Reunion at Walnut Cherryville (The Eternal Feud Book 1)

by Lauren Salem

  “Welcomed??? More like abducted. I never said I wanted to be here.”

  “I was offering you the chance at a better life, a life where you could be free from your wrongdoings in an environment where you could learn from your mistakes and be the best version of yourself.”

  “My life was fine before I was taken here and definitely before I met you.”

  “Thinking about the man you shot dead every day is not fine. You’re mourning the loss of your father and your grandfather, and you haven’t been mentally sound for years. All we tried to do was help you be a better person, but you refuse to change your criminal ways.”

  “Who are you? Why are we here? Why does Walnut Cherryville exist at all?” I asked.

  “I’m tired of hearing your nagging voice…You’re like an untamed shrew,” Kenneth said. “Next question for the audience: What is the best way to get someone to stop talking? A: Superglue his lips shut, B: Punch his jaw, C: Duct tape his mouth, or D: Fill his mouth with peanut butter. Vote on your keypads now!”

  “Sixty seconds,” the robotic woman’s voice announced through the speakers. Everyone in the audience pecked at the keypads in front of them. “You have selected…Fill his mouth with peanut butter.”

  “Is that supposed to be a punishment?” I joked.

  The audience laughed.

  “Guards, every time Johnny says a word, stick a spoonful of peanut butter in his mouth until he stops talking,” Kenneth ordered.

  “Delicious,” I said. A guard stuck a spoonful of peanut butter in my mouth.

  “Contestant number three, Laura, a gatherer, was charged with abandonment,” Kenneth said. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  “When I came to Walnut Cherryville, I learned something about myself that I’d rather not know, but now that I know, I can’t take it back,” Laura said. “Two weeks ago I was living my life, and then I was captured and brought here, where I found out that I have a deadly disease. At first, I thought this information was a burden to know because I was worried that I wouldn’t live past thirty. After it marinated for a while, I saw it as an opportunity to change. Everyone has their own reasons for leaving Walnut Cherryville. I thought about staying, and then I changed my mind when I realized that I wanted something else. Knowing that I’d die early forced me to think about what I really wanted out of life. If you don’t mind, I’d like to read the bucket list I prepared…It’s in my right shoe.” A guard slipped off Laura’s right pump and found a torn piece of paper folded up in her shoe.

  “I’ll read it,” Kenneth said. The guard handed the paper to Kenneth. “Bucket list,” he read. “Design my own fashion line, regain respect from my family, find true love, wear an outfit made by a famous fashion designer for a day, walk the runway, and find a best friend.” Kenneth refolded the paper and slipped it into his pocket. “Have you completed any of these yet?”

  “I got to wear an outfit made by a famous fashion designer, but that’s the only one I’ve done so far.”

  “How does it feel?”

  “I’m wearing a Michael Kors dress, and I love it. It was loose, so I pinned it tighter in a few places, but it still looks good.”

  “Laura, what if I told you that you could cross another item off your bucket list today?”

  “I’d say: what’s the catch?”

  “Laura will model her new dress on the runway, but I need your help in deciding what the runway will be. Here’s the question: which of these runways would you like to see Laura walk on? A. Tightrope, B. Balance beam, C. Pirate’s plank, or D. Roof. Vote on your keypads now.”

  “Sixty seconds,” the robotic woman said. “You have selected…Tightrope.”

  The guards set up a tightrope several feet above our heads. Laura will be walking over us…or falling on us. A guard untied Laura and escorted her to where the rope began backstage.

  I felt nervous. How good is her balance? I didn’t want to be tied to a chair when she fell on me or hurt herself.

  Laura’s face glistened with sweat as she kicked off her heels and tied her hair back. She rolled her head around, stretching her neck, and took a few deep breaths before she took her first step on the tightrope. She wobbled on the first step but quickly regained her balance when she stretched her arms out to her sides and stopped looking down at us.

  I think she realized that it was better to focus on her destination instead of looking down.

  A few steps later, she walked over Veronica, who prayed silently with her head down. Next, she walked over me. I looked up at her as she walked above my head. She seemed pretty stable and focused despite all the pressure and noise from the audience. I didn’t know why I looked up…If anything, I could be distracting her. It was like when I was at the doctor’s office, and they wanted to give me a shot or take blood. The doctor said to look away before the needle went in, but I’d rather watch. If Laura was going to fall on me, I’d rather watch and know exactly when it would happen down to the second instead of it being a surprise.

  Laura crossed her empty chair and began to walk over Vincent. He also looked up, but I wasn’t sure if that surprised me. There seemed to be something going on between Laura and Vincent, but they were fairly private about it, whatever it was. Collins, on the other hand, looked down as she crossed him. When she reached the end of the line, she disappeared backstage, and everyone who didn’t have their hands tied applauded. The guards brought her back down to the stage and tied her up to the chair again.

  “Laura, that seemed far too easy for you,” Kenneth said, “Where did you learn how to do that?”

  “I was a gymnast as a child, so balancing challenges don’t scare me anymore,” Laura replied.

  “I’ll have to keep that in mind, so if you make it to the next round, I will have something more challenging for you. Contestant number four, Vincent from packaging services, was charged with abandonment. Vincent, you had quite a cushy job here at Walnut Cherryville. You were the produce weight recorder at the packaging station, which is a difficult job to get as a newcomer to Walnut Cherryville, due to the high demand of applicants and few openings available. Why did you want to leave it?”

  “I didn’t leave Walnut Cherryville because I didn’t like the work. I left because my friends wanted to leave, and I was just standing by their decision. If they wanted to stay, I would have stayed,” Vincent said.

  “Did you like working here?”

  “The work was bearable, but I was actually more amazed by how technologically and scientifically advanced this place is, compared to the rest of the world. ComCon is an amazing system, and the architecture on the buildings here is surreal. Living here is like living in a dream. I never thought I’d see trees and plants grow in a desert. It’s just not real, but here it is. It’s like I was put into a time machine and taken to a place twenty to fifty years into the future.”

  “Did you want to stay?”

  “Either way, I was fine with staying or going. I just like to follow the flow.”

  “Did you know that being a follower is like being blind?” Kenneth said. “You let your friends lead you to your death. Here’s the question: how should Vincent show his appreciation to the leaders he follows? A. Eat Veronica’s hair, B. Lick peanut butter off Johnny’s legs, C. Clean Laura’s feet with his tongue, or D. Kiss Collins on the mouth for ten seconds. Vote on your keypads now!”

  “Sixty seconds,” the robotic woman said.

  So not only would Vincent get punished, one of us would get punished again! Vincent licking peanut butter off my legs would be gross for him and strange for me. I hoped they didn’t pick that option.

  “You have selected…Kiss Collins on the mouth for ten seconds.” Laura and I laughed while Collins and Vincent looked very disappointed.

  “This is not a laughing matter,” Vincent said.

  “You best stick them fish lips elsewhere because they ain’t touchin’ my mouth!” Collins shouted.

  As the guards untied Vincent, the audience laughed and
started chanting, “Kiss, kiss, kiss.”

  “Trust me, Collins, I dislike this as much as you do,” Vincent said as he sat on Collins’s lap.

  “Get off me!” Collins said right before Vincent kissed him. Collins’s eyes opened so wide with surprise that they looked like they were about to pop out of his head. Vincent’s eyes were closed.

  “Ten, nine, eight,” the audience counted down. “Seven, six, five…”

  I guess if Collins wasn’t tied to a chair, he would have put up more of a struggle. Vincent didn’t dwell on the kiss as much and just seemed to have the “let’s get it over with” strategy.

  When they counted down to one, everyone cheered like they were bringing in the New Year. Vincent released Collins from the lip lock, and the guards tied Vincent back in his chair.

  “How is that for excitement?” Kenneth asked the audience. “Are we all pumped up for our last contestant?”

  The audience roared.

  “Our last, and final contestant, is Collins from janitorial services, and he was charged with abandonment. This is Collins’s second time on Chair Trials, and he loves entertaining you so much that he keeps coming back for more!”

  The audience cheered.

  “Like I always say, don’t stop until you get enough! Collins, I heard that you are really bad at your job. You fall asleep during work and use the cleaning carts as skateboards. Why shouldn’t you be chosen first for the chair?”

  “I think the people like me,” Collins said. “They didn’t pick me the first time, so don’t pick me the second time. The longer I’m around, the more I can continue to entertain you.”

  “Do you not care about the sanitation of your community?”

  “I care so much that when I sleep on my shifts, I dream about cleaning,” Collins remarked. “A freshly mopped floor really puts a spring in my step every day. In fact, I’m so happy that the broom thinks I’m cheating on her with another woman.”

  The audience gasped.

  “The other night, when we slept together in my sleeping bag, I said, ‘No, baby, you’re the only one in my life that I sweep with,’” Collins continued.

  The audience roared with laughter.

  “See, my broom is so skeptical of what I do during the day when I’m not doing her.”

  The audience chuckled.

  “She swept around for evidence for a month, and all she could find was a bleach stain on my uniform. She said, ‘I caught you now, and you can’t deny it. That wretched stain is the lipstick from a mop!’ I’m like, ‘Whoa, baby, don’t jump to conclusions like that; I did nothing to your sister!’”

  Several people in the audience cried from laughter.

  “Now I wouldn’t tell my broom this, but I’ve always favored my mop. There’s nothing better than a girl that stays wet all the time!”

  “Yeah,” the men in the audience shouted as they applauded with agreement.

  “She’s ready for anything. Everything I do seems to turn her on: the way I clean the toilet and the way I dust the furniture…There I am working, and she’s salivating over me like I’m the first steak she’s seen in days. I’m like, ‘Geez lady, I know you’re hungry, but you need to back up that flow with a Tampax before I be trippin’!’”

  “Ah-ha-ha-ha!”

  “My mop is very specific about what she wants, and she’ll only give me a polish if I pull her hair first.”

  The audience stood up enthusiastically, giving Collins a standing ovation.

  “Thank you, thank you! If you want more jokes, don’t vote for Collins.”

  “Here is the question: What would be the most hilarious item to throw in Collins’s face? A. Lemon meringue pie, B. Bugs, C. Bird poop, or D. Slushy. Vote on your keypads now!”

  “Sixty seconds,” the robotic voice said.

  That was clever of Collins to do stand-up. It seemed like the audience really enjoyed it, so they might keep him around. It was difficult to predict who might get picked because we were all here for the same reason, so I guessed the audience would probably use our fun-o-meter performances to decide. I didn’t care who they voted for…I didn’t want to see anyone die.

  “An equal percentage has selected…Lemon meringue pie and Slushy.”

  “Thanks, guys, that was sweet of you,” Collins said.

  Two guards walked on stage, one holding a pie and the other holding a slushy.

  “If possible, try to get it in my mouth.”

  The guard pied Collins in the face and rubbed it in.

  Collins licked the pie from around his mouth. “That is the best lemon meringue pie I’ve had in years! Whoever baked that needs—”

  The other guard threw a red slushy in Collins’s face.

  “Whoa, that’s co-co-co-cold! Is that cherry I taste?”

  “Now it’s time for you to vote,” Kenneth announced. “Which one of these five criminals least deserves another chance to live among us for another day? If you’re in the live audience, stay in your seats, and cast your votes on the touch screens in front of you. If you’re in the glass house, cast your votes with ComCon, and we’ll see you back here in thirty minutes. Happy voting!”

  The red stage curtain closed. Everyone glared at each other, wondering who it would be as the guards set up the electric chair.

  I was worried about Veronica. She didn’t get a chance to say much or show the audience why she should stay in the game. Maybe she didn’t care and just wanted to get it over with. I was going to miss her…We had some good times together. I thought they would keep Collins for his entertainment value, Vincent because he appeared like a loyalist, and Laura because her bucket list was emotionally touching, and she succeeded at her challenge. What about me? What did the audience think about me? I hoped they were thinking outside the game. Not who to vote for, but why were we all here? Why did a place like this exist? At one point or another, every person in the audience was abducted like we were. Who was this crazy man who found enjoyment in electrocuting the people he abducted? There were a lot of things the audience could be thinking about. I hoped they were thinking about what was important.

  When I thought about what was important to me, nothing seemed more important than my family, and I didn’t mean my adopted family. Every once in a blue moon, I got to see my biological mother, but as I got older, I saw her less and less. The last time I saw her was this past Christmas Eve for fifteen minutes. Between the Christmas carolling, gift wrapping, and holiday parties, fifteen minutes was all my adopted mom was willing to spare for me to visit my mom in jail.

  “Don’t be too long,” my adopted mother said as she drove up to the entrance of the Maricopa County Jail. “You have fifteen minutes.”

  “Thanks,” I said as I got out of the car and closed the door. She drove away to park the car as I entered the building. “I’m here to see Shelly Cockit; she’s my mother,” I said to the front desk assistant.

  A police officer took me down the hall to the phone booth in the visiting room, and I waited, sitting eagerly.

  A few minutes later, my mom walked in on the other side, with her hands cuffed, and sat down. She looked a lot older than I remembered her to be. Her hair was turning gray, and her skin started to wrinkle. She looked very orange. We both picked up our phones as we peered at each other through the glass barrier.

  “Look how much you’ve grown,” Shelly said. “You’re a handsome boy.”

  “Merry Christmas, Mom. I’m sorry I haven’t visited for a few years. I don’t get much time off from school, and my adopted parents don’t want to bring me over here very often. How are you doing?”

  “Just counting the days until I will be released. Should be any day now. Not like there will be anything for me to go back to.”

  “I’m sure we can work something out. I miss you.”

  “I miss you too,” Mom said as she began to cry. “I love you, Johnny, and I would love to have you back, but…I think it’s best if you stay with your adopted parents.”

  “What?
Why? I want to be with you. You’re my real mother.”

  “I know, and I will always be your real mother,” she cried as she placed her hand on the glass. “I know what’s best for you. It’s not safe for you to be with me.”

  I placed my hand over hers on the glass. “I don’t understand.”

  “Do they take care of you? Are they nice?”

  “I guess so, but I don’t feel like they’re my family. They sent me to that school because they think I’m troubled, but it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t do it—”

  “I know you’re a good boy, and you don’t need to prove that to me. You need to stay in school. Get a good education. Make something of yourself so you don’t end up like me or your father. This family has ruined your life enough. I want things to be different for you.”

  “Everything has changed so much since they took you away. I just wanted something familiar to hold on to.”

  “I want you to change your name.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Just be Gilbertson. It will keep you safe.”

  “Being a Cockit is part of my identity, and I don’t want to lose it.”

  “I’ve thought long and hard about this, and it was a difficult decision. The only way to protect you is by changing your name and separating you from your past.”

  “What are you trying to protect me from?”

  “They’re looking for you.”

  “Who’s looking for me?”

  A police officer walked into my mother’s side of the room. “Your time is up. I have to take you back to your cell now.”

  “Bye, Johnny, I love you,” Mom said as she stood up and put the phone back on the hook.

  “Wait, Mom! Tell me what’s going on!” I knocked on the glass a few times as the officer escorted her out of the room. “Hey, come back, I don’t understand! Mom! Mom!”