Displaced

Wicken - Twenty-Five

The one good thing about getting whipped and beaten by Jupiter was that I got a few days off to rest up. I think it's because I was new and everyone felt bad for me, even the Achlivans. My only complaint was I was left with a whole lot of nothing to do. They didn't let me stay in the infirmary, so I moved back to my closet of a bedroom. There was a small collection of comic books for me to read, and a copy of The Complete Collection of William Shakespeare. I plowed through those pretty fast.

Lying in bed and reading all day wasn't something I was all too interested in doing anyway. I wanted to explore, and I figured moving would help me feel better all around. In theory it sounded good. Once the pain killers wore off, I was given something equivalent to over-the-counter ibuprofen. It didn't do a whole lot for the pain, but it kept my wounds from getting infected at least. Still hurt a lot. Doing things helped me to not think about the pain as much.

Bored with lying around, I wandered around the hallway where all the guys lived. It might as well have been a ghost town. I didn't know where I was going, but I was going to find out one way or another. I picked one of the random closed doors around me and opened it up. I recognized the room Patriarch had brought us into for orientation, right away. Not going in there again anytime soon. Too close to the Deep.

Shutting the door, I went across the hall and tried that one instead. There was a cafeteria, and it was full of women. As soon as I opened the door, they all stopped whatever they were doing and stared at me. I swallowed, and started to shut the door, feeling a lot like I had an intruded on a slumber party. One of the ladies walked over and held the door open, however.

"Well, hello there, cutie," she purred at me. Pretty sure she was old enough to be my mother. Her hair was graying and her skin was a bit wrinkled, especially around the eyes. She touched my arm, taking the time to squeeze my muscles.

I couldn't be rude and pull away. One of the few things I remembered from my first day on the ship was Patriarch telling me that I needed to be nice to the women even if they weren't nice to me. Hopefully playing nice didn't mean I had to do something I wasn't ready for. I smiled, and hoped that was enough to humor her.

"You're new," she said.

"Yes," I said.

"You must be the one who got hurt. For some reason, I was expecting different."

"Thank you?" No clue what to say to that one.

She brought a hand up to my hair, a big smile on her face. "You're welcome. My girls are going to love you. I'm sure you'll love them too."

Was she talking about hookers? I swallowed again, still not sure how to respond. "You're sweet, but –"

She cut me off with a shrill whistle. Ten women of varying ages headed my way. The youngest was probably around sixteen, and the oldest in her thirties. The woman displayed all of them with one smooth motion of her hand.

"My garden. I'm Rose, and these are the other flowers. There are a number of clans here in the Pit, but you'll find mine is the best. My flowers are the prettiest of the women, and the least touched. I even have a few pure girls still if that makes you more comfortable. They're looking for a lasting connection, however, so if you're only looking for a quick tousle –"

"Right now, I'm just looking to make it through here one day at a time," I said. "No tousles or breaking hearts, or anything like that."

Rose's eyes narrowed slightly, before widening again, and her smile seemed to creep up into her gaze. "I'll be sure to tell Casey all about you."

"Is that good or bad?"

She laughed. "Good, very good. I can already tell you're not like the others. To save you embarrassment in front of my girls, however, I won't elaborate on those differences. Welcome to the Pit, kiddo."

"Th...thanks..." I managed.

"If you continue through the room here, and go the next one over, you'll find the entertainment zone." She pointed across the room. "There's even a television. Enjoy it while everyone else is working, and if you need someone to help you with those stripes, I can send one of my girls by to assist. I know for a fact they wouldn't mind."

I nodded, and noticed how in order to get through the cafeteria, I would have to go through a rather large group of women. Normally, I wouldn't think too much of it, but they all stared at me. Something about their tight, determined, gazes suggested they were evaluating me, thoroughly. Why, I'm not sure. Perhaps they all wanted to see what was so different about me too. Which I didn't understand at all, since I was just a normal, everyday kind of guy. It's not like there was anything special about me. So why stare?

It didn't make any sense, but the weight of their collective gazes had me practically sprinting my way through the room to the other side. When I opened the door, I saw a couch that looked a whole lot more comfortable than my cot of a bed. Sure enough, in front of it was a TV. There were a couple of pool tables, card tables, and a few arcade games in the room too. Pinball machines lined one whole wall, and some old classic joystick games lined another.

The room itself wasn't all too big and seemed kind of cramped with stuff. A few pieces of old, but plump furniture were scattered about for sitting on, and finally I noticed a tiny bar in the corner. There weren't any alcohol taps that I could see, but soda, so I assumed it was a dry bar. Made sense to me since Patriarch flat-out said I was with the more unsavory individuals of the ship. Why give them booze?

My gaze kept going to the couch, and that's where I decided to camp out. I turned on the TV and found some classic cartoons, then laid on my stomach over the cushions. All of the walking was doing a number on my back. The pain made me tired. Eventually, I drifted off, trying to remember something happier so I didn't fall asleep in a sour mood. About the only thing I could come up with was Chevelle.