Wrath of the Siafu- A SIngle Link

by Balogun Ojetade

  “Or, we’re all part of some damned experiment,” Remi said. “Why is it a rule that we eat all of our food?”

  “Shoot, girl,” Eboni said, scooping a mound of oatmeal into her mouth with her spoon. “Damn, this is good. Eating all our food ain’t the problem. This small ass portions are!”

  “Greedy,” Remi said, shaking her head. “Well…bon appetite.”

  “Yeah, we gon’ be bony and petite eatin’ like this,” Eboni replied.

  Remi giggled and then gobbled down a spoonful of the sweet oatmeal. “This is good,” she said. “I haven’t had oatmeal this good since Kundo made me that breakfast for Mother’s Day four years ago. The rest of the meal was terrible, but that oatmeal was delicious! I…

  The words died in her throat. An overwhelming feeling of loneliness fell over her like a blanket – a quilt made of patches of despair that threatened to smother her. Tears burst from the corners of her eyes; her shoulders shook as she cried.

  Eboni placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I know you miss him, girl. Your babies, too. One way or another, you gon’ see them again, soon. We gon’ get out of here.”

  “Or die trying,” Remi said.

  “Either way, we’re out,” Eboni replied. “Now, stop cryin’ so I can stop comfortin’, ‘cause if my oatmeal gets cold, we gon’ have a problem up in here!”

  Remi laughed. She picked up her spoon and went back to eating her breakfast.

  ####

  The cell door slid open. Officer Reed entered the room, pushing her cart before her.

  “Did you enjoy your meal, ladies?” She asked. Ready to go?

  “Yes and yes,” Remi replied.

  “Good,” Officer Reed said, stacking one tray on top of the other on the cart. “I’ll be back after I collect all of the trays.”

  Officer Reed exited the room.

  A half hour later, she returned. “Come on ladies,” she said.

  Remi and Eboni walked out of the cell behind Officer Reed. Nearly a dozen women sat in the common area, playing cards, chess and various board games.

  “Listen up, ladies!” Officer Reed commanded.

  Everyone looked up from their games and focused their attention on Officer Reed.

  “These are your new pod mates,” Officer Reed began. “Remi Swan and Eboni Ahmed. You have probably heard of them. Give them their space…and their respect. Understood?”

  The women expressed their understanding with grunts, groans, “yeses” and “yeps.”

  “Good,” Officer Reed said. “I’ll make sure you all get a week shaved off your sentence, for being so agreeable”

  Eboni nudged Remi with her elbow. “Time is currency in here,” she whispered.

  “Each pod houses ten to sixteen patients, with up to two patients per room,” Officer Reed said, peering over her shoulder. “Follow me.”

  Officer Reed sauntered to the pod door. She raised her hand high above her head, signaling the tower to open the door. The door slid open and Officer Reed, Eboni and Remi stepped out of the pod into the main hallway.

  “There are the four pods, the administrative offices and an infirmary on this floor,” Officer Reed said. “You’ve seen the administrative offices and you know where Warden Hess’ office is; let’s check out the infirmary.”

  Remi and Eboni followed Officer Reed past Pod D to the end of the hall. She stood before what appeared to be an unmarked, white wall. She placed her palms against the smooth stone. A humming din rose from the floor. Officer Reed removed her hands from the wall. A second later, the wall slid downward, disappearing into the floor.

  Eboni whistled. “Damn!”

  Before them, men and women dressed in white frocks over their white medical uniforms, hustled and bustled about, caring for a few patients who lay on chrome beds that were positioned against each wall and moving in and out of rooms that appeared to be made of very thick glass.

  “We have three doctors and nine nurses on staff,” Officer Reed said. “We also have a lab tech and a pharmacist.”

  “And then, there’s me,” a voice came from their left.

  Remi looked toward the voice. A woman, who appeared to be in her mid-forties, sat in a wheelchair. The chair was made of chrome and white leather. The woman’s long, straight hair was nearly as white as the leather and her skin was just a shade darker.

  “I’m Peggy,” the woman said, smiling.

  “And what do you do here, Peggy?” Remi asked.

  Peggy’s smile faded. Her eyes locked onto Remi’s. A chill slithered up Remi’s spine.

  “Um…Peggy is our psychotherapist,” Officer Reed said. “And…”

  “And that chill you felt proves that attention regulates emotion,” Peggy said, interrupting Officer Reed. “My change in facial expression and mood caused you to focus on the sudden and odd change, which caused a change in your emotions. I know you all felt it.”

  “O…kay,” Remi replied.

  “That’s what I do here,” Peggy replied. “I work to discover the best methods for quieting an agitated and unruly amygdala – the two almond-shaped groups of nuclei located within the temporal lobes of the brain that perform a primary role in the processing of memory, decision-making, and emotional reactions. I…”

  A loud bestial noise, like the sound of an angry duet sung by a raging gorilla and a cornered cat, erupted from one of the glass rooms.

  “Janine is unhappy,” Peggy said. “Follow me. I’ll show you, first hand, how my methods work.”

  “Brace yourselves,” Officer Reed whispered.

  “For what?” Remi replied, walking behind Peggy, whose motorized wheelchair cruised toward a room on the far wall.

  “For that,” Officer Reed said, pointing toward the room.

  Behind the glass wall stood what appeared to be a giant, hairless chimpanzee. The creature’s skin was brownish-red, as was the unkempt afro that sat upon its large, square-shaped head. Janine – as Peggy had called the creature – stood nearly seven feet tall, her well-defined forearms were the size of a muscular man’s calf and her upper arms were nearly as big as a man’s thigh. Small breasts under her white t-shirt shook as Janine roared again. Janine’s open mouth revealed a set of large, perfectly white teeth with elongated canine teeth.

  Remi recognized, underneath Janine’s bestial face, eyes that were quite human and in emotional pain.

  “Oh, my God,” Remi said. “That…that’s a woman!”

  “A child, actually,” Officer Reed said. “Janine is thirteen. She was born here.”

  “Born here?” Remi replied, shaking her head. “How? This is a new facility.”

  “Not new,” Officer Reed said. “Just new to the public.”

  “I want out of here, now!” Eboni said. “What did y’all do to her? This place is some sort of laboratory…and we’re the rats!”

  “Calm down!” Officer Reed ordered, pulling a white baton from her waist. “Or I’ll be forced to put you down.”

  “With that little toothpick?” Ebony said. “Let’s see.”

  Officer Reed’s fist tightened around the handle of the baton. White sparks flashed from the shaft of the weapon. The baton crackled and hummed. “You’d be…shocked at what this ‘little toothpick’ can do.” She said.

  “Shocked…funny,” Eboni said. “I’ll play nice, for now, Reed.”

  “Thank you,” Officer Reed replied. “One of our original patients gave birth to Janine before dying from some undeterminable illness. We have been raising her here ever since.”

  Peggy rolled up to the window before Janine. She pressed a button on the armrest of her wheelchair. “Janine? Janine, can you hear me?”

  Janine slowly looked toward the window. She slammed her massive hands into the glass, causing the room to shake. Remi jumped. Janine roared again, pounding her chests with her fists.

  “Can she get out of there?” Remi asked.

  “No,” Officer Reed answered. “Luckily, that glass is damn near indestructible. If Janine gets
out and is agitated, we’d have a problem.”

  “I bet,” Eboni said.

  Peggy reached into her frock pocket and retrieved a piece of paper. She stared at the paper for a few moments and then burst into tears.

  Janine stopped roaring and beating her chest. She stared at Peggy and craned her neck in an attempt to see what was on the paper.

  Peggy reached into her frock pocket again. This time, she retrieved a large, very colorful lollipop. “I bought this for my granddaughter,” she said, smiling at Janine. “But she was bad yesterday. She threw a tantrum and raised her voice at her mother, so I’m giving it to you…if you want it.”

  Janine smiled and nodded her head.

  Peggy rolled to Janine’s door. She opened the hatch at the bottom of it and slid the lollipop inside. Janine ambled to the door, picked up the lollipop with her sausage-sized fingers and sat, cross-legged on the floor, sucking the sweet confection.

  Peggy turned to face Remi and Eboni. “And that is how you calm the amygdala.”

  “Why are you showing us all of this?” Remi asked. “Isn’t this top secret stuff here?”

  “Who are you going to tell?” Peggy said, smiling.

  “My attorney is coming to see me, today,” Remi said. “I could tell him.”

  Peggy shot a glance at Officer Reed. “They don’t know?”

  “I haven’t had a chance to tell them,” Officer Reed replied.

  “Tell us what?” Remi inquired.

  “The attorney Dan Wallace hired to represent you and your husband were in a terrible car accident last night.”

  Remi’s knees felt as if they had turned to jelly. Her jaws tightened until they hurt and her heart felt as if it would leap from her chest. “Why in the hell didn’t your ass tell me?”

  “My orders were to say nothing until we were in the infirmary,” Officer Reed replied. “Kundo is okay. He is in stable condition at Emory. The attorney, however, didn’t make it.”

  “God damn,” Eboni sighed.

  “Take me back to my room,” Remi said.

  “My orders…”

  “Damn your orders!” Remi said, taking a step toward Officer Reed. “Take me back to my room!”

  A stabbing pain assaulted Remi’s right thigh. She looked down at her leg. Peggy withdrew a needle from it.

  “Gotcha,” Peggy said, smiling. “Got your friend, too.”

  Remi snapped her head toward Eboni. Eboni staggered sideways, her arms outstretched in an attempt to balance herself. Remi’s vision blurred. The world began to spin and tilt. All the white around her turned to blackness. A blackness accompanied by a silence quieter than the grave.

  ####

  Remi opened her eyes. High above her was a white ceiling with several rows of white track lights. She sat bolt upright and then perused her surroundings. Eboni stirred on a cot beside her. Several brown leather heavy bags hung, at various lengths, from the ceiling. The floor was covered by scores of white mats that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Beside her mat was a tray. Upon the tray were moderate portions of squash, broccoli, baked beans and rice. Next to the tray was a purple-hued smoothie.

  “Eat up. Your training begins in fifteen minutes.”

  Remi peered over her shoulder. Warden Hess stood behind her, smiling.

  “My husband…” Remi began.

  “Is fine,” Warden Hess replied, cutting her off. “The doctors say he suffered some bruising and a minor concussion, but he will be discharged in a day or two.”

  Eboni sat up. “When can we speak to him?”

  “Eat up,” the warden said. “Finish your lunch and your dinner and I promise, I will arrange for you both to talk to him tomorrow morning.”

  “What’s up with the food?” Remi said. “Why is it so important to everyone that we eat every drop?”

  “We have spent a lot of money studying diet’s effect on mood and on athletic performance,” Warden Hess replied. “If we can improve your strength and your endurance, while keeping your mood balanced…”

  “You’ll make a ton of money by cornering the market on performance enhancing drugs,” Eboni said.

  “Bingo,” Warden Hess replied.

  “So, you’re subjecting us to steroids in our food?” Remi said.

  “No,” Warden Hess said. “Not steroids. Something much more potent; more…thorough. Take you, for instance, Miss Ahmed.”

  Eboni raised an eyebrow. “What about me?”

  “You were suffering the effects of chronic boxer’s encephalopathy, were you not?” Warden Hess said.

  Eboni shot a glance at Remi. Remi shrugged.

  “You monitored our conversations back at the Rice Street facility,” Eboni said.

  “Of course,” Warden Hess replied. “I told you, I studied you both thoroughly before bringing you here. Back to the subject at hand, though. Ms. Ahmed, you haven’t slurred your speech since you have been here; you haven’t lost your balance – except, of course, when Peggy injected you in the infirmary and that had nothing to do with your condition.”

  “So, you’d have us believe that after one meal, I’m miraculously healed?” Eboni said.

  “No, not healed,” Warden Hess replied. “In another week, however, the improvements will be permanent and no matter how many blows to the head you suffer, encephalopathy will not be an issue.”

  “So, you’ve altered our DNA, like that poor girl Janine back in the infirmary?” Remi said.

  “Janine was born with her genetic defect,” Warden Hess said. “Her mother came to us with stage-four pancreatic cancer. Our program eradicated the cancer, but had unfortunate effects on the baby growing in her womb.”

  Remi stood up, staring into Warden Hess’ eyes. “If I find out you have done something harmful to us, I’m going to kill you.”

  “Fair enough,” Warden Hess said. “Now, please, eat; you have ten minutes before your training begins.”

  Warden Hess smiled, turned away from Remi and then sauntered out of the training room.

  “These bastards murdered that lawyer and hurt Kundo,” Eboni whispered.

  “Yep,” Remi replied. “They want us to fight in their tournaments; to prove that whatever in the hell they are feeding us works.”

  “So, we start killin’?” Eboni said.

  “Not yet,” Remi replied.

  “What then?” Eboni asked.

  “We eat; we play along for now,” Remi answered, grabbing her fork and waving it about. “Traveling to and from that tournament might provide us with an opportunity to escape.”

  “Okay,” Eboni said, raising her cup of smoothie. “To Kundo!”

  Remi picked up her cup and tapped Eboni’s cup with it. “To Kundo!”

  ####

  Officers Dillard and McCray walked into the training room. They were both dressed in sweat-suits – white, of course.

  “On your feet, ladies,” Officer Dillard shouted. “Time to work on those strikes.”

  “Aw snap!” Eboni said, sliding her try under her cot. “Are we sparring? I hope you ate your Wheaties today, Officer Dillard.”

  “No sparring,” Officer Dillard said. “That is reserved for the cage, which is in the room next door. But you don’t want none, anyway, Ms. Ahmed.”

  “Oh, I do,” Eboni said. “Knocking out five-o would get me some cred in here.”

  “Isn’t that what got you here in the first place?” Officer Dillard said.

  “What got me here was me exactin’ justice for the murder of one of our babies,” Eboni replied.

  “Well, exact some justice on these bags,” Officer McCray said. “Ten three-minute rounds; with a one minute rest between rounds. Wraps and gloves are in the panels on the wall to your left.”

  Eboni pointed at the heavy bag nearest to her. “I’m gonna name this bag Dillard.” She pointed to another bag to her left. “And I’ll call this one McCray.”

  “Whatever works,” Officer Dillard said with a shrug.

  Eboni shuffled toward the bag and the
n unleashed a quick punch and kick combination upon it. Each strike on the bag sounded like a crack of lightning.

  A bead of sweat rolled down Officer Dillard’s forehead. He swallowed hard.

  Remi whirled on the ball of her left foot as she raised her right knee to her belly. She thrust her foot behind her, driving her heel into the heavy bag at her rear. The bag collapsed around Remi’s foot. Remi brought her foot down with a jerk and then turned to face the bag, striking it with a powerful right cross. The bag nearly bent in half.

  McCray shot a glance at Dillard. “Damn,” he whispered.

  Remi paused. She was strong, but she never felt so powerful, so alive. A powerful impulse to attack the heavy bag overcame her. Her heart raced and an urge to fight; to destroy rose, like an inferno, in her gut. She tried to calm herself, to no avail. A growl rose in her throat. She leapt forward, slamming the side of her forehead into the bag. She then wrapped her left arm around the bag and drove a volley of elbow strikes into it.

  “Time!”

  Remi stepped away from the bag. The leather covering of the bag had split in several spots. Bits of cloth burst from the tears. “That couldn’t have been three minutes,” she said.

  “It was,” McCray replied.

  To Remi, it felt like only seconds had passed. She glanced at Eboni, who looked just as confused as she was. Eboni’s bag was deeply dented in the middle, giving it the appearance of an old soda bottle.

  “Round two!” Dillard shouted.

  Remi smiled. She couldn’t wait to pound the bag again. She couldn’t wait.

  ####

  “I godda feewin’…

  I got a feewin’ sisdas..

  I godda feewin’…

  Someblonny’s twine do bweak dis link,

  Budda hope godda lipeboat whis hiship sink.”

  Remi was awakened by a mumbled, off-beat rendition of her signature ring entry chant.

  She sat up and looked down in the direction of the voice. Eboni sat at the desk, rocking back and forth. Her eyes were slightly crossed and a crooked smile was spread across her face. A line of spittle trickled from the corner of her mouth.

  Remi leapt out of the bed and knelt before her friend. “Eboni?”

  Eboni gazed at Remi with dull eyes and smiled. “Huh?”