Page 35 of Shattered Pieces

“Who even is she? Any idea why she attacked Tilly?” I questioned.

“Smith runs with Grovers. Tilly runs with you. It was nothing personal against her, it was an attack to try and isolate you.”

“You got hurt because of me?” I demanded, turning to face Tilly.

“It’s always like this in here. It’s fine, they can’t scare me off that easily,” she promised, and I scowled.

“You should separate yourself from me.”

“No. I like you,” she said simply, tucking her hair behind her ear. “We stick together in here, and you have my back, so I have yours.”

“It was kind of a good thing,” Jamie mused, giving Tilly an apologetic look. “Not that you got hurt, but that it went down and people saw Donovan’s loyalty. A lot less people hate you because of it.”

“That doesn’t change the fact she was attacked because of me,” I huffed.

“No, it doesn’t, but it’s gained you some respect. This is why sticking together is important,” Jamie answered, and Tilly nodded.

“Exactly. Trouble is less likely to start in groups. You should teach me some of your moves, babe. Do you fight professionally, or just for fun?” Tilly asked, and I didn’t exactly know how to answer, not wanting to publicly announce the Psychos’ illegal cage fights.

“Not just for fun,” I said carefully, and she raised an eyebrow.

“So, professionally?” She could tell I didn’t want to elaborate, so she steered the conversation away from it. “I wouldn’t know how to knock someone out unless I had cans of beans on hand,” she joked, making me chuckle.

“I’ll train you when you get out. You won’t need beans.”

“I’d like that. You haven’t done work assignments yet, but we manage the laundry room. I’ll teach you how to fold everything properly tomorrow. It’s super easy,” she explained, and Lexi’s door opened as Faith stalked out, heading to her own room before closing the door behind her.

“Trouble in paradise?” Jamie asked as Lexi appeared, giving us a dirty look.

“Fuck off, Mendez,” she muttered, walking towards the locked gate. “Hey! How long until we can leave?”

“When we let you out,” the male guard, who was the good-looking pig that everyone apparently called the creep, said dryly, walking towards her. “Got somewhere to be?”

“I want a shower before lunch.”

“Take it later. You’ll be fine.”

“That’s alright for you to say, I bet you had a shower this morning,” she gritted out, making him grin.

“Indeed I did. It was nice and hot too.”

“You’d better hurry things along,” she warned, stepping closer to talk more quietly. “You know I could get you fired.”

He gave her a dirty look, but he didn’t argue. What kind of blackmail did she have on him? Was she one of the girls that bribed him with pussy, or would she get Archer to organize something to get him fired?

He walked off to check in with the other guards, and Lexi headed back to her room, leaving the door open as she dropped back on her bed with a frustrated sigh.

It was at least an hour before we were let out, and Lexi breezed straight past us with her shower caddy. Kat silently followed, so at least she had backup if needed.

The rest of us headed outside for some fresh air, and Jamie shared her cigarettes as we sat down on a bench away from people. Tilly was invited to play basketball with some of the others, so we kept an eye on her from where we sat.

“You’ve been good for her. She gets out of her shell more,” Jamie murmured.

“Huh?”

“She never really blended with anyone in here. You’ve given her some confidence by standing up for her, I think. She’s one of our girls, but she’s not really part of the crew. She usually stays in her room, but she’s been more social since you showed up.”

“I’ve barely spent more than a few days with her. I got carted off to the hole on day four,” I scoffed, making her shrug.