Maria Chapelle sat in the cellblock, twisting her hair with a finger, smoking a cigarette with the other. She sighed to herself. Her roots hadn’t been done since that fateful day. She remembered it like it was yesterday. Actually, it was yesterday.
She had walked up the pathway to the courthouse treading lightly in her lavender stilettos, opting out of the door-to-door service her driver had offered. The flashing lights of cameras made her see colorful little dots that blinded her vision.
“Maria! Ms. Chapelle! Can we have a word–”
“Ms. Chapelle! Is it true that Mr. Karl Chapelle embezzled thirteen million dollars–”
“No comment,” Maria replied coolly. Her publicist hurried her along, slamming the grand golden doors of the courthouse behind them. The minute she walked into the large hall, what seemed like thousands of heads turned to look at her. Some in disgust, some in praise. Most in disgust. Actually, it quite reminded Maria of her third wedding. Nevertheless, she held her head up high and sauntered to the front.
“Yo, Maria? That’s your name, right?” Maria snapped out of her daydream and came face to face with a brawny tan woman. Maria quickly tapped out the cigarette and ran her hands through her hair.
“Indeed. What do you want?” she asked suspiciously. She shoved her diamond bracelet deeper into her pocket. The tan woman rolled her eyes. Her curly hair bounced.
“I’m Janet. On behalf of all the other women in ‘ere… what the f*** is it with those shoes?” The tan woman now known as Janet gesticulated wildly at Maria’s feet, which were deep into a pair of lavender stilettos. Maria stared at Janet matter-of-factly.
“You didn’t bring anything from your previous life?” she drawled. Janet shrugged.
“Well, I brought Chlamydia. But nobody seems to be too curious about that,” she sassed. Maria raised her eyebrows a bit, shaking a hand through her short blonde locks. She took another Camel Light out of her pocket, getting ready to light it. Janet’s eyes widened.
“Hey, you can’t smoke that–”
“Oh, hush. I can do what I want,” Janet sighed. A look of frustration appeared on her face. She dropped herself onto the plastic chair in the cell and crossed her arms.
“Okay, white girl. What is your deal?”
“Hey. I will have you know, I am one-eighth Lebanese,” Maria said defensively. Janet just rolled her eyes. “Alright, well if you must know–,” she leaned in closer, as if she were telling a secret. “–I’m in here for my husband. He’s a millionaire, you know,” Maria stated proudly. A look of confusion struck Janet’s face.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh dear, you people here are so daft. I took the blame for my husband. Duh,” Maria expressed, widening her eyes as she did so. Janet raised her eyebrows.
“So you’re innocent?” Maria nodded. “If you’re innocent, why in the HELL would you save someone’s ass for something you didn’t do?” Janet’s voice steadily rose, causing a few other orange-clad women to look up from their poker games. Maria leaned back on her rickety. Why AM I in here? I could be dining with the Primer Minister of England right now! She pondered to herself. And then she realized something.
“Because I love him,” she whispered, more so to herself than to Janet.
“What did you say?” Janet leaned in closer.
“BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!” Maria shouted at the top of her lungs, leaping up from the bed. Janet leapt back, putting her hands up in the air defensively.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” she said, slowly stepping back. Maria just stood there, breathing heavily. Her eyes were wide, and a lock of blonde hair was sticking upwards. She shakily put her cigarette to her mouth, not even bothering to light it.
“That’s alright. That’s…that’s perfectly fine,” she mumbled, staring straight ahead into the cell across the way. It was empty. Maria Chapelle was now in a state of insensibility. Janet looked at her cautiously.
“Alright, well, I’m gonna leave now…uh, just…take care of yourself, okay?” Janet said fearfully, slowly backing out of the white cellblock. She slammed the cell door behind her, sending a reverberating shock through what seemed like the whole prison.
“Yes. Yes I will, thank you,” Maria whispered to herself, raising an eyebrow. And that was all it took, really; that was all it took before a loud cackle emitted from her body, bouncing off the walls of her cell and others alike.
A woman named Vicki who was playing poker three cells over perked her head up. Her thin lips spread into a wide grin, showing off three gold teeth.
“And we’ve lost another one,” she announced with conviction.