Page 11 of Stone Blind

She placed the card in her pocket, taking a good look at the kids. They didn’t have suitcases per se but overnight bags. Oscar’s meager belongings were in a garbage bag. Those items were the only possessions they had in this world.

“I would like to prioritize the bathrooms if we could,” she stated, her eyes going to Ricky. “I tried to clean those toilets, but seriously, if you could make new toilets and vanities top of the list for tomorrow, that would be phenomenal.”

Ricky nodded and said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Mr. Milton,” she said, looking at Bad Apple, “I assume the appliances and furniture will not come out of the funds on this card?”

“The appliances, no,” he said.

“Hmm,” she replied, squinting her eyes at him. “Food and pantry stores, linens, dishes, and sundries on the card?”

“Yep,” he said, leaning back in the chair.

She picked up a napkin and grabbed a pen. She asked them all, “Anybody with food allergies, any allergies to soaps, powders, or particular color preferences?”

“I like green,” Oscar said. “Green means go. I like the idea of green. I like green foods too.”

“Okay, Stephen? Jeffrey?”

Jeffrey had little to say, “I’ve never eaten shrimp. I’d like to try some. Don’t care about colors, just no pink.”

Stephen pushed aside the slice of pizza, “I want dinnerware. I’d like to set the table for dinner with candles and stuff and place mats with real cloth napkins. No allergies that I know about, but I want some real good shampoo and conditioner for my hair, none of that stuff from the $1 store either.”

Helen looked to Bad Apple, “Mr. Milton?”

“Me?” he asked surprised.

“Yes, Sir. I’m shopping once and getting it all, so let me know what your color preferences are, food allergies, and the rest,” she said softly.

“I like blues, no food allergies, prefer rice over potatoes, lots of leafy greens, and proteins,” he told her.

When she looked up, her eyes were on Ricky. “And you, Sir?”

“I don’t think I count in this equation,” he added with a voice so deep she felt it vibrate in her chest.

“You’re working here, taking meals here, and sitting at the table. You’re as important as everyone else in this room,” she told him, watching his chest puff up.

“I’m easy,” he told her. “I don’t like kale but will eat it. I’m partial to red, but love the energy of an orange, which is my favorite fruit.”

Oscar perked up, “I love fruit too. Not the kind in the can, though.”

“Noted,” Helen said, putting down her pen when the knock came at the door. She didn’t move as Apple rose to let in the delivery men with the beds.

Helen maintained her private thoughts, keeping them to herself when she realized they were, in fact only beds and frames. The better news is all the beds were the same size. There were no headboards, simply a metal frame with a box spring and a mattress. Apple didn’t have or provide any bed linens; he passed out paper thin blankets for them all. Mentally, Helen was checked out. She wanted a moment alone with the thoughts that had invisibly climbed out of her brain, sauntered across the room and currently were strangling Apple. She excused herself for the evening, retreating to the stark bedroom.

In her room, what she hadn’t noticed, or at least it wasn’t there earlier, was a lock on the inside of her door. For measure, she checked Oscar’s room, then Jeffrey’s and finally Stephen’s. They all had the same thing.

“Good night, everyone,” she said, going to her room and locking herself in for the night. “This is going to be rough.”

Apple sat at the table with Ricky, thinking of everything he’d noticed about the new Technician named Cranberry. She made a point to get everyone’s feedback and opinions, including Ricky’s, making him feel as a part of the team. Helen, in his opinion, was a survivor and a manipulator. He wasn’t certain if she knew how to use it for good or if training her would make her a dark weapon to profit from the unrefined skill set.

“She’s a thinker,” Ricky said. “I think I like her. I want to see what she comes back with when she goes shopping tomorrow.”

“You and me both; 5k is not a lot, considering we are operating with a blank slate here,” Apple said. “I’ve never known The Company to take on a Tech that wasn’t already trained, physically and mentally or just pissed off at the injustices of the world. This one, you can’t really read her. The best thing I've learned about her thus far, is what is on her mind, she shares, in moderation.”

Ricky nodded. “She read the room and the table. Those boys felt included. Hell, so did I.”

“Yeah, I saw you puff up your chest,” Apple said almost as a caution. “She doesn’t look hungry about the eyes. She’s got a man who recently loved on her real good.”

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