meet karina
tw: teen pregnancy, gun mention, parental death theme song: b!tch by spencer sutherland character inspiration: selina kyle from dc comics, blair waldorf from gossip girl, cece parekh from new girl, santana lopez from glee
Introducing KARINA PIANKA . Word on the street is they are a CON ARTIST & FORGER and member of THE SYNDICATE for the past 10 YEARS . Though they are DOMINEERING and BITCHY , they can also be INDEPENDENT and INTELLIGENT . In the chaos of New York City, they’re sure to fit right in.
— BASICS
full name: karina elżbieta pianka nickname: rina, reenie, kiki ( usually used when someone wants something from her ) preferred name: karina, rina, reenie aliases: kasandra pikula (first husband), klaudia parzych (second husband), kari pachuta (third husband), malarz (art world) birthday: october 31st zodiac: scorpio birthplace: wroclaw, poland current residence: upper brooklyn nationality: american & polish ethnicity: english, german, polish, irish, scottish occupation: art consultant ( cover job ) affiliation: the syndicate role: con artist & forger
— PERSONAL
gender: female pronouns: she/her sexual orientation: heterosexual romantic orientation: heteromantic relationship status: single, divorced education: high school GED positive traits: meticulous, persuasive, charming, seductive, debonair negative traits: hedonistic, brazen, rowdy, indulgent. materialistic
— FAMILY
birth father: emil czaja birth mother: loretta jeane boykin adoptive father: abner baird adoptive mother: dorothy baird aunt(s): many various aunts on both sides uncle(s): many various uncles on both sides sibling(s): 1 younger sister cousin(s): various in georgia and poland children: 1 young son & daughter
— BIOGRAPHY
Life had not been kind to Karina, not even from the start and it was a downhill slope. While she was born in Poland, she lived most of her life in Georgia with her mother Loretta. Her father was in and out of jail after making the move to Georgia to be closer to the family and her mother had checked out when she was just three years old, leaving her in the care of neighbors the majority of the time. When her sister was born some years after her, Karina knew at a young age she was going to have to be responsible for both of them as their parents seemed to have completely not given them a second thought. When Karina was old enough but still definitely too young, she would go out on the streets and pick pockets for any money or anything she could sell for money; her parents were putting forth the most minimal effort into their care and what little money their father could send from prison was mostly used up by their mother on herself.
She graduated from picking pockets when she realized that a few tears and target words could have people eating out of the palm of her hands. She was a natural when it came to faking upset with a few loose tears to gain sympathy from anyone, especially strangers who thought she was a child on the streets that needed help. More than once Karina was caught and sent home to her mother who would scold her and punish her by locking her in her room; the only thing she thought about while she was locked up was her sister having to fend for herself. So, Karina didn't stop conning people or picking pockets but got better and better at stealing until she was so quick that people wouldn't even realize she had even been standing next to them. Her father knew nothing of Karina's minor criminal ways as he wasn't even home most of the time and whenever he was home, her father spent time with his other jail friends or at a bar in town. Karina and her sister were truly on their own and they knew it, despite both dreaming of having that happy family life, they knew that was not the cards they were dealt.
Eventually, when Karina was twelve, her mother and father decided they wanted to uproot the family and make the move from Georgia to their new home in New Orleans, Louisiana. Neither she nor her sister were excited about the move and would face constant bullying for the way they talked or the clothes they wore as their parents still weren't putting much care or effort into their wellbeing, just as they'd done in Georgia. The only difference this time as opposed to the beginning of their life is the teachers and other authority figures cared much more about the state and health of children and after the third week in a row of showing up to school in dirty or tattered clothes or no food for lunch or even money for lunch, one of the teachers reported it to the principal who then contacted Child Protective Services.
Both children were removed from the home, much to the protest of their parents who tried to plead and fight for the children to stay, but it was no use and Karina and her sister were taken away. This was the first time Karina ever saw her parents fight for either of them and she couldn't understand why now. CPS told the two of them that they would be placed in a foster home for the time being and it was lucky for them with this family willing to take both of them in. Karina felt a relief as she wouldn't have to worry too much about her sister being away from her or wondering if the family she'd be placed with would be good to her or if she was adjusting well.
Abner and Dorothy Baird had known each other all their lives and had been together for many years. They didn't have children of their own and decided to take the opportunity to have kids while doing a good thing. The Bairds showed the kids the much-needed kindness and care and while her sister reveled in this and accepted their love, Karina had a hard time adjusting. This was something she hadn't accounted for with herself as she'd been too worried about her sister than herself; she rebelled quite a lot which often resulted in notes being sent home and calls being made while Dorothy and Abner had been working, prompting one or both of them to show up to the school and meet with the teacher or principal. The things she got caught for was never fights or stealing but being caught forging signatures or notes from her teachers to her parents. Had she not forged the notes, Abner and Dorothy would've known she was getting into trouble much sooner.
They could understand why Karina was acting out and sought out help to aid in her adjustment to her new life. Some things worked, she was adjusting better living in a new home and accepting the care from the Baird family but she was still having trouble in school. She'd been suspended so many times that a meeting with the principal had to happen with the proposal of an alternative school. The Bairds had considered the idea and thinking that they were trying to get rid of her and keep her sister since she was considered the problem child, Karina ran from the school and away from home.
Karina was living on the streets and fending for herself as she did when she was younger in Georgia. Authorities would find her and bring him back to the Baird's residence but after a few weeks there, she'd just up and leave the next morning until she was brought back again. Despite falling into her new routine and life, Karina's sister was constantly worried about her sister and more often than not would know where she was when she'd run from home and instead of telling the Bairds where she was, she'd bring her food and clothes so she knew she was at least being taken care of when she wasn't home. It broke Karina's heart to see her sister become the protector that she'd been when they were younger but she couldn't adjust like she had.
At age fourteen, Karina had made her way out of Louisiana and found herself in back in Georgia. Initially living off of vending machine snacks and Dr. Pepper, Karina found herself hanging out where a lot of the local teens would go after school in downtown Macon. It was there that Karina found friendship with a boy she remembered from grade school that used to live a few houses down from her. She spent most of her time either on her own during the day or with him when he was out of school; people didn't really ask to many questions, Karina was so good at lying that she didn't have to many people concerned as to why she was always out on her own and never with her family. Despite falling into her new routine and life, Karina's sister was constantly worried about her and more often than not would know where she was staying when she'd run from home and instead of telling the Bairds where she was, she'd bring her food and clothes so she knew she was at least being taken care of. It broke Karina's heart to see her sister become the protector that she'd been when they were younger but she couldn't adjust like she had.
Shortly before her 15th birthday, Karina found out she was pregnant with twins. She didn't know what to do or who to turn to; she didn't even want to tell her sister because out of everything she was doing for her to keep her location hidden from the Bairds, she knew this was something her sister couldn't hide from them. She eventually mustered up the courage to tell the soon to be father what was going on and both agreed that putting the twins up for adoption was the only option. Neither of them were anywhere near capable of taking care of a baby, let alone twins, and while it broke her heart to say goodbye to them, Karina knew it was the best thing for them. After the twins were born and later given to another family, Karina didn't tell anyone she was going to leave and into the night she went without another word to anyone.
She called her sister then to tell her what happened; tears were streaming down her face through the phone and when the question was asked about wanting to come home, Karina was against it. It was one thing to come home after running away but it was something else entirely to come home after something like this and Karina didn't want that to happen. Her sister gave her money for a bus ticket and soon enough, Karina was living in Texas. By the time she turned seventeen, Karina got a job working as a waitress at a run down diner in Dallas and the money she earned was put towards lodging at a nearby hostel. One of the days she was working, it was late in the evening, a young guy came in and was absolutely smitten.
They were very much in love, knowing not nearly enough about each other didn't matter to either of them and they loved that about their relationship even more. It was discovering new things about each other and figuring out how to love that they thought made their relationship so beautiful. This was the first relationship Karina ever had and she thought going all in was the way to go and it didn't help that he thought the same. On her eighteenth birthday, Karina got married to him and she couldn't have been happier. It was a small ceremony with a couple of their friends and neither of their parents knew about it until after. They were adults and they couldn't have stopped them but the worry was there that the shoe was going to drop and boy did it ever.
See, Karina didn't meet this guy by chance; she'd seen him around town and the people his family were associated with and knew they were her ticket to bigger money. Whenever there were family events or dinners that she was invited to, Karina laid on the charm and before she knew it, she was conning the most influential people of the Texas elite and they were none the wiser. She did truly love her husband and adored his family but conning was like an itch she couldn't help but scratch; it was almost like she knew she was good at it and it would be crazy not to do it. After going for the biggest score at an end of summer gala, after almost three years of marriage, Karina left nothing but signed divorce papers and her ring behind and disappeared like she was so good at doing. She often thinks about what he thought when he found her ring and the papers like that but she knew she couldn't stay in one place for too long and now with her making her own money, albeit unconventionally and illegally, she didn't need to call her sister for help as usually did. Just the calls of what she was up to and how her life was going, not wanting to give too much detail in case she were to be tracked down.
It was now just a year later, a few months shy of her 21st birthday, when Karina met her second husband in North Carolina. Of course, this was also a targeted move with his political connections and rather impressive friend group. It wasn't hard for Karina to flash a pretty smile and shake a few hands for the money to start rolling in. Never running a con that could led back to her, her self-taught skills of acting were coming into play for the housewives looking to have their own money outside of their own powerful husbands and the powerful men wanting to have their own funds to keep from their materialistic wives. It was like taking candy from a baby and her own husband just looked at her behind rose-colored glasses as if she could do no wrong. It wasn't until a year and a half later that the familiar move of papers and a ring were left for him, and just before she left, swiping his expensive watch collection was just the cherry on top.
Just six months after that, Karina was living it up in Tennessee, having the time of her life off the money obtained from her first and second husbands when her radar went off with soon to be husband number 3. She could tell without even having to do a deep dive on him that he came from old money but definitely worked hard despite it and she was fancying herself a rugged man. He was the one that prompted her to explore her hobbies and interests and got her into art classes after talking about art being one of her favorite things in school. The better she got with her art skills, the more she realized she could use this to her advantage; painting fakes of true masterpieces and sell them to the wealthy clients that she would meet at different galleries.
It wasn't until they were engaged that she was finally asked what her job was and it wasn't a hard task at all to say she was an art consultant with the amount of time she spent around art and her interest in painting. After they were married, Karina dived deeper into art forgeries and was making her name for herself, both with buyers to con others and sellers looking to con others. She, of course, was always looking out for number 1 and any chance she got to flip on someone to protect herself she did.
Out of everyone in her life, her third husband was the only one to see through her act and facade that she put on to protect herself, keep people at arms length to ensure her safety both physically and emotionally. He made her not necessarily tear down her walls but add a door for him to walk through and see each layer of who she is. She felt seen and heard when she was with him, something she didn't even realize she was missing until he practically showed it to her with big flashing lights. For once she felt like she was truly on the right path, not counting the forgeries and the conning, and she didn't forsee leaving this marriage any time soon.
Then one night her whole world blew up right in her face.
Her husband's family was out of town and there were no pressing matters to attend to so the two of them decided they were due to have a night to themselves. Her husband had told her he was making dinner for them and Karina decided to surprise him with his favorite bottle of wine, but when Karina got home, she was met with the sight of her birth father, Emil Czaja. Karina hadn't seen either of her birth parents in years, especially her father who spent more time away from home than anything and she had no intention of ever reaching out to him so the situation at hand was completely throwing her off. Her father commented on her new life, how she clearly made a name for herself with her big house and new husband. Her husband could tell from the moment her father had arrived that there was no good spirit in his being there and kept an eye on him as well as Karina incase anything gave a sign as to things going sideways.
Karina demanded to know what he was doing in her home, what he wanted and more importantly how he found her; the Bairds and her sister didn't even know she was in Tennessee so it didn't make sense as to how he tracked her down. Without warning, her father exploded with anger and brandished a gun, berating Karina for talking to him in such a disrespectful tone and demands she pay for her causing so many headaches in his life and his failed marriage to her mother. Her husband couldn't even step to her to keep her safe, her father made sure to keep them at a distance from each other. Her father once again demanded compensation and Karina complied, not wanting to make things worse and put her or her husband in any more danger.
As Karina went to the table side drawer that she said held their personal checks, but really kept her husbands handgun, her father began to let his guard down and her husband thought this was the tiem to strike. A struggle began as they fought for control of the gun and Karina quickly got the gun out of the drawer and took her stance to protect her husband but there was a problem. They were both struggling too much for Karina to get a good shot but her husband didn't pay that any mind and told her to take the shot. Just a breath, one quick breath and a shot rang out with nothing but silence following after. The first time in her life she shot a gun and that shot killed her father. Bruised, bloodied, and beaten, her husband slowly approached Karina to take the gun from her and to come to her side to comfort her as she cried and constantly apologized in polish to her father for taking his life.
The police were called but it could clearly be seen that this was clearly an act of self defense. Her husband's family got back to the house as soon as possible and when Karina called her sister to tell her what happened, she told their adoptive parents and then they were on the first flight out. Karina was cleared of any wrongdoing which was already assumed but this night changed everything for Karina; the little monster in the back of her mind was trying to make her see and believe that with the skeletons in her closet, there was no telling who could come to their home next. Once her family arrived and came to her to comfort her, Karina's sister could tell something was off. Once they were alone, she asked was what going on and Karina confessed how she was scared for her safety but more importantly her husband's; she didn't want to take the risk that someone from her past wouldn't track her down and demand things from her like her father had.
With a heavy heart, Karina went through the all too familiar steps of ending her third marriage, an ending she really didn't see coming but felt was inevitable. Her parents comforted her on her decision and her sister offered to let her move to New York with her to have a fresh start. In New York, Karina did what she did best and put the past behind her as she began her new life in New York. Making and selling her forgeries here was both easy and difficult; easy in the sense that art was always a thing people wanted a piece of so finding buyers was easy but it was difficult because people in New York were more guarded when it came to doing business with her. Karina began opoerating under the cover of being an art consultant to get in some of the inner art circles across New York to help grow and expand her business and brand.
It was at this time, rapidly approaching her 26th birthday, that Karina was tracked down in her office by members of the Syndicate. She was told that they'd been keeping their eye on her since her business started in New York which didn't impress her all that much. Until they told her that she had been on their radar since she started conning people in Texas; they always kept their eyes on those with potential and when she added forgeries to her resume, she really made herself stand out. They offered her to join them and continue with her conning and forgeries but for more money than she's ever earned. Karina didn't even think twice about it; she wanted to pay her sister back for helping her start fresh in New York and wanted her parents to now live their dream retired life with no worries. It wasn't rocket science to see where this new money was better spent and after ten years of being with the Syndicate, she was better than she'd ever been since starting this life and she proved it every chance she got.
— EXTRA FACTS
karina kept her initials the same when she changed her name with each husband to ensure they wouldn't be able to trace her back to her real identity and that way when she signed for anything, the initials always matched
karina still has a very strong love for dr. pepper and almost always has one in her hand or within reach. she even keeps a mini fridge fully stocked with nothing but dr. pepper
sometimes, karina will test her skills on other members, crying over something or getting upset with something they said, to see if she can fool them
karina initially got into forgery when she was still in school after forging her parents' signatures or her teacher's handwriting when it came to grading her papers; after her third husband, she was very much picking up the old love of forgery but now with an artistic focus
karina still has the watches she stole from her second husband and when she wears them, she always makes up a story about where she got them from, always saying something ridiculous about him to justify taking the watches
besides polish, karina also speaks german and french with some conversational italian due to selling art and working with buyers internationally
despite polish being her first language, she spent majority of her time in georgia and developed a thick southern accent and uses a lot of southern phrases and terms of endearment
— WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS
YOUNGER SISTER (26-30);; karina initially felt like she failed her sister, especially when she ran away and left her behind, but her sister flourished despite it all and continued to check in with her and look out for her as she moved from place to place. after she offered her apartment to her until she got on her feet in new york, karina felt like she truly didn't deserve a sister like her and goes out of her way to pay her back any way she can
SON;; karina didn't immediately start keeping track of the twins and it was inbetween her first and second husband that she recieved a letter from the agency that was given to them by her son. he wanted to reach out to her, the both of them, to talk and meet but karina felt so ashamed of her choices during that time of her life that should couldn't bring herself to meet them or even send a letter back.
DAUGHTER;; karina had also gotten a letter from her daughter expressing the same wishes and wants as her brother but the feeling of shame outweighed the desire to see them, hear about their lives. Her daughter had actually sent pictures of her and her brother and karina carries those pictures and their letter with her wherever she goes; if those were her only possessions in life then she was happy
FATHER OF HER TWINS;; she hasn't spoken to him since she left after giving up the twins and often wonders where he ended up in life. she hopes he found someone that deserves him and gives him the love he gives to everyone in his life
EX-HUSBAND #1;; karina doesn't like to dwell too much on her past but she does remember her first husband fondly. when she thinks back to their relationship, it was definitely giving puppy love vibes and thinking about him and the two of them together gives her nostalgic feelings
EX-HUSBAND #2;; while they were married and he wooed her with expensive gifts, they fought and bickered often and it became more of a gain to see who could get on who's nerves the most. while she recognizes that this wasn't the healthiest of relationships, it does bring a smile to her face thinking back to all the funny but crazy things they did to each other
EX-HUSBAND #3;; he has been the most memorable partner she's ever had, someone that saw through her walls and defenses and truly made her feel something. she's sure he knew what she did for a living and how she made her money but didn't look at her like she was a criminal. divorcing him wasn't an easy decision for her but she couldn't keep dragging him down with her
SYNDICATE MENTOR;; this person helped karina get used to being in the syndicate and showed her the ropes of her new life. she often goes to them for advice or support when it comes to anything in her life; from forgeries to personal matters, she feels like she can turn to this person with any issue she has
HER RIDE OR DIE;; this person is her best friend, someone she treats as if they were siblings and grew up together. they had such a strong bond when they first met and have just been in each others' lives since then. karina couldn't imagine not having them in her life and this person is usually the first one she calls when anything happens in her life
FRENEMY;; someone she met in her criminal circles, either in new york or prior to her moving, and while they dislike each other for opposing views on how to operate in the criminal world, karina knows this is someone she can count on in a pinch and vice versa
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT HOOK UP;; someone she met in the early times of her arriving to new york; they met out late one night and had a venting session over a few drinks and before she knew, she was in his bed. karina believed it was a one time thing into they kept running into each other and thus a routine was formed where if either of them is overwhelmed, they go to the other to vent, or they have the occasional hookup
