Page 76 of Homebound
Family atmosphere, my heiney.
She was going to have to look for other accommodations. Maybe find a room to share.
Gemma was the first to arrive at her cell block, with Arlo showing up shortly after.
“Good morning.” He gave her a weak, insincere smile.
“Hello, Arlo. We missed you yesterday.” Gemma gave him an equally insincere smile in return.
“I’m sure you did. Couldn't be helped.”
“Of course. But at least I’m back to share the load. Thank you, by the way.”
“You’re so welcome. We rejoice in your presence.”
“I’m glad it all worked out.”
“Amen to that,” he said sourly and threw her a nasty look which she ignored.
The door clanged and Ruby came in. Gemma took one look at her face and knew all was not right in Ruby’s world.
At the first opportunity, she asked what was wrong.
“Cricket, what else.” Ruby drew a long-suffering sigh. “I took our kitten, Jute, to the market corner this morning. Left him on the street. Maybe someone will take him in. He’s so cute.” Tears welled in Ruby’s tired eyes and she blinked fast.
“No! Why?”
“Cricket can’t have him. He makes her wheeze so badly.”
Gemma’s heart was breaking. She felt on the verge of crying herself. “Ruby… ”
Her friend bobbed her head looking aged, helpless, and tired.
“He was meowing when I dropped him off. We fed him and it’s not too cold today, so I figured he has a chance. See, Cricket can barely breathe when he’s around. She’s beyond devastated. That cat meant the world to her. Gemma, what did she do to deserve this? What did we both of us do?” Ruby angrily mopped tears with her sleeve.
“You should’ve told me! Maybe I could’ve taken him.”
Ruby gave a rusty laugh. “Don’t be silly. Your witch of an aunt would probably make a stew out of him. She’s evil. By the way, how’s your uncle doing? Any progress?”
Ruby clearly didn’t want to dwell any more on the loss of her cat. What was done was done. Life went on.
“He’s better. After the second procedure, his wounds started to knit together. But I’m afraid he’ll never be able to use his arm like before.”
“He’s healing, that’s something. He needs to do the best he can in his situation. That’s what we all need to do.”
Gemma couldn't agree more.
Arlo, catching them with their heads together and whispering, shot them a glance full of venom but didn’t call them out. Distracted by the two of them, he was walking down the corridor when he suddenly jumped and cussed a blue streak. Unholy laughter intermixed with screams and high-pitched gibberish was the answer.
“Little Green Man,” Gemma guessed. “Arlo breached the no-man’s land in front of his cell and got sprayed.”
“Arlo should know better.” Ruby wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know what the point is of keeping this freak in prison. He needs to go to a mental institution.”
“I don’t think the City has a mental institution for aliens, Ruby,” Gemma said. “We are it.”
Gemma’s mood was thoroughly ruined for the rest of the day. Some days were simply crap, and the only option was to push through hoping for a better day tomorrow.
When the third floor was up for their yard time, Gemma went into Simon’s cell to wait for the Obu to get out under the watchful eye of Ruby. Arlo looked with surprise at her behind bars but said nothing.
