Sitting in the neatly organized office ,I felt like I was back in the principal’s office. In front of me was a long wooden desk with a large screen computer monitor sitting on it. Other than that the computer the desk was empty except for a telephone. No pictures, no post its no decoration. I looked over the walls to see framed degrees with names like Princeton, Penn State and Tufts. The degree’s were in psychology, finance, religious studies and sociology all awarded to Simon Alexander Caine
This guy was smart.
I had taught myself in my first year of college that fear was an unnecessary emotion ,it was weakness and like everything else in life you could control it. If I protected myself enough I would never have to be afraid. But, when I was sitting in that basement a few minutes ago I experienced a new kind of fear, because I realized no matter what I did control the situation.
After those guards had carried me out of the living room I
went silently as they lead me to the basement. I was pushed into the hard back
chair and I saw a web camera eyeing me as the two guards produced guns and
pointed to them at my head. I had a feeling Sawyer would be watching on the
other side of the lens so I tried not to look afraid but, I was. I was sure these guys would blow my head off
any minute or take me prisoner and my life would consist of the 4 concrete walls. I wanted to run or scream or fight but, Sawyer’s
words followed me. He is used to is
always getting his way and when he doesn’t or when people piss him off he gets
rid of them.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I was taken out of the chair and away from the basement and led back upstairs to the house. The two guards took me to what looked like a home office where I was left to wait, alone.
Like I was in the principal’s office.
I heard the locks on the door turning and in walked Caine .He sat in large chair behind the desk opposite of me and turned to his computer as if I wasn’t there.
“Where is Sawyer?,” I demanded.
He merely acknowledged me by returning my gaze and then turned back to typing onthe computer.
“Do not ignore me, where is Sawyer,” I repeated, trying to keep my voice calm.
He continued typing on his computer, ignoring me.
“Where is he !,” I shouted , pushing the keyboard with my cuffed hands.
“It’s interesting how you never mention Julianna,” Caine said, never taking his eyes from the screen.
“No it’s not.” I responded ,”What have you done with them?”
“I have done nothing.” He said cooly, turning to look at me ,”But, you will be our guest for a while.”
“What the hell is going on ?!” I asked,fusturated
“Here is something you will have to learn to accept ,you have no control in this situation, you have no choices Miss.Elisa Valdes,” he responded
“How do you know my name?”
I knew it was clichéd but I had to ask
“I know lots about you Miss. Valdes. 2 registered weapons one bought just 3 months ago. You’re a senior at Coastal Florida studying Criminal Justice you are staying an extra year because your internship with the San Cruz Police department didn’t work out. You were rejected because of lack of experience. You would have taken out of state to take an internship in California but, you stayed in San Costa instead. . . maybe because you have so much in loans and had to pay some of it off. You have a mother named Dia-“
“Okay,fine,” I interrupted. I didn’t want to think about what he knew about my family “You know a lot about me, fine. You should know People will come looking for me -- and Sawyer, eventually people we work with will notice.”
“That is not my concern, for now” Caine said,” To put it simply you are hostage or collateral for now.”
“Collateral ? For what ?”
“I’m sure you will find out in time.” He explained,” Until certain conditions are met you must remain here. I will give you two options, Miss Valdes you can either be out guest or you may live as a hostage.”
“I-“
“Don’t speak. I want you to really think about your answer,” He said carefully, “ Put honorability aside and think about yourself, you may be here a while and there is no sense in suffering even if you believe it is the best thing to do . . . there is no room for martyrs these days.”
“ Is Sawyer going to be okay ?,”I asked
“I will assure you Miss. Valdes he is not suffering under my had but, until further notice you will not be able see him. Now, guest or hostage ?”
I wasn’t proud of it but, I knew Sawyer wouldn’t want me to live like a hostage and it wouldn’t do any good to anyone. If I were to be Caine’s guest the only thing that would get hurt is my pride.
“Guest.” I said quietly.
He got out of the chair and unlocked the cuffs that were around my hand.
A sign of trust.
“Walk with me.” He instructed.
He walked out of the office and I followed behind. A large part of me wanted to run-- to knock him down and run but I felt like there were eyes always watching him, protecting him even if I could not see them.
He walked down the long empty hallway, I saw a spiral staircase and for the first time realized how big this house was. Each side of the hallway opened to huge lavishly decorated rooms. He continued to the end of the hallway until he got to the front door, he opened the door and parked in front of the house was a burgundy Lexus .
“Passenger side.” He told me as he opened the passenger door and then walked around to the driver’s seat.
“Where are we going ?” I asked
“To where you will be staying.” He said as he got into the car
I paused.
I knew better. How could I trust this man ? I could end up washed up on the shore somewhere.
“You would not be happy staying here.Please, Miss. Valdez,” he said in a assuring tone “You are my guest and I will not harm a guest.”
I got into the car but in the back of my head made a mental note every way I could possibly escape if I had to.
It was odd sitting in the car with him, because the small quarters of the vehicle guaranteed was no one else around. He drove out the driveway and down a street lined with houses. The drive was silence except for the small humming of the engine.
It was odd. There were no blinds or shades on the house, and many of the doors were propped open and many of the homes looked identical. People were talking on the front steps and everyone was smiling. It seemed a little too picturesque.
“The happiness you see is the light in our congregation,” Caine said as if he was reading my mind.
Congregation ?
“What happens when the lights go out ?” I asked.
“We create our own,” he responded.
He drove down the road and stopped at one of the homes that said Morton on the front.
As we walked up to the house I saw the front door,trees and grass were covered in pastel colored fairy lights.
Caine opened the door to the house and leaned inside
“Cecelia,my dear ?”he called as he opened the door more and went inside.
I walked inside after him.
This house was fairly empty compared to the one we had just left. This house was one stort and the walls were covered with photos but it still seemed very empty.
A young woman who looked to be in her lat 20’s early 30’s came down the hallway. She was wearing a white blouse and gray capris and her feet were bare. She approached Caine and hugged him.
“How are you ?” she asked, practically beaming .
“Very well,” he responded, “This is the young lady I was telling you about.” He told her as he put his hand behind my back. I quickly shrugged it off. He seemed not to notice.
“I do not have much time,” Caine said “I have to go attend to business as you know so, I need to be on my way.”
“Of course.” Said Cecilia
“We will be in touch, Miss Valdes” he said to me
Caine hugged her one last time and headed for his vehicle.
“Welcome home,” Cecilia said and lead me inside.
***
“Now are you sure I can’t interest you in this Mustang, here. You perfect for cruising on the beach, late nights and it’s a steal” Marty said pointing to a bright yellow convertible.
“No,” Sawyer said, “We have to be going now.”
Sawyer put his hand on my shoulder and headed for the door. I could see Marty still looking at us in the reflection of the glass but Sawyer wasn’t looking back and we headed outside and down the street from Big Sands Used Cars.
“Okay, how much now ?,” Sawyer asked me
I did the math in my head.
“About 18,000,” I said
“Damn it,” he cursed.
I wasn’t used to hearing anybody curse, let alone Sawyer but I had a feeling it was something I was going to have to get used to.
We continued down the street of empty buildings, parking lots and small shops until we reached the bus stop.
Sawyer and I had just gotten off the bus from Louisiana 4 hours ago at 8 am. We found a bus that took us to our house and instead of going inside we got into his car and drove to the bank. Despite our disheveled looks and the bank workers cautions, Sawyer’s good credit got him a 10,000 dollar loan . From their he drove to Big Sands Used Car Lot where after much negotiation Sawyer was able to get 8,000 for his Ford Fusion.
“When we get back we are having a yard sale,” he told me,while we waited at the bus stop
“Okay,” I agreed
Sawyer had been on a rampage trying to get the money together. Anytime anyone at the bank or dealership told him to take less money he just snapped at them. I wasn’t trying to get on his bad side. I was trying to do everything I could do to help but, so far the only thing I could do was the math.
“ You can set that up while I go to pawn the furniture,” he said.
“How are you going to get the furniture to the pawn shop ?”I asked
“I have no clue.”
The San Costa connector pulled up to the stop and we got inside, Sawyer and I took a seat in the front of the dusty old bus.
Riding on the bus I was able to see more of San Costa than I had before. Sure, it was a sleepy small town but when it passed by a certain gap in the buildings you could see the shore line.
The bus stopped 3 blocks from our neighborhood , we got out and began the walk back to the house
“Okay, so the furniture in the house is new so, we could get at least a thousand and you know what people can have any of the stuff in the house, just sell it all.” He said
“Are you sure ?”
“Yes.,” He said, “I just want this all to be over. Having stuff is the last thing on my mind”
He started searching through his pockets.
“Where the hell is my phone ?”
“Elisa flushed them down the toilet remember ?”
“Oh, right.” He said.
I thought he would look amused like he did when she had done it originally but he just looked frustrated and started walking faster.
We rounded the corner and began the walk down our street.
When we got to the front of the house I noticed for the first time that the front door was knocked of it hinges and laying beside where it origninally stood. Sawyer seemed unbothered by it and walked inside into the kitchen and took the land line in his hand.
“Can I take a shower ?” I asked from my place in the living room.
“You can do whatever you want, Julianna you live here too, dammit” he shouted back at me.
I couldn’t tell if he was shouting because he thought I was in my room upstairs or if it was because he was angry but, I tried to let the comment go.
I went into my room and found a pair of khaki shorts and a pink t-shirt and went into the bathroom. I turned the shower on it’s highest pressure and slipped out of my sundress. I doubt if I could wear that dress again. After all the walking and roads and dust the hot water felt like heaven as it sprayed and slid down my bare skin. As I started to relax, I started crying. Again.
I knew it was over Sawyer’s comment. I had never been spoken to like that and all I wanted to do was go and take a nap and go back to ignoring him but I knew I couldn’t. We had crossed the line of strangers for now and we were in this together.
I put my hair over the head of the shower and watched as sand and grit flowed into the drain. I let the water wash away my tears. All I needed was a little cry but, now it was over.
I opened the mirrored cabinet in the shower to see what kind of body wash their was. I had for the most part been using whatever Sawyer left out but, I felt like something different today. I saw an unopened glass bottle with a black top and ribbon around it that said exfoliating sugar body scrub. I remembered I put the body wash there when I was unpacking, it had come in a kit with lotion and perfume, a wedding present. I undid the top and poured some of it into my washcloth. I scrubbed my entire body with the lily -scented shower scrub, I could feel the the sugar crystals scrubbing away any inch of dirt on my body as the scent filled my nose and it made me feel even more calm.
Despite how relaxing I was feeling for the first time since I had been here I was still thinking about what had happened. It still felt so unreal, like I could ignore it and it wouldn’t make a difference.
After 10 minutes I got out, dried of, got dressed and put my wet hair in a knot with a rubber band and headed to the kitchen. The only reminder of my relaxing 10 minutes was the faint smell of lilies
“You looked refreshed,” Sawyer said, smiling for the first time in a while.
“I feel better.” I admitted.
“A shower doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” He replied ,”But,I don’t have time. So, I called one of my waiters from the restaurant,Sid. He is bringing his truck and we are going to take the furniture to this Pawn Shop a few towns over. I need you to use my computer and make signs for a yard sale and then just put everything outside. People around here love yard sales “
“ I’ll make sure it is a good yard sale, “I said
As soon as I got the words out we heard a honk outside and I saw a Toyota pickup truck pull up. A man who looked the same age as Sawyer came out and walked up to the door.
“Dude what happened-“
“Don’t ask,” Sawyer said
He walked over to the leather couch in the living room
“Let’s start with this couch and then the chairs, then we will come back and do the beds,” Sawyer directed.
“Beds? You have more than one bed.” Sid asked
“Oh, right this is Julianna.” Sawyer explained “ she is visiting.”
“Hi, Sid” I said.
He extended his hand and I shook it. I could tell he wanted more of an explanation but, Sawyer directed him to the couch.
I watched as they each took a side and with a few grunts and practice hoists carried it out to the truck.
I decided to sit one last time in the arm chair. I swayed my body back and forth and the chair swayed with it.
The chair was on wheels, I had forgotten.
The chair was on wheels.
I got out of the chair and attempted to move it and it pushed fairly easily. I pushed the chair to the door and down the lip on the front door and pushed the second one to follow.
Might as well save the guys some work.
***
I stapled the bright blue sign to the post of the STOP sign and then walked up to Sawyer’s front yard. 55 signs and a mile later, it was the last sign. I went inside the house and took out a shoebox I was using for my cash register and sat in the chair in the front yard. It only took me an hour to get everything set up for the sale as there wasn’t much in the house. A majority of the stuff was video games, DVD’s, and our clothing along with unopened wedding gifts.
I was surprised by the enthusiasm people had for yard sales in San Costa. In protected living we never had yard sales we just gave our stuff away to anyone who needed it. Many people I had run into while putting up signs had promised to stop by. Many of them even knew Sawyer as ‘that curly-haired kid.’
I was still alone seeing as up Sawyer and Sid had worked on taking apart the beds and then hoisting them into the truck. They were not going to be back for another few hours as the people at the pawn shop wanted them to put the bed back up.
I sat outside in the sun for 30 minutes with no business when a small family walked up. A mom with her two sons.
“Hi, is this the yard sale ?,” she called to me.
“Yes,” I answered , “Hi, I’m Julianna.”
“Hi. Oh,you live here by yourself ?” she asked.
“No, I rent it with a—friend,” I said
I suppose that was the tem Sawyer and I were using for each other in San Costa.
She nodded her head and went over to the table of kitchen items. She was looking at the unopened box of Corelle plates while her two sons headed for the table of video games.
“Is this unopened?” she asked
“Yes,”I responded
“Oh,hmmm . . . how much ?”
I had no idea their value.
“What would you pay ?,” I asked
“25.00,maybe ?” she said
“Okay,”I agreed
And like that I made my first sale. She also ended up buying two games for 20 dollars making her total 45.00.
And pretty soon there were many other dog walkers, neighbors and joggers picking through Sawyer’s and I stuff. After 4 hours the sun began to set and I dragged everything left over behind the fence to the backyard. When I had the last of the stuff in the backyard I saw Sid’s truck pull up and Sawyer got out carrying with him a brown paper grocery bag.
“Wow,” Sawyer said from inside the house
“What ?”I asked
“Nothing,it’s just empty in here.”
“Yeah,”
“Where’s the table?”
“I sold it, for 50 dollars.”I told him
“And the TV ?”
“$150”
“Great, how much did you make from the sale?”
“About $430,” I told him
“That’s okay I guess,” He said, “I mean it’s just day one. I got rid of the furniture for 1700.”
“So, today we made about 20,000 dollars.”
“You know a few days ago that would have seemed like a lot but now, it’s nothing . . . not even close.”
He sat on the floor (the only place left to sit) and opened the brown paper bag and took out two Styrofoam trays.
“Food from the diner,” he said, “I get it for free.”
I took a seat on the floor sitting exactly parallel to him. We were both facing an empty wall with nothing on it except the bare windows.
“Were they mad you missed 2 days of work ?” I asked
“The owner is out of town and the wait staff covered for me.” He explained.
I opened the box in front of me and saw a mass of gravy and meat.
“It’s an open faced turkey sandwich.” He explained.
He took a can of Coke and Budweiser out of the bag. He popped the top of the Budweiser and took a long drink from it, looking towards the window the only place worth looking.
“I don’t think we can do this, Julie,” he said
I didn’t recognize the sound of my name shortened coming out of his mouth.
“I’m sorry, that’s okay, right ? If I call you Julie ?” he asked, “It’s just Julianna is kind of long.”
“Sure,” I said. After a pause I continured, “We can do other things to get money,”
“Like what ?” he questioned, “We are out of options.”
“We are?”
“Legal ones, anyway.”
“What do you mean ?”
“I mean I can’t just sit by and wait for the bank or a paycheck.” He said,” I will not be responsible if something happens to Elisa. I just want this all behind us. I want me and her to be together and safe and now I am just so stressed out and . . . . and a little bit afraid.”
He took another long drink of his beer.
I was pretty sure it was empty.
He hadn’t touched his food but, I guess in a situation like this eating seemed secondary to everything else.
I reached over and hugged him, not even a real hug --I just positioned my arms around his upper body not moving my body from my original position.
I expected him to ignore it but, he leaned into it and whispered into my ear.
“Thanks, Julie.”
***
“Please I need to get out of here.” I begged to Cecilia, “Just tell me how”
The second Caine had left I began to explain the whole deal to her.
She seemed sympathetic and told me to sit down at the kitchen table and talk to her.
I told her I needed to find Sawyer and I just needed to know how to get out but, she had insisted I stay here for my own benefit.
“What am I supposed to do here ?” I asked
“You can learn about United Light,” she explained,” And you can do everything we do, go to outings, meetings, speeches everything.”
She went over to her refrigerator and poured 2 glasses of orange juice and then cut two sliced out of a loaf of bread. She brought the food back over to the table and sat it in front of me while she took a seat.
“It’s banana nut, is that okay ?”
I always gave what I received with people and she had been nice to me so far so, I politely took the bread and put a piece in my mouth. It was good. It was really good.
“Yes, it’s very good,” I told her.
“It’s homemade. “ she explained, smiling.
“Do you do this often ?” I asked her, getting back to my point
“What do you mean ?”
“Keep people who you don’t know for Caine.”
“No, this is a first but, I love meeting new people. You will meet my husband Greg too.”
“Is he at work or something ?” I asked
“No, he doesn’t work today. He went on a fishing trip.”
“What does he do ?” I asked
“He keeps the light within our community.” She responded
I had to force myself not to roll my eyes. What were all of these people on ?
“How ?” I asked
“He’s a Tranquility Light . . . like a guard.”
One of those. Caine’s secret service
“Do you have a job?” I asked
“No, nobody does. I mean we work but no one gets paid for a job, Caine provides all of that. And then we sell things for spending money to businesses like the bread you are eating”
“And you don’t see anything wrong with that ? Don’t you have dreams, aspirations things you want to do with your life ?”
“Yes, I do have aspirations ” She said ,”And I get to do them, all of them. I want to be a musician and I have had time to teach myself every instrument that interests me, I want to write a book I have all day to do it, If I want to be a teacher I can do that too, just have to find children and get them together.”
“But, you’re not really doing those things if you never leave this place. It’s like you are playing pretend”
“Well, we are new.As the congregation grows we will have much more opportunities and our kids will be able to say their parents laid the foundations.”
Congregation. That word again
,”What are you guys like a church? Is Caine like your Jesus or something? ”
“No,” she said, laughing a little “He is just a dreamer. He imagines with enough pull we will eventually have all of Louisiana, I can’t explain it that well. I can show you the video though.”
“I’m good,” I said, “But what if I were one of you people. I want to work in criminal justice how would I do that?”
“I guess your field wouldn’t really exist. You could maybe do something else that interests you. We would have a utopian society so there would be no crime,” she said
“You know what happened to that one Utopian society?, “I asked her
“Which one?” she asked
“Exactly my point. There aren’t any. It doesn’t exist because no matter what you do there will always be flaws,” I pointed out.
She just took another sip of her juice.
Just then the door opened and a man walked in dressed ,he did not look like any of the tranquility lights who had taken Sawyer, Julianna and I.
“Greg, this is her,” Cecelia smiled not moving from her spot at the table, she didn’t even turn to look at him.
“Hi, Elisa is it?” he asked putting his hand out.
I nodded but refused his hand. This was not friendly, especially if her was one of those Tranquility Lights.
“I ran into the Erickson family,” Greg said to Cecilia ,” Marian said she did not have enough green ribbon if blue would be okay,”
“Sure,” she said, “I’ll tell her when I see her later.”
Greg nodded his head and headed into the bedroom.
I decided not to say anything.
“Oh, you may be here for the wedding,” Cecelia exclaimed, touching my hand lightly.
“Who’s getting married?,” I asked
“Oh, me.”
She must have taken in my t ‘what the hell ’ face.
“Did Caine not tell you –“
“I know about the whole poly- um, the whole multiple marriage thing,” I said, I couldn’t get the polyandry word out of my mouth.” It’s just don’t you think it’s weird ?”
“No, not really, I mean why not ? It’s for the good of everyone and that’s what’s important. Besides ,Sam is very nice and very handsome.”
“So,you know this guy,uh Sam ?”
“Well,no but I hear good things.” She said nonchalantly.
Where the hell was I ?
