Poussey strode into the library and flung her slender body down in a chair. "Damn," she said, looking over at Taystee, her best friend. "Working, like, actually doing work is some hard shit," She saw Taystee shake her head at her. "Yeah, which you would know if you'd actually been working this whole time like some of us have," she shot back. Poussey grinned and bumped her shoulder lightly with her fist. She and Taystee were always joking around, and all of their free time was spent in the library, reading. Reading was one of Poussey's favorite things, and she had an absolute fit when the books needed to be burned. She fondly remembered the ceremony they held for all their favorite books. They had gotten an okay number of people to show up, but she left like her and Taystee were the only ones who really cared about what they were doing.
"What did you even get stuck doing," Taystee asked. "Making more of your toilet wine?"
"Hey hey hey!" Poussey shouted. When other inmates looked over at her, she lowered her voice. "It's called Hooch, it's not toilet wine, and I would appreciate it if the whole prison didn't know I was making it. Shit's not easy," she finished. Taystee rolled her eyes. She had never been a fan of the fact that Poussey knew how to make wine, and spent most of her free time getting drunk. And for Poussey, she always had free time. "You wanna go bother Suzanne for the next chapter in the Time Hump Chronicals?" she asked, hoping to get her best friend to calm down. She saw Taystee grin, and she knew she was in the clear. The girls giggled and ran off towards their bunks.
----
Syndey was dragged into Litchfield, kicking and screaming. This was not fair, or justifiable. She deserved another court hearing, she deserved a better judge, she deserved to be treated with respect. What happened wasn't her fault, it was a life or death situation for Sydney, and she was being punished because she chose life. She continued to struggle against the guards, knowing it would get her nowhere but drugged or tased, but she would not be taken for the weak in prison. She would not let others see her come in calmly and quietly, she would let everyone know that Sydney Elaine Hamilton was
not a pushover pussy-shit. She was gonna be here for a long ass time, and she was going to damn well earn the respect that she knew she deserved here.
She saw a lot of people standing around and staring at her, all of them wearing tan prison wear or grey sweat-suits. Sydney realized she stuck out like a sore thumb in her orange uniform, One girl stood outside her bunk, smirking at the newcomer. Her hair was golden and tangly, like a lions mane. She shook her head at Sydney and walked back to her bunk. She was the only one who didn't want to gawk at Sydney like she was a zoo animal. Finally, one of the guards spoke up and made Sydney quiet down.
"Hamilton!" he shouted. "If you don't shut the fuck up, you're going to the SHU!"
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