“I cannot believe this,” Andy said
incredulously.
Bailey exhaled upward, momentarily
blowing a lock of hair up and away from her face. She knew he was prodding,
trying to get a reaction. It was what he always did. He was upset, and he
wanted nothing more than to piss her off too, in order to drag her down to his
level. She didn’t plan on taking the bait.
The two were inside a large metal
cage about as big as a child’s bedroom. There was a wood plank that served as a
cot, and not much else in the way of décor. Small squares were cut into the
metal at about face-height on the side of the cage opposite the door.
Now standing in front of her, “What
do you have to say for yourself?”
Bailey sat in a fetal position on
the plank, knees drawn up tight to her body, elbows cross-crossed over her knees.
She didn’t look up.
It was already hot out, and was
sweltering inside the cage, its metal frame held in the desert heat
accentuating it. Bailey fought the urge to wipe her brow, hoping that the
perspiration might cool her slightly if left alone.
Andy spit on the concrete and wrung
sweat from his green polo where he stood. Then he sauntered up to Bailey, “What’s
the big idea now huh? How in the fuck are we going to get out of this?”
Bailey sat very still.
“Answer me God dammit!” Andy came
forward wrenching Bailey’s right arm free by tugging fiercely at her elbow.
Defiant, she stood, and Andy jumped
backwards instantly. “You coward, how
dare you? You said nothing, did nothing! After everything we’ve seen here.”
“I-” Andy started to bleat out a
protest but was clearly, already cowed.
Bailey squared up to her husband’s
eye line, “And if you touch me again by God I will knock you on your ass.”
Silence followed, long and awkward.
For quite awhile only thing the couple did together was sweat.
Andy scooted away like a scolded
hound, trying to position his face close to the opening in the cage. A slight
wind was blowing, but it was stifled by the permeating summer weather. Still,
he sat there staring outside. The only view was the corner of a block concrete
wall, and dead or dying landscape plants not meant to survive without human
intervention in the Southwest. Andy reasoned that they had fashioned this
container out of scrap metal and placed it off the beaten path from all of
Prism’s typical citizenry.
Bailey returned to her seat on the
wooden plank, and began to think. Andy was being a total asshole, that was
certain, but he wasn’t wrong about the fact that they needed to get out of this
cell.
Hours passed with no contact, and
Andy noticed first that the sun was setting. The cage had cooled slightly. In a
whisper that was hushed with embarrassment he turned to Bailey to speak. “Look,
I’m sorry. I am not my best in these types of situations. The stress gets the better
of me.”
Bailey was still seething, but
looked up in spite of herself. Arguing amongst them wouldn’t help in this
setting, no matter who was right. “Apology accepted. You should sit.” Bailey
offered Andy the unused portion of the makeshift cot. “They could come at us at
any point; demand anything from us. You need to conserve your energy.”
Andy didn’t look like he agreed,
but he sat anyway. “I’m thirsty.”
Bailey’s nod was barely visible.
“How long do you think they’ll keep
us in here?”
Bailey shrugged.
“Why do you suppose they threw me
in with you?”
For that Bailey had a response,
“You haven’t detected just the slightest bias against women here? ‘Andrew get your little lady under control’.”
She said the words in a high pitched whine, doing her best to imitate Gilby the
tour guide at his worst. “I think they
have some fairly backwards ideas about marriage roles, and who’s in control within
this new Prism society.” Bailey immediately
regretted saying the word, even mentioning it made her feel sick and angry.
Andy blushed, he felt it, surprised
he still had the energy, or ability to be embarrassed. “About that…”
Bailey’s eyes were stern. They told
Andy to choose his words carefully.
Andy held up both hands, “Now wait
a second. I was just going to say that was kind of my point. They don’t know
about the separation. Nor, do I think they'll take too kindly to it. So, if they let us out of here- IF- I want to ask if you’d let
them keep thinking we were still together like before?”
