His plans were drowned out by the blaring of the horn announcing the lunch hour. Ambrose shook his head and shrugged. He didn’t really want to hear more of Julio’s regaling about his girlfriend. It was a dangerous line to tow, anyway. All relationships, even casual ones, now had to be approved by the new regime. Julio was risking everything by hooking up with this girl, and he knew it.
Leaving Julio behind, Ambrose hopped off the stairs to the cement mixer and went to the picnic area set up in the middle of the field. No one brought lunch to work, since food was already administered to work places and houses alike. From the scent on the air, it was likely beans and rice again. Ambrose groaned.
“I’m glad I didn’t get kitchen duty.” Julio grabbed a tray and stood in line next to Ambrose. “Do you know how many Mexicans got assigned that? You’d think we are all amazing cooks or something, shit.”
“Well, ya know…” Ambrose didn’t want to start this conversation again. Julio did all the cooking at their apartment – Ambrose was barely able to fry an egg, let alone create something with the crap rationed out to them. Julio had fun with it, however, even last night, when they only had navy beans and a handful of frozen peas for dinner.
“This is what communism feels like.” Ambrose sighed. “Why is it any better?”
“Jobs, man,” Julio told him. “I’ll eat frozen peas if it means a goddamn job. Don’t you remember when no one would hire khakis like us?”
“But we don’t get paid.” Ambrose held up a forkful of beans letting them drop back on his plate. A wistful smile spread on his face when he remembered sharing beans with Vicki in the woods. It was followed quickly by remembering the feeling of holding her in his arms, and how much he longed to do it again.
“You know what I did before the invasion?” Julio was saying. “I sold drugs, man. I lived on the street. Sometimes I blew dudes for crack. It was fuckin’ awful. Not even knowing where my next meal would come from and shit. Now look at us, man, we have real jobs, and I’m clean as a whistle. Hey…Ambrose?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you even listen to me, bro?”
“Sure, I did.”
“What did I just say?”
“Something about cooking and jobs.”
“No, man,” Julio laughed and shook his head. “Why are you off in the clouds, today, ese?”
“I don’t know what’s wrong.” Ambrose shrugged and stood up from the folding chairs that made up their dining area. He tossed his empty plate in the sink. He turned around. “Julio, do you think she’s safe?”
“Your woman? Do you even know where she is, man?”
Ambrose shook his head. “Yeah, but it’s pretty far.”
“Ya can’t leave, either, do you wanna end up on the train?”
Ambrose ran some water from the sink and downed the glass. “I know.”
“Ambrose, did you hear me?”
Ambrose shook his head, coming back to the present, staring down at the tray of beans, rice, and two slightly charred tortillas. “What’s up?” He looked at Julio.
“I said, you going to the fights?”
Ambrose touched his left eye, still sore from last week’s fights. “Probably.” He dug in with his fork.
“Awesome, I got money on you.” Julio was busy shoveling beans onto his tortilla.
“By money you mean a new shirt.”
“Well, yeah, actual money ain’t no good no more, you know that, ese.”
Ambrose shook his head. “How everything has changed.”
“You’re telling me.”
They ate in silence for a while, both lost in their thoughts. Ambrose ran through the plan in his head. It was shaky at best, and it required some risky chances. He was almost certain it wasn’t even going to work, and he’d get caught. But after what Julio had said, he had to do it in the next week. He didn’t have a choice, now.
I’m coming, Vicki, I’m coming. Just hold on.
Chapter Fifteen
A week earlier:
Vicki pulled the silk sheet up to her neck as Will stretched and wrapped his arm around her waist. She stiffened as she did every morning, wondering if today would dawn as another day he would take advantage of her, wondering what his mood would be when he woke up. She complied with every request, and even though she had her own bedroom separate from his in this mansion, he had been frequenting her room as of late. Sometimes she didn’t see him for a week, sometimes it was every night. In the last four months, she had only been summoned to his room once. This morning, however, she was safely in her bed next to the world’s most dangerous man.
It was the strangest thing: he never took advantage of her. Not once. He’d pull her into his arms and collapse into sleep almost immediately. It was as if they were a normal, everyday couple again back in suburbia, trying to ignore the military camped in front of their house. The military was still ever present, even worse now, but Vicki refused to admit anything was like it was. Or ever would be.
Some days she found herself awake before Will, contemplating life before the invasion. She pondered the fact Will never seemed interested in anything of the carnal nature. She’d never confessed such to Ambrose, the second man she’d ever been with in her life, but she could count on one hand the times her and Will had been intimate in the last year. She knew now that’s why the pregnancy had come as such a stark surprise. She couldn’t even remember the last time they had…
His warm lips pressed against the back of her neck. “Good morning, my love.”
All thoughts of the past whisked away, Vicki turned towards him, forcing a smile. “Good morning.” She found the nicer she was, the better his mood. No one else would have to die, as long as she placated him.
He brushed the hair away from her face. “You’re so beautiful.”
His hand trailed down to the growing bump under her stomach. She was concerned how quickly it was growing. Ambrose must have been right, which irritated her to no end – she was further along than she wanted to admit, and her denial was to blame.
“Hi there, little one.” He pressed a kiss to the bulge. “I hope you’re a boy. A beautiful son.”
Vicki squeezed her eyes shut, fighting away the tears. A son? Just so Will could teach him how to be a monster just like his father? Over my dead body.
Some days, it was a feasible idea.
“I’m gonna go grab a shower.” Vicki pushed herself out of bed.
Will put his arms behind his head, and she could feel his eyes burning into her back as she exited the bedroom.
In the bathroom, she turned the knob all the way to hot and the shower sprang to life.
On the sink to her left was a cup holder with razors. She trailed down one with her finger, wincing as a few drops of blood sprang to the surface. She sucked them away between her parched lips, wondering how hard it would be to cause major damage with one.
Who am I kidding? She thought. I’m a giant wuss. I can’t even handle spicy food, let alone cutting myself with a razor. She laughed, because the idea seemed so silly, but also such a real possibility to escape this daily hell. She sighed and stepped into the searing water of the shower. It burned into her skin for a few minutes, until she felt the water turn colder. She turned to see a hand with a Rolex reaching in and throwing the cold water.
“Jesus, Vicki, why is that water so hot?” The shower door opened, and Will stepped in.
She shrugged.
“You never liked hot showers before.”
She turned away from him to face the shower wall.
“Vicki.” He pulled her around the waist against his chest. “Stop resisting this, resisting us. I’m tired of this moping around. The world is a wonderful place today.” He spun her around to face him, the water cascading off her hair and onto her shoulders. She froze again, allowing herself to only blink when the water clogged her eyes.
“What can I do to make you happy?” he asked, as he did every day.
She looked up at him, not answering.
“Then let me go,” she whispered.
He yanked her hair back and she yelped. “Vicki, Vicki, Vicki. What am I going to do with you? You know you have to stay here, at least until my son is born. Well, after? Who knows…”
She cried as he yanked on her hair again. She froze as she always did, readying her mind if he would force her, even in her delicate state. To her surprise, he kissed her hard and released her hair so suddenly she almost collapsed into him. “This water’s too cold now.” He opened the shower door. “Get out and get dressed. I have a surprise for you.”
Vicki didn’t even care what it was anymore, but she knew it was better to obey than to fight it. She discovered that the hard way weeks ago. When she left the bathroom, Will was nowhere to be seen. She pulled out another dress, which was all Will allowed in her closet now, and shoved her legs into a pair of leggings, zipping some knee-high boots up the side. At least he had impeccable taste in clothing for her – although he should, after being with her for two years.
Two happy years, until now, at least, she remembered sadly. Until she finally figured out who he really was. It was still hard to believe how much the world had changed. A few months ago, they had just bought their first house, and now he was taking over the world.
Truth was stranger than fiction.
Blinking back the tears, she looked at the grand four-post bed in the middle of the room. On the red satin pillowcase, there was a small white box. She ran her hand over it, remembering another place, another time, with a bright white apple on the door to the store in the mall in Portland.
“This is for me?” She had asked Will.
“It’s the new model,” he told her. “And yes, it’s for you.”
“It’s beautiful,” Vicki held up the Alex glasses and put them on. The definition was so sharp and vivid as the screen displayed in front of her: email, social media, maps to her favorite restaurants, and even a selection of pictures of the both of them over the last year.
“It’s got a 3600 erm,” Will had told her.
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Electronic response memory. It knows what you want before you do, basically.”
Vicki blinked at him. “Really?”
“Look, you just tap here,” he pointed to the side of the glasses at her temple, “and speak a command and it will know what you want.”
“How does it know my voice?”
“I had them programmed. Try it.”
“How?”
“Say, ‘Alex, order me Thai food.’ Then, just use your hand to scroll through the selections.”
Vicki giggled like a little girl. Feeling nervous, she said, “Alex, order me Thai food.”
The screen blinked a few options in front of her, and she waved her hand to her favorite place.
“Padnum Thai,” a male voice, companionable, and not like a robot at all, answered her. “Scanning photos. Would you like your favorite, a dish called Pad Thai?”
Vicki smiled at Will as she double tapped her temple, closing the window. “This is amazing!”
“It gets better. Watch this.” She turned and saw he had his own glasses on. “Alex, take a selfie!” He pressed his cheek to hers and they both smiled. With a tap at his temple, he’d shared it on several social media sites.
“Oh, my GodGodGod, I love it,” she told him excitedly.
“I love you,” he kissed her.
Vicki opened the lid on the box, and it wasn’t big or flat like that newer model, the one she’d left behind in the Portland airport. This one was rather bulky and even had a rubberized cover. The screen was small, the keypad large and lit up as she lifted it from the box. It was ancient; like a brick-phone model she’d seen in the history museum back in Portland. They hadn’t been made for thirty years or more, she thought.
“Do you like it?”
Vicki spun, feeling like a kid with her hand in the cookie jar. Will was leaning against the doorframe.
“What is it?” Vicki decided to play dumb was the best route.
“It’s a satellite phone.”
“Why do I need this?” She let it fall back in the box.
“I figured you might want some communication with the outside world.”
Vicki’s heart beat in her chest. She remembered the number on the box she’d found under Cole’s seat. It seemed like centuries ago. Would Ambrose have that phone? But maybe…no. Will would never let her, surely.
She shoved the box at him. “Thanks, but I’m sure you’ll be monitoring it.”
Will’s sarcastic, sideways smile played on his lips. He held the phone out to her. “You can’t monitor satellite phones, sweetheart.”
“Really?” She grabbed the box back. “Wait, why are you doing this?”
His arm snaked around her waist, and but she turned her head before he could kiss her. “I want you to be happy. If this is the only way, so be it.”
“I don’t have anyone to call.”
He pointed to the symbols at the bottom of the phone: #, %, and *.
“What are those?”
“Try them and see who you can reach. You’d be surprised who’s on the other end.”
She was still suspicious, but just nodded anyway.
A soldier appeared then, as they often did. “Sir, we have a problem arising with telecommunications.”
Will looked over his shoulder and nodded. “I’ll be right there.”
He held Vicki out at arm’s length, and then kissed her on the forehead. “I’ve got to make a few calls, and later join me for dinner. I instructed Pascuela to make roasted pork. Your favorite.”
Vicki nodded, and flashed her most brilliant smile. “Thank you.”
“Till later, my sweet.” He pulled the ornate doors shut as he backed into the hallway next to the soldier. “Oh, don’t forget,” he said, his head poking through the doorway, “I’ve arranged the doctor to come by later.”
Doctor? The very thought terrified her. Not another one. She hoped this one stuck around; hope, that was a new feeling. Just the thought she’d have this baby alone one day terrified her, and to think someone else would be there, a doctor nonetheless, almost made her smile.
She ran her hand across the box with the phone and tried to summon positive thoughts, pushing the idea of a doctor away from her mind. Vicki could hardly believe her luck as she sat down on the bed. She felt the rubber keys, turned the phone over in her hand. The number emblazoned on the outside of Cole’s phone shone through her memory like a blinking beacon. Who would answer if she called? Would he even have the phone? She didn’t know. But she had to get another message out. She had to.
She dialed the number and held the phone to her ear, struggling to stop trembling.
It rang twice, and her heart sank.
Two more times, and she knew he wasn’t going to answer.
She hung up.
I’ll keep trying, she told herself. I’ll never stop trying.
Oh, Ambrose, where are you?
“Honey, the doctor is here.”
Hearing the knock and Will’s voice, Vicki pushed herself off the bed, cradling her bulge as she often did these days. She slammed the lid to the phone and slid it under the bed. She must have fallen asleep. She was so tired, always.
“Come in.”
Will pushed the door open slowly, followed by a dark-skinned man dressed casually in a button up shirt and dark slacks. He pushed thin glasses up his nose, just above a trimmed black beard. “Hello, I am Dr. Sethi.H.H.” He smiled at her. His accent was thick, Indian maybe, or South Pacific. She couldn’t tell. She noticed his smile was sad and somehow nervous. It disappeared quickly.
“Vicki.” She frowned when he neglected to offer his hand. She pushed the thought away. “Have you come to check on my baby?”
Dr. Sethi blinked and fidgeted with the black bag in his right hand. He sat it down on the small table in the c
orner. “Yes. Let’s see what’s going on.” He looked expectedly behind him at Will.
Will was smiling brilliantly behind him. “I’ll leave you to it, then, unless you’d wish me to stay, darling?”
Vicki shook her head, willing herself not to cry. This was not how she envisioned her first doctor’s visit. She should have been home in Portland, with the kind and loving father of her child by her side… there was no way she’d allow Will around her, not now.
Will nodded and shut the door. Dr. Sethi visibly relaxed. Vicki wondered what Will had done to force him here. A bit of hope sprung into her then. Maybe this doctor could help her. Plans churned in her brain.
The doctor gave her instructions to change, pulling a thin paper gown from his bag. She did as he asked, and the examination proceeded.
Vicki felt herself relax as Dr. Sethi offered her his hand to sit up, fifteen minutes later. “Is that it, then?” she asked. He’d been silent during the exam, and she was nervous something was wrong. “Can you tell how… I mean, how far along I am?”
“Without an ultrasound to pinpoint it, my guess from your measurements is about 25-27 weeks.”
“Almost seven months?” Vicki exclaimed, her eyes wide. “How is that possible?”
“My dear, I surely don’t need to explain how these things happen, right?”
“No,” she whispered. She wiped a tear away quickly. She was sure once the baby was born, Will would have no use for her. Her time was running out, and fast.
“There’s just one more thing I’d like to do.” Dr. Sethi turned and produced small white box with a tiny, pale microphone attached to the end.
“What’s that?” Vicki asked.
“It’s a heart monitor.” His smile was more relaxed, even kind now. “Would you like to hear your baby’s heart beat?”
“I suppose, if you think it’s best.” Vicki bit her lip. She didn’t know why but she couldn’t help feeling this was the final step… there was no turning back now. The baby was real.
“I do.” He dipped the end of the microphone in clear gel and pressed it to her bare abdomen. He moved the cold apparatus around slowly, swirling it up and down her side and around the front. A few turns of the dial on the end, and the speaker suddenly burst to life with a steady thrum, thrum, thrum.
Lavender Dreams: Life After Us: Book Two Page 13