Red - Jack Ketchum [23]
The man’s family stands around him. His woman holds another bowl, smaller. The woman wears a worried look. But it is the younger one who interests her. She is perhaps the age of Second Stolen, a woman only beginning to be a woman. She seemed unwell at first but now she isn’t sure. The Woman wonders if this is the man’s birth-daughter or if he has stolen her. She holds tight to the hand of the little girl.
The boy holds a rake with long light tines. She wonders if he means to stab her with it. She wouldn’t be surprised.
The boy favors his father.
~ * ~
“Now, I can’t stress this enough,” Cleek says. “For the moment you keep your distance. So Belle, set the bowl down in front of her but not too close. And Brian, you push it forward with the rake so she can get at it. Careful not to spill it now. What’d you make her, Belle, oatmeal?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Nice and nutritious. Go ahead and set it down.”
She does.
“Brian?”
He moves it to within inches of her with the rake.
“There you go,” Cleek says. “Teamwork. See? We all pitch in.”
The woman doesn’t seem to understand what this is all about at first.
And then she does.
~ * ~
They have given her a kind of grey-brown slop to eat which has no smell or smells of dust at best. And she is meant to put her face to this slop and lap it like a dog.
She is not a dog. But she can show them what a dog can do.
~ * ~
She growls, slams her forehead down onto the bowl, which shatters beneath the force of her.
Damn! Cleek thinks. Damned if she hasn’t done it again!
Astonished him.
Darlin’ lets out a little cry. The woman’s scared the cry out of her. She’s scared the whole damn family.
“You see what I mean about keeping your distance,” he says. “I guess we just use plastic next time.”
He takes the rake that Brian’s gripping for dear life away from him and pushes the mess of oatmeal and crockery into a small pile in front of her.
“She gets hungry enough,” he says, “she’ll eat.”
He gives the rake back to Brian and turns to his family.
“Now this is our project and it’s a secret one. I shouldn’t have to tell you to keep your mouths zipped but I’m telling you anyway. Each of us is gonna have chores with this one. Same as taking care of the dogs. Someone’s got to pick up after her and so on. Your mother and I will take care of anything…overly complicated. Right, hon?”
Belle gives him a nod and a little smile. She doesn’t like this at all, he can tell. But she’ll do as she’s told. They all will.
“Alright,” he says, “dinner time. She may not be hungry but I sure am. We’ll lay out the routine afterwards. Everybody okay with that?”
His tone says do not fuck with me.
Even Peggy nods.
TWELVE
Peggy had halfway expected it, this little foray into her room tonight. Her father stood backlit by the hall light in the doorway gazing first at Darlin’ asleep by the window and then at her. He walked over and sat down beside her on the bed.
“Everything okay at school?” he said.
“Sure, daddy.”
It wasn’t. But that was what he expected to hear, so that was what he got. She wondered if he detected the lie but simply ignored it. He was easily capable of that.
“You’re a good girl, Peg. I know it’s hard being your age sometimes but you’ve got to remember to look on the bright side. You’ll have your license soon, right? Your grades are good. You’ll be going to college. Think about that.”
“Okay, dad.”
College was all she did think about. Getting out of here.
And now with this new insanity...
It was as though he could read her thoughts. It wasn’t the first time.
“I know you’re upset about this woman. Don’t be. We’re doing her a mitzvah, Peggy, that’s what the Jews say. A blessing. You’ll see.”
He smiled, put his arm over her shoulder, leaned down slowly and kissed her on the forehead, then gave her arm a gentle squeeze.
“Love you, kiddo,” he said.
“Love you too, daddy.”
It was their nightly mantra. Daddy and his kiddo. Their stupid, stupid call-and-response. Ever since she was a little girl.
She had grown to loathe it but there it was sometimes, even now