The Time Stone (9 page)

As they approached the trap door, Tina
quickly used an old trick from her life on the streets by ripping
off part of her shirt and entering it carefully into the lock of
the keyhole and then sliding it back and forth very fast carefully
not to break it but fast and steady enough to use the friction to
trigger the unlocking mechanism, as she explained to James. After
several seconds, nothing happened and James looked at Tina with an
amused grin.

“
I thought it would work.”
She responded to his grin.

“
Let me try.” James flung
his wrist in the air and struck his hand down as he closed his eyes
and pressed hard with his mind’s eye. In a matter of seconds, the
lock clicked open. He opened his eyes and smiled as he removed the
lock and opened the door.

“
You got some real magic
power, James” Tina added dropping herself into the hole.

James frantically looked up at the
spotlight and saw it approaching and knew that they had to move.
The duo quickly escaped through the trap door and down a tunnel and
collapsed the door just as the light of the tower passed right over
the sealed hatch.

James and Tina escaped
from the tunnel leading from the place of their captivity. The road
out of the tunnel and into the open field was lonesome and arduous
for James and Tina. After getting passed the stench of the tunnels
and the muddy liquid on their shoes and clothes, it was a long run
from the tunnel exits across the muddy and filthy field. They
walked down the muck-ridden dirt road looking up at the stars and
quietly holding one another close trying to avoid being spotted by
the guards who might spy over to watch the other side of the fence
beyond the tunnels. Fortune smiled on them as the nearest pickup
truck made its way puttering along the dirt road for
“
hidden treasures
” as the sole occupant referred to, a poor dirt farmer named
Melville who was more than happy to have their company as he gave
them a ride back towards civilization. He was the only one with a
vehicle who stopped by so they were grateful for the
ride.

“
You kids are heading to
Chronix Bay, are ya?” said Melville. “I find it you gonna need some
supplies and things.” Melville was a simple man but had a coy
attention to detail.

“
Yeah, we would be very
appreciative of any help you could give us in finding some cheap
supplies. We are kind of low on funds right now” said
Tina.

“
Lots of varmints in town
got what you need. Free Castle is a mighty good watering hole to
wet your whistle and ponder your next move.” Melville replied. “I
don’t wanna mind what you two were doing nearby the old loading
front for the prison.”

“
Good. ‘Cause we ain’t
reckoning to be telling” laughed Tina mimicking Melville’s old
southern vernacular.

“
Well, we aren’t in
Chronix Bay anymore. The first thing that we need to agree to do is
get as far as they could away from here.” James whispered to
Tina.

“
This here be Radcliffe.
Chronix Bay, varmints, that is quite a ways east,” said Melville
with his broken dialect and peculiar vernacular depicting his lack
of a proper education.

James and Tina looked at one another
with dismay. They knew they had been transported far but not
knowing how far would make it difficult to plan an escape somewhere
else. They rode with Melville in his green faded pickup truck and
spent the two and a half hour ride talking to them about his job
lifting hay and feeding his pet rooster named Roger. The duo smiled
with complete joy as they endured this proverbial debauchery and
were still ever grateful when he let them in and even more grateful
when he let them off in a small town outside of Chronix Bay called
Radcliffe population 2001 but were not sure about the 1 according
to the sign on the outskirts of town.

CHAPTER 23

James and Tina wandered together to
the local bar called the “Free Castle”, referred by Melville. which
seemed aptly appropriate as they had flown the coop sort of speak
and now were in need of disguises and a way out of state as Tina
advised but James felt that there more things to do here. They
waited for their entry into their future as they entered the dark
and dingy bar full of loud music and thundering sounds of rowdy bar
patrons banging on the bar and tables demanding service and singing
and talking, singing drinking songs, as the place was filled to the
rear with what appeared to James to be the most undesirable of
characters, bikers talking about the stretch they just did at the
prison up the road for convictions stretching from aggravated
assault to murder and rape and various other crimes he overheard as
they passed through the ruckus. He pictured this place as known as
a harbinger of future criminal activity. Meanwhile he observed his
companion clumsily walking in with a big smile as if feeling
comfortable amongst the riffraff he abhorred.

“
You like it here?” James
asked apprehensively approaching the rough interior of the
bar.

“
I love it. I used to hang
out in places like this all the time back in the day. Nearly was
raised in them before my stretch in the orphanage. Come on.” Tina
beckoned for James to follow her.

“
Wow”, James thought, “Ok
I’ll stay behind you then,” he added.

To those around them it was home but
to James it seemed different. He never asked to be part of this or
even requested a part of it. He felt far from home and miserable,
like an outsider walking amongst those with a mile long rap sheet
and trouble caused at every turn. He was set up for something and
did not know why. He looked at his companion who felt more at ease
as she wandered around the bar beckoning to him to follow and
remain casual. Before his current predicament, he never imagined
setting foot into a place like this. Now he felt he had no choice.
He wondered how he would survive as he lacked of knowledge of the
difference between a Harley Davidson and a motor scooter as the
bikers discussed before him. He felt uncertain of himself regarding
his ignorance of the names and images on the leather jackets
signifying separate groups or gang activity as he guessed to
himself.

“
We should leave,” James
insisted awkwardly.

“
No sit down. Don’t
worry,” said Tina who ushered him to the empty stools in the bar
left vacant after an overweight biker whose rear end occupied both
stools fell back from a combination of drunkenness and
dizziness.

James and Tina sat and looked about at
the bar seeing only dirty bottles behind the counter.

“
I’ll protect you,” Tina
smiled winking at James.

As they sat down, a heavily-bearded
man approached them from behind the bar.

“
What will it be?” The
bartender spoke hoarsely and loud.

“
Uh…” said James looking
helplessly.

“
We want to lay low for a
while,” barked Tina.

“
You must be on the lamb
huh?” The man laughed acknowledging them as James gave a suddenly
shocked reaction as affirmative. “Many folks in here got problems
with the police but to be in here you got to buy
something.”

“
I knew it. Let’s go,
Tina.” James started up but Tina held him back down with her eyes
firmly locked with the bartender.

“
We’ll have whiskey,” she
smirked with a determined grin as James looked at her with a
complex glance.

”
You kids got some balls,”
the bartender laughed as he reached out from under the counter and
poured the drinks and walked away.

“
James we really need to
think of a plan.” Tina spoke sipping her whiskey.

“
How are we gonna pay for
this?” James whispered to Tina.

“
We’ll get a tab,” she
shook it off sipping her whiskey but curiously remaining fixated on
the question, “but this is the least of our worries. What are we
gonna do now?”

James threw most of his whiskey back
and made a sour face. “Ooh what the hell?”

“
It’s an acquired taste.”
Laughed Tina, “but seriously now, what are we gonna do?”

“
Well…,” “we’ve just
escaped from jail. We need to leave.”

“
We’re fugitives.” Tina
said worried.

“
I know.” James looked
around worrisome.

“
We need to change clothes
and identities fast.” Tina observed. “No doubt they will be looking
for us and they have our photos to distribute on the evening news.
It will be all over town. Chronix Bay ain’t that big. I do agree we
got to blow town.”

“
You act like you’ve done
this before,” said James inquisitively.

“
I was raised in a
household of criminals.” Tina took another sip. “You pick up a
thing or two about hiding from the law.”

“
You have been in trouble
a few times haven’t you?”

“
Once or twice” she
shrugged.

“
Yeah” he nodded looking
back at her.

Tina took another sip of her whiskey
and fixated at the end of the bar, her eyes bore a sudden misty
sense. “You know, sometimes I wonder what really happens to us in
life isn’t always what it seems.”

“
You mean like fate or
destiny” said James looking at her with a curious glare.

“
I never believed in that
crap growing up but the nuns at Saint Mary always tried to get me
to believe in the notion that God had a plan for me and my future
was written in the stars like everyone else. What a load of crock,
huh?” asked Tina rhetorically.

“
There are worse things to
believe in.” said James. “You were involved in churches and stuff
so I can’t believe the catholic experience in school and life
didn’t leave some sort of a mark on you.”

“
It was my ‘forced
rehabilitation’ as a kid. I guess my life would have been much
worse if I would have stayed with the people I was with before. But
I honestly can’t see it getting much better. I’m still getting in
trouble for stuff.” Said Tina.

James continued to look at her
curiously.

“
If the great and powerful
‘God’ had a positive plan for me, he sure is taking his sweet
time.” Tina added sarcastically. “Everything I ever knew seemed to
be against God’s plan according to them so I tended to let it pass
over me. I didn’t know what to do really.” Tina spoke eloquently to
James’ dismay.

“
You still kept your
faith. That’s a good start.” Said James.

“
I was really curious
about the other worlds and spirituality part. You know I read a lot
to kill time back in my confinement in the orphanage. It made me
smile but wasn’t real so the bad feelings came back.”

“
I read too. I for one
loved science fiction.” Said James laughingly. “But it was more
about trying to alter choices and bad decisions. I guess I never
got the time machine I wanted for Christmas.”

Tina laughed. “Here’s to God’s plan
for us” she smiled and lifted her glass to his. They finished their
drinks with the toast.

“
How do you do that?”
James asked suddenly in awe.

“
Do what?” She shook her
head.

“
You sudden change in
personality and you just got all philosophical like
that.”

“
Did I? Must be my crazy
upbringing, harsh and all. I sometimes don’t even notice things
like that. You learn to block stuff out living on the streets as
long as I have.”

“
I know. I’m sort of new
to the homelessness thing but it’s rough.”

“
That’s why I read so much
to lose myself out there in … another world” said Tina staring
forward in a melancholy gaze.

“
Sounds like you have deep
feelings about a lot of things,” added James.

“
Some by choice and some I
wish I could forget” said Tina.

“
So we are both on a
mission for our true purposes” said James.

“
I wish I knew what my
purpose was. I suffered through so many heartaches, James. It seems
my whole life to this point has been one mess up after
another.”

“
Maybe it’s a mysterious
puzzle to be figured out” said James.

“
Maybe I’m just meant to
be a bitch and a half” said Tina jokingly.

“
Maybe you’re purpose is
yet to be revealed.”

“
That’s what I’m afraid
of!” She added.

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The minutes past and became close to
an hour as the sound of the bar escalated to a louder noise of
rowdy patrons clanking beer steins and laughing, telling jokes and
singing. The duo James and Tina sat on their stools trying to
figure out a way out of their current predicament.

“
So let’s get going, how
are we going to escape out of town?” asked James.

“
We can find a more
suitable ride into town and get to the train station. We can bum
our way into two seats.” Commented Tina.

“
You mean steal? I am not
comfortable with that.” Replied James.

“
We have no choice, James.
Like it or not, we are on the opposite side of the law now and we
need to survive or we’re going back to prison and we won’t be let
out ever. You heard the conversation between the judge and
prosecutor; they’re into some type of conspiracy to make sure we
take the fall for these crimes, guilty or not. I ain’t doing life
so you with me and maybe we can find a way to clear our
names?”