There was a deep thump in my chest. In the back of my mind I wondered if she would tell everyone how I had betrayed Teal, use me as an example.
“I want you all here to hear each other because I do not like it when one girl goes behind someone else's back. That's deceit. We've all got to face the blunt truth about ourselves. I know how hard this is to do. For most of you, if not all of you, deception, dishonesty, conniving, have been the order of the day. How refreshing it will finally be for you to throw all that off and be truthful.” She smiled as if she were offering us a party.
She rose, scooped up five pencils from the top of her desk, and handed each of us one. Then she gave each of us a piece of paper.
“Let's begin, however, with a secret vote. That's the best way to break the ice.”
I glanced at Mindy. She looked absolutely terrified.
Gia looked angry. “We've done this before, Dr. Foreman. Can't we be excused?”
Dr. Foreman's face hardened even though she kept the smile on her lips. “Yes, Gia, you have done something similar before, but not satisfactorily. Not yet. And besides”—Dr. Foreman's eyes gleamed as she nodded at Robin, Teal, and me—“you have new companions now. Things can't be the same. Every situation is different and you've got to be able to adjust to new situations all the time, adjust to different personalities. That's what it's going to be like out there, right?”
Gia looked like she was going to say something more, but then stopped and looked down.
“Right?” Dr. Foreman insisted.
Gia looked up. “Yes.”
“Good. All right. Now let's begin. I want you each to write the name of the girl you think will take the longest to improve and leave the school.”
I was stunned. Vote on who among us was the worst?
“What if we don't know enough yet about everyone else?” I asked.
“Oh, I think you do by now.”
“We weren't permitted to speak to each other much and . . .”
“You've seen and spoken to each other enough to make the decision I expect,” Dr. Foreman said sharply. Then she smiled. “If you can't choose, then write your own name down, and of course write your own name if you believe you are the weakest one.”
Was this really some kind of a serious vote? What would happen to the girl who won this vote? Would she be treated more harshly? Isolated from the rest of us? I looked at everyone else. No one was going to write her own name. Why should I write mine?
“But. . .”
“Quickly. We have a lot to do and you're all going to be sent back to the barracks afterward to complete your schoolwork. There are due dates for all your assignments, remember, tomorrow being one.”
I looked at the others. Robin was writing and so was Teal. Mindy stared down at the floor like she was giving it all real thought, but Gia wrote a name quickly on her paper. Whom was I to choose? There was no doubt in my mind. It would be Teal because she was the one who whined the most and she had tried to run away. I felt so guilty about having betrayed her, but from the way Dr. Foreman was looking at me, those eyes of hers so full of awareness, I was afraid if I didn't write Teal's name, she would know I wasn't being honest.
“Fold your papers and hand them to me.”
We did so and Dr. Foreman sat with them all in her lap.
“Okay, let's begin.” She opened the first paper. “Teal,” she read. She looked at Teal, who glanced at all of us and then looked away with fear.
Dr. Foreman unfolded another. “Teal.”
The third was the same.
Opening the fourth, she said, “Teal.”
Then she opened the fifth and smiled. “Robin? I guess we can safely conclude you wrote Robin, Teal.”
Teal looked terrified and shook her head.
“I don't imagine Robin would have written her own name, and you wouldn't have written yours, dear. There's no point in denying it now. Instead, we'll ask you to tell us why you think Robin is the weakest in the group. You seem to be the only one who thinks so.” She still made it all sound so harmless and friendly.
Teal looked at Robin, who was glaring at her hatefully now. She glanced toward me as well, and I thought from the way she looked at me that she had expected I would have written Robin's name and not hers.
“She ...”
“Yes? We're all ears. Go on, Teal.”
“She hates her own mother. She couldn't care less if she goes home or not,” Teal offered weakly.
“Oh, and you just love your parents, especially your father, who you said doesn't love you. She stole money from her own father,” Robin reminded us. “That's why he sent her here. They can't stand each other.”
“That's not the whole reason why and you know it,” Teal countered. “Anyway, you're always going to get into trouble because you're stupid. You let a boy talk you into being part of an armed robbery. That's a serious crime.”
“Oh, I'm stupid? You're the one who runs off into the desert not knowing where she's going or anything, and I'm stupid. Besides, everyone else voted for you, didn't they? I'm not the only one who doesn't trust you.”
“That's true, Teal,” Dr. Foreman said. “Everyone else did vote you as the weakest in the group. Why do you think that is?” she asked as if she really didn't know the answer.
Teal opened and closed her mouth. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car.
“Well? Think, my dear. I need to know what you think,” Dr. Foreman said.
“I don't know. They're all jealous of me, maybe,” Teal muttered.
“Jealous of you?” Robin said, and laughed. She looked at me, her eyes asking me why I wasn't speaking up. Gia and Mindy were both looking straight ahead, clearly showing that they wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere but here.
“Well, let's get some opinions about that,” Dr. Foreman said. “Mindy, are you jealous of Teal? Is that why you voted for her?”
“You know that's not true, Dr. Foreman.”
“I know it's not true, but how would anyone else, Mindy? Go on, tell them why you're not jealous of Teal.”
“I'm not.” She looked at Gia.
“Gia's not going to speak for you, Mindy. You speak for yourself,” Dr. Foreman ordered.
“My family is probably as wealthy as hers, but I'm not a selfish brat, and I don't think she's prettier than I am. She's weak and complains and moans all the time. She's spoiled silly and can't stand any discomfort. I've seen her tantrums. That's why I picked her,” Mindy exclaimed, the words rushing out of her like someone finally giving up a secret.
Dr. Foreman nodded, satisfied, and then looked at me.
“Why did you choose Teal, Phoebe?”
“She tried to run away,” I replied quickly, hoping she wouldn't make me say anything else or ask me anything else.
“I would have thought that showed strength, determination, courage,” Dr. Foreman said. Robin's eyebrows lifted with surprise. “Wouldn't you, Phoebe?”
“Well, no, not if you're doing something impossible. I mean, I told her what Natani had said. I told her how easy it is to die out there and she still went.”
“At least I tried to do something for myself. I didn't just whine and complain like they do,” Teal said.
“Is that what they do?”
“Yes. And don't say you don't, Robin. She was the one who got into a fight, wasn't she?” Teal accused. “She thinks Mindy is your spy,” she revealed, snapping her lips shut as soon as she had.
A heavy silence fell over us for a moment.
“Oh?” Dr. Foreman asked.
Robin seemed to wilt in her chair when Dr. Foreman turned toward her. She shook her head.
“Is that what you thought, Robin? Mindy here was my spy, someone I planted in the barracks?”
“No, I mean . . .” She looked toward me for some help, but I looked away.
With a look of great patience, Dr. Foreman turned to Mindy, who was smiling gleefully at Robin's discomfort.
“Why would Robin
think you were my spy, Mindy?”
Mindy's smile wilted. “I don't know,” she muttered.
“Well, you said something that gave them this ridiculous idea, didn't you? What sort of things were you telling them?”
“I didn't tell them anything,” she cried defensively. Then she pointed at me. “Phoebe was telling them that you had microphories secretly placed all over the place.”
“Microphones?” Dr. Foreman smiled. “You really believe that, Phoebe?”
“Sometimes it seems like it. Gia's always saying I shouldn't be asking questions.”
“Oh. You didn't tell them I have microphones all over the place, did you, Gia?”
“No. She's exaggerating. She's just a big mouth and I was trying to tell her she would get herself and someone else, maybe all of us, into trouble if she didn't keep that mouth shut.” Gia fixed her eyes angrily on me.
“So why didn't you write her name on the paper?” Dr. Foreman shot back at her like a prosecutor in a courtroom.
“I should have,” Gia replied without hesitation, glaring at me. “I'd like to change my vote in fact, from Teal to Phoebe.”
■
“Phoebe, what do you say to all this?”
“Gia's just being vicious and spiteful. I know she thinks Teal is the weakest.”
“Maybe she's not. Maybe it was courageous to try to escape like that,” Robin muttered like someone thinking aloud.
I spun on her. “You don't believe that. You're just trying to kiss up.”
“Don't tell me what I believe and what I don't believe, and I don't kiss up.” Robin smiled at me, her lips twisting toward the right corner of her mouth. “I'll tell you what I don't believe. I don't believe you when you say you only hurt that boy with a statue. I bet you weren't really just defending yourself. I even think you killed him.”
“What?”
“What are you saying, Robin?” Dr. Foreman asked.
“She told us she's here because she hit someone and supposedly put him in the hospital, but I'm beginning to wonder if that was all that really happened and if it really happened the way she said it did. She makes herself seem like such a goody-goody while the rest of us admit to doing bad things. That's not honest, is it, Dr. Foreman?”
All of them were looking at me.
“Is that true, girls? Does Phoebe make herself out to be a victim?”
“Yes,” Teal said. “She does.”
“What do you think, Mindy? Could Phoebe have been the right choice?”
“Maybe.”
“Is that right? You're the one who's always warning everyone. You're the one who might be the most afraid and weak here,” I practically shouted at her. “You're the one who talks about this Posy.”
I immediately felt the heat rise up in the room. Mindy sank in her chair and looked quickly at Dr. Foreman. Gia, who never looked afraid, suddenly had eyes filled with terror.
“Is that so, Mindy? You talk about Posy?” Dr. Foreman looked more at Gia, who quickly shifted her eyes away guiltily.
“No,” Mindy said. “I don't.”
“How would she know her name if you hadn't talked about her?” Dr. Foreman leaned toward her, grasping the pencil the way I have seen boys grasp switchblades.
“It... I didn't say anything. I just mentioned her.”
“How did you mention her, Mindy? What did you say about her?”
“Nothing. Really,” she wailed.
“I thought you weren't going to talk about Posy anymore,” Dr. Foreman said to Gia.
“I don't!” she exclaimed. “She does!”
Dr. Foreman sat back. Mindy looked down. Gia was biting down hard on her lower lip, so hard I could feel the pain in my own. Silence seemed to fall like an iron curtain between us.
“Okay, girls,” Dr. Foreman finally said. “These sessions are what I call purges. We get some of the hateful, spiteful, evil things out of our system. We don't have to be deceitful about any of it anymore. You all have much to do to repair yourselves, and this has been a beginning.”
She held up the slips of paper. “We'll take this vote again sometime soon, perhaps, and it will be interesting to compare the results. For now, I want you all to return to the barracks and do your schoolwork.” She stood and opened her office door.
We rose and filed out. The m'ladies were waiting for us in the hallway.
“Be sure they go directly to the barracks and get to their schoolwork,” Dr. Foreman told them. Then she reached out and touched Mindy's shoulder. “I'm not angry at you, Mindy. I have great faith in you. I know you're going to continue to do well for me, for yourself, right?”
Mindy nodded, and Dr. Foreman lifted her hand from Mindy's shoulder.
No one said anything. We put on our shoes and in a silent parade marched across the yard. I heard Natani on his drum in his hogan. No one else seemed to notice or care. After we entered the barracks, the door was closed and we all went to our respective bunks.
The silence and heaviness in the air was so thick, I could have molded it into a dark plate to put into the kiln.
“Are we going to work together or what?” I asked.
No one said anything.
We might as well all have been in separate buildings, I thought. I started to read the chapter in science, but my eyes drifted off the page.
Mindy was staring at the floor. Suddenly, she started to tremble.
“Stop it,” Gia told her.
She didn't. She grew worse, shaking harder.
“What's wrong with her?” Robin asked.
Teal stood up. Drool was running down the sides of Mindy's mouth and she was making a small but deep moan.
“Maybe you should call for someone,” Teal said.
“No, leave her alone.” Gia got up and seized Mindy's shoulders, shaking her. “Stop it, Mindy. Stop it. You know what will happen if you don't.”
She shook her head. “It... doesn't... matter. She's mad at me, really mad at me this time,” Mindy gasped. Her eyes were wide with such terror, it took my own breath away.
I turned to Gia, pleading with my eyes for her to do something.
She smirked and took a deep breath. “She's not mad at you, Mindy.” Then Gia shouted at me, “Damn you. Did you have to tell about Posy?”
“I didn't tell anything. I don't even know who Posy is!” I cried. “She's the one who mentioned her. How were we supposed to know we shouldn't say the name?”
“Who is she?” Robin asked. “What's all the damn mystery about that y'all know and we don't?”
“Yes ” Teal followed. “Who is she?”
“Why can't we mention her name?” I demanded more firmly.
Gia rose and looked at us while she kept a hand on Mindy's shoulder. Mindy continued to tremble and held on to her.
“Well?” I said. “Who was Posy?”
“She was Dr. Foreman's daughter,” Gia said.
Broken Wings 2 - Midnight Flight
Posy's Story
What do you mean, her daughter?“ I asked. ”Dr. Foreman is married? Where is her husband?"
“I don't know if she's married or not,” Gia said.
“You don't know?”
“We don't know. Is there something wrong with your hearing?” she shouted at me.
“Well, how do you know she has a daughter?” I came right back at her.
“We know.” Gia paused and looked at Mindy before turning back to us. “Whether she was married or not isn't the point. Posy wasn't her actual daughter. She was adopted and you don't necessarily have to be married to adopt someone.”
“Adopted?”
“Adopted?” Mindy turned to mimic me. “Yes, adopted. You ever hear of it?”
“Mindy was adopted, too,” Gia revealed.
“Oh. Well, I still don't understand it all. What was Dr. Foreman's daughter doing here?”
“What's good for the goose is good for the gander,” Mindy sang.
“What?” Teal asked, stepping forward. “What are you
saying?”
“It's what Posy used to say after Gia found out she was Dr. Foreman's daughter. Right, Gia? It means whatever was good to do to anyone else here was good to do to her. Right, Gia?”
I looked at Gia, who wasn't answering.
“So she was here as a ... a student or whatever we are?” I asked.
“Yes, one of us lost souls,” Gia said. “Posy was, shall we say, a bit of a disappointment to her brilliant mother.”
“Sort of what all of us are to our respective mothers, real or otherwise,” Mindy added, her words dripping out of the corners of her mouth.
“This is still very confusing,” Robin said. “Why would Dr. Foreman have her own daughter, adopted or otherwise, in this place?”
“You are thick,” Gia said sharply.
I saw Robin's face show crimson, even through her now deep tan, “I'm thick?” She started toward Gia, her hands clenched into fists. “You want to see how thick I am?”
“Stop it!” I cried at Robin. “Look, I'm not as smart as you are, Gia, but I can see that ripping us apart is what Dr. Foreman wants.”
Gia relaxed her shoulders and looked at me and then at Mindy. Then she sat on her cot.
“Probably,” she admitted.
“Why?” Teal asked. The three of us were around Gia and Mindy now.
“I don't know everything either, but I know she doesn't want us to be strong, and if we all got along and protected each other, it would be us against her.”
“Exactly,” I said. Gia looked up at me. “She had us tearing each other apart pretty good in there. It's exactly what policemen like to do when they arrest you and start to question you. They get you fighting among yourselves and pretty soon someone gives someone else away and it all falls apart.”
“How come you know so much about all that? How often have you been arrested?” Mindy asked me, her face scrunched up with both disgust and curiosity.
“Enough,” I said.
“Where is this Posy now?” Teal asked, still thinking about her. “And what kind of a name is Posy? I can't see Dr. Foreman naming a daughter Posy, can you?” she asked me. “I would have expected something more like Hortense.”
Broken Wings 2 - Midnight Flight Page 13
