Story of April

The shower room was a packed box. Steam was everywhere. The showers had a single button to start the hot water coming down. A guard with a baton stood at the front of the room and oversaw everything. Five girls at the front of the room were boisterously yelling at each other. They talked about a basketball game at which they had beaten another team.

Their loud voices and wide gestures had everyone else silently watching and listening to them. A short white girl took a shower next to April. The short white girl's nipples were rosy and about the same size as her whole boobs themselves. She still had a landing strip shaved above her vagina. The prison time hadn't grown in with a full pubic beard. She stood silently under the running water with raised shoulders watching the Latinas.

One of the Latinas was tall and especially beautiful. She had long black hair. She wore her boobs proud and high. Everyone listened to her, when she talked. Another Latina had a meaner look on her face and always had to talk louder and more forceful to get attention: "We are going to cut their throats next time that they try to pull a foul like that."

Then, the littlest one of the Latinas called out something in Spanish. The Latinas looked to the front of the room. The guard was gone. The white girl with the big pink nipples stepped into the corner of the room and started shivering. Dee averted her eyes to the ground and turned to face the wall.

The mean looking Latina threw her soap bar to the ground and kicked it across the water puddle on the floor. The soap bar slid fast. It ricocheted against a few walls. It landed near the white girl with the pink nipples hiding in the corner.

"Could you pick up my soap? I dropped it."

The white girl bowed forward to pick up the soap. Making steps that involved barely moving the knees apart, she walked towards the mean looking Latina. Her head was bowed low.

"Sorry."

The mean looking girl let the soap drop on the floor again. The other Latinas laughed out loud. The white girl with the pink nipples bowed down again. The mean looking Latina pushed her with her feet. The pink nipple girl almost fell. She silently resumed trying to lift up the soap. Something distracted the mean looking Latina.

The mean looking Latina focused on April, "Pinkie, give the soap bar to that new fish. She is going to wash me today."

"Please, give me the honor of washing you."

"No, the new girl will do it. Never dispute my requests again. Kiss my feet, if you understand."

The pink nipple girl bowed on her hands and feet to kiss both the feet of the mean looking Latina. Then, she walked to April and handed her the soap. April hand the bar of soap in her hands unsure what to do with the half soaked white mushy thing. She made a tentative step forward and then another.

The mean looking Latina stood with an intent stare until April had made the journey step by step to surrender further. April's hand reached gingerly with the bar of soap at the mean looking Latinas back.

"Get in there. Get me clean. Andale arriba. Arriba!"

Both of April's hands worked the back of the mean looking Latina. Soft milky sheen with soap bubbles filled the Latina's back. April continued gingerly on the belly.

"Gringa, I like it especially on the breast. Don't be shy. Give me pleasure."

April moved the soap across the beautiful breast of the Latina. The boobs flopped out of the way of the soap bar. Each time that April hit the nipples, the Latina pulled in the air in between her teeth with a sharp hiss.

A loud bang of a baton rattled against the wall. "Play time is over," bellowed the returned guard. April handed the soap bag. The Latina said, "My name is Bella. And, Bella is the only word that you need to know from now on."

The female inmates finished their showers and got dressed. Once the Latinas passed out of ear shot, Dee said to April, "Do you realize in how much danger I am simply for socializing with you? That's the gang that bloodied the woman last night. Not even the guards will touch them roughly. Bella once bit a piece of a guard's ear off."

The chow hall was large. Every piece of furniture, tables and chairs, was bolted with dozens of bolts to the floor to prevent inmates from having material to build barricades. The food line was along a stainless steel case. An overweight civilian cook ladled goops oatmeal directly onto trays. After the goop, he sprinkled cinnamon on top of it. He joked to a cute inmate, "with cherry on top, if they'd let me."

Dee explained that the civilians had powerful privileges in the prison. A lot of the inmates would offer sexual services in exchange for mundane household items like a comb or a packet of aspirin. Almost all of the civilians were corrupt. There was no danger of getting caught. The only danger was that a civilian would get taste for the sexual liaison and force the inmate to go further and longer than she was willing.

When it was April's turn, the civilian chef put down the ladle and looked straight at her.

"Monkey! I recognize you from the photo. It is you monkey! Mr. Dubrov wants me to give you this beautiful chocolate assortment. It is handmade in Belgian. He says that he really enjoyed the night with you. He is saddened that you didn't get away in time. He would like for you to have this chocolate to help you deal with the cocaine withdrawal. And, when you are out, he would like to see you again."

April was dazed and walked on with the luxury chocolate that she couldn't even have afforded outside of the prison. Dee's eyes widened, "You have powerful friends. Maybe, I am a lot safer being around you."

The next civilian gave them a carton of milk. Both walked towards an empty table at the end of the chow hall away from most of the other inmates. The mean looking Latina and her gang followed them.

"Hey, monkey. You got a funny name, monkey. Monkey girl, can you climb? You are my monkey now. How about like a well trained monkey, you start feeding me those chocolates."

The Latinas sat down at the same table. The mean Latina looked at April with a big smile. Then, the Bella reached for April's hand resting on the tray. She tenderly held the hand, yet drove her thumb into a pressure point that shot electric pain up April's whole arm. "Feed me the chocolate."

The Kung-Fu lady with the bald head appeared next to April. The Kung-Fu lady tenderly placed both her palms on April's shoulders. April actually felt the warmth in the hands.

"Bella, I am sorry, but the seats at this table are taken."

"Ha, old lady, what are you going to do against five of us?"

With a nod of the Kung-Fu lady, the whole Asian faction stood up. The Latinas quickly got up to high tail their way to a mouse hole and hide.

"You can go, but leave your trays here."

The Kung-Fu lady leaned into April's ear. Her breath smelled of that of an old woman.

"April, your friend Steven paid me handsomely to protect you. I am sorry that I have not found you earlier. From now on, nobody will touch you. Let me be your humble servant."

April looked around herself dazed by the surprising development of things. Dee was on her knees in front of the Kung-Fu woman. Dee's head was low. Her fist was against the flat open opposite hand in a gesture of reverence. The Kung-Fu woman sat down at April's table. The Kung-Fu woman silently sat with her hands in a meditative pose. Dee whispered into April's ear: "She stopped eating food a year ago and has lived on pure energy since then."

April opened the chocolate box and equally spread the pieces among the three people at the table. The Kung-Fu woman did not move to either accept or reject the chocolate gift, because she was in deep mediation. Dee over happily swallowed the chocolate pieces as fast as she could until the last one, which she relished and planned to relish slowly melting in her mouth until the end of the day.

April vowed to work through her oatmeal to get nourishment before indulging into candy. For better or worse, the cook had doused the oatmeal in sugar. It went down easily, except for the nagging worry about dental cavities and diabetes from all the sugar.

April laid out the chocolate pieces carefully to see the different shapes and read the little description on the box about each piece. When she was ready to pick the first one, an almond milk chocolate with a hint of lemon, a guard knocked with a baton on the table in front of her. She had been so consumed that she did not notice the guard approaching.

"April Donovan, your lawyer wants to see you."

"That's my name, but I don't have a lawyer and can't afford a lawyer."

"It's your court assigned lawyer. You do not have to pay him. You do not have to see him. But, you should talk to your lawyer unless you want to spend the rest of your life here."

The Kung-Fu woman awoke from her mediation, "Go ahead, April. I will watch over your chocolate."

April followed the guard along the chow hall. Like a wave, the room grew quiet around the guard. Elbows were tucked in a little closer. Eyes fastened a little more steadfast on the food. The even measured tock-tock of the guards heal was clearly heard over the bubble of silence.

Behind a metal door, a skinny man in a cheap suit with poorly knotted tie awaited April. The business suit case was flipped open. There were papers and vanilla folders inside. The lawyer pointedly directed April to take a seat. His face was carved at the cheeks like a malnourished hermit in the cold winter. His eyes glowed blue.

"Ms. Donovan, I have good news for you. The district attorney misplaced your files and had to drop the case. You are scotch free."

"Now let me remind you that this is very embarrassing to the district attorney. And, your name is on a special post-it note at his screen. Keep your head down until he retires in a few years."

"Do you have any questions?"

"I can go home?"

"Yes, Ms. Donovan. They will process you promptly and let you go."

The lawyer got up. His butt stuck out far, because he had to maneuver his tall frame out of the chair. He knocked at the door and instructed the guard to let her go.

The same guard slowly walked ahead of April toward the exit of the building. Another guard behind a glass window retrieved her belongings from the social services attempted incarceration. She had her wallet and cell phone back.

Everything went so quickly that she found herself standing in the dirty lot, where the bus had dropped her off less than 24 hours ago. The guard had given her a bus coupon to get a ride to the nearest city. The city was called Sea Crest and had a Grey Hound stop to take her anywhere she pleased.

Still unsure about how quickly the world had changed and what to do next, 7 series black BMW with tinted glasses rolled across the empty lot directly toward her. The BMW's engine roared gently. The passenger door swung open. She got inside like following the strange cues of a dream.

John, the cop, was inside. He was wearing racing leather gloves with holes at the back of the hand. He handed her a vanilla folder and smiled big behind his black Armani sun glasses. His hair was sleek and styled.

"Welcome back among the free, April. I just found this folder in the district attorney's office and thought that you might like to have it."

"You know that you owe me one. I bought a one week vacation in Jamaica at an all inclusive resort with horseback rides into the sunset. There are soft sandy beaches and warm water with many mojitos or whatever they drink there. The beds are soft and wide with a very high thread count."

"You owe me a girl friend experience for a week."