Paradise Escape

by Mia Rodriguez

  It doesn't take a genius to see how selfish human beings can be. It only matters to the Elders if their interests are taken care of. They must really believe they're entitled to everything including other human beings.

  "I hope they pay for what they've done to us," I growl.

  Miguel eyes me with a strange and pained look.

  "You don't agree?" I ask him.

  "It's not that."

  "Then what is it?" I question with curiosity. He's been acting odd tonight. Maybe now he'll tell me what's going on with him.

  "There's a reason I was able to walk home with you," he mumbles quietly.

  "Why is that?"

  "Barstowe ordered me to."

  My mouth turns dry. I bad feeling comes over me. I almost don't want to ask the next question but I have to. "Why would he do that?"

  "He decided that he still wants to marry you."

  Chapter Nine

  "What?!!!"

  "He wants to marry you," Miguel insists.

  "That can't be true!"

  "Frida," he tells me with an urgent whisper, "please lower your voice."

  I take a huge gulp and tell myself to calm down. "Why would he want to marry me with a burned arm?"

  "All he told me tonight was to keep looking after you because he decided he wants to marry you."

  "Does he want you to stay close to me because he's afraid the Elders might do something to me since he wants to go against the rules?"

  "He's afraid the Elders might want to kill you to keep the status quo as it is."

  We don't speak for the rest of the walk to the slave quarters. Miguel throws me concerned sidelong glances, but he knows to leave me alone in my thoughts. I'm so full of devastated emotions that I have to remind myself not to sink into oblivion like Jana. I had been so sure I had dodged a bullet. Why does the Mister want to marry me? The last time he seen me he had stared at my arm with disgust. He must know that the scar won't ever disappear.

  I just don't understand what's going on with him.

  "I'm sorry, Frida," Miguel says before I open the door to where I live.

  I nod at him before I step in. That night I hardly get a wink of sleep.

  The next day after church I'm getting ready to head to the Grinder household. Miguel stops me.

  "You won't be going there anymore," he whispers, making certain no one can hear that he's not stuttering. We're actually alone on the street.

  "What do you mean?" I ask, panicking.

  "Barstowe doesn't want you anywhere near Grinder."

  "But what about Jana?"

  Miguel shrugs unhappily. "He wants you to resume your duties at his house."

  We start moving towards the Barstowe household. My concern for Jana is eating me up alive. What's going to happen to her with all those vipers in the Grinder horror home?

  When we arrive at the Barstowe house, I stand at the door unable to open it. I have an overwhelming urge to run the other way. Maybe I can live in the cemetery! Maybe I can survive there!

  Miguel seems to read my thoughts and shake his head. "Get it over with, Frida," he whispers. "There's no other way."

  I nod and force myself to open the door. "Good luck," he whispers as he leaves.

  I step into the house, my heart beating fast, and scorching flames rushing through me. Why had the Mister changed his mind? I'm so furious that I want to explode with the burning juices of my stomach.

  Stacy is in the living room and lights up when she sees me. "Monica, I'm so happy to see you!" She hugs me and I hug her back.

  "It's good to see you too, Stacy."

  I'd actually see her and my other friends of this house at church, but they sat at another pew, and we weren't allowed to talk to one another.

  "I'm so glad you're here."

  Agatha, Bernice, and Lauren step in and gleefully join us in a group hug. Smiles and laughter resound in the room.

  "You have no idea how much we've missed you," Agatha states.

  "I've missed you too."

  "Everything has changed here since Master Barstowe got back," whispers Bernice.

  I nod, showing them I understand. The time without him was like paradise for all of us.

  Stacy's face clouds as she turns to me. "That reminds me," she mutters, "Master Barstowe said he wanted to see you in his study as soon as you got here."

  The smile drops off my face.

  "Sorry," Stacy whispers.

  I take a deep breath and force myself to head towards the Mister's study. The other ladies stare after me with concern. When I knock on the door, the Mister immediately answers.

  "Come in! Come in!" he yells excitedly.

  I make my face as passive as possible, so he doesn't see how miserable I am. My unhappiness could cost me a few blows from his club. "You needed to see me, Master Barstowe?" I ask when I open the door.

  "Little Bird," he gushes, "I've been waiting for you! Come sit!"

  I amble over to the chair in front of his desk and plop down. His face is lit up like a boy with a new toy.

  "First of all," he says as he pulls a beige towel from a drawer in his desk and hands it to me. "Put it over your ugly scar."

  I do as he tells me, fury burning inside of me.

  His eyes sweep over me. "You're as beautiful as ever. It's just a matter of hiding the horrible arm."

  I'm burned. You can't sweep it under a rug or conceal it with a stupid towel.

  His eyes tear up. "My Little Bird, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, about our love cut short by an evil girl!"

  I really don't want to hear this.

  "Little Bird, a love like ours can't be ended just like that! I'm not going to let a tragedy keep us apart. I've decided to marry you even with your disfigurement. Rest assured that I'll never hold it against you."

  He actually thinks he's being heroic, that he's doing me a favor by forcing me to marry him.

  "I'll be going against the Elders but I don't care! True love can't be stopped by anybody!"

  I want to roll my eyes, but I force myself not to.

  "The solution to your grotesque arm is simple. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it sooner, and we wouldn't have had to spend so much time apart. From now on you'll only wear long sleeves. I'll have the new clothes sent to you immediately."

  Does he really think it's all so simple?

  "We're all set! You'll have your sacred surgery tomorrow, and we'll get married next week!"

  Chapter Ten

  I finish my chores at the Barstowe house with a knot stuck in my throat. Several times, I have to force angry tears from seeping out of my eyes. By the time I get back to the slave quarters that evening, I'm exhausted from trying to take control of my emotions.

  Helga is busy with one of the other girls so I walk straight to my bunk without saying anything to anybody. As I near it, I notice someone sitting on it. A little girl. I sigh. It must be the new abductee, the one Helga had told me about. I set aside my own emotions of feeling sorry for myself and focus on the poor child.

  She looks terrified. Her round, dark eyes dart all over the shack and her little face twitches with nervous energy. I walk up to the brown hair/brown eyed girl and introduce myself.

  "Hi, I'm Monica." I'd rather give her my real name but that would get me in trouble.

  "Hi," she manages to say, her eyes on me as if not knowing what to think of me yet.

  "What's your name?" I ask, sitting next to her.

  "I'm Haley, but they tell me I'll have a new name by next week," she mutters.

  "How old are you, Haley?"

  "Six."

  "I thought it would be good to put her with you, Monica," states Helga who had walked over to us. "I'm not very good with kids. You don't mind, do you?"

  "I'm happy to help."

  "You'll have to sleep on the top bunk. She seems to be afraid of heights."

  "I don't have a problem with the top b
unk," I assert.

  "She looks like you, you know."

  "You think so?"

  Helga nods. "Yeah."

  After prayers, Haley starts weeping softly. I put my arms around her and comfort her.

  "Can you help me get to my mommy?"

  I stare at her without saying anything. I don't know what to say. I don't want to break her heart any further by telling her I can't get her to her mother.

  "My mommy loves me."

  I nod.

  "They say she doesn't, but I know she does."

  I nod again. I'm hoping she keeps that thought with her. It looks like the brainwashing the Elders have done so far hasn't worked.

  The next day Miguel goes with me to the hospital. He's to stay with me through the procedure. When we're in a private area, I turn to him.

  "Do you know how Jana is doing?" I ask anxiously.

  He hesitates as if he doesn't want to tell me. "She's, uh, okay."

  "Tell me the truth," I demand.

  "She hasn't wanted to eat anything since you left."

  I frown. "Is she still speaking?"

  "Not a word. She stares off into space."

  "She was starting to come out of her coma."

  "Well, she's back to it."

  "Is Cordelia out of the hospital yet?"

  "No, she's still in."

  I'm relieved. "Maybe that'll buy Jana some time before the witch gets out."

  "It looks like Cordelia will have some long term problems with that beating that Grinder gave her."

  "She's got some long term problems already that have nothing to do with what Grinder did to her," I snicker.

  "You really hate her?"

  I have to be truthful with him. "Yes."

  "Be careful with that."

  "I know how to hide my feelings," I state.

  "I don't mean that."

  "Then what do you mean?"

  "Hate can eat you up," he asserts.

  "I can't help it. Every time I think about what is being done to us, I can't help but hate the Elders and the Masters."

  "Just be careful that all that hate doesn't eat you up."

  We arrive at the hospital and silently stay in the waiting room. Many long windows permeate the wall to the outside. The view is very pretty with shrubbery and trees outside.

  "Be a good patient and I'll take you outside after I finish," says a nurse as she wheels a patient from the hospital rooms towards where Miguel and I are at. I hope it isn't who I think it is. "Meanwhile, I'll let you stay in the waiting room."

  It's Cordelia, alright. She twists her face as soon as she sees me.

  "What are you doing here?" she snaps at me when the nurse leaves.

  "Surgery," I say nonchalantly.

  "Surgery? For what?" She has a gleam in her eye as if she's hoping I have something really wrong with me.

  "Sacred surgery?"

  "What?!!!"

  "Sacred Surgery," I repeat.

  "You're lying to me," she snaps, furiously.

  "M-M-Monica is not l-l-lying," Miguel declares, his voice sounding insulted.

  "Who would want to marry you with your grotesque arm?" Her eyes go to my burn, but I had already received a few long sleeve blouses and am wearing one. "Who?" she demands to know.

  "Master Barstowe."

  "He's really going to marry you?" she questions incredulously.

  "Apparently so."

  "You can't think that he could possibly love you, Monica," she snickers.

  I shrug my shoulders.

  "He probably wants to do right by the Great Master and feels sorry for you. I mean, with that hideous thing on your arm you're completely unlovable."

  I shrug my shoulders again.

  She's losing patience with my lukewarm demeanor. "Monica! Don't you care about how grotesque you are?!"

  I shrug my shoulders.

  "Don't you care that you will never be within the Great Master's beauty? I doubt if he'll ever let you into his holy kingdom looking like that!"

  I shrug my shoulders.

  "What are you?--stupid?!"

  "I think that the great creator of us all would be more interested in who we are from the inside than what we look like. If you think that's stupid then you're entitled to your opinion."

  "How dare you talk to me like that!" she roars. "I'm a head-wife and your just a servant-girl!"

  "Well, technically I'm a destiny-bride again."

  "You're just as disrespectful as Jana!"

  I stare furiously at her. There's that fiction again. Jana would never have engaged her in this game like I just did.

  "But she'll get hers and so will you!!!"

  "Hey, this is a hospital," snaps the nurse who had wheeled Cordelia out. "Why are you yelling?" she asks her.

  "Monica makes me so mad! She needs to be punished for her insolence. She--"

  "Calm down or I won't take you outside."

  Cordelia's face twists further but not a peep comes out of her mouth. She must really want to get some fresh air. As the nurse wheels her away, she throws me a ferocious glare. I stare back at her with a calm look until she's outside.

  "You really infuriated her," whispers Miguel with a chuckle.

  I sigh. "She's deadly poison. This was fun, but Jana won't be laughing when Cordelia gets released."

  Miguel nods solemnly. We stay quiet for a while. Finally, Greta, my favorite nurse, ushers us into a surgical room.

  "Don't worry, Monica," she says soothingly, "the procedure isn't long."

  "I-I-Is it p-p-painful?" asks Miguel, concern in his eyes.

  "A little."

  She's lying to ease me. I had heard it was extremely painful but I'm not worried. In my experience physical anguish isn't as bad as emotional one. I'd gladly go through a dozen surgeries if I it would mean I didn't have to marry.

  "You'll be fine, Monica," Greta tells me.

  I smile at her for being such a great caregiver. "I'm sure I will."

  Doctor Eckhold steps inside. He's not as bad as the other Masters but still has a strong personality.

  "Ready, Monica?"

  "Yes, doctor."

  As he's about to give Greta instructions, the door flings open. Grinder strides in with determined eyes that look at me with disgust.

  This doesn't look good.

  Chapter Eleven

  "Highest Holy Grinder?" Doctor Eckhold blurts with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

  "We have to talk," he states gruffly.

  "Now?"

  "Yes, now."

  "But I'm in the middle of a procedure--a sacred surgery and--"

  "I know what's going on here! I need to see you in private right now!"

  The doctor looks completely baffled. "Okay."

  They step out of the room, and Nurse Greta stares after them with a puzzled expression. Then she reformats her face to look at me soothingly.

  "The doctor will be back soon, Monica. Don't worry."

  I try to look comforted but I'm far from it.

  "I have to get a few things ready for your surgery before the doctor returns," she says. "I'll be right back."

  As soon as she shuts the door behind her, I turn to Miguel who is as flabbergasted as I am.

  ”Do you think Grinder is going to have the doctor kill me?" I ask Miguel, my voice in a panic.

  "He wouldn't dare," snaps Miguel. "Not with me here and with how Barstowe feels about you."

  "You really think so?"

  "I'm sure of it."

  "Then what could Grinder want with the doctor?" I question.

  "Maybe it has something to do with Cordelia."

  "But why would he stop the doctor in the middle of a procedure?"

  "Grinder is arrogant," Miguel explains. "He thinks the world should stop for him."

  I nod. That's true. Still, I'm not satisfied with Miguel's answer. It's a feeling I have that Grinder is here for something to do wi
th me.

  "Don't worry, Frida," Miguel tells me. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you."

  Something already did, I want to tell him. I'm stuck here in Paradise Village.

  The door swings open again but to my relief it's just the doctor. Grinder isn't with him. Doctor Eckhold looks disconcerted. I'm worried.

  "Sorry, Monica," he mumbles.

  "Yes, doctor?" What would he be sorry about?

  "We can't perform the sacred surgery today."

  I prevent myself from smiling.

  "You can't?" I ask, making my expression a serious one.

  "The machine we use is out of order," he says uncomfortably. "We'll have to wait a few weeks for the part."

  "Well, if that's how it is then what choice do we have?" I try to sound disappointed.

  "I'll have you notified as soon as we get the instrument."

  "The instrument?" I ask.

  "I mean the part," he corrects himself uncomfortably.

  "Okay, doctor. Thanks for everything."

  Miguel and I leave the hospital. Fortunately, Cordelia isn't outside anymore and I don't have to see her again. Everything seems to be going my way! I have just been given a reprieve from marriage for a few weeks!!!

  I'm practically whistling a happy tune, but Miguel is very somber. I decide to ignore him because I'm feeling so good. When we arrive at a private area, I turn to him.

  "It's great news," I gush excitedly.

  "Yeah."

  "Why do you look worried?"

  "I'll have to tell Barstowe what happened, and he'll be furious."

  "If the doctor says he needs a part to operate on me then what can we do?"

  "You and I know that the he was lying."

  I nod quietly. "I know," I mumble.

  "Grinder is up to something. He obviously stopped the surgery from happening. What is he up to?"

  I shrug. "I don't know but I have a few more weeks of freedom."

  Miguel thinks it's necessary that we go to the Barstowe Household. Now without my surgery, I'll have to do my chores there anyway. When we arrive, the Mister ushers us into his study with an angry glare on his face.

  "Monica, why aren't you at the hospital getting your sacred surgery?" he questions, his voice on fire.

  "Master Barstowe, the doctor couldn't do the surgery today," I answer.

  "Why not?!" he roars.

  "He said that he needed a part for a machine," I state.

  "Y-Y-Yes, a p-p-part," Miguel reaffirms what I just said.

  "Come with me, Miguelito!" he demands, bouncing out of his chair and striding to the door. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this!

  When they leave, I start my chores. The ladies come out and I explain what's happening.