered, looking at me with her one healthy eye.
"Yeah it's me baby, what the hell happened?" I asked in a whisper as well, using my hand to softly cup her face. She groans from the contact so I move my hands to her shoulders.
"The guards... I guess they wanted revenge for hurting one of them." She whispered with a light chuckle. I frown at the thought and put my forehead on her knee.
"I'm so sorry baby." I whispered, my voice cracking from the guilt that I'm the reason they did this to her.
"It's not your fault." She says as she moves her arms to wrap around me. I immediately wrap my arms around her shoulders and she pulls me into her lap. We comfort each other for a few minutes, exchanging sweet nothings in the process.
"Have you been sleeping? Jesus there isn't even a bed." I said as I scanned the cell. It's literally just a concrete box with a joint toilet-sink in the corner. Not to mention it's cold as hell in here.
She shook her head and I frowned, feeling guilty yet again that she's had to live like this while I've been in my comfortable bed all weekend crying.
She doesn't deserve this.
"Baby, I-I don't know what to do. I don't know how to get you out of here. I'm not even sure if I'll be able to see you after today." I confess to her. She smiles at me and holds me close, one arm around my torso and her other caressing my face. I lean into her touch, all of the pain and stress that's been taking my body hostage for the past few days slowly melting. She looks at me affectionately, her one eye alternating between both of mine.
"I don't want you to do anything. I don't want to cause you anymore trouble." She whispered. She thinks she's causing me trouble?
I shook my head, "What? No you have to let me help you. I can't leave you in here. You don't deserve this." I try to plead with her. No, fuck trying, she's going to let me help her. There's no way I'm gonna go home and do nothing while she rots in here. No way.
"Whatever pain you think you've caused me isn't as bad as the pain I cause you. I mean look at you, this, it's all my fault."
"Mi vida I don-"
"No. I'm going to help you, whether you like it or not. It's not up to you. I can do whatever I want. That notion is what got us into this mess and that's also what's going to get us out. You're smart baby, I know you can think of a way that I can help you. Shit, maybe you've already thought of a way. If you have, tell me. Please." I pressed.
She sighed, "I have thought of something, but I don't want you to do it. It involves you dealing with the cartel I work for and I don't want you near those people. A lot of them are dangerous and I don't trust most of them."
"Most of them? So there's people you do..." I dragged out and she sighed at my stubbornness.
"Yeah..."
"So get me in contact with them. I promise I'll be careful. Please let me help you Sol." I pleaded.
She ran her rand through her hair and looked away from me. I can tell she really doesn't want me to do this but I don't care. If it can help her then I'm all for it.
"Marco. He's a friend." She said defeatedly. I smiled at my persuasive victory. "How do I get in touch with him?" I asked.
"Go to my cell. Behind the toilet there's a loose cinderblock, remove it and you'll find my phone in there. Marco is in my contacts under 'L.A.M'." She explained and I nodded in understanding.
"Call him and tell him you're with me, he knows who you are. He's the one I had send you flowers that one time." I smiled at the memory. God what I would give to go back and relive the short time we had before all of this shit happened.
"Explain what happened and he'll take it from there. Val that's all you have to do, don't do anything else that can get you mixed up with those people. I mean it." She said with a serious tone. I nod and pull her in for another hug. I'm savoring the hell out of this because god knows when I'll be able to see her again.
"Can I kiss you?" I whispered in her ear.
"Absolutely... wait. I'm all ugly and fucked up." She whined.
I laugh into her neck. "You're not ugly. You look sexy with scars."
"Yeah?"
"Oh yeah..." I whispered.
I pull away from her neck and we gaze at each other with stupid smiles on our faces. I look down to her lips and see that the lower one is pretty busted. "I won't hurt you?" I asked, worried because they beat her pretty badly. Much worse than the last time she was beat up.
She shook her head, "You can never hurt me. Like I said last time— you take the pain away."
And with that she connected our lips. She groaned a little bit into it so I made sure to be very gentle. I want to hold her head in my hands but it's too injured, so I just settle on wrapping my arms around her neck.
I allow myself to get lost in her, blocking out the tsunami of problems on our plates, well mostly hers. I succumb to the feeling over her lips and arms holding me tightly. I hope I'm having the same effect on her that she has on me...
She sure as hell could use a distraction from this horrible place.
After about a minute of our moment we hear a knock on the door and the sound of the mini door latch opening. "Hey wrap it up, the warden is asking for you." Santiago whispered before closing the latch.
I softly peck her lips a few more times before getting off of her lap. "Its gonna be okay, I'm gonna get you out of here." I tell her while grabbing a hold of her hand. She nods and brings my hand up to her lips to give it a kiss. I kiss the side of her head before I stand up and head to the door.
"Wait..." Sol said which caused me to stop walking. I turn around to face her.
"I'm b-...." She shakes her head. "I'm happy I got to see you."
That was a bit strange... was she about to tell me something but then changed her mind?
I let it slide cause we don't have a lot of time. "So am I." I give her a reassuring smile before I finally exit the cell.
I see Santiago leaning against the wall. "Hey thank you for that. Is it okay if I ask for one more favor?" I ask her. She smiles and nods. I swear I'm going to smother her with gifts this Christmas. She's the best.
"Can you sneak into Sol's old cell and..." I explain to her what Sol told me regarding where she kept her phone. For obvious reasons I won't be able to waltz into D block right now, and I need that phone.
I'm so ready to get this over with.
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Hey guys Merry Christmas! Hope you guys enjoy this weekend as well as this looong chapter.
Damn this might be my longest chapter yet...
This is the last chapter until next year so see y'all then ;)