Page 63 of The Inmate
Silence.
“Answer me, damn it!” The veins bulge in my neck. “Say something, you piece of shit!”
I want to hurl my phone across the beach, but that probably wouldn’t do me any good. Instead, I jab my thumb into the red button to end the call. It’s utterly unsatisfying.
I climb into the driver’s seat, my body buzzing with frustration. Somebody is toying with me. And the thought occurs to me that maybe the ceramic turtle isn’t the only thing planted in my house. Maybe there’s something else I haven’t found yet. Just about anything could be in my house, tucked away.
And I would never know.
ChapterThirty-Six
ONE MONTH EARLIER
To: Vixed Employees
From: Kimberly Healey
Subject: Ketchup
Okay, so two days ago, the bottle of ketchup I keep in the fridge was half full and today it was gone! The bottle was CLEARLY labeled with my name. If you want to use ketchup, I suggest you BRING YOUR OWN. I don’t steal anyone else’s food, so please do me the same respect and don’t steal mine!!!!!
Kim
To: Vixed Employees
From: Dawn Schiff
Subject: Re: Ketchup
I am extremely sorry that your ketchup went missing. Today was a green food day for me and yesterday was a white food day, so clearly I could not be responsible for the missing condiment as it would have destroyed the integrity of the meal. However, I wish to point out that if we created a schedule for refrigerator cleaning and maintenance, we could ensure that the contents of the fridge are protected and also disposed of in a timely manner.
Sincerely,
Dawn Schiff
To: Mia Hodge
From: Dawn Schiff
Subject: Re: Greetings
Dear Mia,
Today has been the worst day since I came to work at Vixed.
I need to talk to someone about it, or I fear my brain will explode. And I need to remember this day, so if I ever am tempted to be friendly to Natalie, I’ll have a reminder of what she’s capable of. And I’ll know to stay far away from that woman.
My desk and my cubicle are carefully arranged and decorated. I’m a clean person, so I maintain everything in a very organized fashion. I don’t have any photographs arranged in my workspace, but my main decorative elements are the plant I got (the iris) which is blooming beautifully and barely bothers my allergies, then the glass turtles surrounding it, one ceramic turtle, and then a stuffed turtle with big anime eyes. In total, there are ten turtles of various sizes. It comforts me to keep all those turtles in my workspace. They don’t get in the way. And even though when Seth sees them, he always says, “Jesus,” it’s not that big a deal.
So I can’t comprehend why she did this to me.
When I came to work this morning, the first thing I noticed was that my plant was toppled. There was dirt scattered all over my workstation. But that was fine. I don’t even like plants that much, although I was annoyed I would have to clean up the mess.
But then I noticed the turtles.
The glass ones were all smashed to bits. The arms and legs were in pieces on my desk and the floor. The ceramic one was broken into three large chunks. They were all destroyed. Unsalvageable.
I could have possibly convinced myself that it was an accident on the part of the janitorial staff. Perhaps they were cleaning my desk and got overzealous, although the extent of destruction hinted that it was purposeful. Still, I was willing to try to believe it.
