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Post by Kpatch on May 7, 2018 6:21:46 GMT -5
Chapter 1
Dear Rafe,
This is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, and I know it will be one of the hardest things for you too, but I have to set you free. We both need to face the fact that I may never get out of prison.
Hope had been working on this letter for three out of the six months she’d been incarcerated. For some reason, writer’s block struck every time she sat down to finish it. She knew that setting Rafe free was the right thing to do, especially now that she’d be getting transferred to the federal penitentiary, hours away in a remote area of Illinois. It would be much harder to visit, and he should not feel obligated to wait for her to get out, because that might never happen. After all, she shot an unarmed old man in what the law deems to be cold blood. They didn’t care that the man was Stefano Dimera, a coldhearted monster who tortured, tormented and terrorized her family for decades for no reason, who cost so many of them years of their lives by holding them hostage, conducting sadistic experiments, and replacing them with dopplegangers. None of that mattered to the courts. She murdered him and had to face the penal system. Some days, it seemed more like the Penal Colony, but she, of all people, was well aware that prison wasn’t supposed to be a walk in the park.
Still, breaking up with Rafe, right or not, also meant the end of all hope. If he wasn’t invested in her anymore, he’d eventually give up trying to find a loophole, a reason to get her out of there.
Hope tried to refocus on the letter she was writing but it was hard not to notice Sheila and Hattie whispering in the corner, looking very conspiratorial.
Copyright ©2018 kpatch. All rights reserved.
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Post by André DiMera on May 7, 2018 7:06:13 GMT -5
Ooh! This is gonna be interesting! I can’t wait to see what Hattie and Sheila are up to, and if Hope finishes writing the letter!
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Post by heroicmuse on May 7, 2018 7:30:57 GMT -5
I'm so curious as to what Hattie and Sheila are up to. This is a great beginning!
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Post by fluffysmom on May 7, 2018 19:01:22 GMT -5
I'm already hooked Kpatch. Finish the letter Hope! She has a point about Rafe eventually giving up on finding a loophole once she cuts him loose. |
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Post by melly on May 7, 2018 19:38:44 GMT -5
Well. This isn’t where I expected the next story to go, but I’m intrigued!!
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Post by Kpatch on May 8, 2018 19:23:52 GMT -5
Thanks for your enthusiastic response to this new story. We'll be posting Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Even if it's not what you expected or if Hope isn't your favorite character right now, stick with it. Satisfaction is guaranteed!
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Post by sportsgirl on May 8, 2018 19:54:55 GMT -5
Woo Hoo! A new story!
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Post by Kpatch on May 9, 2018 7:00:22 GMT -5
Chapter 2
Hope tried to refocus on the letter she was writing but it was hard not to notice Sheila and Hattie whispering in the corner, looking very conspiratorial.
When Sheila glared at her, Hope quickly looked away. Sheila had been the bane of Hope’s existence ever since she arrived at Statesville. Reminded her of junior high when she got harrassed by the mean girls, so often that she learned to become one of the mean girls. She figured those days were over once she became a cop. As an authority figure, she got all the power. But being a cop behind bars only served to put a target on her back.
She returned to her letter, rereading what she wrote.
Dear Rafe. This is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, and I know it will be one of the hardest things for you too, but I have to set you free. We both need to face the fact that I may never get out of prison.
Holding the pencil to her lips, she came up with the next line and quickly put it on paper.
You know, prison’s not the worst place in the world. I’ve been held hostage many times, and in many ways, it’s not so different.
As I sit here in the prisoner’s break room, I’m learning to like the color grey. It’s peaceful and I have learned to pretend I’m on the Fancy Face II looking out at the sea on an overcast day.
“Psst.”
Hope’s head jerked up. She held her hand flat against her chest. “Hattie. You scared the living daylights out of me.”
“Sheesh. If ‘psst’ can scare you like that, we still got plenty of work to do toughening you up.”
“I’m fine just the way I am,” Hope insisted. “What is it you want?”
“I gotta tell you something,” Hattie whispered as she took a seat at Hope’s table in the break room. “You don’t gotta do nothing about it, but I promised that gorgeous hunk of a man named Roman Brady that I’d watch your back, so I want you to be in the know.”
“In the know? Uh oh. Hattie, what are you planning?” Hope asked with worry.
“What makes you think I’m planning anything?”
“Am I wrong?”
“Yes. No. Okay, you’re right. I can’t ever fool you. You’re one of those smart people that I always wanted to be like but realized I never would.”
“The point?”
“Oh right. So, Sheila and me, we’re gonna make a break for it.”
“Hattie, no.”
“The three of us — you, me, and Sheila — we’re all gettin’ transferred from Statesville to the big house next week.”
“This sounds dangerous.” Hope touched Hattie’s hand. “I’m watching your back too, and anything that involves Sheila is probably a bad idea, so I’m going to advise you to rethink it.”
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Post by melly on May 9, 2018 7:13:16 GMT -5
Good point about being held hostage—I think Hope’s been a hostage as much as she hasn’t!!
I don’t think I’d trust Sheila or Hattie, but i have a feeling Hope is going to get caught up in whatever they’re doing whether she likes it or not...
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Post by André DiMera on May 9, 2018 7:17:14 GMT -5
I don’t trust Sheila. Not sure about Hattie just yet, even though I do like her.
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Post by heroicmuse on May 9, 2018 16:46:07 GMT -5
Sheila is definitely not trustworthy. I'm worried Hope will get roped into some craziness trying to protect Hattie.
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Post by fluffysmom on May 9, 2018 22:43:56 GMT -5
I'm glad Hattie is telling Hope about the plan. I wonder what she is going to do with the info.
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Post by Kpatch on May 12, 2018 8:17:36 GMT -5
I had a doctor's appointment yesterday morning and was unable to post a chapter on schedule. Therefore, I'll post it today.  |
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Post by Kpatch on May 12, 2018 8:20:13 GMT -5
Chapter 3
“The three of us — you, me, and Sheila — we’re all gettin’ transferred from Statesville to the big house next week,” Hattie explained.
“This sounds dangerous.” Hope touched Hattie’s hand. “I’m watching your back too, and anything that involves Sheila is probably a bad idea, so I’m going to advise you to rethink it.”
“No no, this is foolproof, even for me. I swear. We figured out how to escape during the transport. We’re gonna…”
Hope jumped up. She held her palms up. “Don’t tell me.”
“Don’t you want in on it, Brady Lady?”
“No. And don’t call me that.”
“Why? Oh. Sorry. That’s what your ex-husband called you and it weirds you out.”
“Bo is my late husband, not my ex. He died and I would never have divorced him if —- Oh never mind. But he didn’t call me Brady Lady. He called me Fancy Face, and I always called him Brady.”
“Isn’t that Dr. Evans's stepson’s name?”
“Well, yes, but I called Bo by his last name. It was our thing. Just like I called Aiden by his last name. Mr Jennings.”
“How about that handsome Latin lover of yours? Rafael. Do you call him Hernandez?”
“Well, actually no, not so much. I usually just call him Rafe.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean ‘why’? That’s his name.”
“I mean why don’t you call him by those unimaginative lovey dovey pet names you called those other lovers?”
Hope paused to think. “I um … I don’t really know.”
“And I don’t really care,” Hattie said, waving at the air. “I was just makin’ small talk to kill time since we have so much of it to kill. Speaking of time, Sheila and me, we’ve got the bus ride timed perfectly. When we reach the railroad crossing at Brookville, Sheila’s gonna pretend she’s sick and call over the officer.”
“Stop. I mean it Hattie,” Hope complained. “I don’t want to hear it and I don’t want to be part of it.”
“You’d rather get stuck in the Big House and do hard time there?”
“I’m already doing hard time.”
“Oh my dear naive Funny Face, you don’t know what hard is. I could tell you stories…”
“I’m sure you could, but I’ll take my chances.”
“You’d really rather be in prison than be a free woman?”
“No, of course not. I don’t want to be in prison at all, but I’m a cop.”
“Used to be.”
“Point taken, but my real point is, I did the crime and I need to do the time. If my sentence is in the federal penitentiary, then so be it. Plus, I’m better off not knowing what you and Sheila are planning. That way, if I’m questioned, I can honestly say, I have no idea.”
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Post by André DiMera on May 12, 2018 8:44:51 GMT -5
Interesting conversation about names. It’s smart of Hope not to know the plan so she can have deniability. Thanks for the Saturday chapter, Kpatch. |
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