Chapter Ten
"Why did you let him go?" Jordan screamed at me the next morning. He had woken up at the usual time and remembering the mouse, gone to give him some food. He let out a angry wail when he saw the box was empty.
"We shouldn't take him form his family," I told him calmly.
"I WANTED him," Jordan exclaimed. His face was turning red but I just got dressed and left the room for breakfast. I had hoped he would understand but I could see now that that was not going to happen. He was angry with me.
I sat at the usual table for breakfast, waiting for Jordan to come. Wendy came and sat down next to me.
"Where's Jordan?" she asked.
"He's mad at me," I told her.
She didn't say anything after that because Jordan came stomping into the room, his arms crossed over his chest, an angry scowl on his face.
"I'm sorry Jordan, I didn't want to hurt Mickey," I said to him.
"Who is Mickey?" he asked looking up at me, "we didn't even name him yet,"
"I named him Mickey," I said.
"He wasn't your mouse, he was OURS, you can't just do that," Jordan said loudly. A couple of other patients were looking at us now. I shrunk into my chair. I didn't like being the center of attention.
"I'm going to get a new one," Jordan said, standing up. He stomped out of the room.
Suddenly I a wave of fury came over me. I didn't want him to keep a mouse trapped in a box away from his home. I knew what that felt like. I didn't want to inflict the kind of pain one gets from isolation on any other person or animal. No one deserves that.
I shot out of my chair and ran after Jordan. I heard Wendy call to me but I didn't look back. I found Jordan in the bathroom with a piece of bread in the vent and a cardboard box, ready to pounce on the first mouse who came from that hole.
"Don't Jordan," I said, trying to stay calm.
"Shutup," he said glaring at me. Without thinking, I reached out and picked up the piece of bread. Jordan looked at me smugly and ripped off a new piece from the slice he had. I picked that piece up too. This went on until Jordan was out of bread.
"Gimme that!" he yelled.
"No," I yelled back.
"What is going on in here?" a loud, booming voice asked from the doorway. I turned around to find Rufus glaring at us. I shivered in fear and shrunk back against the wall. He came lumbering into the bathroom and stopped in front of me. I kept my eyes down in fear.
"Open your hand," he ordered.
I opened my hand. I couldn't disobey Rufus, he would tell Dr. Chambers and she might send me back up to the third floor.
"Bread?" he asked, "What's this for?"
"A mouse," Jordan piped up. Rufus turned around and stared at him intently. Jordan didn't even flinch.
"Go to your room," he ordered Jordan. He scurried out of the room without a backward glance at me.
"You have a visitor kid," he said.
A visitor? Who could it be? Was it finally Penny come to see how I was doing? Oh, I hoped it was Penny. I hoped she came to bring me chocolate bars that I could share with Jordan so he wouldn't be mad at me anymore.
"Wh-who is it?" I mumbled.
"Go and find out," he said.
Suddenly a vision flashed in front of me. It was of Carrie, Cathy and Chris. They were sitting at the edge of the bed waiting for Mama to come up and see us. We were all hungry. We may have been locked in a room but we knew today was Thanksgiving. Cathy had set the tiny table with nice silverware and plates. I complained about being hungry.
"Eat a couple of raisins, Cory," Cathy told me.
"Don't have no more," I told her.
"The correct way to say that is: I don't have anymore or there aren't anymore," she said.
"Don't have no more, honest." I said again.
"Eat a peanut," she said.
"Peanuts are all gone-did I say that right?" I asked, trying to please her.
"Yes," she sighed, "Eat a cracker,"
"Carrie ate the last cracker." I said.
"Carrie, why didn't you share those crackers with your brother?" Cathy asked.
"He didn't want none then," Carrie said.
Mama was late with our dinner. We were supposed to eat at 12 o'clock everyday. We weren't used to waiting three extra hours for our food. I was hungry now! Why couldn't we leave the room and eat downstairs with everyone else? Why wouldn't they let us see out grandfather? Did he really hate four children he didn't even know that much?
"Kid!" a voice yelled. I jumped. I was back in reality with Rufus at my side. He had a vice grip on my upper arm and it was starting to throb.
"Lets go," he said. I followed him to the room where visitor saw patients.
I thought about my vision for a minute. Mama had broken the promise to bring us a Thanksgiving dinner at twelve o'clock. She spent her time downstairs, free while we were trapped in one room. Why did she get to be free? She was the one who sinned. It wasn't us, why did we have to suffer?
I peered past Rufus and saw Craig sitting at a long table. He looked uncomfortable and ready to jump out of his chair. He slid his chair back and was about to stand up when Rufus said,
"Here's the kid," he left without saying anything else.
I just stared across the room at Craig. There were no other visitors in the room. We were all alone. Why was he here? I never thought that he would ever come to visit me. He barely even talked to me when we lived in the same house, and now he had made a special trip to see me? It didn't make sense, something had to be wrong.
"Come and sit down," he told me. I walked to the table slowly and sat down. I tried to read what he was going to say in his face but he was like the grandmother, I couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"Penny and I have decided that you are too much for us to handle," he said.
I stared at him. Too much for them to handle? They hadn't been parents to me at all in the last two months! I wasn't causing them any trouble by living away from their house.
"We are giving you up, you will be a ward to the state," he said and he stood up.
"That's it?" I asked, "you came here to tell me that?"
Suddenly Craig transformed it the large, gray grandmother. No, no, no, I shook my head, you aren't the grandmother, you are Craig.
"We don't want you," he said, "you are the devil's spawn," the grandmother piped up.
"I'm good! I'm not the devil's spawn!" I yelled at her.
I dove at the Grandmother and latched myself onto her tree trunk of a leg. I wouldn't let her hurt anyone I loved.
"Get off me!" she yelled.
Suddenly Rufus was at my side and reality came back to me. Craig was staring at me in horror. Rufus was holding me up as I slumped down, exhausted. What was the use? I was evil, no one wanted someone who was born from sin.
Craig ran from the room without looking back.
"Good going, kid," Rufus said, "it's back to the third floor for you,"
"NOO!" I screamed. I struggled to get free of Rufus but he was too strong. I kicked and flailed, but he dragged me up the stairs to the third floor where all was quiet and dark.
"NOOOOO!" I wailed in agony. I had to escape this place, I couldn't live in that room, I couldn't!
"Let go of him," I voice said from behind us. Rufus turned around, dragging me with him. To my surprise, I saw the woman that Rufus had been struggling with the first night I was here. Old Lady Suzanne.
"Suzanne, how did you get out here?" Rufus asked, loosening his grip on me. I slipped out from under his thick arms and ran down the hall. Old Lady Suzanne followed me quickly.
"Come back here!" Rufus yelled.
"Hurry," Suzanne urged me. I ran as fast as I could down the stairs to the ground floor. There were security guards waiting for us there.
I stopped and looked back at Suzanne. She just smiled and said, "Good luck," she ran straight at the guards and they all fell into a heap. I took that opportunity to run out the front doors and down the walk that led to the place that I had loved for a short time. The gates were closed but I was able to squeeze through the bars. There is an upside to not eating very much.
I didn't stop running until I got to the small town. I knew security guard would be looking for me. I had to get as far away from here as possible.
But, I had made it, I had escaped. No one was going to control my life anymore. The sun shone in the sky and as I looked up a tit I smiled. I would live outside to make up for all the time I was deprived of fresh air.
The only thing that would make this day better was Carrie.
"Why did you let him go?" Jordan screamed at me the next morning. He had woken up at the usual time and remembering the mouse, gone to give him some food. He let out a angry wail when he saw the box was empty.
"We shouldn't take him form his family," I told him calmly.
"I WANTED him," Jordan exclaimed. His face was turning red but I just got dressed and left the room for breakfast. I had hoped he would understand but I could see now that that was not going to happen. He was angry with me.
I sat at the usual table for breakfast, waiting for Jordan to come. Wendy came and sat down next to me.
"Where's Jordan?" she asked.
"He's mad at me," I told her.
She didn't say anything after that because Jordan came stomping into the room, his arms crossed over his chest, an angry scowl on his face.
"I'm sorry Jordan, I didn't want to hurt Mickey," I said to him.
"Who is Mickey?" he asked looking up at me, "we didn't even name him yet,"
"I named him Mickey," I said.
"He wasn't your mouse, he was OURS, you can't just do that," Jordan said loudly. A couple of other patients were looking at us now. I shrunk into my chair. I didn't like being the center of attention.
"I'm going to get a new one," Jordan said, standing up. He stomped out of the room.
Suddenly I a wave of fury came over me. I didn't want him to keep a mouse trapped in a box away from his home. I knew what that felt like. I didn't want to inflict the kind of pain one gets from isolation on any other person or animal. No one deserves that.
I shot out of my chair and ran after Jordan. I heard Wendy call to me but I didn't look back. I found Jordan in the bathroom with a piece of bread in the vent and a cardboard box, ready to pounce on the first mouse who came from that hole.
"Don't Jordan," I said, trying to stay calm.
"Shutup," he said glaring at me. Without thinking, I reached out and picked up the piece of bread. Jordan looked at me smugly and ripped off a new piece from the slice he had. I picked that piece up too. This went on until Jordan was out of bread.
"Gimme that!" he yelled.
"No," I yelled back.
"What is going on in here?" a loud, booming voice asked from the doorway. I turned around to find Rufus glaring at us. I shivered in fear and shrunk back against the wall. He came lumbering into the bathroom and stopped in front of me. I kept my eyes down in fear.
"Open your hand," he ordered.
I opened my hand. I couldn't disobey Rufus, he would tell Dr. Chambers and she might send me back up to the third floor.
"Bread?" he asked, "What's this for?"
"A mouse," Jordan piped up. Rufus turned around and stared at him intently. Jordan didn't even flinch.
"Go to your room," he ordered Jordan. He scurried out of the room without a backward glance at me.
"You have a visitor kid," he said.
A visitor? Who could it be? Was it finally Penny come to see how I was doing? Oh, I hoped it was Penny. I hoped she came to bring me chocolate bars that I could share with Jordan so he wouldn't be mad at me anymore.
"Wh-who is it?" I mumbled.
"Go and find out," he said.
Suddenly a vision flashed in front of me. It was of Carrie, Cathy and Chris. They were sitting at the edge of the bed waiting for Mama to come up and see us. We were all hungry. We may have been locked in a room but we knew today was Thanksgiving. Cathy had set the tiny table with nice silverware and plates. I complained about being hungry.
"Eat a couple of raisins, Cory," Cathy told me.
"Don't have no more," I told her.
"The correct way to say that is: I don't have anymore or there aren't anymore," she said.
"Don't have no more, honest." I said again.
"Eat a peanut," she said.
"Peanuts are all gone-did I say that right?" I asked, trying to please her.
"Yes," she sighed, "Eat a cracker,"
"Carrie ate the last cracker." I said.
"Carrie, why didn't you share those crackers with your brother?" Cathy asked.
"He didn't want none then," Carrie said.
Mama was late with our dinner. We were supposed to eat at 12 o'clock everyday. We weren't used to waiting three extra hours for our food. I was hungry now! Why couldn't we leave the room and eat downstairs with everyone else? Why wouldn't they let us see out grandfather? Did he really hate four children he didn't even know that much?
"Kid!" a voice yelled. I jumped. I was back in reality with Rufus at my side. He had a vice grip on my upper arm and it was starting to throb.
"Lets go," he said. I followed him to the room where visitor saw patients.
I thought about my vision for a minute. Mama had broken the promise to bring us a Thanksgiving dinner at twelve o'clock. She spent her time downstairs, free while we were trapped in one room. Why did she get to be free? She was the one who sinned. It wasn't us, why did we have to suffer?
I peered past Rufus and saw Craig sitting at a long table. He looked uncomfortable and ready to jump out of his chair. He slid his chair back and was about to stand up when Rufus said,
"Here's the kid," he left without saying anything else.
I just stared across the room at Craig. There were no other visitors in the room. We were all alone. Why was he here? I never thought that he would ever come to visit me. He barely even talked to me when we lived in the same house, and now he had made a special trip to see me? It didn't make sense, something had to be wrong.
"Come and sit down," he told me. I walked to the table slowly and sat down. I tried to read what he was going to say in his face but he was like the grandmother, I couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"Penny and I have decided that you are too much for us to handle," he said.
I stared at him. Too much for them to handle? They hadn't been parents to me at all in the last two months! I wasn't causing them any trouble by living away from their house.
"We are giving you up, you will be a ward to the state," he said and he stood up.
"That's it?" I asked, "you came here to tell me that?"
Suddenly Craig transformed it the large, gray grandmother. No, no, no, I shook my head, you aren't the grandmother, you are Craig.
"We don't want you," he said, "you are the devil's spawn," the grandmother piped up.
"I'm good! I'm not the devil's spawn!" I yelled at her.
I dove at the Grandmother and latched myself onto her tree trunk of a leg. I wouldn't let her hurt anyone I loved.
"Get off me!" she yelled.
Suddenly Rufus was at my side and reality came back to me. Craig was staring at me in horror. Rufus was holding me up as I slumped down, exhausted. What was the use? I was evil, no one wanted someone who was born from sin.
Craig ran from the room without looking back.
"Good going, kid," Rufus said, "it's back to the third floor for you,"
"NOO!" I screamed. I struggled to get free of Rufus but he was too strong. I kicked and flailed, but he dragged me up the stairs to the third floor where all was quiet and dark.
"NOOOOO!" I wailed in agony. I had to escape this place, I couldn't live in that room, I couldn't!
"Let go of him," I voice said from behind us. Rufus turned around, dragging me with him. To my surprise, I saw the woman that Rufus had been struggling with the first night I was here. Old Lady Suzanne.
"Suzanne, how did you get out here?" Rufus asked, loosening his grip on me. I slipped out from under his thick arms and ran down the hall. Old Lady Suzanne followed me quickly.
"Come back here!" Rufus yelled.
"Hurry," Suzanne urged me. I ran as fast as I could down the stairs to the ground floor. There were security guards waiting for us there.
I stopped and looked back at Suzanne. She just smiled and said, "Good luck," she ran straight at the guards and they all fell into a heap. I took that opportunity to run out the front doors and down the walk that led to the place that I had loved for a short time. The gates were closed but I was able to squeeze through the bars. There is an upside to not eating very much.
I didn't stop running until I got to the small town. I knew security guard would be looking for me. I had to get as far away from here as possible.
But, I had made it, I had escaped. No one was going to control my life anymore. The sun shone in the sky and as I looked up a tit I smiled. I would live outside to make up for all the time I was deprived of fresh air.
The only thing that would make this day better was Carrie.
