PATRIOTS: ooooohhhhhh noooooooo
FEEDBACK: It’s a good thing p.phair@comcast.net
by
phair
“Oh, the tintinnabulation so disturbing my relaxation,” Deni mused as she roused from her slumber on the couch. “So destroying my pleasant mood it causes me to brood, I’m gonna kill Eugene.”
Deni sat up wiping sleep crust from her eyes. She felt remarkably clear headed in spite of her over indulgence early in the day. Allowing her body to take a little stretch before she set to work finding the device making the annoying dinging sound, she grimaced when her joints popped with the sudden shift in position.
“Ah, aging is not for wimps,” she chuckled more to herself than the woman bound to the chair in the center of the room.
With just a glance at her captive, Deni knew the woman was up to something. Sawyer’s face was pale and she seemed to be holding her breath then panting when her lungs begged for air. A slight shake was evident in her stiff shoulders.
“Definitely up to something.” Deni muttered before asking in a much more demanding tone, “What’s making the racket?”
Sawyer’s head shot up and to the left to face Deni. She was so focused on her own thoughts; she did not realize Deni was awake. Sawyer cringed as Deni stood and stalked over to her. Before reaching the chair, Deni saw a cell phone next to the computer’s speaker was flashing with an incoming call. Deni grabbed the phone but couldn’t figure out how to make it stop all the electronic noise.
“Any idea who might be calling you? Seeing as, you say, lover boy doesn’t have his cell with him.” Deni glared at Sawyer almost daring her to tell a lie.
“You can see from the cell’s screen it’s my mother.” Sawyer added with a hint of sarcasm, “It’s customary in some cultures for mothers to keep in contact with their offspring.”
“Hardy har har,” Deni smirked as she squinted at the now silent phone. “How likely is it she’ll come over here to keep in contact with her spawn if you don’t return the…let’s see…one, two, three, four, five…six calls she’s made today?”
Sawyer’s jaw dropped. She hadn’t considered the possibility of her mother rushing to check on everything herself. Sawyer’s only thought was on a rescue once her mom could not reach her. A 911 call resulting in police and fire racing to her home was the only outcome she allowed herself to think about.
“Oh, God, no, please, don’t hurt her, please,” it was gasped as Sawyer struggled to breath around her panic. “No, no, no, don’t hurt her. Please,” Sawyer’s pleas were barely above her wheeze.
Deni recognized the strangled sound. One of her cellmates had asthma. The woman was an okay sort. She used to share her candy from the canteen. So Deni didn’t mind providing occasional assistance when a rare but particular bad attack hit in the middle of the night.
“Where’s your inhaler?” Deni asked in a calm voice.
Sawyer was panting so hard she could not speak. Deni took two steps closer and saw that only increased Sawyer’s panic.
“Medicine cabinet?” Deni made a likely guess. Sawyer nodded yes. “Downstairs bathroom?” Again Sawyer nodded yes.
Deni didn’t wait for the second bob of Sawyer’s head. The escapee hustled to the bathroom on the far side of the kitchen. She nearly pulled the mirrored door off the little box over the sink. The inhaler was sitting dead center on the first shelf.
“Must happen a lot,” Deni thought as she trotted back to a still gasping Sawyer.
The bound woman was losing her battle to drag air into collapsing air pathways to starving lungs. A deep rattle was the only sign in the silent room of her futile effort to breath. Deni cradled Sawyer’s head with one hand and positioned the inhaler with the other.
“On three; one, two, three.” A puff shot from the condenser into Sawyer’s mouth. “And, again. On three; one, two, three.”
Deni lingered holding Sawyer’s shuddering body. The gasping was slowing. Air was moving in and out of Sawyer’s lungs easier with each successful cycle. Deni could feel Sawyer slump over, leaning more heavily against her waist. She knew the woman was starting to cry.
“No,” Deni hushed and rubbed Sawyer’s back with the palm of her hand. “Don’t cry. You’ll be right back where we started if you cry. Just take nice, slow breaths.”
“Please, don’t hurt my mom…,” was all Sawyer could choke out.
Deni kept steady with her actions and tone, “Truce, okay? We’ll call a truce for a couple hours. Let you get yourself put back together. Soon as you think you can talk, we’ll call your mother. You tell her you had an asthma attack and that’s why you couldn’t answer earlier. Make her feel comfortable enough she doesn’t come snooping around out here. I won’t go out of my way to hurt her, Sawyer, but she can’t interfere with what I got to do.”
Sawyer was quiet. She slowly shifted to sitting up and away from Deni’s support. Her face was ashen but she was definitely breathing better.
“Truce,” she stated in a raspy voice. “Can we call my mom now? Stop her before she does anything to upset you.”
“You feel up to it?” Deni accepted Sawyer’s affirmative nod and pulled the phone out of her pocket. “How do I make it work?”
“If you unchain my left hand, I can do it. It’d be faster.”
“Sure it would. It’d be easier for you to try to get away too,” Deni answered.
“A one handed escape attempt? Five minutes after an asthma attack? With only nine toes to run away on? You are kidding, right?” Sawyer questioned bitterly.
Deni grumbled and clenched her fist, “So much for truce talks.”
A look of absolute terror fell across Sawyer’s face. The abject horror startled Deni. The woman was beyond frightened. Deni tried not to care she was the cause of Sawyer’s anguish.
Sawyer was straining against her restraints to huddle into a ball. “I’m sorry. I’m an ass. I got a big fucking mouth. Ask anybody. Please, please don’t hit me anymore. I’ll teach you how to use the phone. We can call my mom now. Then you can lock me in a closet or something upstairs or in the cellar or the garage. Doesn’t matter. Just get me out of your way. Please, I’m sorry. Please, don’t hurt me.”
“Stop, just stop, okay?”
Deni barked louder than she intended. It left Sawyer shivering in fear but silent.
“Tell me how to use this.”
Sawyer swallowed hard before she could begin. “Run your finger across the screen. Now, tap the icon of the phone. Just hit the word history. There, at the top, the last call, hit that.”
Deni stared blankly at Sawyer waiting for what comes next. A worried voice sounded from the device in Deni’s hand.
“Sawyer, love, thank God you called. I was starting to get really worried. Sawyer? Sawyer? Are you there?”
“Hold it to my ear,” Sawyer’s whispered direction got Deni moving.
“Mom? Mom, can you hear me?”
“Darling, what is going on? You sound terrible. Are you sick? Should I come over?”
“No!”
Sawyer shouted. Deni placed a hand on her shoulder. Neither woman was sure if it was a supportive or threatening move.
“I mean, I’m fine. No need to run over here. Asthma attack. I’ve been taking it ease since. The house is a mess. Don’t want you to think I’m a slob,” Sawyer babbled before her voice gave out.
“Honey, why don’t I come over and help you out? I don’t mind. It’ll give us an afternoon just you and me without the men folk.”
Sawyer’s eyes drifted closed and tears formed at the corners as her mother spoke.
“Mom, I love you,” Sawyer’s voice hitched and the grip on her shoulder got tighter.
“Sweetheart, is everything okay?”
Sawyer dragged in a deep breath before answering. “Everything is…fine. I just feel kind of beat up…,” the pressure on her shoulder increased. “I mean, you know how weak I get after an attack. Just need to sleep for a bit. I’ll call you tomorrow morning. First thing.” Sawyer had to bite back a cry of pain when Deni’s hold on her became viciously tight.
“If you’re sure…,” the woman was hesitant.
“Positive. I don’t want you driving all the way over here and seeing me like this.”
“Alright then, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you, darling.”
“Love you too,” Sawyer whimpered when the call ended.
The crack of flesh against flesh echoed in the room. Sawyer did not scream or cry out when the fierce backhand connected. She let her head roll with the force instead of snapping away from it. The bound woman was expecting the blow.
“She’s getting good at taking a beating,” Deni acknowledged silently before launching into her reprimand. “What are you trying to do? Do you like having me whack you around? Do you need to make me beat the shit out of you every twenty minutes? What the fuck is wrong with you? I thought you agreed to a truce!”
“Please, can’t you just lock me in one of the bathrooms upstairs? I’ll be out of your way. Won’t need help to the toilet. Won’t make a mess. You don’t need to feed me. There’s plenty of water. I can last a week or so just on that. It’ll give you plenty of time to do what you need to do. Please, I make a terrible hostage. Don’t know how to act deferential. I don’t how to behave when I’m not chained to the furniture. I never know when to shut up. When I’m scared it gets even worse. I’m annoying and I’m a smart ass and,” she began to weep harder, “I’m in absolute agony sitting here. Please, just a little mercy, please. I promise I won’t tell anybody you were kind to me just this once. It’ll be a onetime act of kindness with no witnesses.”
“Wow, you’re insulting even when you’re begging. What a piece of work you are. Maybe you and Eugene deserve each other,” Deni said. Sawyer seemed like she was going to speak but Deni interrupted her. “You should keep your yap shut. I’m not looking to smack you, right at the moment. I think getting you settled down for a rest might be the best thing I can do for both of us.”
Sawyer nodded agreement and kept her mouth closed tight.
“Okay, here’s the plan. I’m gonna carry you back up to the master bedroom. I’ll let you get freshened up in the bathroom then both of us will take a siesta on that big fucking bed you got up there.”
“Both?” Sawyer swallowed hard with the question.
“Do I need to duct tape your mouth? You are a pain in the ass, do you know that? Can’t stay quiet for five minutes.” Deni paused. She was surprised Sawyer stayed quiet in the lull. “THERE! That’s what I want you to do. Sit still and shut up. Excellent!” Deni grinned with true happiness. “I may not have to kill you, Sawyer, if you get cooperative and compliant real fast. I’d like to leave here with you still sucking air after I take care of my business.”
“Killing Eugene?” Sawyer asked softly.
“Damn fucking straight!”
