by Marian Stack
As T-five entered her cell she was shocked to find the cell empty. Responsible panic began to consume T-five’s body as she rapidly exited the cell and quickly leaned over the walkway railing scouring the active common area hoping to notice her charge casually introducing herself to her new mates. But sadly her worst fears came clear, number 99862 was nowhere to be seen. “Calm yourself old girl…she is a mountain girl and can handle herself in any situation, or so Mrs. Coffee believes.”
As she re-entered the cell she sat on her bunk and fought with her mind and her feelings regarding the young woman’s safety and as she did so she noticed that her cellmates bathing soap, washcloth and towel were all missing from the shared hooks.
“Shit.” She breathed out as she rapidly exited the cell and cautiously hurried towards the bathing rooms.
Believing that she was showering correctly she stood under the hot water and revelled in its pleasant temperature allowing her mind to empty until and quite suddenly she felt this enormous push on her exposed breasts, that literally catapulted her body against the wall with the water faucet jabbing into the left side of her back, just missing her back bone.
“You don’t look that tough.” The voice came from the largest of the three women that stood directly in front of Turtles’ showering stall.
“Take her out…kick the effing shit out of her…teach her who’s boss around here…kick her in the face until her eyes pop out. Ya… pop her eyes out.” Each women’s message over played the other as they all tried to entice the aggressor to begin the beating, as Turtle laid on the wet tile floor as the water rained down upon her naked and trembling body.
Suddenly out of nowhere came another voice, “This doesn’t look like a fair fight to me.” T-five advanced the group as they hovered over Turtle’s curled-up body.
“Get the fuck out of here T-five, this ain’t your fight. We need to send a message, now get the hell out of here.” The main aggressor had turned towards T-five as she advanced towards her mission.
“Sorry but I can’t do that…you see it’s a thing with me. You know… helping the underdog. Now step back, because you really don’t want some of this.” T-five offered a mock body charge to one of the lesser status women in the group.”
“You and what army is going to help this miserable excuse of a killer?”
T-five was getting ready for a good thumping regarding her odds of three against one but then to her delight she heard another voice enter the conversation and she knew who it was. “Hello St. Clair… nice of you to follow me in here and even the odds against these three,” T-five stated as she had turned to stare at the three women who now looked at their situation through different eyes.
St. Clair was a relatively short stocky woman who was better known to her fellow inmates as ‘her bark was less than her bite’, as everyone knew what her employment was before she entered the system for forgery, which was a professional women’s wrestler.
“Ya T-five… I was hoping I could get me some of that solitary confinement time off, to get caught up on my reading. Let’s say we start the beating on this one.” St. Clair stated as she mock lunged towards the woman standing closest to Turtle as she was attempting to stand on her feet, using the wet wall for stability.
“You just wait until you’re alone…” the aggressor attempted to place fear into Turtle’s mind but…
“Well you see that’s the other thing, if you so much as look at this young thing I will take you out… Got it! This young girl is off your radar and if anything happens to her, regardless if you or one of your cronies harms a single hair on her head… I will come for you. Don’t forget, I’ve run out of parole options, so I’m in here for a very long time.”
While T-five was sending her message, St. Clair was helping Turtle to remain on her feet as she helped her towards the bench and her clothing.
“Here… let me take a look at your back.” T-five announced as she walked behind Turtle who was now sitting on the bench, wincing in pain. “Well you are going to have a really good bruise and you will more than likely have trouble sleeping for a while but you seem to be a cat with nine lives as the faucet seemed to have missed your back bone by mere inches, and that my young thing would have been disastrous. Now let’s get you dressed and back to our cell so you can rest…unless of course you want to go to the infirmary and then get caught up in an investigation.”
Turtle received the message loud and clear, “I’ll be fine without a trip to the infirmary, just a little help getting me back to our cell in one piece would be great.” She then turned and offered T-five, and St. Clair a heartfelt thank you smile of acknowledgment.
After the curfew lights-out plunged the area into the semi darkened void, she laid on the top bunk on her stomach hearing the white noise scream all around her, and for the first time she became so fearful of this new life that she no longer could will her mind to control her trembling body or to stop the hot serge of tears that began to pour from her eyes. She had never felt so powerless, and scared, and for the first time since her father’s passing that even calling his name for help, seemed to be a fruitless gesture.
Chapter Fifteen - All the Right Decisions
“Did I not tell you to stop calling here? This is my home and this is not a secure line.” Megan had placed her hand somewhat over the receiving end of the phone to ensure that her voice was not being amplified through the study, as she fought to remain secretive in her deception.
“Stop talking and listen to me…you are not going to get caught, and no matter how hard that useless Chief of Police of that one horse town which she may govern over, and try as she may, she will never get a tiny sniff of anything that has been covered up or re-routed. Now my love stop calling here, I have to make all the right decisions before my big day.”
And then with her mind always in the game and keeping this affair tightly woven in this deception Megan sweetened her voice expressing a softer tone and adding a little bit of a sexual nature into her message, “Now take one of your sleeping pills and climb into your big king size bed and think sweet thoughts of me and get plenty of rest.” And then without hesitation and clearly oblivious towards her girlfriend’s worry she turned on additional sweetness, “See you at our usual meeting place at three p.m. sharp tomorrow and be ready to have your world rocked…I’m feeling horny as all hell for you, so Ta Ta for now my sweet little tasting cunt.” And then without waiting for a response she placed the receiver back onto its cradle, turned and walked out of the room.
And then within seconds of Megan’s departure, Joe entered into the study to gather up some legal documents that he had asked Megan to retrieve early that afternoon, and immediately observed that his desk had been confiscated by the wedding planner as all he noted were samples of decorations and greeting cards and stuff arranged over his rather large desk.
“Really the size of this house and I still can’t seem to retain one item of furniture that is not covered with wedding shit!!!” His words ignited his anger which mechanically moved his arm to sweep across the desk scattering every sample which included crystal glasses, flying into the air and landing on the beautiful red cedar hardwood floor.
“Jesus Christ brother… what the hell are you doing here?” Blair softly spoke as she appeared from her seated position from behind one of the stylishly tall wing-backed chairs that surrounded the study.
“Holy shit sister…and what the F are you doing sitting in the dark? And by the way you scared the living B-Jesus out of me.” He stated as he continued to look for his much needed documents, believing they were mixed up in the mess on the floor.
“I think Megan is having an affair.” She softly spoke waiting for the well documented, “I told you so”… speech to begin.
“And what has finally made you come to this conclusion?” He inquired as he pushed some of the items that rested on the floor with his foot.
“I was sitting here with my head phones on listening to a court transcript and when I remove
d the ear-buds, I heard her talk about wanting someone’s sweet little tasting cunt…and by the way I still hate that word.”
“Even though you love tasting…”
“Really brother… that’s the part of the story you are going to sit on?”
“Really sister…those are the words you are going to use?” And then with one large leap he was sitting on his sister’s lap with a grin on his face the size of a badly painted clowns face.
“Well now at least you can call off this ridiculous wedding and get back to living your life without trying to drink yourself into oblivion.
“I’m not drinking myself into oblivion, and if you want to discuss addictions…how are the ponies running these days…well big brother.”
With continued easy cat like movements he removed his full body weight from her lap and slid onto the chair directly in front of hers. So…I’m listening. Now can I at the very least be in the same room when you call off this madness…please…oh pretty please.”
“Brother I’m not calling off this wedding today or tomorrow. Megan has put a lot of work into this day and we will not disappoint my fiancée... got it! I’m sure I misunderstood the conversation, I was after all reading this disgusting coroner’s report regarding this family’s law suit against the rental company.
“So a little light reading, and by the way, when have you begun to change your legal direction? Your passion has always been corporate law not legal.”
“Maybe a few life changes for me will do me some good. And by the way, getting married is one of those changes.” Then getting up from her chair, “now if you don’t mind I’m going to talk to my fiancée.” And then she abruptly exited the room, however instead of moving towards her fiancée as intended she leaned against the wall and inhaled a big deep breath of thought filled anxiety, knowing what she just heard was no misunderstanding.
Not realizing how long she had remained outside the office door she was surprised by the sounds of the door being opened and without thinking she ran down the hall towards one of the other rooms on the same floor. Why she did not want her brother to notice her miserable mood was a mystery to her at the time, but never the less she hid until she noticed his departure as she had spied his movements through the crack space left by the slight opening in the doorway. And then quiet unexpectedly her next direction was not towards her fiancée for clarification, instead she decided to slither back into the study to find the land line phone receiver in the mess of stuff that remained scattered on the floor.
Remaining on her hands and knees in full search mood she located the hand held receiver and then after a short internal two-way conversation of the moral dilemma variety she hit the re-dial button, and then fearfully placed the hearing end to her ear.
“Hello Meg honey… is that you? I thought you just told me to get some rest and not to…Hello…Hello…Who is this? Who are you and why…”
Blair put her hand on the end button and just stared at the phone in her hand. “That voice. I know that voice. Why does it sound so familiar?” She remained in quiet reflection thinking back to all the familiar voices she had locked in her minds memory bank. Frustrated regarding her inability to connect a person to the voice she remained staring into the receiver, and repeated, “Who are you?”
“Excuse me Miss Blair…I was asked to clean up a mess in here. Would you like me to come back?”
“Good God… Alexander, you should work for the military…you are the quietest person on the planet, and yes thanks you for coming to the aide of my fiancée once again. All this craziness will be over soon and we will all get back to our normal crazy soon.”
Standing with his normal professional stance, “Thank you Miss Blair…and then with easy confidence, and may I just say it a real pleasure having you back from your adventure. We were all very worried during your absence.” And with his hand out stretched in a receiving position he then proceeded to secure his feet so that he could assist the mistress of the house from the floor.
“Thank you, it’s good to be back.”
“Miss… May I ask if there is any wrong that I may be able to assist you with?”
“Do you think I’m making a mistake marrying Megan?” Her words shot from her mouth without awareness. Now to her defence, Alexander had been the head of their household team for as long as Blair could remember, so asking such a straight forward question was not out of her normal.
“Miss Blair, I believe matters of the heart must remain within the family dialogue,” and then as per his normal prudence he continued, “However it does appear that your concerns warrant some further conversations.”
Before leaving the room she walked over to where Alexander was gathering up items and placing them into the cardboard box she offered an affectionate touch to his shoulder stating, “Thank you Alex, I believe you are correct.”
“Oh one more thing Alexander, does this number seem familiar to you?” She asked as she presented the phone receiver towards his face displaying the last number called.
After a quick glance, “No Miss Blair…it does not.”
“Thanks again… and again sorry about the mess.” Her response was sincere but low in tone.
As she walked down the elegant spiral stair case leading to the main level of the mansion she could not stop her mind from racing back to two pivotal moments in her recent past. One being, her talk with her brother about the age old question and most importantly his response to the easiness of his release of his lovers and second which was most worrying to her the death of the woman in the cabin fire. And on that note she decided to call the Chief of Police in Carterville.
After taking the last gulp of her room temperature shot of liquid courage she proceeded to press the numbers on her cell phone that would directly connect her to the police station in Carterville. “Good afternoon,” she began, my name is Miss Blair Foster, now I do not have an appointment but would the Chief be available to receive this call?”
“Ya, just let me see if she has returned from dinner.” And then with equal common expression, “Hey Chief… are you back from dinner? There’s a Miss Foster on the line for you…ya line two.”
“Hello, Chief English here.”
“Hello Chief it’s Blair…Blair Foster.”
“Yes…hello. I’m surprised to hear your voice. Is there a problem?”
Her voice sounded rushed and unsettled, which was not lost on the very intelligent lawyer listening on the other end. “Why are you asking about trouble? Is everything alright on your end?”
“YES, sorry yes… everything here is fine.”
With her imagination in full force she continued to question, “Chief, if you have a minute to talk, I was hoping you could give me some information regarding the cabin fire’s investigation and how its proceeding.”
“Well actually I was hoping that’s why you were calling. To give me information regarding the second death and…”
“What second death?” Blair showed little restraint in her asking.
“Yes… a second body was found quite a distance from the hunters’ cabin. The young girl was found at the bottom of a ravine. By all accounts she apparently fell or was pushed down an embankment to her death. It took the research team a while to locate her as she seemed to have been swallowed up by a land slide. She was also an escapee from the Rynthorp detention centre.”
“I’m in the middle of the investigation now trying to get her out…” the chief suddenly paused, but only because of her promise. “Anyways if I hear of any news that I think you will need… I’ll call. Sorry got to run, everyone here is fine and the wolf pup is doing very good in her new home. Bye for now.” The Chief’s hand was shaking as she quickly dropped the receiver back into the cradle of the out dated phone system.
Blair stood looking at her cell phone that remained in her hand indicating the line was dead as the illumination on the cell had vanished, “What the fuck was that all about, a second body? Well that’s a new twist to this story.” She
pondered on this new information but rapidly came to the conclusion that this had little bearing on the cabin story and its results. However it was the response from the Chief that kept her mind engaged, as it wandered back to the night of the fight and the fire and the untimely demise of the escapee.
“There you are! I’ve been looking all over this house for you. I wanted to make sure that you have purchased several new outfits for our engagement parties. Or do I have to complete this task as well?” Megan’s shrill voice shot straight through Blair’s perfect imageries of the memory of the bathing scene from the night in the cabin with Turtle.
“What?”
“Several new outfits for our engagement parties…do you have something ready for the parties? For God sake, for once can you stay in the moment?” She announced as she stared into her fiancées hand trying to get a peek of her latest call.
“Sorry,” and with a slight kiss on the cheek, “I’m heading in that direction now. A new outfit… got it.”
And then when she was about to leave the house she stopped to give her fiancée a quick peck on the cheek as Megan stood at the breakfast bar reading and then asked, “When is this party again?”
“One week, and it’s not just one event it’s a three day party, so please buy more than one outfit.”
“Yes got it, one week, three day party, my favourite kind.” Blair voiced as she left through the side door towards her parked car and her chance to be alone to think outside the confines of this building and all its unwanted turmoil.
Let the celebration begin
It was late before Blair decided to join the first evening of the seemingly never ending engagement party, which was being written about as the main social event of the calendar year.
The mansion was perfectly decorated to reflect not only elegance but serious money.
”Oh my god…it looks like Cinderella’s palace.” Blair mumbled through her foul mood as she stared at the long stair case that would end placing her smack dab in the middle of the party that contained several hundred people, most of them total strangers.