Broken Wings 02 Midnight Flight (3 page)

be given full room and board."
"Isn't my father paving you?" Teal fired at her.
"I shouldn't have to do any daily chores." she declared
staunchly, her eyes burning with arrogance. "Yes, in your case, the family is paying, but
there is much more that will be given to you than you
would get anywhere else for that amount of money."
Dr. Foreman said calmly. The arrows and darts Teal
shot at her with those fiery eves seemed to bounce off
an invisible wall of protection that surrounded her. "Like what?" Teal demanded, refusing to step
back. I saw how the girls behind Dr. Foreman glared
at Teal. They all looked eager to get their hands
around her neck and shake her head off her body. "Like my expert treatment, my therapy
sessions, my proven techniques," Dr. Foreman said to
all of us and not just Teal. "It's off the charts when
you start computing the casts, and even Teal here,
who points out that her parents are paying the tuition,
couldn't really afford the tuition if it were equated
with the value you will all receive."
"Why are you so nice and generous to us?" Teal
muttered, the corners of her mouth folding in. "Why? I do this because I want to give back to
the science that has been so good to me, as well as my
deep desire to help young women in desperate need,
to help them find what is spiritually good in them." "Oh, brother." Teal muttered. "We're in a
nunnery."
Dr Foreman's rottweilers moved restlessly. She
glanced at them and turned back to us.
"To
continue"-- Dr. Foreman glared at Teal--
"at my school you will not find a staff of teachers to
coddle and prod you into doing your homework,
studying properly, and achieving. I will assign you all
your work and you will have to master it all
yourselves."
"Huh?" Robin said. "Did you say ourselves?" "What are we going to study, basket weaving?"
Teal asked with a crooked smile,
You will be studying regular academic subjects,
of course. We want you to qualify- for high school
graduation, to be able to pass exams, even be good
enough to be admitted to institutions of higher
learning, but you will be in a different sort of
classroom. Life itself, you will see, will become the chief subject. You're all failing at that right now, and for now, that is far more important a subject than
anything else."
"I don't get it. How are we supposed to learn
anything without
a
teacher?" Robin asked. "It was
hard enough to learn with one."
"Oh, you'll be surprised at what you can
accomplish when you are left to your own initiative,
Robin Lyn. Of course, you will all help each other.
Cooperation in that regard is very important.
I
will
want you all to fully understand how important it is to
get along with each other, with others of different
backgrounds. Out there, that's what you must do to be
a contributing member of society.
"But, self-reliance is essential. too. We can
cooperate with each other, but we can't become totally
dependent upon others or we become a burden, don't
we? That is truly what the three of you are right now,
a burden. You'll either be cast off or you'll learn to
walk an your own. Sink or swim." she said, her face
now turning cool. When she called for it, that iciness
seemed to emerge from within her, rise to the surface
of
her face, penetrate her eyes, tighten her lips, and
make her look taller. More intimidating.
I glanced again
at
the other two Despite the brave fronts they were putting on. I sensed they were just as anxious about all this as I was.
I
noticed as well that the three young women behind Dr. Foreman had grown still again. had barely moved a muscle since she had looked at them. How could they be so
disciplined? They were three statues.
How much longer would we be kept here?
I
wondered.
It
was dank and musty, the air so stale my
throat ached. Why did we have to begin in such a
place anyway? The stool was uncomfortable. The
lighting was dull. What was the point of having us sit
at
old grade-school desks? I was still tired and achy
from my unpleasant trip. I couldn't wait to go to sleep
in
a
bed and I had to go to the bathroom. but
I
was
afraid to mention it yet.
I
didn't want to be the first
one.
"To
be sure you are making the right amount of
effort at your schoolwork, you will be tested from
time to time on your academic subjects,
and
if you
don't pass, you will be given demerits," Dr. Foreman
explained.
"Demerits?" Teal said. smirking. "What does
that mean, we won't get our Girl Scout patches and
medals?'
"No, my dear," Dr. Foreman responded. "Nothing that important. You are all as of now under my merit system. Since you have all been brought here as a last resort because of your antisocial behavior, you will all be beginning with
a
minus ten and have to work your way back up to zero before you
can even hope to achieve rights and privileges." That did sound threatening.
"What rights and privileges?" I asked. "Well, for one thing, you will have to wear
what you're wearing until you achieve the points to
wear my school uniforms."
"What are we wearing? This is disgusting,"
Teal complained. "Not only are these... these rags
irritating my skin, they smell, and why do we have to
wear diapers. for Christ sakes? I want my clothes
back."
"Yes. I'm sorry about these transitional outfits.
They do have that unpleasant odor." Dr. Foreman
sounded sympathetic. She also made it sound as if
there were no other choice. I finally saw the three
rottweilers soften their lips into a smile,
"But why are we wearing diapers?" Robin
asked.
"Because, my dear, you are being reborn.
Unfortunately, none of you have shown enough maturity to be considered anything but infants, and until you do, that's how you will be treated." Dr. Foreman said firmly, losing the smile. Then she blossomed into another to add. "Believe me, my dear,
you'll be grateful
you
have them on."
The slight smiles on the three young women
behind her widened almost into laughter when she
said that.
"That's cold," Teal said. "And disgusting. I feel
like some old lady with bladder trouble.
I
want my
clothing back. They were expensive, especially the
designer jeans. You have no right to take them away
from me. Why can't we all have our clothes back?"
she whined, now sounding more like a spoiled child
than a
defiant
teenager.
"I've already given that answer. One thing you
will learn and learn very quickly here, Teal, is
if I
or
anyone else has to repeat something to you, it's
because you don't or won't listen,
and
that will result
in a
demerit."
"I don't care about any demerits.
I
want my
clothing!" Teal shouted back. Her voice echoed off
the cement walls and then
died
as if her words were
smashed to bits, the letters splattered and then raining
dawn to the dank concrete floor.
Dr. Foreman took a step toward her. "Oh, but
you will care, my dear. That will be one of the
significant changes
in
you very soon." she said
slowly, her voice so full of chill. I imagined the words
turning to ice in the air between them. Even the cold
smile disappeared.
"I want to go home," Teal cried back
at
her.
"Right now,"
"Do you? Unfortunately for you, for all of you,
no one wants you back.
Teal. In
fact.
I'm
the only one
who wants you."
"How long do
I
have to stay here, live on your
ranch, and milk cows or whatever?" Teal was
definitely someone who couldn't stand being bossed
around,
"That's entirely up to you." Dr. Foreman
replied. "Now then, there will be
no
more questions."
She turned to Robin
and
me. "No more questions from
any of you. You will all just listen and you will do
what you are told to do. Listen well, girls," she added,
her cold smile returning to those lips. "Be keen, girls,
be keen. Your comfort and happiness depend on it
like they never have before."
She stepped back, glanced at the young women
behind her, who looked excited about her firmness. I wouldn't admit it, of course, but they frightened me.
I
wondered
if
Robin's and Teal's hearts were pounding as hard as mine was now, despite the brave face
masks they wore.
We were all brought here more or less against
our will. Dr. Foreman was probably not wrong about
that. We had no one out there to help us, no one to
call, no one to come for us. I
couldn't
help feelingthat
I
was dangling in space, holding on to a thin piece
of spidery web that this strange woman, sometimes
sounding nice, sometimes sounding scary, held at the
other end. If she decided to let go,
I.
as well as Robin
and
Teal, would fall into some darker place. What else
could we do but listen?
"Now, so there are no misunderstandings and
no whining like we're hearing." Dr. Foreman said,
glaring at Teal again. "let me be clear about what you
should expect after you leave here. At my home you
will find there are no radios, no magazines, no CDs,
and
especially no television for anyone until she has
earned the right to leisure time.
The
only books
permitted are the books related to your subjects, not
that any of you look like you read very much." she
added with a tightening at the right corner of her
mouth.
"No one will have any phone privileges until
she earns twenty merit plus points.
That
means no one
can call you as well--
not,
from what
I
know of each
of your histories, that anyone would want to call you." "We really are like prisoners." Teal
complained, and quickly looked down,
"Since that wasn't put in the form of a question,
I will let it pass without penalizing you another
demerit. If you are like prisoners, as you say, it's
because you have imprisoned yourselves. You have
put bars on your own windows and built the walls
between yourselves and the rest of humanity. I am
your best hope to remove those bars, to crumble those
walls. Right now, you see me only as a disciplinarian,
but in time, very soon, you will learn to appreciate
what I have to offer you,
"It's
a
lot like Annie Sullivan and Helen
Keller." she said, looking off. She smiled at some
image of herself. and even that smile was disturbing
enough to make my stomach feel as if
I
had
just drunk
a gallon of sour milk. "For in truth, you all can't really
speak, can't really hear, can't really see. You're locked
up inside your own troubled bodies. and
I
will free
you. Yes, I will."
There was a long silence. My throat was dry. My stomach continued to churn and I felt the growing pressure of having to go to the bathroom.
I
trembled, but I had to ask.
I
raised my hand, hoping she would
permit it.
"I said no questions," she declared. "But..." She raised her head and the very air seemed to
freeze around us. If I uttered another sound, lightning
might sizzle my brain.
I
thought. I bit down on my
lower lip. She smiled again.
"I don't want to leave you thinking that all that
awaits you is hard work, rules, and restrictions. We
will have wonderful sessions together, my group
therapy, during which time you will all have this, this
terribly dark curtain of pain and anger lifted from your
eyes. Believe me, girls, that will happen and you will
be grateful. I've seen it so many times before on the
faces of my girls. My girls," she repeated, her eves
glossing over as if she could see them all parading
before her, hugging her like high school graduates at
their diploma ceremony.
She was quiet again. We could hear a drip, drip,
drip of something in the plumbing above and behind
us. Her eyes slowly brightened, the gloss changing to
a thin layer of ice. She stared at us so long.
I
felt
uncomfortable and saw both Teal and Robin
squirming a bit on their stools as well.
"Part of your work
and
your life at my school
will be your confronting your own fears. One of the
best ways to do that is to be out in nature. Nature has
a way of tearing away all the conflicting, confusing
things that have distorted our vision of ourselves. In
nature you can make no rationalizations, no excuses,
fall upon your knees and beg for mercy. You either
become strong or perish. Everything out there teaches
us that lesson and it's
a
wonderful lesson, one that we
tend to forget in the world we call civilized. We'll
help you regain that wisdom.
Or,
I
should say, nature will."
Nature?
I
thought. What was she talking about,
camping trips? Sleeping in a tent? Maybe Teal wasn't
so off. Maybe this was like the Girl Scouts.
"Now then," Dr. Foreman said, pulling herself
up and stepping back. "Unfortunately. I must
conclude our little talk with a severe warning. Any
signs of insubordination, even nasty looks and
evidence of an attitude, will result in demerits.
Profanity will be punished severely.
If
any of you get
two demerits in one day, or fall two paints or more
below the minus ten
I
have generously given you, or
finally do something so terrible that it is off the charts, she will be sent to our Ice Room to chill out, as you
kids like to say these days."
Ice Room? What was that?
She looked around the cement room, once again
as if she could hear my thoughts, "This place is a firstclass hotel room compared to our Ice Room." She
didn't make it sound like a threat either, but it clearly