Life Unnormal

by Jill Caplin

  Before Tessa even had a chance to rest, a Supervisor came by, pointing at her to stand up. Following her instructions, Tessa hoped she would be led away to work in a Center. Instead, she felt a needle jab her in the arm. Struggling to turn and try to hit the Supervisor proved too tricky for Tessa, so she passed out.

  Tessa woke up with a headache and her stomach in knots. Glancing around, it seemed as if she lay in a bed inside a different room.

  Everything seemed so blurry, as Tessa tried to see if Felicia rested in the next bed. Sleep overcame her, and she almost regretted, wondering why she listened to Felicia. Saying that all would be okay stuck in her head like mold to a wall.

  31

  Exchange

  Tessa woke up with a throbbing headache. With the bed next to her empty, it meant Felicia had to be taken somewhere.

  A few moments later, a Supervisor stood by her bed. Tessa just glared at her, as she came to her feet. Following the Supervisor to the inside of what appeared to be the Vegetable Containment Center, Tessa walked with her to a familiar station. She would be given the same job of cleaning vegetables she had when she first arrived.

  She shook her head, tears in her eyes as she agonized about what happened to Felicia. The young women in the Adult Dorm sneered at her. She wanted to scream at them in frustration but decided not to waste her energy.

  Finally, she enjoyed a shower at the end of the long day. Tessa started crying. A tiny scar by her belly button showed she had to be part of Conservation.

  Even before being forced to live underground, Tessa decided she never wanted to raise a child. She only cried over losing the choice. Gritting her teeth caused more anger about how she needed to change her way of thinking.

  No one talked to her. Tessa felt they were either angry at her or jealous of her being returned from a New City or a broken Union. Either way would serve as a reason for them to dislike her. She wondered if Aden heard rumors sent around about things that happened to her. Tessa watched how Maude keep her distance from her. Just staring and not even smiling at her.

  A day later, something even stranger happened. A Supervisor stopped her before her shift ended at the Center.

  Tessa felt shocked as Security brought her back to the center of The Thorndale Annex. She heard the Counter finishing his Exchange Day speech. Security pointed to a door, and Tessa walked inside the shuttle to take a seat.

  She shook her heading wondering why she would be sent back to Thorndale’s New City. So many people in authority told her she could never be exchanged again. Guess they were wrong, Tessa thought to herself.

  Tessa gasped how the shuttle parked next to the auditorium in New City. Instead of having a horrid number placed in her hands, Tessa followed Security to one of the small rooms where a Security member stood by the door.

  Not having to wait very long, in walked a woman with a very familiar face. Several months passed since Tessa first met Mrs. Hill.

  “I asked for you. As much as it displeased me when you abandoned Audra before her Union, I made a request if you were ever found, you’d go back to serve my daughter,” Mrs. Hill said. “The others that came after you had no strength. Maybe you can offer Audra part of your strength to help her be the woman she needs to be.”

  Tessa wondered how these rich people had the power to force her to work with Audra in her Union with Mason? She guessed with Mrs. Hill being a Banker and Aden part of Security anything arrangement could be accomplished. All Tessa kept saying to herself was that she would stay as far away from Mason as possible.

  Wilson dropped them off at the condominiums of Thorndale’s New City. Mrs. Hill walked her to a different apartment. Mrs. Hill knocked on the door. With no answer, she used her key to get in.

  “Audra is in her bedroom. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you,” Mrs. Hill said. “As far as I know, Mason is out for the evening with his father. They left a short while ago. They usually do not return until morning. I have to go.”

  Mrs. Hill sounded almost concerned about her daughter. Tessa walked into the living area, staring as if the brass shades of orange on the couch and the carpets blended into one another.

  Walking down the hall, Tessa noticed a few pictures from Audra and Mason’s Union. At the end, there were two doors slightly opened in the center. Tessa knocked on a door, not wanting to scare Audra.

  “Come in,” Audra’s voice said.

  Walking inside, Tessa saw Audra sitting at a dressing table in the corner of the room, applying her makeup. Walking up to her, Audra appeared the same young woman Tessa left with the tiny figure, blue eyes and shapely black hair. Except for the makeup she applied to her face seemed quite heavier than usual.

  “You’re back. Mother said you were coming,” Audra said, with a quiet voice.

  “Yeah, I’m here. What do you need?”

  “You did something the others couldn’t. You escaped.”

  Tessa gasped as Audra said those words to her without being angry.

  “Your mother said I’m to help you to be a woman you need to be. Whatever that meant?” Tessa said, looking at Audra with a quirky expression.

  “How’s this for adjusting?”

  Audra turned and faced Tessa. With a wet washcloth, she wiped away the makeup from her oval face. It appeared as if a slap caused tiny spiders to settle into her cheek. The entire right side of her face a bright red. Dark circles under each eye. Her nose appeared swollen.

  “Oh, Miss Audra,” Tessa said softly, not knowing what else to say to her.

  As poorly as Audra treated Tessa the first day, Audra never again touched Tessa afterward. Her words were sharp but always had to do with work. Tessa never told her about her few run-ins with Mason.

  “You can call me Audra,” she said, “you’re lucky you left when you did.”

  “Guess you’ve been in a Union with Mason a long time,” Tessa said, feeling sorry for Audra for the first time.

  “My mother thinks I can deal with him. This isn’t the first time. The servants that were here after you had their problems. Oh, he found them too, each one, alone.”

  “What can I do? Can’t fight Mason for you.”

  “Oh, I know that. I am planning an escape. Will you help me?”

  “Are you sure?” Tessa asked, not sure how to handle her request.

  “Yes, I’m sure. Can’t live this way any longer. I have a plan for us to go if you’ll help me.”

  Tessa sympathized why someone in Audra’s position would want to lose everything she had because of an abusive husband. She realized helping her escape might get Aden in trouble for sending her back to New City.

  “Sure, if I can.”

  Tessa watched Audra press her pager and then went about her business of re-applying her makeup. She gawked for a moment at what Audra chose to wear. Audra never wore pants all the months Tessa worked for her.

  “It’s my old school uniform. Let’s go.”

  Audra grabbed a backpack, and they walked to the foyer of the condominium. Tessa seemed surprised to see Baron waiting for them.

  “You two know each other. Baron was Mason’s driver before the Union,” Audra said.

  “Nice to see you again. Not great working for Mason so I’m in. Any ideas where should we go?” Baron asked.

  “Anywhere close to a shop near an exit. Just far away from Mason and his father,” Tessa said.

  “That’s easy, away from the Entertainment Center. Mr. Hill’s driver took them tonight.”

  “That’s why Baron is free.”

  “Wouldn’t want you to get in trouble because of us,” Tessa said.

  “I know a place and someone. Let’s go,” Baron said.

  Baron opened the door of the shuttle and got into the driver’s seat. Out of habit, Tessa opened the door for Audra and sat next to her. Even though Mrs. Hill said her husband would be out all night, it didn’t mean Security cameras would not be working around the shops.

  Baron drove Tessa and Audra behind the shops. At one point do
wn the alley, he turned off the shuttle.

  “Wait here…” he said and left.

  “I get why you want to leave Mason. But couldn’t you break your Union?” Tessa asked Audra while they waited for his return.

  “That’s against our rules. You know one day I would like to fall in love and maybe have a baby. Think that’s even possible?”

  “Don’t’ know but maybe it happens in The North Wales Annex. That’s the one we are going to.”

  “Then that’s where I’d rather live.”

  Baron returned. He opened the door. Tessa and Audra both left the shuttle. They followed him to the back of one of the shops.

  “How did it go?” Tessa asked him.

  “Let’s say someone owed me a favor. We have to go now before Aden, and his Security people are anywhere near us.”

  They raced down the alleyway to the exit door at the end. Halfway down, Tessa turned around to the same scene she saw weeks before. Three Security people were running several feet behind them.

  Baron tried a code, and it failed. He punched the numbers in again, one at a time and the door opened.

  “Go on,” he yelled.

  Following Audra, she hurried through the door first without hesitation. Tessa stared at Baron.

  “You’re coming, aren’t you?” Tessa said, thinking about her father.

  “Yeah, yeah. Don’t’ want to end up in some Holding Center or worse.”

  Tessa rushed through the door. Moments later, Baron came in behind her, shutting the door. The door closed, and the code reset.

  “We have to keep going. You know the drill,” he said, looking at Tessa.

  They wandered through the tunnels at a speed all three of them handled. Audra wanted to rest, but only for a few minutes. They had several minutes to talk while walking through the tunnels.

  “So where are we off to?” Baron asked Tessa.

  “The North Wales Annex entrance.”

  “You really caused a mess looking for your parents,” Baron said, looking at her.

  “Had to see if they were still alive,” Tessa said. “I’m sorry if you lost yours.”

  “Mine are still alive, like yours, working in New City for two families. Not together, of course.”

  “We should just keep moving,” Audra suggested.

  A few turns in the tunnels led them finally to an entrance of The North Wales Annex. Tessa watched Baron punch a code into the panel. The door opened.

  32

  North Wales

  Once inside, they followed Baron, as they walked behind the shops until they reached the alley behind the Entertainment Center.

  “Wait here. I’ll be right back…” Baron said.

  He returned a few minutes later.

  “We need to hurry,” he said.

  Walking quickly to where the parked electric car shuttles were behind the Center, Tessa got in the car with Audra and Baron.

  “What’s going on?” Audra asked, skeptically

  “This is the only way to The Annex of this North Wales New City, so we better hurry.”

  With Tessa and Audra inside the car, Baron drove them by way of the backsides of the shops towards the outskirts of North Wales’s New City. After they arrived at the outskirts of The North Wales Annex, Baron parked the shuttle behind a Center a few yards from the Control Center of the New City.

  Between The Annex and them stood the force field intact and a barrier to the entrance. It reminded Tessa of the one Joe blew up weeks earlier.

  “The only way into The Annex is for the force field to be interrupted for a few minutes.”

  “How would we manage that?” Tessa asked.

  “Can do something about that, but then I can’t come with you.”

  “Baron, what have you done?” Audra asked, upset.

  “Made a bet. It’s an old gambling habit of mine. Bet someone I could interrupt the field and make it back to the casinos within a certain amount of time. It’s ticking right now.

  “How much time do you have?” Tessa asked

  “Forty-eight hours, no more,” Baron said.

  “Why would you do this?” Audra asked.

  “A bet is a bet. Learned a few tricks driving Security and Bankers around.”

  “What about Aden?” Tessa asked him.

  “Aden only has power in the Thorndale New City he lives in, and we are so out of there, thanks to Audra.”

  “It was my idea to ask my mother to request you. I also have friends in Security who talk way too much with wine. That’s how I got the code to escape,” Audra said.

  “Thanks, Audra,” Tessa said, smiling at her.

  “You ladies have a few minutes to enter The Annex so stay behind the Control Center while I disrupt the power. Then you’ll have to run.”

  “What will you do, Baron?”

  “Oh, maybe go back to the bad habits I enjoy.”

  “Before you do this, Baron, I need to talk to you.”

  “Sure. Give us a minute, Audra.”

  Tessa watched Audra walk behind the Control Center.

  “Why do I have a feeling this has something to do with Aden?” Baron asked, confused.

  “He’s responsible for what’s happening to my cousin,” Tessa said, “I think she’s back in the Holding Center in the Thorndale Annex. You said you like to gamble. Could you take a risk? Help me save my cousin?”

  Tessa noticed Baron scratching his head, as he considered what Tessa asked of him.

  “Well, if it means justice for Aden. Never liked the guy. Why not?”

  “Thanks. Just in case we run into Aden.”

  “What about Audra?” Baron said, looking at Audra.

  “I’ll take her to meet my friends here and get her set up. Then meet you back at this Power Center tomorrow.”

  “How do you plan to do that? They will make you go straight to work.”

  “This place should be different. I’m going to ask for a maintenance job.”

  “Okay, I’ll ask for one too. But you have to go now if I’m going to keep my bet.”

  “Just meet me outside the Holding Center.”

  “I can be there after the midday meal.”

  “Thanks for the offer.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. I’ll be there. Now get going.”

  Tessa walked behind the Power Center where Audra waited. After a few minutes, they heard a sputtering noise. Tessa and Audra raced through the field. A few minutes later, the door slammed shut.

  Stopping to look behind them, they smiled at Baron waving his hand as he took off driving the shuttle. Tessa just hoped he would keep his promise to meet her.

  “Where to now?” Audra asked.

  “First, we need to go to the Laundry Center.”

  “Why? For a change of clothes? I brought these.”

  Audra opened her backpack to reveal an Annex outfit of jeans and a tan shirt. They hid behind a Center as she changed clothes.

  “How do I look?”

  “Like someone who belongs in this Annex.”

  “Not sure if I know what that means. But if it means I fit in, then good.”

  “Well, let’s go around to the side of the apartments.”

  Tessa led Audra to one of the side doors to the apartments. The bells rang for a shift change, so they waited. Tessa hoped Hope or Axel would be coming home from their Center.

  After waiting over an hour, Tessa started to worry if she would spot Hope on her way back to her apartment.

  “Hey, Hope,” Tessa called out. “Nice to see you again.”

  “Oh, my. I’m so glad you made it,” Hope said. Hope turned around, and Tessa noticed that she expected a child.

  “Congratulations,” Tessa said.

  “Thanks. Glad you’re here. Who’s this?”

  “Audra, meet Hope,” she said.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Audra said.

  “Why don’t you both come in? It’s now past curfew. If you haven’t scanned in anywhere, you should be safe in my apart
ment for a night.”

  “Thanks,” Tessa said.

  Tessa and Audra followed Hope into the apartment.

  “Let’s get something to drink,” Hope said, as she took a job out of the small fridge and filled three glasses with water

  “Tell me about North Wales,” Tessa said.

  “As you noticed North Wales still has a New City and The Annex, but with a few major differences.”

  “What are they?” Tessa asked.

  “I could tell you, but you won’t believe me until you see it for yourself.”

  “Can we go see them?” Audra asked.

  “No, silly. It’s after curfew,” Hope said. “If you don’t mind sleeping on the floor, I can show you first thing in the morning. My shift at my Center doesn’t start until almost lunch.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Tessa relaxed as Hope not only brought out two blankets for them to sleep on but also shared her dinner. They quietly cleaned up before sitting down on the floor to rest.

  A few hours later, the door opened. Axel walked in. Smiling at him, Tessa stood up, and Axel hugged her.

  “Who is this?” He asked. Axel sat down at the table. Hope handed him a plate of food.

  “This is Audra. I worked for her in the first New City. Aden had me exchanged a second time to work for her and her husband. Wasn’t a good situation for either of us.”

  “You two escaped a New City?”

  “We sure did, with some help.”

  “Sorry about Aden. Guess he wasn’t about to tell you who he really was.”

  “I know,” Tessa said, sadly. “Lost my father to him. Just wish there was some way I could mess up his life.”

  “His father won’t tolerate you escaping twice. Hard to tell what will happen to him.”

  “Maybe I’ll be lucky and run into him while I try to save my cousin. Just know he sent her back to a Holding Center.”

  “Do you have a plan?” Axel asked.

  “I do. Still have those codes from you. One should do the trick.”

  “Could you ask about Mason? He’s a Counter, in a Union with me?” Audra asked Axel.