by E A Lake
Good; the doctor-to-be was making sure my wounds didn’t get infected. That put me more at ease. Of course, her strategy about regaining my memory on my own was questionable, at least in my way of thinking. But at least someone competent was looking after…
“Wait,” I stammered. “Did you say something about a bath just now?”
Morgan nodded and Sasha giggled behind me, probably getting dressed.
“It’s Saturday,” Sasha replied easily. “Every Saturday night, we get a bunch of water from the pump, heat it up real good and the guards haul in a big metal tub. We all get clean. And from the smell of you, Quinn, it’s been a while since you’ve cleaned up.”
Guards and baths. Something didn’t sound right. Not right at all.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“But if the guards bring in the tub and see me here…” Breakfast had come and gone and still I was the only one who seemed worried about the situation. The rest remained silent, only sharing a clever smile occasionally.
“You don’t need to worry about them,” Sara replied, stroking my arm. I wondered why they were all being so friendly that morning. Even Liv had given me a morning hug. “They’re on our side. They won’t rat you out.”
“How can you be so sure?” I asked. “I mean, don’t they get a bonus or something for reporting wrongdoings in this cluster?”
“They won’t say a word,” Sara said, smiling.
They seemed sure, but I wasn’t. Getting caught in a women’s-only area meant death to me as I understood it. And the guards were employed to protect the women. As it had been explained to me, Shaklin kept them isolated from the men for their own good. Something about the only way he could assure their safety or something like that.
“So what do you do all day when you’re off?” I asked, changing the subject to something I wouldn’t get lip service from.
“Lay around mostly,” Sasha answered, digging in a basket next to the couch for something. “Since Livy has the place cleaned all the time, we don’t have to worry about that. And we work long days when we’re on, so it’s nice to have a break two out of three weekends.”
“I like to read,” Liv replied.
“Pure garbage,” Morgan snorted. “That crap is hardly worth your time and I’ve told you that for more than five years now.”
“I know they’re just trashy romance novels, but there’s just something so romantic about them. Makes me wish I had a man of my own.” Her gaze floated to the ceiling. “Maybe I will someday.”
Sara chuckled as she gave her best friend a hug. “While she’s doing that, I work on all the mending that needs to be done. Shaklin gives us new clothes in the fall and spring each year. Most are decent, but they have to last us six months.”
I’d noticed their summer attire. On work days, they each wore plain brown dresses that weren’t all that flattering. I supposed it was intentional on Shaklin’s part…or one of his wife’s part. They were airy and made from lighter material, as one would expect to find a young woman wearing during the warm months.
That day, they had on more casual clothing. Each donned a pair of sports shorts, some longer than others, some short. Liv’s hung down to her knees; Sara’s were as short as I imagined a pair could be. One pair was dark blue, another brown, and two wore a khaki green-colored pair.
On their upper bodies, they’d chosen a light-colored tank top. Given that it was hot and humid during the day, I couldn’t blame them.
I wore a knee-length pair of dark blue, nearly black shorts that seemed familiar to me. I’d seen the likes of them somewhere before, but couldn’t recall the place or time. I was sans shirt again. Too hot for my hairy body to handle anything that produced more sweat than had already accumulated.
A rap on the door shook me out of my reverie. I searched for somewhere to hide, but couldn’t come up with a decent place. My mind ran scattered.
“Sit down and relax,” Morgan chided as she went to answer the knock. “It’s just one of the guards. You’re fine.”
Maybe, but maybe not. I was about to find out just how much the guards were on their side.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Glory be, girl!” a falsetto voice called out as Morgan opened the door. “Don’t you look all sweet and casual today. Like a breath of spring, I tell you; like the first breath of spring.”
The man who strolled into the dwelling shocked me. Except for a pistol strapped in a worn leather holster by his side, he was the most unlikely person to guard as much as a hot dog stand.
“Well this must be Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome I’ve heard so much about,” he said, coming my way and eyeing me from head to toe. “I must say, I love the short beard. Just something about a white fellow with facial hair makes my heart go pitter-patter.”
“Quinn, meet Billy,” Morgan said as I rose. “Billy is one of the guards who helps take care of us. And he’s a friend.”
I extended my right hand his direction and he daintily took it with a mischievous grin.
“I must say, girls,” he cooed. “I approve. Billy like Daddy. He’s a fine specimen of a man.”
Okay, I got it. I really got it. But the shocked look on my face must have told our visitor otherwise.
“You see, Quinn,” he began, not bothering to release my hand. “Mr. Shaklin wants to protect the help. And since the help is all female, he didn’t want to hire just anyone for that special task.”
I nodded, extracting my hand from his. “I get it.”
“So, he thought if he rounded up a bunch of gays and handed them weapons,” he continued with a snicker. “Well, I’ll protect them alright. But I’m going to do it my way, not his.”
“Sounds logical to me,” I answered, trying to end the discussion.
“Let me ask you something, Quinn…” Billy took me by the arm and led me to the couch. I noticed my housemates were getting a big kick out of the production. At least their grins told me they were.
“What kind of a stupid bastard gives a queer a big gun and tells him to make sure no men come within 50 yards of his lady helpers?” I hoped he wasn’t waiting for a response, cuz I didn’t have one. “I ain’t ever touched a gun before in my life. And now I carry one around like I’m John freaking Wayne. Do you think it makes me manlier? I can’t decide.”
Holy shit, this was getting weird.
“Lester says it’s a man’s extension of his dick,” Billy continued. “Now, I don’t know about that. Shaklin doesn’t carry a gun. Do you think maybe it’s because his dick is big enough already?”
He seemed serious. Like serious enough where he thought I was actually going to answer his preposterous request. When he broke into a large grin, I felt my body ease.
“I’m just playing with you,” he chuckled. “I wanted to meet you since you’re all the talk lately.”
“That can’t be good,” I replied. “People talking about a man in a place where no men —”
“Just talk amongst us ladies,” he whispered. “You have no worries. Just don’t go outside during the daylight hours and no one who could do you any harm will see you. But if you ever need help in the outhouse late some night — maybe you need some paper, or company — you just let me, or Lester, or Franklin, or Pauly know. We’ll help you out.”
“Thanks,” I replied. And there was no chance I’d be asking any of them for any help in the outhouse. Or anywhere else for that matter.
He rose and made his way to the door, giving each of the women a hug and kiss on the lips before he left.
“Oh yeah,” he said as he opened the door. “Shaklin’s coming down in the next little bit. He wants to talk to you three.” He pointed at Morgan, Sara and Sasha. “Liv can stay inside and help your boy-toy keep out of sight.”
“What does he want?” Sasha asked nervously. I was beginning to notice her role as head worrier for the group.
Billy shrugged and gave me a goodbye wave. “No idea. Just be ready to come out when he gets here.”
“Is all the
help coming out?” Sasha asked, sounding nearly hysterical.
“Just you three,” he answered with a sad expression. “Just be ready for him.”
When Billy closed the door, Sasha exchanged a pensive look with her best friend. Morgan, for her part, appeared to be more miffed about the intrusion than worried.
“I guess we’ll find out when he gets here,” Morgan stated, turning for the bedrooms. “Come on, we need to change. We have to have dresses on when he shows up.”
It was an odd place. With it came odd rules and odd people. But I was slightly excited to finally be able to get a peek at Tony Shaklin, a man I was supposed to know.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
We watched him walk into the central area between the houses with Billy leading the way. Behind him was a woman, which made Morgan’s face tense up.
“Shit,” she whispered, letting the thin curtains fall shut. “He’s got one along. He’s still pissed about that dog bite yesterday.”
“It wasn’t my fault!” Sara exclaimed softly, grabbing my arm and gawking at me. “Someone else let the dog in the house. I was watching her son. It wasn’t my fault what happened.”
“You stay behind the curtain and see if you recognize Shaklin,” Morgan said, opening the door, signaling Sara and Sasha to follow. “Hopefully, we just get another tongue lashing. I suppose this means we aren’t getting meat for Sunday dinner. Shit!”
The three stood silently in the long grass, with patches of black dirt interspersed, staring at Shaklin and Wife One, as the ladies called her. Liv watched from the window as I stood next to her, hopefully hidden by the thin curtain. If Shaklin saw me, they’d all be punished, I’d be shot on sight, they’d claimed.
Tony donned a brown cowboy-style hat and matching vest. His shirt was white and his blue jeans looked new. Only the best for the boss, I figured. I couldn’t recall his face from anywhere in my past. Maybe it was the dark, well-trimmed beard. Or perhaps it was the curtains. He hadn’t spoken thus far. No, Wife one was doing all the talking.
“I expect more from you,” she ranted. I’d already noticed how pissed she looked when I first saw her. Her voice didn’t hide any of her anger. “That wound will probably get infected. This isn’t a good time for an infection. Not at all.”
“It’s just a scratch,” I heard Morgan reply. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest. “I cleaned it real good yesterday. It’ll be fine.”
That drew a new level of ire from the wife. “You march yourself up to the house after supper tonight, young lady. You inspect that wound then and tell me if you think Lucky isn’t going to have a scar.”
Lucky? Was she talking about the dog?
“Who’s Lucky?” I whispered to Liv.
“He’s the five-year-old idiot child that she and Shaklin had together,” she answered, sounding put off. “She had three when she got here and Shaklin wanted one of his own, I guess. So, they had Lucky.”
I stared at the angry woman. She wasn’t much to look at. Probably about his age, mid-forties if I had to guess. She didn’t look overly attractive either. Each of my four saviors was drop-dead gorgeous compared to her.
“And you,” she needled in on Sara, shoving a finger into her shoulder. “You know better than to let dogs in the house. You know very well how I feel about that. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I didn’t let him in, Mrs. Shaklin,” Sara begged loudly, receiving another jab from the woman. “Someone else let him in. I think it was Toby or Johnny from the kitchen. I swear it wasn’t me.”
With both hands, Wife One gave Sara a mighty shove, knocking her to the ground.
“You lying little bitch,” the angry woman spewed. “I know it was you. And you were supposed to be watching after Lucky, not playing with some damned mutt.”
Sara rose with help from her friends and approached the wife.
“You have to believe me, Mrs. Shaklin,” Sara cried. “I love Lucky like he was one of my own. I’d never allow anything—” She reached for a shoulder to spin the woman toward her, and then all hell broke loose.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“No,” Liv gasped under her breath. “No, Sara.”
I watched as Mrs. Shaklin spun and shoved Sara away. Shaklin himself pushed past his wife and backhanded Sara across her petite face, knocking her to the ground.
I felt a bolt of anger run through me as if I’d been shocked. My fists curled into tight balls as my heart began to race. I took a half-step toward the door before I felt Liv tighten her grip on my arm.
“No touching the wives,” Shaklin scolded loudly, pointing at Sara. “You know the rules. Consider this a warning.”
I felt a second bolt of lightning streak through my body. From the far reaches of my mind, a hint of recognition tried to make its way forward as my mouth dropped open.
“I know that voice,” I whispered, not sure if I’d even muttered the words out loud. “I don’t where from, but I know that voice.”
“Yes, you do,” Liv replied quietly.
“That man’s a monster,” I continued. “Something needs to be done. He can’t do that; he can’t get away with it.”
I felt Liv’s second arm snake through mine and her head came to a rest on my shoulder.
“It’s not the first time one of us has been disciplined,” she said sadly. “It’s happened before, lots of times. He’ll try to make up for it, but he’ll still do it again.”
Sasha and Morgan helped Sara to her feet. I could tell the young woman was injured, both outside and in. Her head was bowed as Shaklin paced before them.
“I don’t ask much,” I heard him grumble “And I give a lot; probably too much. You…” He pointed at Morgan. “You always got something to say. Your backtalk is not going to be tolerated anymore. Next time you smart off to me or one of my wives, you’ll get what you deserve.
“You…” His gaze fell on Sasha. “You need to be nicer when you’re in the house. Everyone, and I mean every last person is sick of your moping and that damned pensive look you always have on your face. When one of the wives addresses you, look them in the eye and give them an audible response. Smile once in a while, damn you.”
He paced some more before stopping in front of Sara. Reaching out with his massive hand, he softly raised her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.
“Sara, you’re a good kid,” he said, almost sweetly. “It hurts me to have to punish you. But you can’t keep letting the kids get injured. This is happening too many times, far too often.”
“They’re kids,” Morgan snorted, getting Shaklin’s immediate attention. “Kids get hurt; it’s part of growing up.”
Shaklin nodded, peeking back at his wife and Billy. The handsome young black man looked frightened, Wife One seemed almost thrilled by Morgan’s insolence.
“I’ve got a good mind to have you stripped to the waist and tied to a post,” he growled. “I’ve got at least two wives who would love to open your back up with a whip and take off a couple layers of that pale skin of yours. Just give me a reason, Morgan. Let me make someone real happy today.”
The stare-down I thought that might last for hours ended when Morgan looked away after about 20 seconds. I let out a small sigh of relief and was sure Liv had as well.
“Go back to what you were doing,” Shaklin said, turning and guiding Wife One away. “Think about what I’ve said,” he shouted over his shoulder. “Think long and hard. No more screw-ups.”
I turned and faced Liv. She looked more concerned than upset. But her sad eyes were focused tightly on mine.
“And as for doing something about it,” she said softly. “We have.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Once finished out front, Sara headed directly for her bedroom and quietly shut the door. Morgan fetched a damp rag from the sink and chased after her. Sasha worked on her lower lip, gnawing at it with her teeth non-stop.
“You want to explain to me what just happened?” I asked Liv and Sasha.
; “Just the normal weekly beat-down,” Sasha replied. “Sometimes he skips a week, but not lately.” She and Liv shared a shrug.
“This happens a lot?” I wasn’t sure if I was more concerned about their safety or mine any longer.
“Yeah,” Sasha admitted, standing perhaps three feet away from me. “Usually it’s just a load of shit we have to deal with. But every once in a while, it gets physical.” She made it sound so plain, so normal; like she was describing what she’d had for breakfast the day before I arrived.
“So, this has happened before.” I demanded an answer.
Sasha’s pale eyes went shut and her head began to nod. “Probably Sara’s seventh or eighth time. Livy’s gotten it two or three times.” Liv held up four fingers.
“Six for me,” the older sister continued. “Nine for Morgan. Hers are all just for mouthing off. The rest of us get it for being stupid.”
I was becoming frustrated with the idea that beating young women was an acceptable practice anywhere, much less Shaklin’s place. How much of a stretch was it to go from a hand across the face to a whipping to a hanging, I wondered.
“This isn’t normal, is it?” I asked, shifting spots so I could face both women at once. “I mean, I’ve missed the whole apocalypse and all, but the world hasn’t regressed that far, has it?”
“Sara was stupid,” Sasha replied. “She knows better.”
“Better than what?” I asked, becoming upset with her lackadaisical attitude about something so serious.
“She touched One,” Sasha replied spitefully. “You can’t touch the wives. Ever. That’s a hard, steadfast rule. Has been since day one.”
None if it made any sense. It was as though I’d gone to sleep one night and woken up the next day in a world ruled by madmen. I may have not remembered much at that point, but I was fairly certain decent social behavior forbid people from striking one another, especially a man hitting a defenseless woman.
