30. Joy
JOY
“I saw it straight away for what it was. A reunion”
- JOY’S PERSONAL JOURNAL
The plan was set and underway. I stared at Jodie and Erin’s retreating figures as they started their trek around the building. They were waiting for our signal, waiting to scale the walls incase our plan failed.
Florence and I were taking the front doors.
“I’ve been here before, remember? They know my face,” she said to me as we bent low and hid within the trees. Her steps faltered from time to time, her mind somehow elsewhere. Her face a mixture of feelings I couldn’t decipher. But one was clear, guilt.
“The guards that took Jameson, they must have been newly trained because they didn’t recognize me,” she winced, and my chest tightened for a moment. The first lie she ever told me. The biggest lie she ever told me. I nod, eager to move on.
“I…” she struggled to find the right words, “escaped from them once and they’ll probably be pretty eager for the chance to have me back in The Te…” she cleared her throat, “in the dungeons.” She flipped a braid over her shoulder, attempting to be nonchalant.
“Perhaps they will remember me and escort me straight to the cells.” She continued to fumble with her words, as if unable to work out what she was saying. “You can sneak in behind me.” Her eyes lit up excitedly.
I stared at her in bewilderment.
“You want to get yourself thrown in jail, so then I must save you, as well as Jameson? I am I getting that correct?” I rested my hands on my hips.
“It might work.” She shrugged, and I gaped at her. “Have I ever let you down?” She nudged me with her elbow. I scoffed at her words.
“Yes, repeatedly,” I answered, raising my eyebrows.
“But have I ever purposely let you down?” She nudged me with her elbow again. I rolled my eyes.
“No.”
“Exactly.” She smiled deeply.
“Exactly what?”
“The plan will work!”
“No, it won’t.”
“Well, I don’t think you have a choice, I don’t see you coming up with some grand plan!”
I turned away from her, hoping to see Erin or Jodie walking in the distance. But they were too far gone, too out of sight. The setting sun painted the black fortress a myriad of orange, yellow, and pink, I wanted nothing more than to be back at our ship, laid on the sun-warmed deck, watching the sunset. My arms draped around Lolita’s body, Jameson’s head resting on my thigh. All of us together but none of us speaking.
We had never been religious and neither had our families. But now I wished for one or both prophesied Celestial Queens to come and save us from this life. From the heartache and loss I knew would follow our family everywhere we went.
“Okay,” my voice was barely a whisper. “If you believe this plan will work, and save my family, then I’m on board.” I looked over at Florence, her face solemn and red. Something odd lingering behind her eyes.
I wrapped my braids and knotted them on the top of my head, attempting to get ready for anything this plan might throw at us. Worry nibbled its way into my stomach, would Jodie and Erin be safe? I had told them everything I knew about scaling a wall… which wasn’t much but something felt wrong. Something felt off and I couldn’t put my finger on what… or who.
“Are you ready?” Florence said, resting her hand on my shoulder, it was shaking ever so slightly.
The doors to the dark fortress were as intimidating as I expected them to be. Perhaps the hunters were overcompensating for something? I smirked.
“What?” Florence snapped; she had been on edge ever since we arrived at the door. I supposed it was because she was about to give herself to the enemy. I had never felt more grateful to be powerless than I did in that moment. Blissfully ordinary.
“Nothing,” I shook my head, we continued to stare at the door.
“What now?” I prompted. “Do we open the doors? Knock a secret coded message?” She glared at me, but I smiled anyway. I couldn’t help feeling lighter now than I had during our entire journey. I was getting Jameson back and I knew he was alive. I was bringing him home to our crew.
“This isn’t a joke, Joy,” Florence scoffed, rolling her eyes at me.
“I wasn’t the one who got us into this situation, Florence, was I?” I bit back, irritation scolding through my blood.
“I did you a favor,” she whispered under her breath.
“Excuse me?” I whirled on her.
“You heard me, this journey saved you from yourself. From your own grief about Lolita,” she spoke.
And I snapped.
I grabbed her shoulders, digging my fingernails into her dark skin as I pushed her against the castle doors ferociously.
“Do not,” I scolded, “say her name ever again.” It took me a moment to figure out that the wetness on my cheeks was tears. “You didn’t know her, you don’t know me or my family. You did not do me a favor.” I pushed her one last time before letting go. “You took someone else from me.” I wiped my face with the back of my hand aggressively.
Just when I thought we were working toward the same goal, Florence changed. She shifted into someone I didn’t recognize.
“I’m…” she began, her words quiet.
“Stop, I don’t want to hear it, let”s get Jameson and go. Then we can go our separate ways.”
A creak sounded, as loud as a fallen tree hitting the ground, and the two of us fell silent. The doors began to move at an agonizingly slow pace, as though being pushed by two gigantic tortoises.
“Move,” Florence leapt towards me, pushing me out of sight. I hit the floor with a thud, my skin scraped against the rough ground.
“This wasn’t the plan!” I whisper-shouted over the still creaking doors.
“Plans change, Joy!” She mimicked my own voice back to me. What was she doing? Was she buying me time to sneak inside? I stumbled into a crouch position, hidden behind a thorn bush.
Even the vegetation was unfriendly.
It was the most ridiculous situation I had ever been in, and I had spent my life drunk in taverns with Jameson. We made a plan, only ten minutes ago, and it had already gone out the window. How was this possible? Energy spiked inside of me as I stood up. I would reason with Florence, help her understand that we were a team and we needed to stay together.
But then the doors stopped moving and a woman stepped toward Florence. She must’ve been a good twenty years older than us, her hair peppered with gray, and a snake tattoo twisted around her bicep.
“Florence,” she spoke, her voice crisp, clear and incredibly lethal. “Welcome home.” She forced a smile to her lips.
All the air whooshed from my lungs in one fell swoop. This had to be a mistake. Welcome home? Was it a taunt? Welcoming her back to the prison? Black spots clouded my vision.
The two embraced and I knew it was all wishful thinking.
She had betrayed me. Again.
“We’ve missed you,” the older woman spoke.
“I’ve missed you too, Mother.”