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It happened quite fast. Aaliyah pushed Brock up against the a table, Carol watching curiously as the Brit girl held the taller girl's collar in her clenched fists. "You ever touch Nichols again, and I will fucking end you, got it?" Aaliyah threatened, Brock nodding quickly before they were warned by Hellman. Aaliyah pulled away, shoving the girl one last time before heading off to her bunk to take a breath. She had heard that Brock and some others had roughed up Nicky and Blanca in the library, putting both of them in medical.

To say Aaliyah was upset about that was an understatement.

As she sat up against the wall, holding her head in her hands, trying to control her breathing, a small knock was heard on the doorframe. Aaliyah looked up, seeing it was Badison, she immediately rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Murphy?" Badison obviously became annoyed at the fact that Aaliyah used her real name rather than her nickname she went by. "First of all, it's Badison. What are you, a grandma?"

Aaliyah scoffs, slowly standing up, being careful of her ribs. "I don't give a shit whether you wanna call yourself fucking Oprah. Your name card says Murphy, so that's what I'll call you. If you got a problem with that, I suggest you find someone who gives the slightest fuck."

Badison rolled her eyes, choosing not to respond to that. "Look, if you're gonna start workin' for Carol, you gotta stop roughin' up my girls when the slightest thing pisses you off. They don't seem to appreciate it." Aaliyah grinned sadistically, leaning against the metal bedframe. "First of all, I don't work for Carol. Secondly, tell your "girls" to stay the fuck away from my friends, or we're gonna have problems not even Carol can help you out of. You got that? Or do I have to demonstrate?"

Badison huffed, and, not wanting problems with the pyscho Brit girl, she decided to back off for now. Turning to leave, Aaliyah's voice stopped her in her movements. "Word of advice, Madison." Badison turned to look at her, raising a brow. "Stop trying to be friends with everyone. If you want to be top dog, in control, you need to make them fear you, or else they're just gonna walk all over you. Take it from someone who knows firsthand how it feels to walked all over on."

Badison slowly nodded, taking the girl's advice. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good."

A few hours later, Aaliyah was sitting at Carol's table, all of them playing Bridge. It was Carol, Aliyah, one other and Red at the table. "So she's the one who OD'ed, but it's my fault? Christ. Firstborn's supposed to be the responsible one so how come I had enough sense not to get hooked on my own product?" Aaliyah listened to Carol's passive aggressive rant. Apparently Barbara had OD'ed and they were trying to blame Carol, claiming that she must've put something in Barbara's stuff.

"Classic junkie. It's always somebody else's fault," said the one across from Carol. Aaliyah frowned, feeling a little targeted there. Though she hadn't blamed anyone specifically for her drug use, everyone else kind of pinned it on Nicky and Alissa. Aaliyah took responsibility for actions, the only thing she blamed Alissa for, was fucking up Aaliyah's life at young age, causing her life to go slightly down hill. Aaliyah decides to imput, "Junkie's got nothing to do with it. Family always blame family, that's just a known fact."

Red nods in agreement with the younger girl. "Yesterday, my son told me that I'm the reason my husband is prematurely ejaculating into a divorce from Sheepshead Bay." Red slaps a card down, Aaliyah raising her brows with a bit of amusement. Carol seemed to agree with what the two said. "The problem with family is expectations. Unconditional love, my ass-crack. Gotta earn my affections. They're not a right."

Aaliyah hums in agreement, that's maybe why Carol did give her affection, because she actually earned it. Red looks to Carol, agreeing with the woman. "Exactly. I spent weeks apologizing to my son, begging him to visit, when I was the one who grew him from a speck of nothing. Fed him milk from my breast for three fucking years and now my tits hang like shriveled figs." Aaliyah chuckles at that, slapping down a card at the table.

"Aw, Mommy, please come visit me. I'm so sad you only visit Barbie." Carol mimicked a child's voice before slapping down a card aggressively. "Fuck unconditional love. Hate keeps me warm at night." Aaliyah feigned an offended look, Carol glancing up at her, "Obviously not you, cupcake." Aaliyah smiled warmly, patting the older woman's hand.

"In Russia, we have a saying. "Those who love you will make you weep. Those who hate you will make you laugh." Red says in Russian, Liyah understanding only a little bit of that. Carol chuckles, slapping her cards down. "You don't even have to translate that. I hear you loud and clear." Carol looks at the woman across from her, "Sit there. Across from me. She's my partner now." The woman slapped her cards down, switching places with Red all whilst Liyah hummed a song under her breath.

"I tried to kill my mum once," Aaliyah randomly comments. Carol chuckles, shaking her head in amusement, "Of course you did. Can't blame you, she always did have it coming." Red looks up hearing this. "You knew her mother?" She questioned. Carol nodded. "Yup. She was my partner. Until she turned on me, just like Frieda." Aaliyah nods in confirmation, Red pursed her lips, nodding slowly at that new information.

"And now, she stole her daughter from her. It's like the ultimate revenge if I'm being honest," Aaliyah giggles, waving her fingers with a crazy glint in her eye, not that it was hard to notice.

"Someone had to, otherwise it was wasted potential."

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Aaliyah looked up suddenly, hearing Chapman laugh quite loud as she looked down at a paper. She cheerfully clapped her hands, getting the attention of Carol, Aaliyah, and Badison. "Yes! Yay!" Aaliyah glanced at Carol who gave her a nod, both of them getting up, Badison following. Oh yeah, and Badison was no longer on Carol's bad side. After coming back from getting shanked, she had told Carol about another side business. The phone business. She claimed Vause helped her out with it. Though Aaliyah did much believe her. Murphy wasn't smart enough to pull that off.

"Get the paper cupcake," Carol said. Aaliyah smiled, walking over, she stood behind Piper, grabbing the paper from her hands, she passes over to Carol. The woman scoffs, looking down at it. "You didn't get kickball. You got D-block kickball."

Piper was quick to come to a defense. "I just offered it to anybody who wanted to play. You said I could ask the other girls."

Carol looks down at her with a hint of amusement, holding a laugh at her audacity. "If Barb's bitches are playing, we gotta have our own team." She looks over to the table where Badison's little crew was. "Akers, Creech, Chambal, both Amys, you're joining kickball." Carol looks to Aaliyah who seemed to be having a stare off with Vause. "Martin joined, you in?" Aaliyah hummed, glancing up at the woman, breaking her glare-off with Vause. "I'll pass. I rather not have balls flying at my bruised, but sexy, body."

Alex couldn't help but roll her eyes at Aaliyah's compliment to herself. Carol seemed to be fine with her declining, which surprised a few girls who overlooked the scene. No one ever declined Carol's orders, nor would Carol ever let it slide. "Badison, you're in charge." Badison laughs. "We can call it Badison News Bears." Aaliyah and Carol look at her with equally annoyed looks, "That's stupid." They stated in unison, Badison feigning offense as Carol handed her the paper back.

Chapman grinned, though Aaliyah could tell it was a little forced. "Diamond! Yo, you can be base coach." Badison says towards Zirconia. Aaliyah wondered when they suddenly became friends. But hey, she didn't care that much anyways. Aaliyah grabbed Badison's arm, pulling her off to the side as Carol went back to her table. Aaliyah cleared her throat, looking down at the blonde, "You got any info on Martin, yet?"

Badison nods, "Yeah. She's been moved to D-block. Apparently she's part of Barbara's crew now."

Aaliyah hums, "Interesting."

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a/n: love aaliyahs peppy side, it reminds me sm of how she was in the beginning of this book 🥲

carol and liyah bonding over the hatred of alissa >>

liyah still having unspoken beef with vause 😭

and aaliyah still protecting nicky 🤭 i love them so much

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