They both stared at me.
“How do you know that for sure?”
“Gia wanted to prove to me that there was a Posy and that she was in the basement.”
“How?”
“I went there with her one night and she tricked me and trapped me below. But it wasn't her fault. Dr. Foreman had her do it.”
“Why?” Teal asked.
I told them about my experience in the basement and the letter.
“You've kept that all to yourself?” Teal complained.
“It wasn't anyone else's business,” I said, “and those were Dr. Foreman's orders.”
“You could have told us anyway.”
“Oh, suddenly you're my new best friends? C'mon, if she told you to keep quiet about something that involved me, you would become a total mute. Don't put on any airs or try to make me feel bad, Teal.”
“She's right,” Robin said, still unforgiving. “You gave me up and I don't care what they did to you.”
“And she's right about what you would have done, too.”
“Okay, so we're not exactly loving friends. What's the difference whether or not Phoebe told us about Gia and the imaginary Posy?” Robin said. “She's right. It had nothing to do with us.”
“Oh, how I hate this place,” Teal moaned.
Robin turned back to me and smiled. “You were even more clever than I first thought, Phoebe. Blaming an imaginary person that Dr. Foreman wanted you to keep secret. What was she going to do? Call you a liar? And in front of us?”
I looked back at the hacienda. “I don't know. Maybe it was smart. Maybe it was the dumbest thing I've done since I was brought here. Whichever it was,” I said, starting along again, "I have the feeling I'm gonna find out soon.
“Maybe sooner than I imagine.”
We continued along, silence like a big black sheet falling over us with just the sound of Teal's crutch poking the dried earth accompanying us back to our barracks.
None of us looked forward to sleeping tonight.
We'd all see those eyes.
Dr. Foreman's eyes at the end of our session, full of the most utter disgust and contempt I had ever seen in the eyes of an adult who was looking at me.
What would cause such rage? I wondered.
And then I thought, perhaps we ... or maybe just I was the first candidate she had ever had that she thought she might fail to make into a Foreman girl after all.
Something told me she would never permit a failure to leave this place.
Even Posy, imagined and unreal, had to be made to disappear.
Broken Wings 2 - Midnight Flight
Marooned
A o our surprise, not only didn't we hear a second shoe drop, but in the morning we were greeted with unexpected gifts. M'Lady One entered with her arms full of clothing. She distributed prettier white blouses and khaki walking shorts as well as new socks and pairs of light brown sneakers. Teal was depressed because we were also provided with new hairbrushes and she had no hair to brush.
“Is this some sort of a reward for work or something?” I asked M'Lady One.
“No, stupid,” she said. “It's a punishment.”
“I almost feel like a human being again,” Robin cried after she put on a blouse and brushed her hair. “These shorts aren't too bad either.”
Teal checked for a label and saw where they were made in China. “Probably fall apart in a day or two,” she muttered, still pining over her shortened hair. “The sneakers aren't bad though.”
I was cautiously happy. Only Gia looked upset about it. She stared at everything as if one of those centipedes Natani had shown us might be lodged in something. All of us were changed and dressed and she hadn't changed into anything yet.
“What's wrong, Gia?” I asked.
“I don't know. This is not like her. I don't know.”
“She probably had the clothes lying around or maybe it's like those prisoner of war camps where someone comes to inspect and she's just getting us ready for it,” Robin suggested. “What do you think, Phoebe?”
I stared at Gia. “I don't know what to think. Maybe it's like the magazines, huh, Gia?”
“Maybe,” she said finally, putting on a blouse. “Maybe it's something more.”
“Maybe it's something more, maybe it's not like her, maybe it's maybe. You can drive someone nuts,” Teal shouted at her. “Why don't you just take it and be grateful and get yourself out of here already? Or don't you want to go home?”
Gia looked at her as if it were a good question. “Maybe I don't.” She turned her back and put on the shorts.
Mindy watched her and then gazed at me with concern.
“Well, I know I do. I'd crawl out on my hands and knees if I had to. Almost did,” Teal reminded us.
“It's not over yet,” Gia said, looking up as she buttoned her shorts. “You may be on your hands and knees yet.”
Teal smirked, shook her head, and sat to put on her new sneakers. “I have about fifty pairs at home, every color you can imagine, every new style.” She sat quietly, remembering.
“Let's go, ladies,” M'Lady Three said from the door. “This morning you're going directly to breakfast. No morning work detail.”
Again, we looked at each other. I began to really wonder if Robin wasn't right. We were going to be inspected by some agency and Dr. Foreman was putting on a shiny new look.
“Was this place ever inspected since you've been here, Gia?” I asked.
“No. Or at least not that I know of.”
“Then, I'm right,” Robin decided. “It's obviously time for an inspection.”
“Well, I can tell you this,” Teal said, “if someone pulls me aside to ask me how things are going, he or she is going to get an ear so full, his head will tilt to one side.”
“Just remember,” Mindy cautioned, “if you're not shipped out soon after you spill your guts, one of the buddies might spill them for you.”
“I don't care! I'm sick of all this and I want the world to know it!” Teal screamed at her.
Mindy just
