I know its been a long time since I updated, but I hope you will still find this story interesting. I'm going to try and finish this over the weekend. So sorry for the long delay.
Chapter 23
Taylor felt the punishment from drinking too much the night before. She worked slowly and Randy had to help her catch up the towels that fell into the bin several times. He spoke to her when necessary but did not say much otherwise. Taylor assumed he felt the same way as John did about what she had done. Or maybe it was the fact that there was no possibility of a future with her so they thought her a waste of their time. She tried not to care. John would be gone and Randy had hurt her in the past and she told herself she was free of him and he was one less threat in her life.
A half an hour away from their last break, Officer Kenneth walked up the ramp with another officer beside him. Taylor kept her eyes on them as they approached. Kenneth never brought a partner unless he expected trouble. He called Randy over and she watched Randy hop over the belt. She had no idea what they were saying to him because of the radio but she knew it wasn't good. Randy's expression was blank. He tone turned pale. He tried to walk past the guards, but they raised their voices and she could hear them.
"Just finish working out the day. There's nothing you can do right now."
Randy looked angry at them, but he did what they asked. He went back to work and Taylor waited for the officers to leave before walking to his part of the room. She stopped at the desk and watched him. He closed the boxes and placed them under the bar and stepped on the foot pedal to slap the plastic band around the box. Then he turned it sideways and did the same thing before shoving it down the shoot.
"Damn it!" Randy jerked his hand out. The next box he had not moved his hand and the band left a red mark where it had hit. It was not the first time Randy had done it but this time he did not shake it off and go on with his work. Instead he sunk to the floor and held it.
Taylor slowly made her way to his side and dropped to her knees beside him. She hesitated before placing her hand on his shoulder. Randy didn't even look at her before throwing his hands around her waist and burying his head into her stomach. He began to sob heavily. His shoulder shook as he cried. Taylor was shocked. Randy was always tough and always hid his emotions and pain. Taylor gently ran her fingers over through his short hair. He held her so tight that she could barely breathe. His fist tightened around her uniform and pulled it and she feared the thin material would rip under his force.
"Taylor!" Officer Kenneth walked up the ramp yelling for her, interrupting them. She stepped over the belt as she was supposed to and waited for him. "come with me." Randy looked puzzled when she glanced his way, but whatever he had been told had weakened him and he could not drag himself to his feet. Instead he crumbled to the floor and cried like a child.
Taylor followed Kenneth to the shipping area and he kept walking past it and into an area she had never been in before. He did not tell her what he wanted with her even after they climbed on an old elevator that sounded like it was going to give out at any time. One floor up he opened the doors and she followed him into an area that was filled with raw cotton. It was hot in that area and she didn't understand why it was called the card room. There were only a few workers running the machines there and Taylor began to feel nervous as Kenneth continued to walk past the workers and into an area that was used to store the bales of cotton until they were needed.
"You are getting on my nerves." Kenneth snapped at her and slung her into a corner of the room. Hidden behind the big bales he towered over her. "I have done everything to make sure you pay for what you did to my brother. I put you with the most dangerous kid in this place and you became his friend." He kicked her when she tried to stand up causing her to fall face first to the floor.
"My brother is dead. He would have been the next senator! He may have become president!" he screamed at her. "And yet you live. They should have given you the electric chair. But no. You get to live an easy life with all your meals given to you and the tax payers supporting you while you lie around on a cot and read books! That's what your life will be when you leave the camp." He kicked her again and she screamed out. She knew her rib was broken, if not more than one.
"No." he said more to himself than her. "You're going to get what you deserve." Taylor pulled herself backwards by her elbows. "You manipulated and you seduced my brother and then you killed him. I bet you thought you wouldn't get any trouble. No it was clearly self defense." He mocked a woman's voice. "You would have ended up with his money and his home. But you didn't count on his family fighting for him. Did you! Did you!" He pulled his gun out of his holster and she heard the click of the hammer. "But your plan will work great for me. You were being trained to take over the maid route." She followed his gaze and saw a big yellow cart with a mop bucket on it, filled with cleaning solutions that he obviously planted. "You hadn't been seen in some time so I went looking for you. But when I found you, you pulled a blade on me. He picked up a blade from the top of the bale and used it to cut a long slash across his abdomen. He then bent down, jerked her hand up and forced her hand around it. Taylor dropped it the moment he released her. "It's self-defense, right?" He laughed. Taylor took a deep breath. She refused to panic. She would not give him the satisfaction. She already believed that death would have been better than the life she was destined to live. She stared at him defiantly. Calmly. Ready for whatever would come.
"Go ahead." She smiled, ready for it all to end. "Pull the trigger." She laughed and Kenneth was taken aback, expecting her to cower and beg for her life, but he forgot that she had nothing to want to live for. Death would free her and she smiled even wider when he snarled his lip and his finger began to squeeze the trigger because his anger kept him from seeing that living was far more torture than dying would be. "What's the matter, you don't have the guts. Maybe you should pay someone to do it for you." She taunted, craving the pain the bullet would bring and she knew she would laugh as the blood drained from her wound until finally she could take her last breath and her soul would be carried off to freedom and peace.
