I walk out the door, then wonder if it's been Garth or Jefrey who looks back at me before leaving the school room most days. I pop my head back in the classroom expectantly. Whether it's Garth or not, I don't know, because it's dark and he is already gone.
Mentor Maxine's eyes move from her book to me, to her book again. I smile and give her a thumbs-up sign. She smiles and nods but doesn't look at me as I walk to my room.
The guard must not be watching me anymore. He isn't in front of my window yet again. Ernestine is peeking through the trees when I look out the window. I wave to her and sign, I have five people escaping in three days. Two girls and three boys. Can you get us clothes?
Ernestine signs back, Yes, if Rocky is one of them.
He is. Will you help us get out of the garbage truck?
Yes. The garbage chute is a good idea. I will be ready to get you out of there. If I'm not by the truck, I'll be hiding from the guards behind the tree line.
Will people notice my birthmark? I trace my raccoon eye with my finger, just in case she can't see it properly from so far away.
Yes. You will have to hide your face always.
I was afraid she would say that. I guess I have lived hidden my whole life anyway. I shouldn't be sad that I will continue to do that on the outside. How cold is it out there?
It is March. It is a bit cold, but it's not freezing anymore. I will take you to my house and feed you. Do not worry. I will take care of you.
Thank you, Ernestine. I must sleep now.
I've been waiting many years for this. Thank you for giving me my son, Elira. Ernestine's eyes tear up with emotion. I wonder how many years she has been waiting for this to happen. What a devoted mother.
Chapter 24
I should have seen this coming, but I've had too many things on my mind lately. Avra is not happy with me. She just realized that I have not included Scott in our escape plans. She insists that Scott has to come with us. I tell her that I haven't asked Ernestine to accommodate six people and I can't keep abusing her generosity.
Avra stomps her foot as we make our beds. "If Scott can't go, then I won't go."
I slam my sock drawer shut and whisper loudly, "Avra, if you don't go, you will die."
Avra's eyes fill with tears. "I'd rather die than live without him."
Give me a break. I consider making her eat her own pink trays until we leave... That would stop this Scott obsession. But will she be useless to me during a time-sensitive escape? Or, more importantly, would I want her to do the same thing to me if our roles were reversed? Dang.
I sigh. "Okay. I will talk to Ernestine about adding Scott, and the gang about getting Scott on board. But he might say no, and turn us all in. This could be bad."
"He loves me. I know he'll come. Thank you, Elira!"
"You're welcome." Ahh. I only have today and tomorrow left!
I can't concentrate during morning classes again. Mentor Bridget hands back my assignment. I've missed four questions. She seems confused. "Are you feeling all right, Elira? You rarely miss even one question."
I smile at her as beads of sweat start forming on my forehead. "I feel a little off. But I'm okay. I'll focus harder."
"Okay... If you need to see the doctor, just say the word."
"I'll be all right." I turn around and see Rocky looking at me. I sign, See if Scott will escape with us. Avra refuses to leave him. He nods very slowly and imperceptibly at me. Garth and Jefrey lean over to Rocky and he fills them in on what has to be done. I lay my head on my arm and map out on a piece of scrap paper what is left to be done before we can leave.
My victuals don't feed both Avra and I very well anymore. I can hear not just my stomach growling, but my whole body growling. Shasta gives me her apple, bless her kind soul. When exploration time comes around I have a cryptic note written about what we are going to do. I hope Scott has an answer for me.
As I approach the glass with Avra, Scott reaches out and presses his hand to the glass. Avra presses hers on top of his. I roll my eyes and check to make sure their mentor has his back turned. I press my note to the glass. Scott reads it as my gang surrounds him to hide my note from anyone else. Scott writes on a piece of paper, Rocky has talked to me already. Yes, I will come with you. Avra squeals with delight and bounces up and down. Good, I'm glad that part is going to work out. I just need to get Ernestine on board tonight.
Garth looks at me with concern and signs, Are you all right?
I smile at him and sign back, Yes, I'm just a little stressed.
Rocky signs, It will all work out. We are prepared. We have checked out the laundry chute. We will all fit, barely. We won't all be able to wear extra suits though, and we have some fruit and rolls stashed. Jefrey glares at us. He's annoyed that he's being left out of the conversation. I wish he would have taken the time to learn sign language.
I sign back to Rocky, Do you have someone in mind who can keep your mentor busy at midnight tomorrow?
Bryon.
Is he up to it?
Yes, I'm sure he'll keep his promise.
Excellent.
The loud shriek alarm goes off. Jefrey puts his hand on the glass like Scott did, and I see Garth tense up. I hesitantly put my hand on top of Jefrey's. Garth walks away quickly with his hands balled up into fists. I swiftly take my hand off the glass and wave as I walk away.
Avra catches up to me. "You are going to tear those brothers apart, Elira."
I smack myself on the forehead with my palm. "I know."
"You are going to break one of their hearts, especially when we're on the outside not separated by glass. Which one will it be?"
A groan escapes my lips. "I just don't know yet. I'm hoping I'll understand them better on the outside and the answer will become clear."
"And if it doesn't become clear?"
"I-I will make a choice before they kill each other."
"That's right."
At bedtime, I take my time in the bathroom throwing my dirty jumpsuit into the laundry chute. No one else is looking, so I stick one leg in the trap door, then the other. I slide my body down a few inches, then I see if my hips will fit through. They will. I pull myself up again. Hooray, I will fit. Avra is a little bit smaller than me, so I'm sure that she will fit too.
When everyone is asleep in my dorm, I kneel at the end of my bed and look out the window. The glass is cold against my forehead. I don't see Ernestine at first; the guard is walking back and forth along the edge of the building. When he has his back turned and is slowly walking away, Ernestine's head pops through the trees.
My hands move super-fast, so I can finish my sentence before the guard turns around. One more boy is coming with us. Is that okay?
Yes. That is fine. I have a generous friend with lots of food and clothes.
Can we trust your friend?
Yes. She is...Ernestine's head and hands disappear as the guard turns around and heads toward my window. I crawl into bed and pull my covers up to my chin. The guard stops in front of my window and looks in at me. What on earth is he doing? This is a girl bedroom, the sicko. He slowly turns around and rests his back against the window. I guess I'm done communicating with Ernestine for the night. That's okay. I need my rest. Tomorrow is going to be a very long and exciting day.
I close my eyes as I hear Avra's voice whisper, "Elira, did she say Scott could come?"
I smile in the dark. "Yes. She said Scott could come."
"Oh good. I need him."
"You will have him. Good night, Avra."
"Good night, Elira."
"Hey raccoon eye, could you please shut up? Some of us are trying to sleep around here."
I roll my eyes in the dark and yell, "Got it."
Vanessa is such a sweetheart, let me tell you. I won't miss sharing
a room with her at all. Gulp. Tomorrow night my roommates will be—boys. I wonder if there are some kind of rules about being too close to each other on the outside. If I have to sleep close enough to hear or smell either of the twins, I may never sleep again... I hear footsteps, and I close my eyes before they can see that I'm awake.
"Elira, are you asleep?"
Sigh. "No, Maxine. Are you working tomorrow night?"
"No. Scoot over so I can sit down."
I make room for her. "Dang, we're going to leave then. It would be so much easier if you were on the night shift."
"I will ask Roberta if she will switch me shifts. I can say I have a date or something."
"That would be very helpful." After a few seconds of silence, I ask, "What is a date?"
Maxine flexes each foot and rubs her calves. "Um, it's when a boy and a girl do an activity together to get to know each other better."
I smile at the thought. "Do you do that often?"
"No. Not very often. I'm too busy worrying about you girls."
The smile melts off my face. "I won't be your problem for much longer."
"I'll always care about you. Are you going to stay in my apartment?"
"No. We are staying with Rocky's mom, Ernestine. I think it'll be harder to find us if we're with her instead of you."
"You're probably right. I will check on you after the chaos dies down. There will be an investigation once you escape."
I sit up tall. "Will you get in trouble?"
"Maybe. Like I said before, they could fire me. But they won't hurt me. It's worth getting you guys out, either way."
My eyes fill with tears that I try to keep from spilling over. "Thank you, Maxine. You've always been a good mentor to me. I've learned so much from you. I imagine sometimes that my mother was like you. I will miss you so much."
"I'll miss you too. You are like the child I never had. I'm so proud of you; you will soon be free, and you will save Avra's life."
I feel a tear trickle down my face. I realize that my plan will save some, and cause others trouble.
"Good night, Elira."
"Good night, Maxine. Thank you."
Chapter 25
My eyes pop open as I hear girls moving around and talking. This is it. I am leaving this place with five other people today. I won't sleep in this bed or under this roof ever again. I hope Ernestine is ready to take us on. Six teenagers take a lot of food and space and...
I can't let my anxiety talk me out of this. I get up and walk straight for the showers. Who knows when my next one will be. I stop halfway there, turn around and head back to my bed. I take all the notes and papers from under my mattress to flush down the toilet. It's time to tie up loose ends. It breaks my heart to flush Garth and Jefrey's notes, but I hope there will be more in the future. The hot water of the shower relaxes my muscles and calms my mind. When I get out and look in the foggy mirror, all I can see in my reflection is fear in my eyes and a bright purplish birthmark that I can't hide. Why do I think I can pull this off?
"You look like you're about to take a big test, Elira. But you're not, so cover up your hideous eye and get out of my spot." Mara says as she brushes her long white hair, smacking me with her brush every so often.
"Good morning to you too," I mumble as I leave the bathroom. There are things I won't miss about this place.
Avra looks at me with apprehension as she makes her bed. "Are we ready for this, Elira?"
I am the leader of this operation. I have to be strong, or at least pretend to be strong for Avra's sake. "Yes. We are ready. Just act normal and say any goodbyes that you need to without being obvious that you are up to something."
"Okay. Let's go eat."
We have bacon, eggs, and toast for morning victuals, and they are so good. Are the victuals on the outside this good, I wonder? Morning classes are pretty boring. I try to appear attentive so Mentor Bridget doesn't get suspicious. I only miss one question on my quiz, so I'm faking it pretty good so far. I sneak a peek at my gang as I leave for 12:00 victuals. Jefrey looks positively sick. His face is white, and he has dark circles under his eyes. Scott seems a little twitchy, but Rocky and Garth look determined. They put their arms around Jefrey and Scott and smile at me. I can't believe it. This is going to work.
Avra is super sweet and complimentary to everyone while we eat. She tells Shasta that she is pretty and kind, and that she has always appreciated her generosity. She even tells Vanessa that she appreciates her diligence in looking out for everyone's safety and health. Avra is such a gem. I should be doing all of this too, but I have no words. All my mental energy is going into the escape. I smile at least. When all these girls reflect on what they know about me tomorrow during the investigation, they'll remember that I smiled, and tried to be nice even if I was a little odd.
As I walk back to the school room I see Mentor Roberta walk in. "Where is Mentor Maxine? I thought she was working this shift."
"No, this is my shift. She wanted to trade, but that was not going to work for me."
"Oh..." I try not to look crestfallen as I walk into the school room, but dang. The escape just got a whole lot harder.
At exploration time, I sign to Garth that Mentor Roberta is going to be on duty tonight, so I need to come up with a diversion.
He signs back, Bryon is going to pretend to sleep walk into the common room and then curl up on the sofa to fake sleep. Mentor Briggs will shake him and try to wake him up. He's going to fake it long enough to give us time to get down the chute. He'll eventually wake up and take a long time apologizing for disturbing Mentor Briggs.
Mentor Briggs is on duty tonight?
Yes.
Why are all the hard-nose mentors on duty the night we escape? Dang.
It'll be okay. We can do this.
I don't have any girls that would do that for me. Shasta might do something, but I don't think she'll act like a sleep walker.
You're smart, you'll figure it out.
Why does everyone keep saying that. I am not as competent as they think I am. I sign, I will figure it out. Make sure all four of you go down the laundry chute at midnight with three jumpsuits on, if it doesn't bulk you up too much, and all the food you've stashed. Get out of the giant hamper quickly or we'll all fall on each other's heads.
You remember where the garbage chute is from there, right?
Yes.
The garbage truck will be stinky and gross, but Rocky's mom will help us get out quickly. That's going to be the trick. We have to do everything quickly.
Got it.
The loud shriek noise goes off. Covering my ears with my hands, I'm thankful that this is the last time I'll have to hear it. I wave at the gang before I leave the school room. I wish my hands would stop trembling.
At 5:00 victuals, Julie's friend throws up all over their table. The flu really is going around. Mentor Roberta sets her communication box on the table next to me. I could try to break it... Nah, I don't want to cause a scene. Mentor Roberta grabs a garbage bag, and wipes everything from the table into the bag, then sanitizes the table. She puts her arm around Julie's friend and starts walking her to the bedrooms. "Julie, throw that bag into the garbage chute please."
Julie flicks her short dark hair back as she picks up the bag. She doesn't tie a knot around the top and calls out to the room at large, "I'm going to give those laundry workers a fun surprise in the morning." She proceeds to walk to the bathroom with the laundry chute in it.
I look up from staring at Mentor Roberta's communication box. "No, Julie! Don't do that!" I jump out of my seat and try to stop her.
"You can't make me!" Julie runs to the laundry chute and dumps the bag into it.
I shove her in the shoulder. "What kind of sick person are you?"
Julie shoves me back. "Why do you
care so much? It's just a prank on people you don't know."
I can't give anything away right now. "I had to help in the laundry one day as a punishment, remember? They are really nice people down there."
"They'll get over it," Julie says as she walks away.
Yeah, but I won't. I open the laundry chute and look down the hole, I wrinkle my nose at the stench of barf. Seriously, can I get any more bad luck today? I mope back into the common room. The distraught look on my face must be obvious, because Shasta comes over. "You seem upset. Can I help?"
"Actually... you can. Are we friends, Shasta?"
"Yes."
I put my arm through hers, walk her into our bedroom, and shut the door so no one can hear us. "If I broke the rules, or did something that was wrong, or dangerous, would you still be my friend?"
Shasta pauses then looks into my eyes. "Yes."
"Would you tell on me?"
"Only if it was a life-or-death bad decision."
I twist my hands together nervously. "What if it was a leave-and-never-come-back decision?"
Shasta appears to be in shock. She lowers her already quiet voice. "You're going to escape the complex?"
"Yes. Tonight."
Shasta scrunches her eyebrows together. "That's crazy. Why would you do that? It's toxic out there."
"I don't have time to tell you all the lies that we've been told, but I heard the complex chief say that if Avra didn't get better, she would be sent to the final doctor, and she wouldn't come back. I can't let that happen."
Shasta's protective side surfaces. "I still think that's crazy, but I understand why you're doing it. I won't tell."
"Will you help me? I would help you."
Shasta looks at her long, skinny fingers for a long time. "Yes. I will help you."
"Avra and I are going down the laundry chute at midnight. I know a way out from there, and we are not coming back. I need someone to distract Mentor Roberta from about 11:50 until 12:30. You would need to keep her in the common room. Tell her you can't sleep, and you want some advice about something."
The Complex Life (The Complex Trilogy Book 1) Page 14
