Shock Point (15 page)

As she walked back, her empty bucket banging against her knee, Cassie’s eyes fell on the ditch that ran along the edge of the far wall, just past the laundry lines. The water flowed fast and cool, even in the summer heat. Where it entered the wall and again where it poured into the ocean, the open ditch became a closed metal pipe about three feet across. The water nearly filled the pipe, leaving less than a foot of clearance from the top.

Picking the farthest patch of weeds, Cassie knelt down next to the ditch, eyeing the open mouth of the pipe while her hand slowly reached out for a weed. How long did the pipe stretch underground before it became an open ditch again? She couldn’t tell. The pipe was nothing but a black hole. From the times she had played soccer outside the walls, Cassie tried to picture where exactly the pipe ended and the ditch began. She thought about twenty feet of it were buried. Maybe thirty.

Too far to hold your breath, not when you were fighting upstream in a narrow metal tube filled with water. And she was a poor swimmer. When she was five and taking private swimming lessons, Cassie had almost drowned when her teacher went inside to answer the phone. Ever since she had had to fight back panic before she could put her face in the water. Learning to snorkel in Hawaii two years ago had been a triumph, but the water had been warm and buoyant, and thanks to the snorkel she had been able to breathe all she wanted without having to raise her face.

Snorkeling! Maybe that was the answer. She remembered the mesh bag with fins and a mask that her mom had packed. Martha had left the bag in her suitcase. If Cassie could get down to the office and get into the closet again, then the bag should still be inside. And there were so many suitcases, there was bound to be another set for Hayley.

Over the next few days, they began to assemble the pieces they needed for the plan. At night they took turns staying awake until they were sure of the guard’s schedule. He rounded once at 11:30, then did not come back again until just before dawn. Using her compass ring and the instructions Hayley had gotten for her, Cassie practiced with her watch until she was sure she knew how to tell where north was. And she and Hayley both kept their eyes open for discarded gum—a “privilege” only open to Level Fours and above. They hid their collection of pieces, pried from the bathroom wall, by wrapping them in Cassie’s spare uniform.

“Tonight?” Cassie whispered to Hayley on Thursday evening as they were lined up for head count. She felt light-headed and buzzy.

Hayley gave the slightest of nods. They had checked out the OP room as they walked to head count, and for once it was empty. Mother Nadine had just left for five days of vacation. She had teased them with her upcoming trip to California, where she would enjoy American food, American air-conditioning, and American movies. Some of the Level Sixes had sucked up major before she left, asking Mother Nadine to bring them back news of current fashions and movie stars, asking her to drink a latte for them or eat a bagel. As a substitute housemother, the Respect Family now had Rosa, who normally just passed out textbooks and graded tests when she wasn’t gossiping with her friends.

In the bathroom before lights out, Cassie popped the wads of old gum into her mouth. At first it was so dry that it cracked into shards, but then it began to reconstitute itself. Before returning to her family’s room, she tucked the lump inside one cheek. As Rosa was leaving, Cassie followed her out in the hall, palming the gum.

“Rosa?”

“It’s about the math we were studying today. I don’t really understand about dividing a polynomial by a monomial.” As she spoke, Cassie leaned against the edge of the doorjamb, sheltering it with the small of her back. “Can you explain that to me?” Her fingers poked the gum into the space where the lock would normally click into place. She had practiced the move twice before while cleaning the room, so she knew that the gum would keep the lock from catching.

Mother Nadine would have been suspicious in an instant, but Rosa had a plodding earnestness about her. It was clear from her face that she had no idea what Cassie was talking about. All she said was, “
Manãna.
You go to sleep now.”

But of course Cassie didn’t sleep. She could feel Hayley watching her even though she never looked over. At 12:30, an hour after the guard’s heavy footsteps had echoed down the hall, Cassie began to move as silently as a shadow. Once on her feet, she slowly let the wooden slat that served as her bed fold itself back into place. Across from her, Hayley moved like a mirror image. Cassie saw one pair of eyes flicker open, shining wetly in the darkness, then another. The other girls stayed silent, watching, observing the unspoken code of silence that governed most of the students. It was always safer to pretend that you had seen nothing, knew nothing. At least Rebecca was still truly asleep, one arm flung over her eyes.

Picking her water bottle off the floor, Cassie tiptoed to the door, eased it open, and stepped out into the darkened corridor. Hayley followed. Cassie turned and slowly closed the door, her eyes on the girls in the Respect Family, both those who met her gaze and those who slept on, oblivious. This would be the last time she would see them. She was surprised to find tears pricking her eyes.
I’ll tell them what it’s like,
she promised them silently as the door closed.

They tiptoed down the hall and then the stairs. Cassie was grateful they were made of cement and couldn’t creak to betray their passing. Once on the first floor, where there were no sleeping rooms, she breathed a little easier. Staff, including Father Gary, slept in the short arm of the L, on the third floor.

Hayley glided to the main door, tried the handle, and then turned to give Cassie a thumbs-up. They had been fairly sure—but not certain—that the staff relied on locking kids in their rooms, a cage within the cage of the compound. One worry down.

Now to get supplies. They went around the corner to the main office. Before Hayley turned on the light, Cassie pulled down the blinds. Anyone looking from the other wing of the building might see light leaking around the edges, but that couldn’t be helped.

Sliding open Martha’s desk drawer, Cassie rooted through pens, paper clips, and candy wrappers. From the jumbled mess, Hayley plucked a red lighter. “Let’s take this,” she whispered. “Just imagine, tomorrow night we’ll be sitting around a campfire. And then maybe by the next morning we’ll be in America.”

Cassie continued to search through glue sticks and gum wrappers for the keys to the closet. She pushed down a feeling of panic. If they couldn’t get inside the closet, her plan wouldn’t work.

“What’s this?” Hayley said, pulling out a wad of paper-clipped American bills from the very back of the drawer. “Money. Lots of money. I wonder if Gary knows about this. I have a feeling this did not begin life as Martha’s money.” She split the bills in two and handed one wad to Cassie, motioned for her to tuck it in her bra. “If someone ends up on our heels, try throwing this at them. With any luck they’ll get distracted chasing after American money.”

Finally, under a bunch of used tissues, Cassie’s fingers closed on a set of keys. After a couple of tries, she unlocked the closet. Near the top of the pile, she found her suitcase, with its rainbow ribbon tied around the handle. The first thing she grabbed from the suitcase was the snorkel set in a mesh bag. Then she pawed through the slippery plastic bags her mom had packed until she found the ones with her Nikes and socks. She snatched up clear bags holding a pair of jeans, a baseball cap, and a striped sweater. Stripes! She hadn’t seen striped clothes since she entered Peaceful Cove.

Hayley had disappeared into the back of the closet, and now finally emerged with a shocking pink Hello Kitty suitcase. She saw Cassie’s expression and shrugged. “What can I say? I was a kid when my mom sent me away.”

Going back to the closet, Cassie dug around until she found a backpack. Yanking out empty folders and three-ring notebooks, she imagined a parent carefully packing for a fictitious “campus.”

A sound made her head whip around. But it was only Hayley, her fist stuffed in her mouth as she knelt by her open suitcase. She spoke in a strangled whisper. “I don’t know what I was thinking. When my mom sent me to Jamaica, I was only twelve. None of this is going to fit me.”

“Especially not the shoes, and that’s what most important,” Cassie said briskly, leaning over her own suitcase again. They didn’t have time to lose. “And I don’t have another pair that aren’t sandals, so start looking. For everything else, you can wear my stuff—we’re about the same size. But quick! We’ve got to get out of here.”

She began to open suitcase after suitcase, shoving them aside as quietly as she could when they yielded nothing. Had her mom been the only one who had packed a snorkel set?

“Forget it, Cassie.” Hayley had found a pair of Adidas and was busy stuffing them into one of Cassie’s plastic bags. “I’ll just hold my breath or something.”

“It’s way too far to do that. When I get to the other side, I’ll take off the snorkel and flippers and send them back through the tunnel. If you miss a flipper, it’s not the end of the world. You can still pull yourself along with your hands. Just be sure you get the snorkel. I’ll send it last so you can be ready.”

The office was a mess now, suitcases gaping open, clothes heaped on the floor, stuff piled on Martha’s desk. Cassie found another backpack for Hayley and began shoving things in. They each now had shoes, long pants, sweaters, socks, hats, and sunscreen. They had filled their water bottles earlier in the evening. Cassie had even found a single Powerbar in someone’s suitcase, although there was no telling how old it was.

Cassie shrugged on her backpack, then pulled out the snorkel from the mesh bag, slipping on the goggles and leaving the mouthpiece dangling. Hayley followed her outside, turning out the light as she left. They slipped down the hall, out the front door, and into the night. Clouds covered the moon.

Even though the air was warm, Cassie started to shake. This was it. They were really doing it. They looked left and right. No guards, no sign of life.

Hayley pulled her pajama top over her head, then found the hole in the fence, wrapped the top in a rock, and pushed it through. They had both managed to keep their bras on when they dressed for bed. Cassie listened for the thunk of it landing, but heard nothing but waves. With any luck, someone would spot it and think they had gone over the fence, buying them some time while they searched the rocks. Without her top, Hayley was all planes and angles, too thin, her bra slack, her white chest and back contrasting strangely with her freckled arms.

They picked their way past the shower shack, ducked underneath the towels, and headed to the ditch. Cassie stepped out of her flip-flops and put one foot into the water. It was colder than she expected. She stepped back. There was no way they could stay, but she was suddenly too frightened to go.

A light went on behind them. They ducked down and turned, shielding their eyes. Someone stood at the front door, sweeping the length of the courtyard with a powerful flashlight. Cassie prayed that they were hidden by the towels.

“Go on without me.” Hayley pushed her. “Go! I’ll create a distraction.”

“What are you talking about?” Cassie hissed. “I’m not leaving you. We’ll turn ourselves in.”

“No! One of us has to get out and tell people what it’s like.”

“Then you go!” She tried to thrust the flippers in Hayley’s hands.

Hayley’s shadowed face suddenly looked old. “My mom doesn’t want me. Why do you think she’s kept me here? Go on—and tell people about this place. Maybe somebody will pay attention to you.”

There was a shout, and Cassie knew they had been spotted.

“I’m not leaving without you!” Cassie grabbed Hayley’s arm, but the other girl just spun away from her and began running, grabbing a towel from the line as she went. There was a sudden flare of light. Cassie gasped. Hayley had lit the towel on fire, and now she hollered and twirled it over her head, stamping her feet up and down on the bare earth. In the darkness her blue eyes glowed like silver.

The burning end of the towel flickered, nearly went dark, then brushed against another towel, which suddenly blazed up, orange and red flames throwing that corner of the courtyard into brightness. The flames leapt from towel to towel, racing the length of the clothesline, and then suddenly the thatched roof of the shower stalls was alight. The fire had a sound now, grumbling to itself as it ate. Openmouthed in horror, Cassie looked from the shower stalls to the main building. It was made of stucco—but the roof had been freshly coated with tar. Didn’t tar burn?

More shouts in Spanish and English, screams, lights being switched on. Father Gary appeared in the entrance. The bigger bulk of Martha came up behind him, shouted at him, tugged his free arm. He paid her no mind. His head swiveled from left to right as he scanned the courtyard. Looking for something. Or someone. In the flickering light, Cassie saw that Father Gary held something in his right hand. It wasn’t a walkie-talkie or a cell phone. It was a gun.

Cassie snugged the flippers over her feet, put the snorkel mouthpiece between her teeth, and slid into the ditch. The water was so cold that she gasped and nearly lost the mouthpiece.

Cassie had never snorkeled in freshwater before, and she quickly discovered why no one would want to. She wasn’t nearly as buoyant as she had been when she and her mom had gone to Hawaii. The heavy pack pushed her down. With her hands, she walked herself forward and into the mouth of the pipe.

It was completely black. When Cassie closed her eyes, it made no difference. Her breathing sped up. She had never been afraid of narrow, constricted spaces before, but then again, she had never been trapped in a narrow pipe filled with water. She pulled herself forward, grabbing frantically for the ridges of the pipe, slick with algae. Her kicks were uncoordinated, her legs moving in a frenzy, desperate to propel her through and out of the pipe.