them?’
Her mouth opened as she tried to fathom that herself.
‘Could be a hole in your plans then, perhaps? I don’t know, Mira. But if you’re going out there alone, wouldn’t you be doing yourself a favour to find out all the facts first so you can face them as well prepared as you wish to be? For starters — and as cold as this may sound — you’re blind. You’re a ward of the state. And you’ve been declared unsafe to others as well as yourself. So where can you go that you can’t be found and brought back here; forcibly, if that’s what somebody else decides?’
She shifted uncomfortably as he let her think about that for a long moment too.
‘Have you thought far enough ahead to wonder who will be the first to find you? Police maybe, or hired goons from social services?’
‘If
they find me again.’
‘But when they do, maybe not this week, maybe not this year, will they bring you back here to familiar surroundings, where at least the gardens have your favourite flowers and the breeze is fresh from the sea, like your home? Or will they send you inland to the new steel facility in the desert for clients who keep escaping with criminal intentions? And which would you prefer?’
‘I can’t stay here! You don’t know; you can’t.’ She sniffled and wiped her nose with a clenched fist, fighting tears that would make her stitches sting. ‘You simply can’t imagine what it’s like for me.’
‘Don’t bet on that.’ His tone darkened. ‘I know exactly what it’s like to be locked up. For six years, freedom became a concept that survived only in my dreams.’
‘You must be really dumb if that’s how long it took to train you to work with children!’
‘Actually, I spent that time in jail.’
Mira shivered, feeling a brief surge of empathy for him at the same time as revulsion. ‘You’re a criminal?’
‘Never. That was a mistake; one that I’ve had to endure, like you have to endure this.’
‘I don’t want to endure anything here! I want to escape!’
‘I understand that. In time it should be possible, but if you don’t learn the skills that you need to conquer your demons here first, they’ll only follow you out there, wherever you go. Here, I can help you defeat them. Here, I can help you plan ahead thoroughly so you never have to worry about your past creeping up on you. Tomorrow starts today, with everything we do or say.’
Mira shook her head. ‘I can’t stay here! It’s far worse than a jail for me.’
‘I know it must be much harder being blind but —’
‘It’s not that! It’s how they. how they. ‘ She sucked in a breath, growing uncomfortable as she sensed him waiting, watching. or worse, reaching out to her. ‘It’s how they touch me!’ She shrivelled away from him, hoping that any hand he might have extended had recoiled back to him.
‘You mean,’ he said, faltering, ‘... inappropriately?’
‘Inappropriately? What does that mean? They touch me; touch me all the time, everywhere, anywhere, and always when I’m not expecting it!’
‘Oh.’ He sounded relieved. ‘I thought you meant someone had touched you... er... privately.’
‘Yes, that’s what I said. They’re always invading my privacy. Like you are now.’
‘No, I mean, has anyone — any man, or woman either, I guess — ever been alone with you when they’ve touched you in a way that’s made you feel uncomfortable. sexually?’
Mira trembled, her mind filling with the image of a man looming over her. He peeled back her bedsheets and reached for her feet, but her blurry memory seemed just as real as her first experience of him and now she couldn’t be sure if he’d been real or just a nightmare.
Ben touched her arm gently but his skin stung like electricity. She recoiled away from him.
‘I can’t help you, unless you explain your problem to me.’
‘I don’t need your help,’ she shouted. ‘I want to go home. That’s already more than you need to know. Unless
Her mouth opened as she tried to fathom that herself.
‘Could be a hole in your plans then, perhaps? I don’t know, Mira. But if you’re going out there alone, wouldn’t you be doing yourself a favour to find out all the facts first so you can face them as well prepared as you wish to be? For starters — and as cold as this may sound — you’re blind. You’re a ward of the state. And you’ve been declared unsafe to others as well as yourself. So where can you go that you can’t be found and brought back here; forcibly, if that’s what somebody else decides?’
She shifted uncomfortably as he let her think about that for a long moment too.
‘Have you thought far enough ahead to wonder who will be the first to find you? Police maybe, or hired goons from social services?’
‘If
they find me again.’
‘But when they do, maybe not this week, maybe not this year, will they bring you back here to familiar surroundings, where at least the gardens have your favourite flowers and the breeze is fresh from the sea, like your home? Or will they send you inland to the new steel facility in the desert for clients who keep escaping with criminal intentions? And which would you prefer?’
‘I can’t stay here! You don’t know; you can’t.’ She sniffled and wiped her nose with a clenched fist, fighting tears that would make her stitches sting. ‘You simply can’t imagine what it’s like for me.’
‘Don’t bet on that.’ His tone darkened. ‘I know exactly what it’s like to be locked up. For six years, freedom became a concept that survived only in my dreams.’
‘You must be really dumb if that’s how long it took to train you to work with children!’
‘Actually, I spent that time in jail.’
Mira shivered, feeling a brief surge of empathy for him at the same time as revulsion. ‘You’re a criminal?’
‘Never. That was a mistake; one that I’ve had to endure, like you have to endure this.’
‘I don’t want to endure anything here! I want to escape!’
‘I understand that. In time it should be possible, but if you don’t learn the skills that you need to conquer your demons here first, they’ll only follow you out there, wherever you go. Here, I can help you defeat them. Here, I can help you plan ahead thoroughly so you never have to worry about your past creeping up on you. Tomorrow starts today, with everything we do or say.’
Mira shook her head. ‘I can’t stay here! It’s far worse than a jail for me.’
‘I know it must be much harder being blind but —’
‘It’s not that! It’s how they. how they. ‘ She sucked in a breath, growing uncomfortable as she sensed him waiting, watching. or worse, reaching out to her. ‘It’s how they touch me!’ She shrivelled away from him, hoping that any hand he might have extended had recoiled back to him.
‘You mean,’ he said, faltering, ‘... inappropriately?’
‘Inappropriately? What does that mean? They touch me; touch me all the time, everywhere, anywhere, and always when I’m not expecting it!’
‘Oh.’ He sounded relieved. ‘I thought you meant someone had touched you... er... privately.’
‘Yes, that’s what I said. They’re always invading my privacy. Like you are now.’
‘No, I mean, has anyone — any man, or woman either, I guess — ever been alone with you when they’ve touched you in a way that’s made you feel uncomfortable. sexually?’
Mira trembled, her mind filling with the image of a man looming over her. He peeled back her bedsheets and reached for her feet, but her blurry memory seemed just as real as her first experience of him and now she couldn’t be sure if he’d been real or just a nightmare.
Ben touched her arm gently but his skin stung like electricity. She recoiled away from him.
‘I can’t help you, unless you explain your problem to me.’
‘I don’t need your help,’ she shouted. ‘I want to go home. That’s already more than you need to know. Unless
Similar Books
