Nine Minutes (4 page)

Chapter Five

Moe smiled.
I couldn’t tell if she was amused that I noticed she had no tongue, or
embarrassed by it. Just then the door opened and the man they called
Grizz
walked in.

     
My first instinct
was to pelt him with questions. But something held me back. I didn’t have any
experience with men, but my inner voice was telling me to keep my mouth shut. I
wondered if that was why Moe didn’t have a tongue; did she say something wrong
and it was cut out, or was she born that way? For the life of me I couldn’t
remember ever hearing about anyone born without a tongue.

     
Without saying a
word,
Grizz
strode to the small coffee table and
picked up my backpack. He turned it upside down and emptied it onto the sofa.
The heavy library books landed on top of everything else, so he tossed them
aside and picked up my birth control pills. He tossed them aside too. Then he
moved his hand over the rest of the contents. When his fingers brushed over one
of the two tampons I said in an unnaturally high-pitched voice, “I have my
period. And I’m only on the pill because I get bad cramps. They’re not for
birth control.”

     
There. I put a couple
of things out there, but truth be told, I wasn’t sure if they would help or
hurt my cause. Who wanted to rape a girl who had her period? I had no earthly
idea what motivated a rapist. Or in this case, what might deter one. And
second, I tried to let him know that I was on the pill because of period
cramps. That was true. I was not sexually active. But what if he wanted a
virgin? I had no idea where I stood with him.

     
He didn’t
comment, but picked up my wallet. He opened it and spotted my Florida driver’s permit.

     
“Guinevere Love
Lemon?” he asked with a smirk.

     
“Gin. I go by
Gin,” I retorted.

     
He didn’t look at
me. “You will never go by that name again. Got it? You tell nobody your name.
Ever. Is that clear?”

     
I didn’t answer
so he flashed a quick look at me. I nodded yes. But I wouldn’t let the moment
go. Deep down, I was defiant to the core. Just because I was playing it safe
while being scared out of my wits didn’t mean I was okay with my predicament. I
didn’t want my defiant nature to show, but I think it did.

     
“Well, now Moe
knows,” I said with just a little attitude.

     
He tossed my
wallet back on the pile of my few belongings and slowly walked toward me.
Don’t
shake, don’t shake,
don’t
shake
.
Look him in
the eye, Gin. Head up. Not too bold, but don’t be a wimp either.

     
He was standing
so close to me that I had to tilt my head up to continue looking him in the
eyes. That’s when I noticed the color: a clear, bright green, and even more
compelling in the light of the motel room than around the campfire. He raised
his right hand and softly caressed my cheek. I was in shock. Even though I didn’t
flinch, I’d been prepared for a blow.

     
In almost a
whisper, he said, “And who’s she
gonna
tell, huh?
Last time she ran her mouth she paid for it.” After a brief pause, he added, “You
don’t look surprised, girl. You already figured out why Moe doesn’t talk?”

     
“Did you do it?”
I whispered back.

     
“Yeah, I did it.
So any more questions about your old name?”

     
“What are you
going to call me?”

     
“Nothing, for
now.”

     
He walked back
over to my pile of personal possessions. He picked up my wallet with my I.D.
and four dollars in it and tossed it to Moe.

     
“Burn it.”

Chapter Six

It didn’t
take long for me to acquire a new name. I wasn’t addressed much by the gang
anyway; when I was, it was usually
Willow
referring to
me as “the ugly bitch.” That didn’t last long, though.

     
I had only been
there a few days and was starting to know some of them by name. One afternoon,
a few of us were sitting at one of the rundown picnic tables eating. Well, I
wasn’t really eating. I had no appetite for obvious reasons. I was sitting on
Grizz’s
left, and Willow was on his right.

     
That’s how it had
been the last couple days. I was always with
Grizz
.
Never out of his sight except to use the bathroom. Willow couldn’t stand for me
to always be with him and she made the most of every opportunity to be near him,
too. She would’ve slept in his room on the floor if he’d let her.

     
So we were eating
and Willow started to say, “So, ugly bitch, when you
gonna
—”

     
Grizz
backhanded her so hard she would’ve flown backwards
off the bench if Grunt, who was on her other side, hadn’t stuck his left arm
out to catch her.

     
Grunt was the
youngest of the group. He didn’t appear to say much and I couldn’t gauge his age,
but he had to be only a little older than me. I always felt like he watched me,
but when I would look at him he wasn’t looking at me.

     
Willow’s hand
flew to her mouth. When she pulled it away, she was holding her left front
tooth. Blood was running out of her nose and mouth. It wasn’t a casual slap.
Grizz’s
hand had been curled into a full fist, and the blow
had been powerful enough to knock out that tooth and maybe even break her nose.
If I thought Willow hated me before, then this only upped her level of
animosity.

     
A couple of the
others laughed. Moe just stared expressionless, but I thought I caught a hint
of a smile before she lowered her head back to her plate.

     
Chicky
, who was sitting across from Willow, said, “Gee,
Grizz
, you going all soft, sticking up for your ‘gift’?
Since when do you care what Willow calls her?”

     
The instant she
said it I could see regret in her eyes. But apparently
Grizz
didn’t react the way she thought he would, because after a few seconds she
looked relieved. He finished chewing his food, and after swallowing it he
casually said, “Just tired of hearing it.”

     
Willow was trying
not to cry, but she was trembling. She shot up and quickly struggled to get
herself untangled from the picnic bench. It was awkward because she was between
Grizz
and Grunt, and she had to step backwards to get
out. Grunt started to help her, but proud person that she was, she just shooed
him away without saying anything and stomped back toward the motel.

     
She must have
sought out
Froggy
, who was not at the picnic table,
because a few minutes later we heard a bike start and saw the two of them
slowly ride past us and onto State Road 84.

     
This was the
second time I’d seen
Grizz
abuse Willow. I’d already known
she was sleeping with
Grizz
, or had been until my
arrival. I hadn’t had to sleep with him yet, though. I don’t think anyone knew
that. I still couldn’t come up with a reason why he hadn’t raped me. He
certainly seemed like the type. Maybe he was waiting for me to get over my
period. I didn’t know. He was obviously a cruel person incapable of feeling
much, except for anger. But other than his seeming indifference to my
situation, he had yet to lift a hand to hurt me.

     
I couldn’t tell
if he cared what the others thought of how he treated me. It was probably new
to them, seeing their leader stick up for a fifteen-year-old gang prisoner. I
got the impression he let everyone fight
their
own
battles. They could kill each other and he probably wouldn’t intervene or care.

     
I would see his
brutality unleashed on many people over the coming years, regardless of their
sex, age or physical ability. It didn’t matter. I wondered if getting beaten or
having your tongue cut out was just run of the mill for his women. I would
later see that he never abused anyone for the sake of abuse. He didn’t enjoy
it. It didn’t please him to hurt people, but he never seemed to show any kind
of remorse when he did. As far as he was concerned, they got what they asked
for. They knew the consequences of defying him in even the slightest way. In
all the years I spent with
Grizz
, only once did I
ever hear a word of regret from him.

     
His stance was
that he demanded obedience no matter what the issue.
You didn’t
obey
,
you paid
. There were many instances
during my time with
Grizz
when I would see a lot of
folks pay in horrible ways for disobeying him or just doing something he didn’t
like.

     
I would see
someone pay that very night.
           

     
It was around
sunset, so I assumed someone had lit the fire in the pit like they had the
prior few nights. That’s what they called the area where I encountered them on
my first night at the motel: The pit.

     
I was in
Grizz’s
room reading one of my library books. I had tried
acting as casual as possible over the last few days. But the truth was, I was
just staring at the page. My mind was in constant turmoil trying to think of a
way to escape.

     
For the first
time since my arrival,
Grizz
actually wanted me out
of the room. There was something he needed to do. Maybe make a phone call? I
didn’t know.

     
He strode over to
the door, opened it and yelled, “Grunt. Come here.” He stood there with the
door open until Grunt appeared.
Grizz
nodded toward
me and said, “Take her to the pit. I’ll be a few minutes.”

     
I looked up,
surprised. This was new. I shut my book and put my sandals on. I hated going
barefoot. Which was kind of funny since I grew up with a mother who hated
wearing shoes.

     
I remembered how
cool the nights could get, so I asked, “Can I have a jacket or something?”

     
“Yeah. Grunt,
give her your jacket.”

     
Grunt took his
jacket off without saying a word and handed it to me. I put it on and followed
him to the pit.

     
We sat side by
side in two lawn chairs. Willow and
Froggy
were
nowhere to be seen. I didn’t know
Froggy’s
motorcycle
well enough to know if it was parked with the others. They may have never
gotten back from that afternoon. Moe was sitting on the ground in front of the
fire just like the first night I was there. A few others were sitting in lawn
chairs with their legs stretched out. Everyone was drinking beer.

     
Grunt saw me
looking at the others and asked if I wanted a beer. I told him no, but maybe I
should have taken one. It would probably have relaxed me, but I hated beer and
how it tasted.

     
Grunt went over
to the cooler, got himself a beer and sat down next to me. I noticed he slapped
at his arm. Mosquitos.

     
“Thanks for
giving me your jacket,” I told him.

     
“Didn’t think I
had much of a choice.” He didn’t say it in a mean way, just as a matter of fact.
I started to take his jacket off and he immediately put his hand up and said, “No,
you wear it. You better
be
wearing it when he comes
out, okay? You can give it back to me tomorrow.”

     
“What, you think
he’d hurt you if I gave you your jacket back?”

     
“You’re the one
who asked for the jacket. Just wear it. He won’t be mad at me. He’ll be mad at
you because you told him you were cold and he fixed it so you weren’t cold. So
if he comes out here and you’re cold, he’ll probably be pissed.”

     
“Why would he
even care about something so ridiculous?”

     
By now, the others
around the pit had stopped their own conversations and were listening to our
exchange.

     
Before Grunt
could answer, a loud motorcycle interrupted our conversation. Monster. I
wondered where he had been all day. Not that I really cared. People seemed to
come and go here as they pleased.
Everyone except me.

     
After Monster
parked and cut the engine, conversation resumed. But I let the jacket question
go. I was curious about certain things, but I also figured the less I knew, the
better. I wanted my freedom. If I constantly asked questions and knew too much
about this small group, maybe it could influence the decision as to whether or
not to let me go.

     
Monster walked
over to the pit and got a beer from the cooler before sitting down. He popped
the top and took a big swig. Then, one-handed, he took a pack of cigarettes out
of his jacket and lit one up. He downed the rest of his beer in less than
thirty seconds, belched loudly,
then
stood. “Forgot, I
got another present for
Grizz
. Well, for
Grizz’s
hounds actually.”

     
“You don’t got
another chick hidden on your bike somewhere, do
ya
?”
someone asked. There was a round of laughter.

     
He didn’t answer
as he walked back over to where he had parked his bike.
He
had everyone’s curiosity
,
so all eyes followed him
.
He opened one of his saddlebags, reached in and pulled something out. It was
hard to tell what it was since it was almost dark, but it was small, and he
carried it with one hand.

     
He got back over
to his lawn chair, and we still couldn’t tell what he had. He plopped down and
with his cigarette dangling from his mouth, he held up the prize.

     
It was a tiny
black kitten. A kitten? Would
Grizz
want a kitten?
Then I remembered he said it was for
Grizz’s
hounds.
Was he going to give the kitten over to the dogs to be mauled to death? Oh no.
I didn’t think I could handle that.

     
Someone, I think
it was Blue, said, “What the hell is
Grizz
gonna
want with that?”

     
“I thought he
might
wanna
feed it to his hell hounds,” Monster
laughed. He still had it by the scruff of its neck and the poor little thing
just hung there without making a sound.

     
“I’ll tell you
right now, you’re wrong. Get rid of it before he comes out here,” Blue warned.

     
“Why would I
wanna
get rid of a perfectly good squawk box like this?”
Monster asked.

     
“What do you mean
by squawk box?” Grunt asked.

     
Without
answering, before anyone could have stopped him if they’d wanted to, Monster
took the lit cigarette and pressed it to the kitten’s side. It howled in pain
and tried to wrestle free. He just laughed.

     
“See, squawk box!
Hell, anyone
wanna
know if
its eye will make a sizzle sound like when you fry bacon or something?”
More laughter from him.

     
No one was
joining in his laughter at this horrible display, but I was too upset to
notice. I jumped up and started running to the room. Grunt was on my heels, but
I fought him off.

     
“Just leave me
alone! Leave me alone!” I was screaming at the top of my lungs. “You’re all
sick. Something’s wrong with all of you if you think this is fun.”

     
Grunt was trying
to stop me from reaching the room, and he was saying something I didn’t hear. I
was too hysterical.

     
Just then, the
door of
Grizz’s
room opened and he came out. “What
the hell is going on out here?”

     
“What’s going on?
I’ll tell you what’s going on. Your sick friend Monster is getting his kicks
out of torturing a poor, helpless animal, that’s what. You’re all sick. I can’t
believe this is happening. I can’t believe people get off on this kind of crap.
I’ve
gotta
get outta here!”

     
By then, Grunt
was behind me, using both hands to hold my arms at my side. I was waiting for
the blow from
Grizz
. I’d seen him get mad for lesser
things. This would surely warrant at least a slap in the face. But it didn’t
come. He looked past
me and Grunt
toward the pit and
said, “Take her in. Stay with her.”