Broken Wings 02 Midnight Flight (2 page)

I
scowled back at her and made my way down the small aisle to the door. For a moment
I
was dizzy and nauseated again, Then
I
caught my breath and navigated the half dozen metal steps. The outside area was well lit, but all
I
saw was what looked like a building made of concrete. It had bland gray walls and a metal door with no windows on it. The front of the building had no windows either.
The first thing
I
noticed when
I
started down the steps was how hot it was It was dark, but it felt like the middle of a summer day in Atlanta, especially in the poorer part of the city where we had lived. It wasn't true that people of African descent didn't notice the oppressive heat and humidity as much as white people.
"Where is this? It's so hot."
"Hell," I heard her say behind me. "Keep walking toward the building before I have you carried there." she threatened. and
I
continued slowly. Where had the two young pilots gone? Why wasn't anyone else around? I stopped to look and she gave me another shave to move me toward the building,
"Where are we going?"
"Just walk to the building and keep your mouth shut," she ordered.
Every time
I
turned my head to look around, she pushed me. "Keep your hands off me,"
I
warned.
"We've got a long night ahead of us. Move it," she commanded.
When we reached the door, she stepped ahead and opened it. The hinges squeaked as
if
it
hadn't
been opened far a hundred years. It was like opening a tomb. How could this be a school? Why was
I
being brought here?
"Go in." she said.
I hesitated and she reached out, seized my wrist, and pulled me forward, driving me into the building with such farce.
I
nearly stumbled and fell.
The inside was poorly lit by some weak overhead neon lights. but I could see it was just a dusty, empty warehouse or something. At first
I
didn't realize anyone else was there. They were both so quiet and so still, Then I saw a petite, rust-color-haired girl sitting on a stool in front of
a
desk on my right. Her hands were folded, the fingers gripping like the fingers of someone in pain. Her knuckles looked as if little white buttons had been sewn onto them. She was dressed in the same sort of one-piece rag
I
was wearing, and
I
could also see she had the same style shoes.
Sitting off on my left was another girl with styled pecan brown hair. Even though she. too. was dressed like me and the other girl, she held her head with a more arrogant air, her posture firm, but her arms folded under her breasts. I thought I could even make out a small smirk of impatience on her lips. Who were they? Was this concrete building supposed to serve as a classroom? Why was it so poorly lit then? A hailstorm of questions peppered my brain.
"Sit," my escort ordered, and pushed me toward the empty stool and desk at the center.
"What is going on? Why am
I
in here? This isn't any school. I'm supposed to be taken to a school.
I
want to know where I am." I demanded more loudly, my hands on my hips. My voice echoed in the tomblike building.
"Just sit and shut up." my escort blared.
"The
longer you act stupid, the longer this is going to take."
I looked at the other two, who glared back at me with an expression
of
annoyance that suggested I was making things harder for them as well,
Reluctantly, I did what she said.
"Now what?"
I
snapped back at her. She did finally smile.
"Now, it begins." she said, turned,
and
walked out of the building, closing the door behind her.
I was right about that door. It sounded like
a
lid being shut on a coffin.

1
Orientation
.
The moment we were alone. I turned to the girl

on my left.
"What is this? Where are we? Why are we in
this place?"
I
asked.
"Why are you asking me? How would
I
know?"
she shot back at me. "What do I look like, information
please?"
"Well, you were here before me so I thought
you might know more." I threw back at her with just
as unfriendly a tone.
"We got here only a little while before you
did," the second girl said, somewhat softer. I turned to
her.
"So we don't know any more than you do. I'm
Teal Sommers. That's Robin Lyn Taylor. She didn't
tell me her
name."
Teal added with
a
smirk. "I heard
one of those girls call her that." She leaned forward to
glare past me at Robin Lyn.
"I'm not exactly in a party mood, you know.
and
I
told you,
I
don't like to be called Robin Lyn. Just
call me Robin. You, too." she ordered me.
"Yes, Your Majesty',"
I
said.
and
Teal laughed. Robin folded her arms and turned away. "Well,
we're here together so I guess we'll have to talk to
each other decently. Where y'all from?"
"Where y'all from?" Teal laughed, "I'm from
Albany. New York. I was flown in here just a little
before y'all were. I think. I'm very unsure about the
time. They took my watch."
"Mine. too." I said, rubbing my wrist, "And my
ring. Why did they do that?"
"Maybe they're jewel thieves. They took
Robin's watch, too. right. Robin?"
"Big deal. I stole it. I'll steal another first
chance I get." she said defiantly, looking at the closed
door. "I'm supposed to be at a school, a special school.
That's what the judge said." she shouted at the door.
"Not some dumpy, smelly building."
"Judge?" I asked.
She spun her head around to me so fast, I
thought it would just keep going in circles on her
neck.
"What are you, a scholarship winner or
something? Is that why you're here?"
I stared. confused.
"Hardly," I finally replied. "My uncle and aunt
arranged all this without telling me anything about it I
was drugged, kidnapped, and brought here." Robin started to laugh and stopped. "Did you
say drugged and kidnapped?"
"I know exactly what she means. That's how I
felt." Teal said. "My father arranged for me to be
transported here. He was nice enough to tell me I was
going to a special school, but my parents didn't even
let me take a change of clothing. Daddy had a hired
goon bring me to the airport and to the plane. Next
thing I knew, I was flying away and no one told me
where I was going. They kept the windows shut. too.
They gave me something to drink, and before I knew
it. I was asleep, so I was drugged. too. When I woke
up. I was here and dressed in this rag and these stupid
clodhoppers as well as this... diaper."
"I guess
I
shouldn't have expected anything
better from my aunt, but why did your father do that
to you?" I asked. Even though I had had some of my
things when Daddy brought me to live with Aunt Mae
Louise and Uncle Buster. I didn't feel much different
except I knew why they'd got rid of me. There was no
surprise for me there.
"He was. I guess I can safely say, at the end of
his patience with me. I was an embarrassment to my
mother, who sits at the head of the social table of high
society."
"What did you do?"
"I robbed a bank." Teal muttered.
"What?"
"I stole money from Daddy's secret safe, his
and my brother Carson's."
"And your own father sent you away for that?" "Well, it was a little more. I guess." Teal
admitted.
"I bet," Robin muttered. "Don't be fooled by her
sweet little face."
I turned to her. "What about you?"
"I didn't rob a bank. but I was part of an armed
robbery of a supermarket where I worked." Robin
said, looking ahead. It was as if she were reminding
herself and not telling us. "This is supposed to be an
alternative to going to a real jail. My mother darling
talked me into it, and like both of you. I was
eventually put in a plane and the same things
happened to me. I fell asleep and they took my
clothing and brought me here."
She smiled and shook her head and then
shouted at the closed door. "They're just trying to
frighten us with all this.., this horror-hotel stuff, but it
doesn't scare me! Y'all just wasting your time you
might as well give me back my clothes!"
"What brought you here?" Teal asked me after
Robin's screams died down,
"I ran away from my uncle and aunt where I
was supposed to stay."
"So, big deal." Rabin said. "I bet we've all done
that one time or another."
"I was supposed to be in court for hitting this
boy with a little brass statue."
"Did you kill him?" Teal asked, her eyes
widening with interest.
"No. but I put him in the hospital. He was part
of a group of boys trying to rape me."
"So why would they put you in jail for that?"
Rabin asked skeptically, "It just sounds like selfdefense to me."
"There's more to it."
"I bet."
"Look,"
I
said, turning on her. "I don't have to
defend myself to you. In fact--"
Before
I
could say anything else, we heard the
door squeal open, followed by the machine-gun rat-tatat-tat of stiletto high heels on the concrete floor. Out of the dark shadows came a tall, elegantlooking woman, statuesque with a firm figure in a ruby-red skirt suit. She had highlighted golden brown hair, about the base of her neck in length, neatly styled. As she moved more into the light and drew closer.
I
saw she was an attractive woman with high cheekbones and a perfect nose. She was wearing a soft red lipstick, very understated. A girlfriend of mine. Louella Mason, who was determined to become a beautician, had told me when a woman wants to emphasize her eyes, she de-emphasizes her lips, but this woman looked like she didn't need anything special to make her eyes prominent. They weren't big
as much as they were striking and intense.
She paused, looked at the three of us, and
smiled so warmly.
I
felt like getting up and rushing
into her arms. It was a smile that brought a ray of
sunshine to a rainy day, and, boy. did I need some
sugar now.
"Hello, girls." she said. "I'm Dr. Foreman,
Welcome to my school."
"This is a school?" Teal piped up immediately.
"It's more like someone's filthy basement."
Dr. Foreman turned to her and, holding her
smile, said. "No, this isn't the actual school." She
looked about and smiled as if she didn't see what we
saw. She saw a beautiful lobby or something instead. "This is my orientation center. The school is some distance from here. but I like to meet my girls as soon as they are brought and introduce them to the way things will be as soon as possible. That way, if they don't accept what
I
say and don't do what I say, I can put them right back on the plane and ship them somewhere else where a far worse fate awaits them. Is
this plan all right with you. Teal?"
I could see Teal was both impressed and
intimidated that Dr. Foreman already knew which of
us she was. Teal didn't answer. She just sat looking at
her, her mouth slightly open. Dr. Foreman did not turn
away immediately either. She held Teal's gaze, froze
that now cold smile on her lips, and only after a few
beats, slowly turned back to Robin and me.
"Now then, as I was saying, welcome to my
school," she continued.
As if that was their cue, three young women,
the one who had escorted me from the plane to the
concrete building, and two others dressed similarly
with their hair cut identically short, entered and took
position just behind Dr. Foreman. They stood with
military posture, their arms behind them, hands
clasped, and looked forward, not at us, just forward
and poised like guard dogs ready to pounce upon command. Foreman's rottweilers, all teeth and muscle.
I thought.
"I created my school only five years ago. but
I
have, shall we say, graduated dozens of girls like you,
releasing them back into society as productive young
women, all of whom have kept out of any trouble with
their families or with the law. Three are in fact law
officers now themselves," Dr. Foreman said, smiling
wider with pride. "Two are correction officers and one
is a policewoman in a big city."
"Something for us to look forward to," Robin
muttered. "A career as a policewoman."
Dr. Foreman looked straight ahead, but her
body began to turn as if it were robotic, slowly, stiffly,
her shoulders firm and straight.
"Right now. Robin Lyn Taylor. all you have to
look forward to is getting yourself into more trouble
and so deeply that you are eventually put away in a
room without any hope of getting out. In effect, you
have no future. The reason you have been sent here is
to help you regain one Until that happens, you, all of
you." Dr. Foreman said, looking at Teal and me as
well now, "are nonentities. You don't exist for your
families. You don't exist for yourselves. All you've
accomplished up until now is sharpened yourselves as thorns in the side of civilized society. With me, under my care, you will either develop the ability to have a future or you will be pulled out of the side of the civilized world and discarded like any nuisance. The choice is ultimately yours to make, but." she said, smiling warmly again. "we will do our best here to help you make the right choice. In the past, whenever you were given the opportunity to do what was right and decent, you all made other choices. We expect to
correct that. We will help you.
"Someone, thanks to the mercy of our court
system, has decided to give you this one last chance.
Rather than sit here sulking and trying to think of
wisecracks, you should begin to show some
appreciation.
"But," she continued in a sweet, melodic tone. 'I
am the first to recognize that you are all here because
you are all filled with defiance, anger, and most of all
fear."
"Fear?"
I
muttered.
I
couldn't help it. It just
slipped out between my lips. How could fear have
brought us here?
"Yes, my dear Phoebe, fear. Antisocial
behavior stems from
a
well of fear. You act out
because you are defensive, slightly paranoid. I'm afraid. In your present way
of
thinking, the world around you threatens you. You believe everyone is against you and you're just naturally antagonistic to
everything."
I guess she saw the lack of understanding in my
face. She smiled, again so softly,
I
felt
I
could relax
and listen to her for hours.
"Don't worry about any of that yet, my dear.
You'll see. You'll all see. That's what's so wonderful
about my work," she said excitedly. "at least to me,
especially the way it opens the eyes of my girls. For
me." she said, her voice rising an octave. "there is
nothing as satisfying as seeing one of my girls
suddenly come to the realization she can be as good as
anyone else out there, she can be productive and
worthwhile. She can make friends and be liked and
like others. Her heart can hold sunshine, even on rainy
days."
She
did
make it sound wonderful. For a
moment she paused with her face so radiant and full
of happiness.
I
felt some hope seep into my hardened
and crusty surface. She looked at me as
if
she
could
sense it and gave me a special nod,
a
little mare
of
her
smile,
"People are always asking me. 'Dr. Foreman, you were a successful
and
renowned college professor. Why
did
you throw away your classroom work, your publications, your lectures, put all your fortune into this school, and go off and surround yourself with the hardest sort of challenge: girls whom everyone has given up on, girls who would
easily end up in penal institutions?'
"Well, the answer is you, my dears," she
declared with her arms out as though she were about
to embrace all three of us at once. "you and your
awakening. Nothing is more satisfying to me than to
bring someone back from the dead." she continued,
her right hand over her heart. "for that is where you
are now, in some cemetery of your own making,
burying yourselves in your disgust, your fears, your
dysfunction,"
She grew stern looking again
and
took another
step toward the three of us.
"Within the next twenty-four hours, fourteen
hundred teenagers like yourselves will attempt
suicide, twenty-eight hundred will get pregnant,
fifteen thousand will try alcohol for the first time,
and
thirty-five hundred will run away from home." She let those facts linger in the air between us
for a moment. I glanced at Robin and then Teal.
Neither seemed impressed nor seemed to care. "But not you. No, not my girls. To me," Dr.
Foreman said, looking up at the ceiling as if she could
look right through to the heavens, "you will all be like
Lazarus, rising from the grave."
"Does that mean you're God?" Teal asked, her
mouth dripping with sarcasm.
I thought I was brave and tough, but this soft,
pretty white girl who sounded like she had been born
with a silver spoon in her mouth was sure nasty and
unafraid, even after all that had been done to her, to
us.
Dr. Foreman's eyelids fluttered. She had what
seemed unflappable poise. That smile never faltered
as she lowered her gaze at Teal like someone lowering
the barrel of a cannon at a new target.
"For you and for the others. dear Teal, as long
as you are here, that is exactly who
I
will be." She waited a moment for her words to settle.
Teal shook her head and looked away.
"Now,," Dr. Foreman said, turning back to
speak to all of us. "let me begin by explaining that
you're not going to a school any way like the ones you
have attended. First, my school is at my ranch. It's a
working ranch and you will all participate in the daily chores."
"Oh, so we're really a form of cheap labor, is
that
it?"
Robin complained.
"Hardly cheap. Robin. For your work, you will