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RED SOX: The boys of summer are back for 2008 and they're giving us a rollercoaster ride already.
WARNING: Remember the story is called…
by Phair
Brady lay beside Jay. They huddled next to each other on the filthy floor when Jay finally collapsed in exhaustion. Esau stayed watching them for a long time after that without speaking. He had put the gun away once it became apparent Jay would follow any command given. He finally wandered out the door without a backward glance.
Brady shifted slightly to look at Kendall. The woman still hung from the chains bolted into the ceiling. Her body remained perfectly still in spite of her many wounds. Brady met her gaze head on. Kendall's eyes glistened in the dwindling light with unshed tears.
"I didn't want any of this…if I knew back then…," Kendall's voice was low but strong. "I never would have charted the island."
Brady shook her head slowly, "Nobody wanted this."
"You're wrong," Jay interrupted.
He sat up. Shifting a few feet to the left, he tried to give Brady some extra space after their hours of forced intimacy. Even with the added distance, Jay could not face either woman. He kept his head and eyes down.
"You're wrong," he began again. "Somebody wants this to be happening. Somebody with money, power, and information. Only two people not on the island know anything about the operation or the island for that mater."
Kendall tugged hard on her chains when she realized who he meant, "YOUR FUCKING MOTHER! FUCK FUCKER FUCKEST!"
"Are you kidding me? Your mother is plotting the end of world?" Brady bolted up right to question.
Jay merely nodded his head.
"FUCKING CUNT!" Kendall screamed as she thrashed wildly in a futile effort to break free of her chains.
"This is ridiculous," Brady's fury was building at the improbable allegation. "Jay, you can't be serious. Your mother is like…seventy or something."
"She's only fifty-five," a rich voice hummed softly from the far corner of the room.
The three prisoners froze at the sound. Nobody dared to breathe or move. Their eyes strained in the dank space trying to make out who or what had spoken.
"Ah, a little more talking and shouting would be helpful to cover the noise I'm gonna make breaking through the last floor board here," the voice encouraged.
"Angie?" Jay asked in a stage whisper.
"Shhh, cool it boss or I'll be next on your dance card," Angie warned.
"You've been there that long?" Jay blushed and hung his head.
She gently cleared her throat before speaking. "Long enough to know we're all entitled to the group psychiatry rate. Now, get some chatter going while I break this board free and get you out of here."
"Brady, scream," Kendall suggested.
Brady stared back, slightly confused, "Why me?"
"It's logical that you'd be the one screaming," Kendall reasoned.
"No, it's not. That's not logical at all. I didn't scream when Master raped me why should I scream now. I gave Jay permission," Brady was testy as she climbed to her feet. "Besides, you should be the one to scream after what Master did to you."
"For the love of…," Kendall bit her tongue against the pledge, "Brady, knock it off with the Master this and Master that crap. Just do it. Be useful for a change."
"Useful…fuck you! I was saving you stupid boyfriend's ass while you were sipping lemonade…"
"IT WAS ICED TEA!"
"Psst, this good enough, Angie?" Jay hushed as he crawled to the bars closest to Angie's point of entry.
"Yep, just keep 'em at it for a few more minutes," Angie grunted between snaps of wood.
Jay looked back at the two hissing insults at each other, "That shouldn't be a problem."
"I came here to save you…"
"Save? You call this saving?" Brady's shout faded to a whimper with the reminder of their present dilemma, "If this is saving then you're doing a terrible job of it, Savage."
Kendall stopped in mid sentence. Her anger burned out in one superheated spasm of anguish. She saw Brady's shoulders and head droop behind the bars across from her. Brady was spent on one a moment of righteousness.
"You're right. I am doing a terrible job of saving you," Kendall let the tears she'd been holding back run free.
Angie pulled herself out of the newly smashed hole in the floor. She scampered closer to Jay for cover.
"They always fight like this?"
Jay smirked, "College roommates. Brady introduced me to Kendall after…my charms failed to sway her, so to speak."
"Good thing there's more than one way to speak these days," Angie grinned.
She crouched low and snaked her way to the cage door. Fiddling with the lock took more time than she really wanted to waste but it eventually popped open.
"Both of you head for the hole and I'll get Kendall loose," Jay looked like he wanted to interrupt her but Angie kept talking. "Move it. We'll be right behind you."
Kendall bit her lip while Angie worked on the chains. Angie's sweaty and grimy body leaned heavily on Kendall. The pressure opened some previously healed wounds. The strain reduced slightly when the chains pulled free of her right wrist.
"One more," Angie promised.
Kendall was sure she heard foots steps coming from outside, "Please hurry."
Her request was immediately answered. Kendall staggered with her freedom. Only Angie's strong grip kept her from falling. She let the woman direct her where she needed to be. Kendall was halfway down the hole when Esau opened the door.
"What the…" a single shot from Angie's gun ended his questioning, his quest, and his life.
"MOVE!"
Angie shoved Kendall down the rest of the way. She kept pushing until Jay grabbed Kendall by the wrists and pulled her out from under the hut.
"RUN TO THE BEACH. STRAIGHT AHEAD. THROUGH THE BRUSH," Angie shouted as angry voices sounded the alarm back at Esau's door.
Exhausted or not, Brady was out in front, buck naked and sprinting ahead. Kendall, equally naked, was being dragged along by Jay. Angie brought up the rear frequently checking back to gage how close their pursuers were.
"A boat," Brady shouted as they broke clear of the foliage.
"Our ride," Angie clarified.
Brady grabbed a side while Jay dumped in Kendall. He took the opposite side with his hands free. Angie stuffed her gun in her belt and pushed from the stern. Once they were up to their thighs, Brady jumped in followed by Angie. Then the three women tugged Jay on board.
"Brady, take the binoculars and look for the yacht. Kendall, Jay, get paddling. I need to signal the fellas."
Angie took out a mirror and flashed it toward shore. She repeated the sequence three or four times before a series flashes were returned. She chuckled as she completed her signal.
"I see the yacht," Brady shouted.
"Clear sailing now," Angie grinned.
Jay tossed a glance over his shoulder before asking, "What about the others?"
"We'll get back to the boat and you'll send a distress signal to the US Navy with coordinates. They'll sail in like the heroes they think they are even though my boys are doing all the work," Angie explained as she settled into her seat.
"What work?" Brady went pale and turned to face Angie.
Angie shrugged, "They need to cover their escape to the other side of the island. They'll keep it simple. Just a couple of ordnances where the bad guys live."
"Oh no," Brady swallow hard, "they'll ignite Master's bombs."
Brady's lips to God's ear, the island exploded before her eyes.
Jay entered the boardroom to Beckworth Industries with a slight limp. His knees and hips had been aching since his time on the island. The doctor said it was most likely some form of arthritis unrelated to the conditions he survived. There were test to run but Jay declined to take them.
"A bit casual even for you, Jay," his mother intoned from the head of the table as he approached his usual chair. "You could have at least worn a suit jacket."
Jay grimaced as he eased back into the upholstery after he placed his briefcase on the floor between them. "I find linen is the only material I can stand against my skin."
Mrs. Rebecca Beckworth lifted her chin and looked over the glasses resting on the tip of her nose, "Have the doctor give you something for the pain and stop complained like a child."
She returned to her documents, ending the conversation. Jay had other plans.
"They're both pregnant."
She stopped writing but did not look at him to reply, "The doctor should be able to take care of those problems as well. Really Jay, are you completely useless without my guidance."
"Why did you give Esau away? Because, he was useless or because he didn't need your guidance."
Rebecca slowly looked up to stare Jay in the eye. There was no surprise or shame. Jay saw only raw ambition.
"Esau was another man's problem. I left him where he was when I moved on to your father." She smirked, "Who knew he'd be able to find me and have such a wonderful plan for the Mudsteek. Like the title? The lab should be able to make a fair facsimile from the sample in the vault. Damn shame, your nigger blew the mother load all to Hell."
"I don't think the lab is going to be able to help you out this time," Jay took a cigar from his shirt pocket and put it in the corner of his mouth. "By the way, I sent Kendall and Brady away."
Rebecca laughed, "You don't really think you can hide them or their children from me, do you Jay?"
"Not hiding. I thought they'd enjoy the Vineyard beach house. I sent Abram and Sarah to stay with them until the babies come."
"Two aging kikes to protect your whores?" Rebecca took her glasses off in complete frustration with him, "What a laugh you are trying to play all tough. Listen boy, I can squash you and them anytime I want. So, stop playing games. Abort your little bastards and silence those cunts. I don't care how you do it, just do it! We need to move on from this set back and get ready to market our new explosive."
Jay picked up his briefcase and put it on his lap. He flicked the locks open.
"You know, Mom," he spoke around the cigar as he reached in and took out a lighter, "you're getting a little old yourself. You missed one small detail. There is no explosive to market. And, there won't be."
"The lab boys…,"
"The lab boys can't reproduce anything because there is no sample in the vault."
Jay flicked his lighter but it didn't light.
"Jay," Rebecca pushed back from the table, "what have you done?"
Jay fingered the lighter before answering, "Like my shirt, Mom? Hope so 'cause my case is stuffed with them!"
Jay lighter lit on his last try.
"What if it's not his?"
"Relax. It's his because he said it's his," Brady tried to reassure Kendall as much as herself.
A gentle breeze blew across the finely manicured yard. It tussled the newspaper in Kendall's lap. Black and white pages rippling with the news of Jay's death. Both women lay semi reclined on cushioned chaise lounges. Sweaty glasses of ice water waited forgotten at their elbows.
Kendall asked, "Brady, do you think either of us was worth his life?"
It took a few minutes but Brady finally answered, "I hope so."
