Page 155 of Hell Hath No Fury
Once the water was offloaded back at the gymnasium, the four of us stood in the locker room, out of breath and utterly exhausted, as the younger kids played games in the gymnasium. Monica was with us. Bobby was seated on the bench between the lockers.
“So … is that everything?” Bobby scanned our faces.
“That’s everything,” I responded.
“And I can go?”
“Well, that all depends.”
“W-what? What do you mean?”
I looked at Kammie, then Monica. “I think with the world as crazy as it is and democracy imploding as we speak, it might bebest to keep some sort of civility in this place.” I glanced around the room to read the curious faces lit solely by the lantern.
“What do you suggest?” Kammie inquired.
“I say we take a vote. Thumbs down, we let him go, Thumbs up, we find him guilty of murder and attempted rape.”
“Wait, doesn’t thumbs down mean bad and up mean good?” Ryker asked.
“That’s not how the Romans did it,” I reasoned.
“Oh.”
“This is ridiculous,” Bobby interjected, but we ignored him.
“And what would be the sentence?” Kammie asked.
“Death.”
“Oh, please. You don’t have it in you,” Bobby chided, scoffing.
Two turned down thumbs hit the air, Monica’s and Juliana’s. I tilted my head and passed Monica a curious look.
“I know he’s a sick fuck, and definitely deserves to die, but I don’t know if I want to play a part in doing it. We could just let him go. I don’t think he’ll be back,” Monica said.
“I won’t!” Bobby lifted his tied hands, put them together in begging. “I won’t. I swear.”
I nodded, lifting my own thumb and Kammie did the same. I looked at Ryker, the final vote. The tie breaker.
“Is this for real? Like, shouldn’t we call the police or something?” Ryker asked, hesitation crossing his features. “I mean, I know I tried to burn down my old school, but this seems like a lot.”
“Yes, yes, exactly! Call the police,” Bobby begged.
“I don’t know if you guys are aware of this,” I said cheekily, “but there’s no working phones or cars, no electricity, no nothing. All of Tampa is on fucking fire. The whole damn country is on fire. If the police cared about us, don’t you think they’d be here already? They knew we were here to begin with.McCormick called the cops a week ago.” I scanned the area around us. “I don’t see any cops, do you?”
“Nope.” Kammie rolled her eyes.
“But I mean, should we maybe just keep him in the locker until the cops do come?” Ryker asked.
Bobby put his tied hands up, pleading once again. “No, please. Not the locker. Anywhere but the locker, please!”
“Stop begging, you dumb fuck,” Kammie snarled, prodding him with the rifle. He cringed and backed away.
“Here’s the deal …” I put my hand on my hip and tapped my foot. “We don’t have enough food for all of us as it is let alone his grown ass. And we don’t know how long we’re gonna be here. And I’m sorry, but I’m not going out into that shit right now to get more food. You’ve seen what it looks like.” I shook my head. “No, we’re not keeping him prisoner. Who knows if the cops ever would come to get his ass.”
“We could just let him go like Monica said,” Ryker suggested.
“And let him come right back here to succeed in raping me next time?” I starred Ryker in the eyes. “Nope. Not happening.”
