Failure of Glory

Chapter 11

After the talk with her mother Jolie had finally been allowed to leave her room; much to her fathers displeasure. She started eating her meals in the kitchen but her father would leave as soon as she walked in. No matter what he was in the middle of-conversation or dinner-if Jolie walked in, he walked out.

She couldn't say that she minded much. She still wasn't in the mood for an argument but she knew that she was too stubborn to stay quiet if he started something. Another thing that she got from her father.

"So how are we going to get out of the bunker," Aaliyah whispered to her at the kitchen table. "Because if I recall correctly you got caught the first time." Jolie swallowed the food in her mouth and gave Aaliyah a scowl. "What, too soon?"

"Would you just calm down? I've got it all figured out ok, we're not getting caught this time," she assured. "Hey mom, can you come here for a second."

"What are you doing," Aaliyah said. Aaliyah still didn't know about the coming together of daughter and mother late last week. She had asked Jolie about their mother's sudden change in heart and why she was so quick to defend Jolie all of a sudden but she only ever got a shrug in response.

Truth be told, Jolie just wanted to keep it between them. She felt like it was the last special moment that she and her mother were going to have before she left and she wanted to hold on to that. It wasn't something that Aaliyah needed to know, so she decidedly withdrew the information from their daily talks.

"Uh so mom, how did you and dad know that I was gone that night I snuck out?" Jolie needed to know this in order for her plan to work but she had also been pretty curious about it herself. Neither of her parents were light sleepers and they had stopped the bedroom checks years ago. Jolie needed to know that they wouldn't get caught again and consequently be set back to square one.

"Well your father was snoring. You know he has that terrible habit, he's had it seen before we came down here as a matter of fact," Naomi laughed like she had just told a joke.

"Back to the point?"

"Oh right, well Hasan was snoring so I hadn't been able to fall asleep that night and then around midnight I heard this noise. Kind of like," she thought about it for a moment. "Something rubbing against metal but really quiet or soft I don't know."

Jolie didn't know if she was referring to her going up the ladder or her opening that hatch at the top but either way she thought that she had been quiet enough. She felt like she had taken an unnecessary ten minutes moving slowly and trying to be quiet.

"I tried to tell Hasan but he said it was nothing. So I stayed in bed until I had to use the bathroom and then I figured since I was already up I might as well go check it out. When I walked past your room the door was open and I saw you weren't in bed," she disclosed.

Jolie couldn't believe her ears. This one tiny mistake, something she thought was so insignificant, was the reason she was caught. She hadn't even given a second thought to leaving the door open, she always left the door open anyway this time it just cost her. Jolie and Aaliyah always slept with their door closed and she supposed that that is what caught her mothers attention first.

"If you hadn't left the door open I never would have noticed," Naomi shrugged.

"Wow, way to rub it in," Jolie mumbled. "But that's good to know."

"Good to know," Naomi repeated.

"Uh yea, about that. I need you to not wake up this time so that Aaliyah and I can go out," Jolie said, waiting for the outburst. Naomi stared forward, not looking at either of her daughters. "Mom?"