Page 16 of Homebound
He laughed, and she moved away.
Chapter 5
The next day, Ruby hadn’t shown up.
Arlo, being Arlo, did an absolute minimum amount of work while milking his sliced hand for all it was worth and claiming he was in pain. Ultimately, he pulled a disappearing act leaving Gemma alone on the floor, forcing her to pitch in for him as well as for Ruby.
She shuttled back and forth between the third floor and the downstairs facilities, running up and down the stairs, cleaning gunky surfaces and serving food.
Simon hadn’t moved at all from what she could see and was sitting as always on his cot with his back to the wall, a bag of bones with unseeing eyes. No need to worry that he’d mess up his new hairdo.
Number 34 tried to engage her into a conversation but she never stopped, and he finally gave up and faded away from his barred door.
The Obu alien, on the contrary, stayed glued to his. Every time Gemma passed next to his cell, he emitted a low-pitched wail that sounded pitiful and haunting. With face pressed to the bars, he watched her footslog about with his liquid puppy eyes. She found him adorable, like an oversized teddy bear.
“Are you doing alright today, bear-man?” She paused in front of his cell.
He grunted in response, a happy, prolonged sound with variegated tonality. Gemma chuckled and reached to pat his forearm through the bars. His eyes misted, and he turned his arm up for better access silently asking Gemma to go on petting. She scratched the coarse hairy skin a few more times before moving on.
The Obu protested in a loud high-pitched squeal.
“Well, now, is this what you have to say for my attention?” She tsk-tsked and pointed a finger at him.
Gemma’s right ankle, the crippled one, started to ache inside her boot. The bones had never mended right after the break and protruded conspicuously on one side, making her foot deformed and her gait unsteady. Because of that ankle, Gemma always wore tall boots, diligent about concealing the flaw. Prison workers had to be sure-footed, and she wouldn't risk losing her job on the account of being a little crippled.
But she couldn't help that it hurt.
Later in the day, she found herself in the laundry facility, stopping to catch her breath. She gazed out of the narrow barred window that faced the courtyard where another cell block was enjoying their outing. She surveyed the men with curiosity noting how ordinary they were, not heavily tattooed and rough-looking like the typical criminal population. Many were older, haggard and weary, awkward in their shapeless scrubs.
Debt prisoners, from the looks of it.
Two guards were stationed by the door for the what-ifs. Gemma frowned in puzzlement when she caught sight of Arlo in the yard. Concealed from the eyes of the guards by one of the thick posts supporting the brick porch, he huddled together with two inmates. He was holding something, and as Gemma looked on, that something changed hands and moved from Arlo to one of the inmates. The other one was watching closely. The man on the receiving end deftly hid the item inside his clothes. Then Arlo turned and blended into the recess, disappearing from sight.
The two inmates unobtrusively returned to the center of the yard.
What on earth…
The door near the laundry room opened, and Arlo appeared furtively checking behind him. He didn’t see Gemma standing there and nearly bumped into her.
“Arlo!” she called.
He jumped, eyes peeling wide. “Gemma! You scared the life out of me. What are you doing, standing here so quietly?”
“Where have you been? I was looking for you.” She wasn’t, but annoyance made her say it to see if he’d feel guilty for running out on her.
Arlo didn’t look guilty. More like crafty. And calculating - how much had she seen?
“I was just checking on an old acquaintance of mine,” he explained. “Before that, I’d been resting. My hand was aching like a mother.”
Gemma stared him down without saying anything.
He squirmed a little and looked away. Then he brightened.
“But I feel a lot better now. Isn’t it amazing what a little bit of rest can do to a man?”
Gemma let it go. Arlo was here now, and she’d take any help he could offer.
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