by B L Teschner
The wind picked up outside, a gust forcing rain to slam against the side of the building. The lights flickered. I moved closer against him. His fingers slid through my hair and he pulled me closer, putting his lips to mine.
Nine
Toby
It was the next day, and they had continued to pull kids away for “individual counseling sessions” while we all watched in wonder. It was like the lottery, but a bad kind of lottery. You didn’t want to win this one.
I felt bad for Dwayne. His meals were simple and bland, and he hated every single one of them; they didn’t let him have any sugar besides fruit. It was changing his mood. He wasn’t as quick with his comebacks when Layla teased him, and he had an overall sense of depression about him.
He sat with his elbows on the table and his balled-up hands pushed into his cheeks, staring down at his tray, a dark cloud looming over him like the ones that were currently outside.
Layla nudged his shoulder. “Well if they want you to lose weight—which you don’t need to, by the way—then it’s definitely gonna happen.”
“Yeah but only because he’s not eating,” Millie said.
“You need to eat,” I mildly warned him. “It’s not good for you to starve yourself.”
“I’m not going to starve myself,” he assured us. “I’m just not in a rush to choke this down.” A fist fell lazily away from one cheek so he could pick up his fork. “It’s salmon. I hate fish.”
Connor leaned forward and looked down the table at him. “Salmon has a lot of good fats in it I think,” he offered. “My dad eats a lot of it, says it’s good for your heart.”
Dwayne’s other hand fell from his cheek and landed down on the table with a lazy thud. “My heart’s fine.”
We all watched in silence as he flaked off a bite of the salmon and put it in his mouth. He sighed around the bite, chewing it slowly and staring down at the salad that was in the slot next to the fish, and beside that another slot filled with steamed cauliflower and broccoli.
Millie squeezed my hand before taking hers away. I watched as she took a napkin from the table and sat it down in her lap, her eyes warily scanning the room.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
She leaned into my ear. “I can’t stand to see him act like this,” she whispered about Dwayne. “We need to raise his morale. It’s hard enough having to stay here for two weeks with the weirdos who run this place; he needs something to look forward to. For him, his sweets were one of them. You know that.”
My eyes darted around her face as I thought about what she’d said. After a moment I nodded with a sigh, giving her the okay even though it wasn’t necessary for her to get it from me.
She went back to work, looking around again before taking the brownie square from her tray and quickly pulling it down into her lap. “Anyone see that?” she asked as she folded the napkin around it while keeping her eyes up.
“I doubt it.”
“Here,” she said, passing it from her lap to mine. “Hand it to him under the table.”
I took the wad from her hand and tried to look as casual as I possibly could as I stretched my hand out under the table in Dwayne’s direction. “Hey,” I called quietly. “Put your hand under the table.”
Dwayne looked up from his tray, his mouth lopsided. “I’m not putting my hand under no damn table; you know I don’t swing that way.”
My shoulders dropped as I let out an irritated sigh. “Hey, shut up man; I’m just trying to hand you something.”
“Yeah exactly. I may not want to grab what you’re trying to hand me.” Never mind. His mood was just fine as normal.
“It’s from me,” Millie told him, her voice low. “Just take it already.”
Dwayne stuck his hand under the table and grabbed it away. “What is this, some kind of secret mission you two are trying to pull off or something?”
“Man, you sure are a jerk when you’re hungry,” Layla pointed out beside him.
“Well let’s see how you act when you get fed this garbage at every meal.” He looked down at his lap and unfolded the napkin. His head snapped up. “You know, I know I said before that I wasn’t going to take any of your food, but I think I may have jumped the gun a little too soon on that one.”
“That’s what I thought,” Millie said with a smile.
Dwayne had a new resilience about him. “I can’t wait any longer; I’m going to the bathroom right now to eat this sucker.” We all chuckled as he leaned to the side and slid it into his pocket before standing up. “I never thought I would stoop so low as to eat food in a community restroom.” He went to leave and then stopped himself, swiveling back to see us. “Thanks, Millie.”
“Any time.”
I stuck a bite of food in my mouth and smiled as Dwayne hurried away. “So how was counseling today, Connor,” I asked.
He gulped down the rest of his milk in his cup before setting it down on the table in front of him and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Lame.”
“Mine too,” Layla put in. “It’s like they’re not even doing anything to help anyone. They keep going around in circles, talking to everyone about the same things. Getting to know us, but not giving us tools to help ourselves. I mean, I don’t need help, but the other kids in my group do.” She shook her head with a scoff. “And they get paid thousands and thousands of dollars to do this.”
My eyes narrowed. “Yeah, think about that. One hundred kids at fifty thousand dollars a pop. That’s—”
“Five million dollars!” Layla shrieked.
Connor’s eyes widened. “No way! For two weeks?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “Divided between the staff of, what, eight people?”
Layla’s eyes went to the ceiling as she configured the numbers in her head. “Six hundred twenty-five thousand.”
“Wow,” Millie gasped. “I wonder how many times a year they run the program.”
I shrugged. “No idea. But at that price, probably a lot. I wonder what their homes look like.”
“They probably live in mansions,” Connor speculated.
“And like we were saying before,” Layla went on, “they aren’t even helping us any.”
“I liked playing tennis,” Millie said.
Layla nodded. “Yeah, that was fun. But how does playing sports and cards in the club room help people get over lying, and stealing, and—I don’t know—violence? It doesn’t.”
“Maybe this is supposed to be like a camp,” I suggested. “Like summer camp.”
“Worst summer camp ever,” Connor said.
Layla nodded. “Yeah, especially now with this storm going on. We can’t even go outside to play the dumb sports they offer.”
“We can play them in the gym,” I offered.
“The gym is packed now that we can’t go outside,” Millie said.
“Yeah, that’s true. But maybe we can join a group in a game of basketball or something?”
Layla’s eyebrow arched. “With these freaks? If we won we’d probably get strangled in our sleep.”
“I wouldn’t want that,” Connor said quietly.
I looked over at him. “Hey, how was David today? Is he still in counseling?”
“Yeah. He sits there smiling and cheering us on every time we answer one of Dominic’s questions. It’s annoying.”
“And creepy as hell,” Layla added.
“I really don’t like this place,” Millie said. “I think there’s a lot going on here that shouldn’t be. Unethical stuff.”
“What’s unethical mean?” Connor asked.
“Like dishonest; illegal.”
Connor’s eyes widened. “You think they’re breaking the law here?”
“Well they have to be,” Layla said. “You can’t just drug kids.”
“That’s not for you to worry about, though,” I assured Connor, not wanting to freak him out, even though we were all worried. “Like we’ve talked about before, I’m sure there are explanations for every
thing.”
The doors to the cafeteria opened, drawing our attention. A moment later, Steven backed in, pulling in a young girl in a wheelchair behind him.
“Oh no!” Connor shrieked, keeping his voice low. “Not another one!”
It wasn’t just the one. Troy followed, wheeling in an older teenage girl. Both her and the younger girl were catatonic.
“What the hell?” Layla said tightly, looking back at us. “You guys, okay now… We gotta get out of this freakin’ place!”
I stiffened as the guard locked eyes with me from across the room and smiled. He spun the older girl around and wheeled her over to our table, sticking her at the end closest to Connor and Millie. “Susie is gonna join you all for dinner this evening,” he quipped, his ugly face contorting into an eerie grin. “Show her a good time.” He looked between me and Millie. “By the way, I knew you two were in the club room the other night. Don’t let me catch you in there after bedtime again.” Millie and I exchanged anxious glances as he spun around and trudged off, his keys dangling loudly from the belt loop on his pants, the sound echoing in the silent room. He went back and spoke to his brother who had placed the young girl at a different table. When a shout came from down the hall, they left the room in a hurry, which made the kids instantly break out in chatter about the two girls.
Connor and Millie sat across from each other, both completely stiff and rigid as if they had seen a ghost. I leaned forward so I could see Millie’s face; her eyes were cut over at the girl, and her lips were open, her breaths quick and spilling past them.
I put my hand on her back, which made her jump. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“What is going on?” she whispered, her body trembling beneath my fingers.
Layla leaned forward to talk to me. “We need to get the hell out of here, Toby. Do you see this right now?” Her eyes darted around the room behind me in a panic. “We’re next, Toby, we’re next!”
I made a shushing gesture with my lips, worried that her words would make it worse on everyone, including Connor. “How do you expect us to do that?” I asked quietly. “You honestly think we can escape from this place? They have eyes on everyone.”
“We’re literally surrounded by fields of tall yellow grass.” Her arm flung out to her side and she pointed randomly at the cafeteria wall. “There’s no fence anywhere around the building, just land.”
“Exactly. Just acres and acres of flat land with nowhere to hide!”
“There’s a tree line in the distance! We can make it there!”
A quiet moan escaped Susie’s parted lips, a string of drool hanging between them, working its way to her shirt. Connor’s eyes got even wider as he scooted away from her, sandwiching himself beside Layla; she put her arm around him.
Millie swallowed hard. “Susie’s from my room. I, I didn’t really talk to her much, but she seemed nice. I think she’s here for, um, for drinking or, or something like that; I can’t remember.” Her body trembled even more. “She smiled and said hi to me just this morning. I… When did they take her? She was there this morning…”
Susie moaned again, and the string of drool finally soaked into her shirt, keeping itself connected to her mouth. “Mo…”
“Oh my god she’s talking,” Layla spit out in a rush.
Millie leaned closer to her, bending down a bit to try and see her face better. “Susie? Are you okay?”
“Mo…”
“Her eyes are open,” Millie said. Her hand visibly trembled as she lifted it and placed it on Susie’s shoulder. The lights in the room flickered quickly from the storm. “Susie? Can you hear me?”
“Mo…”
“Okay I’m out.” Layla’s arm left Connor’s shoulders and she stood up from the table. “I’m finding a way out of this place if it’s the last thing I do.”
“I’ll come with you,” a random girl said from the table behind us.
Layla turned around to face her. “You with me on this?”
“Yeah,” the girl nodded with conviction. “I’m too afraid to stay in this place. I have some other friends too who have talked about trying to get out of here.”
“Layla, no,” Millie said, her head snapping over to her. “We have to stay together; you can’t just leave the group!”
Connor spun around to see her. “Please don’t leave me, Layla! We’re, we’re The Virtuous Five, remember?”
“Mo…”
Layla pointed angrily at the ground. “Then you guys come with me! Right now!”
The chatter in the cafeteria escalated; some kids were freaking out, others were trying to act tough. It didn’t matter though, it was still easy to see the fear in all their eyes.
“We need a plan first,” I told her. “We can’t just start running or we’ll get caught.”
“And Dwayne has a say in this too,” Millie added.
“Mo…”
“Will you shut her up!” Layla yelled.
“Layla stop!” Millie screeched back.
“Mo…”
The familiar sound of Martha’s whistle echoed loudly in the room. Our heads all cranked over to see her standing at the front of the cafeteria with the two guards to her left, holding Dwayne between them.
“Oh my god,” Layla said, quickly sitting back down at the table.
Millie turned to me with fear in her eyes. “Toby! He got caught!”
I put my arm around her lower back and pulled her closer. “It’s okay,” I assured her. “It’ll be fine.” But the truth was, I knew he wouldn’t be fine; we all knew that.
“Mo…”
Martha’s eyes narrowed as she tried her best to focus on each table of kids, taking her time, building the awful suspense. Her tongue clicked behind her yellow-tinted teeth. “That was a little too loud for my taste, children. I don’t want to hear anything like that again. Ever.” We could hear the wind blow outside as she put her arms behind her and walked slowly back and forth, watching us suspiciously. “This boy right here was found eating something he wasn’t supposed to be. He hid in the bathroom.” She cackled at the thought. “The bathroom! How disgusting!” Her face fell back to its serious state. “Now it’s obvious that one of you gave it to him, and I plan on finding out exactly who it was.” We stiffened when her eyes gravitated to our table. “I know who this boy is friends with. Maybe it was someone from his table, hmm?”
Millie went to stand but I pulled her back down. “Don’t even think about it,” I whispered beside her.
“But it’s my fault!” she breathed. “I don’t want him to be punished because of me!”
I tightened my grip around her. “You’re not going to say a word!”
“I’m waiting!” Martha said, her voice louder this time.
Millie looked over and caught eyes with Dwayne from across the room. It was hard to see, but Dwayne carefully shook his head, telling her as well not to say anything.
“No one gave it to me,” Dwayne told Martha.
Martha’s head snapped over to him. “That’s hard to believe.”
“I stole it,” he lied.
“Stole it? Hmm…” She crossed her arms in front of her and went over to him, looking him up and down. “Your little friends over there didn’t give it to you?”
“Mo…”
“No. I, I tried to ask them for theirs but they told me it was against the rules, so I stole one instead.”
“It was probably your friend Millie who told you no; she’s the smart one. Unlike yourself.” It appeared as though she bought what he had told her. “So, we have a gambler and a thief?”
Dwayne’s eyes fell to the ground. “Yes, ma’am.”
“A double offender!” she said almost cheerfully as she spun around. “I have a special place for double offenders, and it’s not a good one.” She unlaced an arm and pointed randomly to her audience. “Just remember that.” Her arms folded back together. “Take him away.”
The guards tugged him back, turning him around and pushi
ng him through the cafeteria doors. Martha took one last look at the room before spinning on her heels and following behind them.
The cafeteria exploded in chaos.
Layla was on her feet again. “That’s it! I can’t take it here anymore! They took Dwayne, you guys!” The lights flickered. “They took our friend!”
Millie turned to me. “Oh my gosh, Toby! What, what do we do?”
My focus flipflopped between David and Cory’s friend, sitting at their respective tables in a calm manner, trying to convince the other kids around them to relax. My arms wrapped around Millie. “It’s okay, we’ll figure this out.” My heart was pounding against my chest as I looked over her head at the room of teens in disarray. “We’ll find him,” I seethed through gritted teeth. “We’ll get him out and run away from this place!”
“Mo…”
“Shut her up!” Layla ordered.
Connor leapt to his feet in a panic. “I want to go home!”
“We’ll get you home,” I promised.
“Mo…”
Ten
Dwayne
He held the taser gun beside me, a few inches away from my head. “Now, I don’t want to have to use this on you, so just go ahead and follow instructions and you’ll be fine.”
“You’ll rot in jail for this, you bastar—” My voice quivered away as the zapping sound permeated my ears and I choked on the severe pain of the taser connecting with the side of my neck. I could feel every part of my body stiffen as the waves flowed through me. I couldn’t breathe; I went completely rigid before dropping to the floor like I had been stricken by an entire-body Charlie horse.
Dr. Sigtile’s brown loafers came to rest in front of my face and I closed my eyes, working hard to focus on the breaths I was trying to pull back into my lungs. “Steven gave you fair warning about following instructions,” he uttered down at me. “Let’s not try that again, hmm?”
I drew in a ragged breath. “Where are you taking me?”