Prison Nation

by Jenni Merritt

  My father sighed. “This is our life now. In here, I can protect your mother. She gets the medicine she needs. We are… safe.” He locked eyes with my mother a moment, then looked back to me. “We need to stay here.”

  “Mom…” I could feel my voice begging, searching for her to disagree with what my father had said.

  “He’s right, Millie.” I could see her hand creep forward, reaching to me. Her fingers touched the glass. I could see her eyes cringe, her breath gasp as she let her fingers drop to the counter. “You need to stay free, Millie. For us. Please, there is so much you can do with your life. We will always be here. Don’t let us hold you back.”

  I could see the pain killing her. My mother was saying goodbye to her baby. I was her only baby left, and she had to sit on the other side of glass and metal and say goodbye. It felt almost as bad as death. Ice cold and unforgiving. It held no love, no warmth, no final farewell. Just the taunt of the see-through wall.

  I nodded, slowly.

  Lifting a hand to the glass, I let its cold press against my palm. My fingers spread apart as I pressed harder. In my mind I could see my hand sinking through, reaching for my parents and holding them one last time. It didn’t sink though. The glass pressed firmly back at me, denying me.

  My mother lifted her hand. Her fingers shook as she slowly moved toward mine. She carefully laid her hand on mine, flattening her fingers on the icy glass. Her lips quivered as she looked at me, her eyes wide. I pressed harder, hoping that some warmth would find its way to her small palm

  She stroked the glass, her eyes achingly full of pain and love. “My baby,” she barely whispered.

  Leaning in close, I spoke carefully through the grating. “Mom, I love you. Do you believe me?” She nodded, her head barely moving as if afraid she would lose eye contact with me at any moment. “I love you too, Dad.” I glanced at him. He nodded to me, his eyes streaming still with the flood of tears. I looked back to my mother, locking my eyes to hers. “I will always love you Mom. Always. I will… I will always be your baby.”

  I could feel the sting of tears at my eyes. My mother let out a soft sob, her lips still quivering, and offered me a small smile. I watched my parents one last time. They were different now in my eyes. The monsters weren’t sitting there across the glass. No, the monsters were waiting everywhere else in the outside world. I pressed my hand against the glass once more, then nodded and stood.

  There were no more words.

  We didn’t need any more words.

  I turned the handle, and walked out of the room.

  19

  Jude was waiting for me as I stepped back into the hall.

  I knew he had heard every word. I could see it in his eyes, in the way he nervously reached for me, then lowered his hand before his fingers could brush my arm. I offered him a smile, lips quivering. A tear broke free and I quickly wiped it away with my fingertips.

  “Millie… are you going to be alright?”

  “I am,” I said without hesitation. For a reason I could not understand, I knew that it was true. Something inside had clicked.

  Jude smiled softly at me then motioned for me to walk down the hall. I took my place next to him and joined his slow pace as we headed to the waiting room door.

  “How are things?” His voice sounded careful, as if trying to find the right question to ask.

  I nodded. “They are good. Work is good. I like the trees.” The smile on my face warmed.

  “That’s good. I was worried for a bit.”

  “Why?”

  Jude stopped walking. I stopped beside him, just close enough to hear him take in a deep breath. “After you left,” he said slowly, glancing toward the camera at the end of the hall. Its light was still dead. “Carl GF4 started to act strange. He tried to find a way to call you back. Said you shouldn’t have been released. We all almost believed him. But I knew you deserved it. Your parents vouched for you. Another prisoner did too, named Orrin. Did you know him?”

  At the sound of Orrin’s name I felt my breath catch in my throat. I looked at Jude, my cheeks warming. “Um, yeah. We talked sometimes.” Casting my eyes down, I added, “You know… Fishing.”

  Jude let out a laugh. “You fished? Oh, that’s great.” Jude shook his head, smiling.

  The smile faltered as he went on. “They dismissed his petition. Carl made life hell around here. He started to overly discipline inmates. He became dark, moody… even other guards were scared. Your parents were forced to work longer hours by the staff, in hopes that Carl would leave them alone.” Jude let out a clipped breath. “He was ‘encouraged’ to take some leave. Clear his head you know. Suddenly he was back to normal Carl. We all assumed the strange mood had passed. Guards… they get those moods sometimes. I don’t know why.”

  Jude looked over to me, his eyes studying my face a moment, his lips tense. “I was worried, Millie. But if you say things are good, then I can stop worrying. That’s great.” Jude squinted his eyes a moment, thinking. “Why would he do that, Millie?”

  I swallowed hard. “I don’t know,” I said. “I barely knew him.”

  “Strange.”

  Jude kept looking at me. I nervously shifted my weight, my eyes flitting to look back at the dead camera.

  “You’re different, Millie.” He moved slightly closer. “You’re not the Jail Baby that would lie on the floor late at night anymore. I don’t know what it is, but something in you has changed.”

  “Oh.” I couldn’t think of anything better to say. I couldn’t tell if he was upset, if he was happy. I knew his voice. I knew his laugh and his sigh. But seeing him there now, standing in front of me, seemed to change things. I couldn’t read him.

  “Remember what I told you about my family? Why I didn’t go with them?” I nodded as he asked. “I think you were my reason. I knew there was something good I would need to do here. I think I waited for you.”

  Jude reached up and pulled a necklace out from under his uniform shirt. Lifting it over his head, he looked at it with a softly then held it out to me. It was a black leather cord. Something swung from it. Looking closer, I saw a small key, just big enough to fit in the palm of my hand, tied to the cord. Its smudged silver surface shone dully in the dim light.

  I reached forward and took the key in my hand. It was very simple. No elaborate designs. Just the hole at one end with the leather tied through it, and the teeth on the other. The end of the teeth stopped abruptly, leaving the tip of the key flat and smooth. I ran my fingertip along the glassy tip. Smooth as ice.

  “I don’t know why my family was given access to the Wall. I guess we had high enough standing. That, or we had enough money.” Jude started walking forward again and I followed, my eyes still fastened onto the small key. “My parents never used the key. They never let me set foot on the beach that I could hear day and night. I would see that key hanging around my father’s neck, and wanted so badly to use it and escape to the ocean. When they left, he gave me the key. And now… I can’t get myself to use it.” He glanced at me, his eyes heavy with memories. “I want you to have it.”

  “Why are you giving me this?” I asked.

  “I can see something in your eyes, Millie. You may not know it yet, but that key is what you need. The end has a small chip in it with my families DNA stored on file. The lock will only recognize that key, and that key alone. No one can pick it or fake it. Remember that.”

  I rolled the key between my fingers. Doubt tugged at my mind. I couldn’t do anything else. I had found out the truth. Now I would return to the Orchard and finish my parole. Even with this key, the beach was just a distant dream, a hope I could never reach. My life had already been laid out for me. A tight knot formed in my throat.

  Jude touched my arm. He carefully picked up the dangling leather cord and draped it around my neck. The key hung off of it, so light I could barely feel it until it bounced against my chest.

  “Jude. I feel so lost.” My voice was small.

  Jude tucke
d a finger under my chin, lifting my face to look at him.

  “Millie, I know you. You are the good, and the strong.”

  I nodded to him, tears stinging my eyes as a smile formed on my lips. Patting my arm, Jude started walking again.

  We finally reached the door. Jude turned to me and offered his soft smile that had kept me awake and happy through to many lonely prison nights. “I’m going to miss you Millie. But I am happy I got to see you again. This one last time.”

  “Maybe… Maybe it won’t be the last time.”

  Jude’s smile didn’t fade. “Maybe, maybe not. One thing life teaches you is that it is unpredictable. If we wait for something to happen, and it never happens, we will just waste our lives waiting. If I see you again Millie, I would love it. Believe me. But if I never see you again,” he glanced at the camera. The red light suddenly flicked back on, glaring down at us. Jude lowered his eyes and looked at me once more. “Then I will be happy too.”

  Turning the handle, he motioned me through the door, then clicked it closed it behind me.

  | | |

  Reed drove slowly. I could tell his mind was somewhere else. His brow furrowed, his jaw clenched and unclenched over and over. I reached over and gently touched his shoulder. Reed jumped, then let out a sigh and reached his hand up to hold mine. I could see his other hand tighten around the steering wheel.

  “Reed, what’s wrong?”

  Reed stared at the road. Silence filled the small truck cab, and I started to think he didn’t plan on responding.

  “I can’t do this anymore Millie,” he said in a barely audible whisper. He glanced over to me, then focused his eyes back on the road. His voice came out stronger. “Being in there, knowing that there were all those people who were locked away just on the other side of those walls, knowing this Nation could so easily claim me, or you, I just… I need out.”

  “Out?”

  “Millie, I need to leave the Nation.” His voice suddenly came out rushed, as if afraid I would stop him at any moment. “I know Eddie will go with me. He has already talked about it. Every time we go into town he fills that bag of his with supplies. Food, maps, all that. We have everything we need.” Reed pausing, sucking in a deep breath. “Millie, I need... I want you to come too.”

  I lowered my hand to the worn out seat, his fingers clinging to me as I let it go limp. “You want me to leave, leave the Nation, with you?”

  Reed let out a heavy breath, glancing out the side window then looking back to me quickly. “When you know something Millie, you know it. I have spent my entire life not knowing too much. I don’t know my parents. I don’t know what happened to them. All I have is one name and some fading memories and those haven’t gotten me anywhere.” Reed wiped at his eyes, his fingers dragging along as if trying to pull out lost memories. Blinking once, he let his eyes trail to me. “But then I saw you. There was something familiar, and I had to know it more. I couldn’t take my eyes off you, and not only because of how you look. You are… you are something I know.”

  Reed looked over to me. “I need you, Millie, because you make me feel needed.”

  His eyes stared into mine, his face soft. A fire burned in his eyes that begged for my answer, but my mouth couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. I could feel his fingers holding mine, but my body suddenly felt like it had lost gravity and was floating far away from me.

  Reed pulled over to the side of the road. He pulled the brake, leaving the engine to rumble in the silent air. Unlocking his buckle, he moved closer to me. His hand rose to stroke my face, slowly cupping my cheek in a tender hold.

  “I need you, Millie,” he whispered. “I am falling in love with you, and I can’t lose you now.” He leaned in closer, his breath warm on my face. I closed my eyes, feeling his presence envelope me. Softly, gently, his lips pressed against mine.

  Before I had time to react, he pulled back again. My lips were cold without his against them. I bit my lower lip, feeling the odd tingle that still ran over it. Reed looked me in the eyes, his face barely an inch from mine.

  “Imagine living in happiness,” he whispered, his forehead resting against mine. “Imagine eating all the apples you ever wanted, and knowing that at the end of the day, you would still be free. You would still be in my arms.” He paused, swallowing hard. He pulled back just enough to look me in the eyes again. “Think about it.”

  I nodded.

  Reed watched me, his face not moving. I found myself hoping he would lean in to press his lips against mine again. That we would share the same breath again, leaving my lips cold and tingling again. Instead, he let out a slow breath then backed away and buckled himself back in. Throwing the break, he steered the truck back onto the road.

  I turned my eyes away from him, focusing on the road ahead. My mind felt strange. The fog had come back, tickling at the edges. It taunted me. It wanted to envelope me, to take away this tingle on my lips and decisions on my mind. So much had happened in just the last day. I felt myself tempted to give in and disappear.

  The fog.

  My mother had said the fog took her over. She said she let it take away her pain. My mind drifted back to the last visit I had just had with my parents. How could any pain I thought I felt compare to theirs? I had a brother. His name was Charlie. Disgusting monsters had killed him, and when my parents acted to protect what had been left of their lives, the Nation sided with the monsters.

  What was right? My parents had killed two men. That was an undisputed fact. Men who had killed their baby, then were about to turn on them as well. The thoughts of what those men had running through their minds sent a sick shiver down my spine.

  The Nation should have locked the remaining monster away.

  Instead, it had sided with him.

  I felt sick. The jostling of the truck didn’t help at all. With every bounce and jerk, I could feel my stomach roll. I reached out and clenched my fingers around the handle on the door, hoping that it would make the world stop spinning. The fog laughed at me, readying itself to take me away from my reality. Looking over at Reed, I became suddenly afraid that I would never come back. I couldn’t let it take me. I would not disappear.

  Reed glanced over at me, his eyes growing wide as he took me in. We had just entered the town. Reed quickly pulled the truck into a parking spot along the road and killed the engine.

  “Millie, you look sick.”

  I swallowed hard. “I feel sick. I… I need some air.”

  Reed nodded and climbed out of the car. Hurrying to my door, he pulled it open and let me out. I heard the door slam shut behind me, but didn’t jump. I was numb.

  I didn’t want to make this decision. I didn’t want to admit that the one thing I had always seen as my protection was, in truth, the enemy I had always feared. Reed had his hand on my back, directing me as we walked down the near empty sidewalk. I barely felt him there.

  We finally got to a bench. It sat around the corner, hidden in a small alley against a brick building. A window sat open above it, the sound of a radio playing muffled music floating into the alley. Reed helped me sit down then sat himself down next to me, never taking a worried hand off of me.

  “I am so sorry, Millie,” he said, his voice almost sounding scared, “I shouldn’t have −”

  “It’s okay, Reed.” I said, forcing a thin smile. “It’s just been a long day. I have… alot to process.”

  Someone screamed.

  Jumping to his feet, Reed pushed me back into my seat when I tried to stand. The screaming grew louder. Frozen in our places, we waited. Down the street we saw a small group making its way toward us. As they neared, I felt my breath catch in my throat.

  A tangle of men approached. Some I didn’t recognize, but most were unmistakable. I could see the same sneering looks that they wore when they watched me at night around the fire now plastered on their scruffy faces. The men moved down the street, the screaming growing louder as they got closer.

  I leaned forward, looking around Reed
. In the center of their group, they were dragging someone. A few men broke away to jog ahead, disappearing into the building we were sitting against. As they left, I got a better look at the person being hauled.

  Maria.

  She screamed again, tears streaming down her face. The men held her arms tightly, dragging her as they walked. She fought against their grip, her feet searching for purchase but constantly being knocked out from under her. Another man jogged ahead into the building, and I finally got a full shot of her.

  Her clothes were torn. As she flailed and fought, I could see the flaps of clothing swing around, showing her flesh underneath. I felt sudden embarrassment as I watched, her breasts flashing in the low sunlight before being covered again by a stray piece of her remaining shirt. Her skin was covered in bruises. Even from where I sat I could see the gashes that cut across her flesh, blood gushing to run in trails down her thin body.

  The group pushed into the building. Without saying a word, Reed and I kneeled on the bench, peeking our eyes barely over the open windowsill. Inside, the music died with a click.

  Along one wall stretched a row of metal bars. An officer stood and opened one of the cell doors. The group of men moved forward and threw Maria in. She landed hard on the ground, smacking her head before her hands were able to reach out and catch her fall. A sob broke free from her bleeding mouth. Maria scrambled into the corner furthest from the group of men, trying desperately to gather the shreds of the remaining clothing around her.

  Standing near the window were the few men who had run ahead. They leaned against the wall, quietly speaking with a stiff police officer. I could see a star pinned to his chest, shining in the dusty air. He stood with his arms crossed against his proud chest, eyes occasionally flicking to Maria before returning to the men who stood in front of him.

  “Tell me what happened again,” he said, his voice husky.

  One of the men let out an aggravated breath then shoved his hands into his pockets. I could see blood on his knuckles.