Saved - Chapter 5
Title: Saved - Chapter 5
Notes: I love a good cult so of course I was intrigued by everything that had been going down in Texas with the FLDS. 'Saved' is really more about runaways than cults so if you like that sort of thing you might like this. The following story is completely fictional and has been written for entertainment purposes only.
“601, 605, 607, 609, 611…Rainey, are you sure he said 603?”
“Positive. 603, that’s what he said. 603 Mojave Drive, apartment 8.”
“Well it’s not here.” Caiden hiked his backpack a little farther up. It was heavy now that they had filled it with water bottles and his shoulders were sore. All the clothes had been packed tightly into Rainey’s suitcase, Caiden hoped it wasn’t too heavy.
“They’re not just going to skip a number, it’s got to be somewhere around here. Maybe we should knock.” Rainey stood still and looked around uncertainly.
Caiden nodded, walking towards the door that was closest to the street. 601, apartment 1. He walked across the brittle front lawn, stepping over a broken sprinkler. There was a screen door that was latched, the real door open behind it. Knocking three times on the rusty aluminum, Caiden stepped back quickly when a large dog ran up to the door barking excitedly. Rainey was suddenly at his brother’s side. He stooped down, pressed his hand against the screen, and the dog settled down, sniffing Rainey’s hand by the time his owner made his way to the door.
“Yeah?” Caiden held his breath against the stale, sour smell that was making its way out the door.
“Hi. Sorry to bother you sir. We’re looking for number 603. Can you help us?”
“In the back.” Caiden’s eyes were adjusting to the darkness inside the apartment. He could make out a large man wearing a blue robe, the belt threatening to fall away at any moment, his gut hanging out over his boxers, patches of stubble on his chin.
“The back?” Caiden didn’t budge. He’d already knocked on one stranger’s door, he wasn’t going to leave until he knew where to go or the man slammed the door, whichever came first he guessed.
“Down the driveway, behind this one, there’s another building back there.” The door closed and Caiden counted it as a tie. He sort of knew where to go and the man had closed the door gently.
Rainey stood up and wiped his hand on his pants. “She likes to lick.”
“Friendliest one in there I’d guess.” Caiden turned and started down the driveway, Rainey falling into step next to him. “What did you say the guy’s name was? Zach?”
“Well that’s the one I met but he said to say ‘Jason’, that’s the one whose apartment it is.”
“Apartment?”
“I’m not saying it again, already told you what he called it. Knew you wouldn’t like it. We don’t have to go you know, could just try to get another ride.”
“No, let’s find it. Maybe they can help us out with a job. We’re not going to make it far on seventy-seven dollars and I don’t want to-, well, maybe they can help us out with a job.”
Behind the building was another set of apartments, the number six hundred three painted on the peeling stucco. Twelve doors, each with a number right in the center. The door on apartment eight vibrated with the bass booming from inside. Rainey nodded when Caiden looked over at him. Three knocks. Nothing. Rainey reached over and knocked harder. Still nothing. Caiden flattened out his hand and pounded a few more times. Footsteps.
The door swung open and Caiden and Rainey were met by a shirtless, laughing teenager, who was balancing a beer and cigarette in one hand. “You made it! This your brother? Come on in.” The boy reached out and pulled Rainey in by the shoulder, then extended his hand to Caiden. “I’m Zach.”
“Oh hi, I’m Caiden. Thanks for letting us come over.” Caiden tried to keep from looking down.
“Sure, we gotta stick together, you know?” Caiden nodded looking around. The sleeping bags and backpacks and clothes strewn around the living room made it look small. There was a pungent smell in the air, like someone had been burning a piece of rope a skunk had rubbed up against. Colorful images of mushrooms and dragons leapt out from the black posters tacked to the walls. The room was throbbing with beats from the second hand stereo sitting on the floor. Zach cleared some space on the couch, tossing blankets and clothing onto the already cluttered floor. “Here, make yourselves comfortable. You want a toke? It’s good shit, it will relax you.”
“No thanks.” Rainey whispered when Zach held his cigarette out to him. It looked like the cigarettes boys smoked on the compound, hand rolled and all twisted up, but it smelled funny. It didn’t smell anything like the sweet tobacco that drifted from their father’s pipe. Zach held it out to Caiden. “No, thanks though.” Caiden thought back to smoking cigarettes behind the church with his older brothers. The smoke had burned his lungs and made him feel nauseated. He had been glad Rainey wasn’t there since it during a phase where Rainey did absolutely everything Caiden did. Back then it had driven Caiden crazy but now he was glad that Rainey had been somewhere else for other reasons.
“All right, suit yourselves. I’ll go get you some drinks though. It’s scorching out there, you must be dying.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty hot.” Caiden wiped some sweat from his forehead and Rainey repeated the gesture. Zach came back with two beer cans, popping them open before handing them over. The boys looked at the beer and reached out to accept it. They’d had beer before and Rainey had made a face at the way it tasted. The few cans that they had had made them feel lightheaded so they welcomed it now. Cigarettes weren’t relaxing but beer was.
“So, you guys got a plan or do you need some help?” Zach took one last pull off the cigarette and held his breath. He pinched the end and put it in an overflowing ashtray that was sitting on the arm of the couch. When he exhaled he blew the smoke towards Rainey some, smiling while he did so.
“Well we’re headed towards Salt Lake but we’ve been on the road for the last few days and we don’t have too much money so we thought-, we thought maybe we could-.” Caiden didn’t know what to ask for.
“-sleep here tonight.” Rainy finished.
“Yeah, and if you’ve got any work for us to do we’d sure appreciate it. I mean we’ll work to stay here but if you’ve got any extra work so that we could make a little bit of money for our trip up there we’d sure appreciate it.” Zach’s eyes had drifted shut and he was leaning his head against the back of the couch, his mouth turned up in a relaxed smile. When Caiden had finished Zach opened his eyes slowly, they were red and watery. “Sure, sure, don’t worry about it. Crash here tonight and Jason can hook you up with something tomorrow. He’s always looking for help and you’re alright.”
Digging a remote control out from under the cushions on the couch Zach flipped on the TV and muted the sound. A cartoon flashed onto the screen, the bright colors pixilated. A gigantic caterpillar with a human face inched along a forest floor and climbed up onto a gigantic polka-dotted mushroom. Moments later a bird with humungous feet approached, had what looked like a long, thoughtful conversation with the caterpillar, and then swallowed him up. Zach laughed, the boys kept drinking their beers. When they had finished them Zach got six-pack from fridge and put it between himself and Caiden. “I know what it’s like to be out there in the beginning. You should get fucked up, you guys earned it by making it all the way up here.” Caiden took two more cans, opened them up and handed one to Rainey. It would be alright, he was right here with him.
By the time people started coming in to the apartment the sun had set and the cartoon was playing for the third time. One by one boys not much older than Caiden and a few who looked even younger than Rainey came through the door, They sank down on the floor, nodding at Caiden and Rainey when they were introduced by Zach, pulling open their own beers. Eventually a pipe was passed around, Caiden and Rainey passed it along without comment, no one seemed to notice. It smelled like those cigarettes. The room was getting darker and darker and Rainey felt unbelievably warm and sleepy. He wasn’t sure what time it was but there were about six other boys here now, all of them on the floor, leaning against walls, the couch, or just laying down. Some of them were talking low, but most of them were just watching the screen, the blue glow lighting up their faces, laughing at things neither Caiden or Rainey understood. When the cartoon finished for a fifth time, Zach switched it off, stood up and stretched. Caiden forgot to look away.
“Well, the bathroom’s through that door to the right. Jason’s room is right past that. I’m gonna go get you guys a sleeping bag, think we got an extra one in the closet. Casey gets the couch tonight, should be here soon.” The boys got up and took turns using the bathroom. Caiden was surprised by how clean it was considering all of the people staying here. Guess the compound stays with you even after you leave. When they got back to the living room Zach had made a space for them near the TV. There were a couple of blankets and two pillows stacked up. “We’re out of sleeping bags, but I found these. Should be okay.”
“It’s great, thank you.” Caiden found himself wondering where Zach was going to sleep but stopped himself before asking. “Just knock on Jason’s door if you need something, I’ll be in there.” Rainey had started to construct their bed.
“Oh, okay, thanks.” Caiden allowed himself to look at Zach one last time before he left them for the night. He reminded Caiden of a cat. No, more like a cougar; sleek and calm but able to take care of himself and those around him.
“You guys are okay. I’ll talk to Jason tonight about taking you to work tomorrow. Got to get up pretty early though, can you do that?”
“Oh yeah, as early as he wants, just shake us awake.”
“Okay, I’ll tell him. He might just take you though. Your brother looks pretty young,” he said, looking at Rainey. The manager doesn’t like it when he brings guys that are too young. That’s when people start asking questions.” Rainey stopped spreading out their blanket and looked up. “Don’t worry though, you can stay with me. Get some sleep, you’ll need it” Zach said, nodding at Caiden.
“Okay, thanks, we will.” When Zach turned around Caiden bent down to help Rainey with the blanket. Once it was smoothed out they lay down next to each other, shifting some, trying to get comfortable on the hard floor.
The room was quite in a way the boys were used to. At the compound they shared rooms when new families moved in. They were used to the soft sounds boys made when they slept, it was comforting. Rainey lay as still as he could, the floor creaked when he rocked.
“Rainey?”
“What?”
“I don’t have to go. We can just leave in the morning.”
“No, you have to. I’ll be okay.” Rainey felt Caiden wrap an arm around him and begin to rock. With their combined weight the floor didn’t creak at all.
Notes: I love a good cult so of course I was intrigued by everything that had been going down in Texas with the FLDS. 'Saved' is really more about runaways than cults so if you like that sort of thing you might like this. The following story is completely fictional and has been written for entertainment purposes only.
“601, 605, 607, 609, 611…Rainey, are you sure he said 603?”
“Positive. 603, that’s what he said. 603 Mojave Drive, apartment 8.”
“Well it’s not here.” Caiden hiked his backpack a little farther up. It was heavy now that they had filled it with water bottles and his shoulders were sore. All the clothes had been packed tightly into Rainey’s suitcase, Caiden hoped it wasn’t too heavy.
“They’re not just going to skip a number, it’s got to be somewhere around here. Maybe we should knock.” Rainey stood still and looked around uncertainly.
Caiden nodded, walking towards the door that was closest to the street. 601, apartment 1. He walked across the brittle front lawn, stepping over a broken sprinkler. There was a screen door that was latched, the real door open behind it. Knocking three times on the rusty aluminum, Caiden stepped back quickly when a large dog ran up to the door barking excitedly. Rainey was suddenly at his brother’s side. He stooped down, pressed his hand against the screen, and the dog settled down, sniffing Rainey’s hand by the time his owner made his way to the door.
“Yeah?” Caiden held his breath against the stale, sour smell that was making its way out the door.
“Hi. Sorry to bother you sir. We’re looking for number 603. Can you help us?”
“In the back.” Caiden’s eyes were adjusting to the darkness inside the apartment. He could make out a large man wearing a blue robe, the belt threatening to fall away at any moment, his gut hanging out over his boxers, patches of stubble on his chin.
“The back?” Caiden didn’t budge. He’d already knocked on one stranger’s door, he wasn’t going to leave until he knew where to go or the man slammed the door, whichever came first he guessed.
“Down the driveway, behind this one, there’s another building back there.” The door closed and Caiden counted it as a tie. He sort of knew where to go and the man had closed the door gently.
Rainey stood up and wiped his hand on his pants. “She likes to lick.”
“Friendliest one in there I’d guess.” Caiden turned and started down the driveway, Rainey falling into step next to him. “What did you say the guy’s name was? Zach?”
“Well that’s the one I met but he said to say ‘Jason’, that’s the one whose apartment it is.”
“Apartment?”
“I’m not saying it again, already told you what he called it. Knew you wouldn’t like it. We don’t have to go you know, could just try to get another ride.”
“No, let’s find it. Maybe they can help us out with a job. We’re not going to make it far on seventy-seven dollars and I don’t want to-, well, maybe they can help us out with a job.”
Behind the building was another set of apartments, the number six hundred three painted on the peeling stucco. Twelve doors, each with a number right in the center. The door on apartment eight vibrated with the bass booming from inside. Rainey nodded when Caiden looked over at him. Three knocks. Nothing. Rainey reached over and knocked harder. Still nothing. Caiden flattened out his hand and pounded a few more times. Footsteps.
The door swung open and Caiden and Rainey were met by a shirtless, laughing teenager, who was balancing a beer and cigarette in one hand. “You made it! This your brother? Come on in.” The boy reached out and pulled Rainey in by the shoulder, then extended his hand to Caiden. “I’m Zach.”
“Oh hi, I’m Caiden. Thanks for letting us come over.” Caiden tried to keep from looking down.
“Sure, we gotta stick together, you know?” Caiden nodded looking around. The sleeping bags and backpacks and clothes strewn around the living room made it look small. There was a pungent smell in the air, like someone had been burning a piece of rope a skunk had rubbed up against. Colorful images of mushrooms and dragons leapt out from the black posters tacked to the walls. The room was throbbing with beats from the second hand stereo sitting on the floor. Zach cleared some space on the couch, tossing blankets and clothing onto the already cluttered floor. “Here, make yourselves comfortable. You want a toke? It’s good shit, it will relax you.”
“No thanks.” Rainey whispered when Zach held his cigarette out to him. It looked like the cigarettes boys smoked on the compound, hand rolled and all twisted up, but it smelled funny. It didn’t smell anything like the sweet tobacco that drifted from their father’s pipe. Zach held it out to Caiden. “No, thanks though.” Caiden thought back to smoking cigarettes behind the church with his older brothers. The smoke had burned his lungs and made him feel nauseated. He had been glad Rainey wasn’t there since it during a phase where Rainey did absolutely everything Caiden did. Back then it had driven Caiden crazy but now he was glad that Rainey had been somewhere else for other reasons.
“All right, suit yourselves. I’ll go get you some drinks though. It’s scorching out there, you must be dying.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty hot.” Caiden wiped some sweat from his forehead and Rainey repeated the gesture. Zach came back with two beer cans, popping them open before handing them over. The boys looked at the beer and reached out to accept it. They’d had beer before and Rainey had made a face at the way it tasted. The few cans that they had had made them feel lightheaded so they welcomed it now. Cigarettes weren’t relaxing but beer was.
“So, you guys got a plan or do you need some help?” Zach took one last pull off the cigarette and held his breath. He pinched the end and put it in an overflowing ashtray that was sitting on the arm of the couch. When he exhaled he blew the smoke towards Rainey some, smiling while he did so.
“Well we’re headed towards Salt Lake but we’ve been on the road for the last few days and we don’t have too much money so we thought-, we thought maybe we could-.” Caiden didn’t know what to ask for.
“-sleep here tonight.” Rainy finished.
“Yeah, and if you’ve got any work for us to do we’d sure appreciate it. I mean we’ll work to stay here but if you’ve got any extra work so that we could make a little bit of money for our trip up there we’d sure appreciate it.” Zach’s eyes had drifted shut and he was leaning his head against the back of the couch, his mouth turned up in a relaxed smile. When Caiden had finished Zach opened his eyes slowly, they were red and watery. “Sure, sure, don’t worry about it. Crash here tonight and Jason can hook you up with something tomorrow. He’s always looking for help and you’re alright.”
Digging a remote control out from under the cushions on the couch Zach flipped on the TV and muted the sound. A cartoon flashed onto the screen, the bright colors pixilated. A gigantic caterpillar with a human face inched along a forest floor and climbed up onto a gigantic polka-dotted mushroom. Moments later a bird with humungous feet approached, had what looked like a long, thoughtful conversation with the caterpillar, and then swallowed him up. Zach laughed, the boys kept drinking their beers. When they had finished them Zach got six-pack from fridge and put it between himself and Caiden. “I know what it’s like to be out there in the beginning. You should get fucked up, you guys earned it by making it all the way up here.” Caiden took two more cans, opened them up and handed one to Rainey. It would be alright, he was right here with him.
By the time people started coming in to the apartment the sun had set and the cartoon was playing for the third time. One by one boys not much older than Caiden and a few who looked even younger than Rainey came through the door, They sank down on the floor, nodding at Caiden and Rainey when they were introduced by Zach, pulling open their own beers. Eventually a pipe was passed around, Caiden and Rainey passed it along without comment, no one seemed to notice. It smelled like those cigarettes. The room was getting darker and darker and Rainey felt unbelievably warm and sleepy. He wasn’t sure what time it was but there were about six other boys here now, all of them on the floor, leaning against walls, the couch, or just laying down. Some of them were talking low, but most of them were just watching the screen, the blue glow lighting up their faces, laughing at things neither Caiden or Rainey understood. When the cartoon finished for a fifth time, Zach switched it off, stood up and stretched. Caiden forgot to look away.
“Well, the bathroom’s through that door to the right. Jason’s room is right past that. I’m gonna go get you guys a sleeping bag, think we got an extra one in the closet. Casey gets the couch tonight, should be here soon.” The boys got up and took turns using the bathroom. Caiden was surprised by how clean it was considering all of the people staying here. Guess the compound stays with you even after you leave. When they got back to the living room Zach had made a space for them near the TV. There were a couple of blankets and two pillows stacked up. “We’re out of sleeping bags, but I found these. Should be okay.”
“It’s great, thank you.” Caiden found himself wondering where Zach was going to sleep but stopped himself before asking. “Just knock on Jason’s door if you need something, I’ll be in there.” Rainey had started to construct their bed.
“Oh, okay, thanks.” Caiden allowed himself to look at Zach one last time before he left them for the night. He reminded Caiden of a cat. No, more like a cougar; sleek and calm but able to take care of himself and those around him.
“You guys are okay. I’ll talk to Jason tonight about taking you to work tomorrow. Got to get up pretty early though, can you do that?”
“Oh yeah, as early as he wants, just shake us awake.”
“Okay, I’ll tell him. He might just take you though. Your brother looks pretty young,” he said, looking at Rainey. The manager doesn’t like it when he brings guys that are too young. That’s when people start asking questions.” Rainey stopped spreading out their blanket and looked up. “Don’t worry though, you can stay with me. Get some sleep, you’ll need it” Zach said, nodding at Caiden.
“Okay, thanks, we will.” When Zach turned around Caiden bent down to help Rainey with the blanket. Once it was smoothed out they lay down next to each other, shifting some, trying to get comfortable on the hard floor.
The room was quite in a way the boys were used to. At the compound they shared rooms when new families moved in. They were used to the soft sounds boys made when they slept, it was comforting. Rainey lay as still as he could, the floor creaked when he rocked.
“Rainey?”
“What?”
“I don’t have to go. We can just leave in the morning.”
“No, you have to. I’ll be okay.” Rainey felt Caiden wrap an arm around him and begin to rock. With their combined weight the floor didn’t creak at all.