Exodus of the Greenman

Page 4

The two munched their apples in silence, too absorbed with the apples to make conversation. They both ate as much flesh off the fruit as they could. Then they put their hands in the fountain to rinse the juice off. Carrie, shaking her cold wet hands, remembered the handkerchief that Silas had given her. She pulled it out of her pocket with out looking at, dried her hands, and then offered it to Jenny.

When she held the handkerchief out to Jenny, Carrie noticed that it was clean and white. No trace of the eye liner that should have been on it. Jenny handed it back, and Carrie examined it more carefully.

“What’s the matter? You look like someone just stepped on your grave.” Jenny said giving Carrie a quizzical look.

“Oh, it’s nothing”. Carrie stuffed the handkerchief back into her pocket.

“Look at her.” Jenny said pointing at a big fluffy Himalayan cat. “Here kitty kitty.”

Carrie was glad there was something to change the subject. She didn’t even know where to begin explaining the handkerchief.

The cat was timid at first, but Jenny managed to coax it over. It cris-crossed between the two girls rubbing against their legs.

“Hey, pretty girl.” Jenny scratched around its ears. “Hey Carrie, she’s got pretty blue eyes just like yours.”

“I wish we had some food for her, she’s probably hungry.”

When she got back home she tried to sneak in, in much the same way she had snuck out. Hoping she would go unnoticed.

“That you, babe?” Allen bellowed from the living room when she opened the door. She cringed, and her stomach knotted with fear.

“Where you been all day?” His eyes burned with inquisition.

“I was out pan handling with Jenny.” She stammered. Her answer only fueled the fire in Allen’s eyes.

“You know I don’t like you hang’n out with that bitch. She puts stupid ideas in your head. You bring home anything to eat?”

She put her hand in her pocket, and was not really too surprised to find an apple there. She held it out to him.

“Is that it? A damn apple?! How about the money? How much’ d ya get?”

She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a few dollars in change and handed it to him.

“Jeez, that can’t be more than about five bucks. You were out all day and that’s all you got? An apple and five dollars in change. You’re gonna have to start turning tricks if you can’t do better’n that.”

“I’m sorry, Allen. I’ll take the money to the store and buy some food if you want.” She said hoping that she might get out of the house for a little while and get some food while she was at it.

“That’s OK babe, I need the money for something else.” He said like he was sharing some sly secret with himself. He made a bitter face as he chewed the apple.

“This apple’s disgusting, babe. What’d ya get it, out of a dumpster?”

She saw that the apple in Allen’s hand was brown and rotten on the inside.

“Ya know that job at the record shop?”

“What about it?”

“I got it.”

“You can’t keep it!”

“Why the hell not Allen! I’m tired of barely making it, I’m tired of you stealing, I’m tired of begging for money, tired of you spending what little we have on meth, and I’m goddamned tired of you beating the hell out of me!” An angry creature was born in her, a creature of rage over-fed on pain.

Allen wound up his arm like he was a pitcher and flung the apple at Carrie. She was frozen and couldn’t react. It hit her hard on the end of the nose.

She could feel blood trickle down onto her lips. She ran crying into the bathroom and locked the door. She could hear him yelling over the running water, on the other side.

“I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard!”

She tried to ignore him, pulled Silas’s handkerchief from her pocket and tried to stop the bleeding.

Allen was pounding on the door and yelling.

“Carrie! Open this goddamn door, you bitch!”

“Why, aren’t you done knocking the crap out of me yet?” The angry creature that she found within herself hadn’t been driven away, just cornered.

Allen pounded against the door with his fists, tried kicking it in, and then flung his body against it. The door held. Carrie knew that the scarecrow of a man the drugs had reduced him to couldn’t force the door open.

Then she heard Allen picking the lock. He wasn’t strong enough to break the door down, but he was clever enough to get it open. He had broken into enough houses to get lots of practice.

Carrie proved to be more cunning, there was a drawer that opened in the path of the door, if the drawer was open just a few inches the door couldn’t be opened. She slid the drawer open and waited.

It didn’t take Allen long to get the lock picked.