Excerpt 132

She would no longer say anything that she did not intend to follow through with.  Her mind was nearly taken from her.  Mental control was something she had always assumed could not be taken away from her, barring disease.  Now she knew that even though someone could not take it away, it could be diminished.  Someone really could drive you crazy and take over your thoughts.

She would never again take advantage of her freedom and being able to say anything she wants to out loud. She would never say she would harm someone without meaning it.  And if she said something out loud about bringing harm to those men, she would be involving the person who was saving her life.

He turned into a fast food restaurant parking lot and approached the drive through.

“You should eat something,” he said.

She wondered how he could act she normal when she was barely dressed, had bruises and blood all over her body and was clearly disillusioned.  She did not want to eat in front of him because she worried that she had forgotten how to and would spit up. She looked at the menu board. None of the sun-bleached pictures of food looked appetizing and all of the corners were caked with dirt.

“I’ll have a piece of chicken.” He nodded and ordered.  She looked out the window, trying to recognize a store or a gas station.

The smell of the chicken was overwhelming and she could hardly unwrap it fast enough before taking a bite.  Although juicy, the first bite was very salty and she swallowed quickly, burning her throat.  The man handed her a cup of water as she peeled the skin off and threw it into the bag.  She peeled the meat from the bone and chewed slowly.  Just as she wished she had ordered another piece, the man handed her a biscuit.

“What is your name?” She asked, suddenly feeling self conscious with her misshapen hair and lack of makeup.

“Bruce,” he said and then didn’t ask her the same.

“Thank you for everything,” she said.

“I’m just glad I was there. And I was just thinking, you don’t have any identification, do you?”

“I don’t,” she said, remembering the smoldering pile burning. He nodded.

“I should probably just take you all the way home then,” he said.  “It’s not a good idea to travel without an ID.”

 

segment 36

The two girls sat under the pergola eating the warm chicken salad, Ala had made that afternoon, with great haste and picking at some cheese biscuits from the market.  They had opened a third bottle of prossecco, taken from the case in the basement, and would probably move to wine after this bottle was empty.

“I’m serious. I thought it was going to get stuck inside me,” Gertrude said, her eyes rolling back with her laughter.  Ala covered her mouth to try to stop the spray of bubbles from shooting out.

“Stop.”

“I mean it.  It was the biggest I had ever seen.  Ever been with.”

“It could never get stuck.  You’re so dramatic.”

“How do you know it couldn’t?”

“Come on.”

They sat close together, foreheads almost touching, just as they had at eleven years old when sharing secrets and gossiping.

Lately, Gertrude had taken up sleeping with every maintenance man who came through her parent’s doors. A major renovation was underway at the large estate they had recently purchased.  She was now sleeping with Rashid from New York City.  He was married with two daughters and was working there over the summer as part of a group of traveling laborers.  Ala could sympathize with Gertrude’s boredom with working for an arts association since college, but this in her opinion, was reckless.

“He parked his truck outside of Knopp’s and we did it in the back, you know, in the pick up part.”

“So, you not only had sex in the truck, but outside of the pharmacy at three in the morning?”

“You don’t understand.  It was the best experience I’ve ever had.”

“I think you need to get out of this town.”

“I don’t think it did you any good.”  As soon as it escaped her lips, Gerturde slammed her hand on top of Ala’s to alleviate any pain she may have caused. Ala nodded.

“It’s okay.  Don’t worry about it.”

Gertrude sat back in the wicker chair, crumbling a biscuit between her fingers and slowly eating it.