Kay Vassallo's Story

“Hey daddy.”

It was a cold concrete room, but there were several other table with other visitors. There were a couple of windows letting in sunlight, but the bars casted shadows across the floor. While most of the other prisoners were in simple brown uniforms, limbs free of shackles, her father had on bright orange uniform, hands cuffed in front of his torso. Francesca pretended night to noticed, smiling and playing his part as his adorable baby girl. She could see the guard who had seemingly escorted the prisoners look over her fathers shoulder to look her up and down, it wouldn’t be a visit to see her father if there wasn’t some guy in the background checking her out.

“Frankie, baby, sit down.”

She listened, crossing her legs delicately. She could see the same look in his eyes he always had, that it killed him that he couldn’t give his little girl a hug. She always tried not to return the expression. “What’s with the chains?” She tried to ask with nonchalance.

“Don’t worry about it.”


“Not worrying, just asking.”

“Don’t ask.”

There was silence, it was typical behavior on her fathers behalf. He never wanted to be honest with her, but he felt the constant need to have his word be law. She sighed, leaning against the table to briefly lock eyes with the guard watching them, smiling to herself and looking down before looking back to her father.

Her father took the bait, watching the interaction between her and the guard. “What, your mother taught you that?”

They both laughed, and the tension settled, as if they both just accepted that the conversation had gone nowhere near where they intended. They had to have each others back, no one else ever would. “Look, dad, I just came here to tell you to settle things out with mom. They told me you lost your phone privileges, I’m assuming that goes along with the reason you’re wearing the cuffs?”

To any eavesdroppers, it would sound like a child reprimanding their parent, but this was what their relationship had grown into. Mr. Carpenzano always had a hard time thinking about how his actions affected those around them, and Frankie had always been the only one he listened to. “Frankie it wasn’t something I could make go away, you don’t want to know how things work here, baby, and I wouldn’t want you to know. This was making the best out of the situation and tell your mother everything is taken care of. I’d have called her already but like you’ve heard I’m grounded.” He said, throwing a fit like an angsty 16 year old.

Toying with the ends of her long hair, Francesca sighed, looking up at her father with her big brown eyes. “Daddy, you know I’m always on your side, but I can’t keep playing the medium between you two.”

“I know, baby, but your mom has every reason to be upset with me and this is the only way I can help her feel better.”

It was never a light hearted visit when it came to her father. Frankie shrugged, leaning against the table and letting her eyes wander over the room. “I’ll figure it out.”

Her dad accepted her answer, knowing she wasn’t the one to offer promises. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. “Hey, how did you get this visit anyway, I thought I was grounded?”

Frankie smiled, “I met with a warden, he’s a nice man. Young, charming, fit, quite dashing really.”

Her father’s face fell.

“Oh relax, it was just dinner.”

The guard called out a five minute warning.

Her dad looked back with his sad eyes and she knew the tensions had faded away.

“Cynthia had her baby, and Uncle Nesto called last month from California.” Frankie said, scooting in closer to her dad.

“I love you kid.”

“I know.”

“Your mom, too.”

“I know.”

“If you see that warden again I don’t care if I have to stay here until I die, I’m kicking his ass.”

“I love you, too.”

“Give me a hug.”

“Can you do that?”

“What are you, a cop? Give me a hug.”

Frankie looked up at the guard, who was still watching them. If she hesitated, it was only for a moment. She hugged her father, albeit awkwardly given the cuffs. She could see the guard going to speak when she winked, he stalled for a moment. Before he could attempt to break up their hug again, Frankie pulled back, pecking her fathers cheek. “Stop being such a rebel. Someone needs to be sensible one in the family, and you’re not the one in college.”

“Please be a good girl.” Her father pleaded.

“Love you, daddy.”

Frankie left before the time was up, her thigh high black leather booths clicking as she walked away. The prison was only an hour and a half ride from Berkley, and she had gone early enough that no one had probably even noticed she was gone. She had a small studio apartment about a ten minute walk from campus, although she didn’t spend most of her time there. Most of the apartment was a collage of colorful textiles and photos with christmas lights along the walls. A bowl of kibble and water sat next to an open window where her cat Jeju came and left as he pleased. It seemed he was gone for the moment.

Immediately changing into gym shorts and a t-shirt, Frankie packed a bowl and turned on netflix before sending a mass text out to the group:

Group Text: Chris ; Kay ; Danny ; Isaac ; Lydia ; Nico
Sesh at my place? Portlandia and Afghan kush.

As a hand landed with a sharp smack on her ass, a shudder ran up Lydia's spine. She set the empty plate on the table, curling a hand into a tight little fist. 10... 9... 8...

"Hey cutie, fill 'er up," slurred the owner of said hand. The man waggled his glass, eyes bloodshot. His friends were looking at each other and laughing at the man's antics. It was all Lydia could do to contain her rage. 7... 6... 5...

"Coming right up," she choked. She had fifteen minutes left before her shift ended. She just had to last that long without incident. Lydia took his glass with a forced smile but with a sweaty hand, he took her by the wrist. 4... 3... 2...

"Maybe later you can gimme your number," he chuckled, "I'll show you a good time," His friends couldn't contain themselves. One of them banged his fist on the table, shaking with laughter while the others kept punching each other in the shoulders. 1... Her knuckles were white around the glass. Then a loud crack echoed through the restaurant. His friends were struck dumb and the other patrons began whispering and pointing. The man cradled the side of his face; his cheek swelling to a bright red.

"If you ever touch me again," she snapped, pointing an angry finger in his face, "or fucking speak to me, I will make you a soprano!" She spun on her heels and left them stunned and blustering, the kitchen doors swinging behind her. No doubt they would complain but as far as Lydia was concerned, her shift was over.

Lydia ducked out the backdoor and was lighting a cigarette when Kelly came after her. She was nearly a foot taller than her and liked to throw it in her face with that jutting chin of hers. "What the hell was that about?" she said, hands on her skinny, little hips.

"He grabbed my-" she started.

"I don't want to hear it!" Kelly interrupted, "It's always something with you," Her voice was like the sound of a thousand yapping pocket dogs, barking in her ear. "I'm telling Kay. Why she puts up with you, I don't know but you are fucking finished here," Lydia rolled her eyes, taking a long drag. Kelly gasped, "Don't you roll your eyes at me?!" As she started on another tangent, Lydia's phone buzzed in her pocket. She checked her message and grinned. It was Frankie, saving the day. With an exhale of smoke, Lydia walked off with Kelly still yelling after her.

A quick ride in her second hand car and she arrived at Frankie's doorstep but she wasn't the only one. Isaac was knocking at the door when she walked up. "Hey, Miss Manners," she said teasingly, "let me show you how this works," She leaned around him, twisting the knob in her hand and pushing the door open. As she walked in, she shouted, "Frankie, don't start without us!" She slipped off her shoes, making herself comfortable.

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An orchestra of sound played over and over again in Chris' head. Colors seem to come from everywhere around him and they lead his hand around the canvas. In reality not much more than the soft hissing sound of his spray cans could be heard. Even his breathing was so soft that you might think he was not breathing at all. It was early, sunrise just starting. No lessons had yet started, but Chris had been in the classroom for hours. In fact he hadn't yet gone to bed. The door to the art studio/classroom had been locked when Chris arrived. But it was standing in the way of inspiration, and in Chris' mind that was the actual crime. He had put down his bag with spray cans and some other needed tools and sat down on his knees in front of the door. With a bend paper clip he was able to unlock the barricade to his domain. it wasn't the paper clip, but freedom which had been the real key.

Everyone could have seen that this was Chris at his best, or at the very least his happiest. The cans of spay paint were twirling in his hand as if he was making a cocktail. With red, yellow, blue and black he had all the colors he needed for today. Chris was happy to let his eyes and hands do the work, his brain was switched off. Over the hours the character of the piece had changed a few times, going from fear to pride, from educated to unwritten and finally he had settled on dreaming. Putting the last drops on his creation he stood back and looked at it. He was more than content with his finished product. He looked at the girl and wondered who she was. He hadn't painted her with anyone in mind, at least not as far as he knew. Maybe his subconscious knew more than he did.

He imagined Kay would tell him to take a picture, from his bag he grabbed his camera. She had tried to tell him to use his phone, but he hadn't figured out how to use that thing so far. He was glad the messages appeared on his screen as they come, 'cause he had no idea how to look them up otherwise. He shot a few pictures before putting his camera away and leaving the class room. His board stood next to the door, of course it was decorated with his own design. Before he was outside he felt his pocket vibrate. A message from Frankie came up when he looked at his phone. I'll be right over, he thought. He couldn't really send a response, at least not in a shorter time than it would take to get to her apartment.

The fresh air outside felt soft on his skin. While on his board his hair danced around whenever he made some speed. It was still on the quiet side, but the people he did see he greeted with a warm smile on his face. Almost all of them he knew, even though he couldn't really match their faces with a name. The smiles he received back from the other students meant for him that they recognized him as well. At high speed he crossed the campus lanes. The trees waved back and forth like flames, which gave him an idea for a next painting. Frankie's apartment was coming close now. He looked up as he crossed the parking lot and slowed down to a stop. He saw Kay leaning over the railing and gave her a quick wave. Just before the stairs he grabbed his board and walked up. He put a hand on Kay's shoulder when he passed:"See you inside?"

He grabbed the door handle and opened it enough for him to go through. "Hey everyone", he shouted without actually seeing anyone yet. He took off his shoes and left his board and backpack near the door. Walking into the room he saw the people already there, Isaac, Lydia and Frankie. "Oh, hey there" he now said in a softer tone of voice. He gave a slight wave to Frankie and Isaac and as always he gave Lydia a big hug. Letting go of Lydia he directed his attention to Frankie. "I probably have paint all over my clothes, is it all right if I just sit on the floor?"

It wasn’t far into one episode of Portlandia that her first friend arrived. Danny appeared perfectly disheveled with the glow that could only be explained by a fun night. “Ow, ow, baby boy. You’ve got nasty written all over you.” She joked, eyes red from the smoke she had already dented into since changing into her lazy clothes. She pointed the the nook of a kitchen behind her, “Before you sit down, can you grab me a raspberry lemon bar from the freezer. Take one too if you want,” She read his expression, “Puh-leeease, I’ll love you forever.”

As if she didn’t already, Danny had a special place in her heart, along with twizlers. Clearing out what was left in her bowl, she had began to pack a new one when she heard Lydia step in, followed by Isaac. “To late, bitches.” She handed the bong to whoever would take it, busting out papers and settling in to roll a joint. “You guys won’t believe the morning I had. All I have to say is I want to ingest copious amounts of marijuana until I can forget it all.”

She had alluded to her father before, although she probably had never spelled out her relationship with him. It wasn’t something that ever came up, really, although she hadn’t exactly ever offered the information. Most people had learned to stop asking questions with Frankie and let her do as she may. She almost told them she had went to see him in prison today, but instead she changed the Portlandia episode and placed the remote in the middle of the table. “Don’t even think about changing the show, by the way. It is a Portlandia kind of day....possibly Arrested Development down the line.”

Chris was the next one to arrive, covered in paint and giving Lydia a massive hug. He was so polite, more polite than any other drug dealer Frankie had ever met. She laughed, finishing up on the joint before looking up to Chris. “Are you kidding? Most of this stuff was taken from an alley, make yourself at home.”

There was always this tension Frankie felt, as if she were just out of the reach of the casual friendship all the others had. As if she were “management” who had to be kept at a distance for professional reasons. She tried not to think about it to much, she had been in the same position many times, but she never got along with her employees as much as she had with the people in this group.

Lighting up the blunt and passing it to Danny, Frankie wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him to sit beside her on the couch. “Man, you guys are better than the cops. I say come and before I’m done with a bowl you cunts are here and ready to smoke up....fucking vultures.” She teased everyone, then hopping over the couch to stumble into the kitchen. “Anyone want drinks? I have capri suns and wine....and water I suppose.” She opened a cupboard, “Half a box of cheezits, some fruit bars in the freezer annnnd....” She poked around some more, “Four types of cereal AND three quarters of a gallon of milk...your munchies haven is here.” She paused in case anyone wanted to place an order for Frankie’s kitchen.

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Frankie's [color=#]"Make yourself at home"[/color] was one of the warmest welcomes she could give. As he looked dreamily around the room he saw his room mates fist bumping his own. He didn't know if Danny spend any time in their dorm last night, Chris hadn't exactly been there himself. "Hope I didn't worry you by not sleeping in our room." Between the two of them he knew that it didn't need to be said, but still he would always say it. "Got a beautiful result out of it though."

Instead of sitting down he walked after Frankie into the kitchen. "Vulture 4, ready to assist!" He helped out Frankie with the requests coming from the room. While he was collecting he was thinking of his parents. One time a friend of Chris had come to their house. One of the very few friends he had at the time, but as Chris' parents were not nearly as inviting as Frankie the boy was never allowed in the house again. He had done the ultimate evil, he had opened a cupboard and grabbed a piece of candy by himself. According to Chris' mom only animals take something that doesn't belong to them, quite a contradictory statement from Frankie's. When he looked at Frankie he saw again the familiar purple smoke surrounding her. A mystic quality that only made her more interesting. He knew there were things she didn't tell him, or any of the others. She didn't have to, as long as she knew that if she ever did decide on sharing he was sure they'd all be there for her.

He grabbed the fruit bar for Isaac and threw it at him softly from the kitchen entrance. Turning back he spoke to Frankie again: "If you have any chocolate cereal, I'm pretty sure Danny will love you forever. As if he doesn't already." Next he grabbed the wine for Lydia and one Capri Sun for himself, before leaving the kitchen. He actually really adored, loved and was crazy about Capri Sun. He didn't even really care that it tasted disgusting in combination with weed, Chris just has to have his Capri Sun.

Coming back to the room he handed the wine to Lydia. "Hey Lyds, here's your order. I trust you can do without a glass." he said with a wink. He was ready to crash on the couch right behind here and enjoy his precious Capri Sun when he noticed Kay hadn't come in yet. He mumbled {color=#18D81E]"Be right back"[/color]. He stepped outside the door and saw Kay still leaning over the railing. He closed the door behid him and stood next to her, facing the other way. "Don't you wanna come in? You know, if you do I'll share my Capri Sun with you."

Lydia took the wine from Chris, "You're a lifesaver, zaychik moy," she said with a wink. She yanked the cork from the bottle with a grunt. The cork rolled across the table, stopping short of the edge. She drained nearly a third of the wine in one swallow. Lydia was used to alcohol that burned. Wine was like water. She leaned her head back against the couch, catching the joint as it passed by. Then the wine disappeared from her hand. "Wait, what?" she muttered, peeking under the table.

Then Kay walked in, announcing her arrival with bags of food. "Santa!" she cried out, holding out her hands like a greedy child. The smell of greasy food ignited her appetite. As the food hit the table, she swiped a hash brown. It was turning into another normal afternoon until Frankie turned serious. The mention of next steps rippled up Lydia's spine, raising her hackles.

"Delays? Does someone need a little chat?" she reached into her back pocket but realized quickly she left her gun under her bed. It was probably for the best. She talked big but her father never earned stars, he only defended the ones that did. She knew the world but had never gone close to the rabbit hole herself. Absentmindedly, she kept patting herself down, looking for her gun.

"What other options are there? Everyone around here is broke... with terrible taste," she sniffed. Lydia had lost a lot of highbrow taste when she was downgraded but what she couldn't stand for was terrible taste in weed. After an unfortunate incident in the dorm with dirt weed, she dismissed her entire dorm. To her, they were classless plebeians.

Isaac had glanced back at the kitchen just in time to see Chris passing him a fruit bar. He snatched it out of the air, though just barely. He really didn't have the best hand-eye coordination when it came to anything but gaming. All traditional sports as a result were out- he didn't even know the rules to most sports honestly. Isaac started tearing at the plastic as Chris stepped out, only to have Kay come back with him to join them. She was probably hanging outside, she wasn't really the type to rush about and more did things at her own pace, including meeting her friends. Frankie came back from the kitchen with Danny's cereal and Kay was dropping food on the table for everyone to share. He grinned to himself, taking a bite out of his fruit bar. He never ate his fruit bars like he was supposed to, instead taking big bites out of them instead. It was what he did when he was little and he sort of just kept the habit up as he grew.

Isaac gave a cursory glance over the food Kay brought and leaned over to grab a hash brown as Kay talked, calling dibs on some og the stuff she got from Burger King. Smirking he half nodded in her direction as a sort of thanks, leaving his hashbrown on the table to eat when he finished his fruit bar. He wasn't actually that hungry, but no way in hell he'd every pass up hashbrowns.

Then Frankie got serious, and suddenly the conversation wasn't about food but about problems they were having in their "work". Isaac couldn't help but notice the way her mood completely shifted, and wondered how bad things really were. They just started, it couldn't be a total bust yet.

"We'll have to just keep working. There might be other outlets we haven't considered yet, there's always other options," Frankie said, looking at all of them. He didn't really like the way she said it; anything they "hadn't considered" probably wasn't considered for a reason. But Frankie usually knew what she was on about, so he trusted she had some ideas. Lydia was the one to voice the question of what options Frankie thought they had. Isaac took the last bite of the fruit bar and put the plastic and stick on the table and sat up, trying to seem like he was being more attentive. For some reason people assumed because he was quiet he didn't listen, so he always felt he had to act like he was listening.
"Tell me if you need any help," Isaac finally said, mostly to Frankie. He was kind of just the weird kid dealing with the technical side of things, but didn't mind helping if he could.

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Chris mouth formed a smile when Kay offered him the Vape Pen and he gladly accepted. His smile almost completely disappeared when she mentioned BK. He never really felt like fast food, instead he enjoyed his breakfast bar or fruit when the munchies kicked in. Luckily Kay dropped an Ice Cream flavored taffy into his pocket with the promise for more later on. " give me something beautiful to add to your Instagram page, I know you've been finishing up a new piece - right?"

Chris took a last hale from the Vape Pen before he handed it back to Kay. He finished the capri-sun he still had in his hand. "Do my tired eyes betray me? ...She's on my camera, I'll show you inside." After Kay put away the Vape Pen she walked inside, leaving the door open for him. Stepping through the door he grabbed the camera from his bag before he joined the others once again. He jumped over the back of the couch and landed on the couch right behind Lydia. The bottle he had given her a bit earlier all of a sudden seemed a lot less filled. He leaned forward to speak to Lydia. "I see someone was thirsty, leave something for the rest of us, won't you?" With that he grabbed the bottle of wine from her hand and took a sip. He took his camera from his pocket and threw it in Kay's direction. "Check her out..."

Frankie started speaking about something she clearly didn't enjoy telling them. He didn't really get the entire story. Halfway he looked Danny in the eye and showed him a look of I-don't-know-what-the-fuck-this-is-about. "So, do I keep on selling? Do I stop? Is the price going up or down?" He knew he wasn't as smart as anyone else in the room, so some simple language would be appreciated. When the joint was passed to him he took a hit and than passed it on to Lydia. It was instant relaxation. The weed that Lydia created was high class, like she was. Chris has had quite a few different kinds of weed all over the world, but this stuff was good. It also meant that their weed was a bit more expensive than most other things out there.

"Can't we make our stuff a bit cheaper if we move to more mass production? Oh, that reminds me..." Chris leaned his head backwards and brought his hands underneath his hair. He untightened the money he had hidden there since he sold some more produce the day before. He rolled up the notes and handed it to Kay, their accountant.