all god's orphans
Chapter 22

The door shut with a heavy clang that made Grey’s bones vibrate. The woman in the chair flinched at the sound and he moved quickly to her. He pulled the sack from her face and removed the gag they had tied around her mouth. Her eyes were wet with fear and it took him a moment to recognize her. The last time he had seen her she had been pounding on his door, begging for help a few nights ago.

“Don’t worry.” He assured her. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He began loosening her ropes as she watched him with suspicion. Her black hair matched her eyes and her skin was a rich, light brown. “What’s your name?” He asked, releasing the last of her ropes. She considered not answering him, but realized how pointless that was.

“Kite.” She finally said.

“Do you know why you’re in here, Kite?”

“These men say I committed a crime.” Her words formed strange shapes in Grey’s ear, like they didn’t fit with everyone else’s. “They found something in my house and then brought me here.”

“Yeah. Me too.” Grey took stock of their situation. Everything that could be used as a tool or weapon had been removed. He tried the door, but it was firmly locked.

“What did they replace in your house?” her question was as innocent as her face.

“Um,” Grey fumbled, “I don’t know. They just said they found something. What did they replace in yours?”

“Illicit materials.” Her eyes fell to the floor. “But I had never heard of it. I don’t know what it is.” Grey felt sorry for her. At least he knew what he’d done, or might have done. This woman was clearly not lying. She had no idea why she was in here.

“It will be all right.” He lied to her, and it made her feel better. She smiled, and he saw faint lines form at the corners of her eyes. She was not as old as he was, but she was not as young as most of the women he had seen in the camp. He was instantly attracted to her, in ways he couldn’t have explained. He felt blood rush into his groin and it made him feel at once uncomfortable and alive. He changed the subject. “Did they call you Kite? Or were you always called that?” She shook her head.

“No. My friends called me Kite. When we woke up here, I was dressed in this large thing. When I held out my arms, they said I looked like a black kite.” At her words, an image flashed across Grey’s mind of a row of symbols. Below a sharp, angular symbol was a red diamond with a tail coming from the bottom of it. Symbols ran to the left and right in a long line, as well, but they were blurry and he couldn’t remember anything else. Soon, the entire picture faded from his mind. “And you?”

“They called me that. I don’t know what my name is.” It occurred to him that if she had friends, she might know more than he did. “Do you know what’s happening?” She shook her head. “Can you tell me everything you know?” Kite struggled to remember.

“The first thing I remember is that I was outside in the front garden of a house. I remember the light being very bright and feeling quite tired. I don’t remember how I got out there, but the front door of the house was open, so I went inside. There was a man sitting there. Neither of us could really speak, at first, but eventually, our speech returned.” She turned her head away from him. “We found pictures of us together with other people, but there was nobody else in the house. After a while, we went back outside and found others who also could not remember anything. Everything was fine until these men came.” Grey couldn’t have agreed more. “What are they going to do with us?” Grey looked into her eyes and realized he couldn’t tell her.

“I don’t know.” He lied. “We should rest. The sun is going down.” Kite nodded as Grey turned back to the small window in the steel door. The light was fading fast as he tried to think of something. Eventually the night came and pushed him steadily down into slumber.

Grey awoke on the hard floor, pain searing his flank. Kite was sitting in the chair and smiled at him.

“Good morning.” Her crisp pronunciation, which had sounded strange last night, now seemed pleasant. “Did you sleep well?” He wondered how she could be so calm and then he remembered that she had no idea what was about to happen. He groaned as he moved himself to a sitting position near the door. Leaning his back against it, he strained his ears for any hint of what might be happening, but he could hear nothing. Briefly he wondered if he would be fed before they shot him, but quickly realized what an absurd idea that was. Dying hungry seemed somehow worse to him.

“I suppose. You?” He found that he could not guess at Kite’s thoughts. When other people spoke, they were merely vocalizing thoughts he already expected them to have. Kite, however, remained a mystery to him. Granted, he had only just met her, but there were so many strange things about how she carried herself or spoke. The way she sat in the chair, for instance, seemed at once odd and interesting. She didn’t slouch as he did, but rather sat on the edge, her back straight, hands folded politely, smiling that same faint smile that conveyed no concrete emotion he could name.

“No.” she finally answered him, her voice soft and dark. Grey arched his aching back and groaned with pleasure. “What do you think is going to happen to us?” She asked, her eyes pleading for some comforting lie. Grey was only too happy to oblige. He didn’t want to face the truth.

“I’m not sure.” He said after a moment.

“I don’t believe you.” Her dark eyes were trained on his soul, but she was not accusing him, merely stating a fact. He stood up and moved to the metal desk beside her, leaning against it. He noticed that she looked so much younger when she was looking up at him, her dark eyes becoming more innocent the steeper the angle. Strange, he thought.

“Listen,” he began without knowing what he was going to say next. He only wanted to comfort her. “I don’t know what’s going to happen next. None of us do, really. All we can do is try and take care of each other. We’re all in this together now. We have to stick together until we replace out what is going on. No matter what happens next. I promise, I will help you if I can.” There was a slight flicker of a smile in her eyes. “Do you believe that?”

“Yes.” A smile now in full bloom on her face. “I do.” He smiled back at her.

“Good.” He smiled back at her and they both felt better. “Now, what do you think they will bring us for breakfast?” Kite laughed. Her body relaxed slightly and Grey felt as though he had fixed the world. He knew he would not likely see the next day, but he was now less afraid than he’d been before. He had helped someone. It didn’t matter that it was small and it didn’t matter that in all likelihood she would die soon, too, right alongside him. He had made a difference and that brought him comfort.

This comfort, however, was a small, fragile thing standing before the tsunami of fear that was rolling towards the front of his mind. Any minute now, they were going to come for Kite and him. Any minute, they were going to be brought and “made an example” before an audience. He didn’t like the idea of that. Dying was one thing, but doing it in front of people struck him as a different kind of obscene. Some things were just intrinsically intimate, and it appeared death was one of those things for him. He just hoped it would be quick. The general’s tone made that hard to believe. No. He was expecting the worst.

He and Kite spent what seemed like hours waiting in silence. Each time one of them thought to speak, their words had fallen silent, powerless before their fate. At long last, the door handle began to quiver and the metal click signaled the end for them. They stood side by side and clasped hands, ready to face it together.