I watched them change. We all walked about like caged animals, looking at each other as if one word would set us clawing ourselves as well as the walls, then we glared at the door. Teal tried it and of course it was locked.
“What if they just leave us here forever? Who would even know?” Robin queried. “There's no other way out.”
Teal and I looked at each other.
“My parents would eventually find out. They can't do that. They wouldn't dare. My mother would sue the panties off that Dr. Foreplay or whatever she calls herself,” Teal said.
“Right, your parents are worried sick over you. That's why they had you sent here.”
“Shut up. You don't know anything about me or my family.”
“Who wants to?” Robin mumbled.
All I could think about was getting out of here. Soon we'd be at each other's throat, but the hands of whatever clock we were on were arthritic or something. It seemed like much longer than another hour before the door opened and the three so-called buddies returned.
“Everyone stand in front of her desk,” M'Lady One ordered. We did so, all of us thinking the same thing: we'll do anything to get out of here. “Okay, here is the school prayer. You are to recite it every morning and you are to recite it until you get it perfect. We'll stay here as long as we have to until all three of you have it memorized.”
M'Lady Two came forward. “Repeat after me. 'I am nothing. I am less than nothing. I am a burden to my family and to my country. I must hate myself to death and I must change. I must thank Dr. Foreman for every punishment I receive.' ”
Teal grimaced. “That's a prayer?”
“It's stupid,” Robin agreed.
“Suit yourselves, girls. We're comfortable,” M'Lady Two said, and started out.
“Wait a minute!” I cried.
She paused.
“I can't stand it in here anymore.”
She looked at Robin and Teal.
“All right. How does it go again?” Teal asked.
M'Lady Two smiled and repeated it for us. None of us got it right the first time, so she repeated it and again we mumbled it as accurately as we could. They demanded we speak louder. Teal made an error and we were stopped and told to start again. I thought she wasn't going to do it, but she did and, of course, made a small mistake. All three of us were tired and groggy and uncomfortable. It was so hard to concentrate on words we hated anyway. Finally, we had it right almost to the end, when I left out a word and they jumped on me. Again we recited it and again one of us made a small error. Eventually, we had it perfect and they agreed we had done so.
“Orientation is over,” M'Lady Three declared, slapping her hands together. “We can move out and take you to Dr. Foreman's School. Remember,” she added before we started, “no talking without permission.”
We marched out of the room. I don't think I was ever happier to leave a place than I was leaving there. Even the hot evening air seemed a relief. A dirty, white, win-dowless van was parked in front of the building. Therear doors were opened and we were told to climb in. There was nothing to sit on, just the metal floor of the van. A solid wall separated the back of the van from the driver. All three of us hesitated. It smelled like some farm animals had been transported in it only minutes ago. The odor of animal manure was strong.
Teal raised her hand.
“What?” M'Lady Three asked. We understood now that M'Lady Three was assigned to Teal; M'Lady Two to Robin, and of course, M'Lady One to me.
“There are no windows in there. How long is the trip? We'll suffocate.”
“The trip is as long as it takes to get to the school. Get in. It will be longer if you waste time. We might,” M'Lady Three said, smiling at the other two, “take you on a detour if you don't behave.”
Teal looked at the two of us and then gazed around and into the darkness. Would she try to bolt and run? I think she realized she had no idea in which direction to go and the chances of her outrunning them were slim. Defeated, she climbed into the van and sat with her back to the side, her arms folded. I did the same, sitting across from her, and Robin got in and sat next to her. They closed the doors on us and we were in total darkness.
That wasn't the only problem. Teal was right. Once the doors were closed, we had little fresh air, the odor was nauseating, and the van walls felt like the walls of an oven.
“We'll die in here if we have to stay in here long,” Teal moaned.
“Keep your voice down,” Robin said. “Whisper. Who knows what else those sadistic creatures will do to us if they hear us talking.”
“If I wasn't so tired, I'd choke one of them,” Teal claimed.
“They don't look like they're afraid of that, especially your buddy,” I told her. “I think she's a former football player or bouncer from some bar.”
Robin grunted her agreement. We heard the van's engine start, then the van pulled away. It was smooth for a while, but not five minutes into the ride, it suddenly became quite bumpy, and for us to bounce sitting on this metal floor was not easy. It was at times painful. We all screamed and shouted complaints, but whoever was driving didn't hear us or care. The van jostled and shook us as it went along. At times, the driver turned so hard and sharply, we were thrown from side to side. Finally, the ride became a lot smoother.
“I'm going to strangle my mother darling when I get away from here,” Robin vowed. “She just wanted to get
