Dreams Ltd (19 page)

Greg chewed his lips.

“Should I give them an easy or hard task?”

“Decide for yourself, just don’t let them relax.”

“Got it. What if they start kicking off?”

“Beat them.”

“Uh-huh. They are not really that important to you, are they?

Hulk sat in silence for some time. Night breeze was stirring his blonde hair and twisting the white smoke from the cigar into some intricate spirals.

“Time will tell.” he looked at the man sitting next to him. “Go to bed.”

I woke up at dawn. Dim pinkish light was slowly filling up the room colouring the walls in a shade poorly resembling a beige colour. I turned on my back and spent some time lying with my open eyes, unwillingly scrolling everything that happened yesterday in my mind. What a shame about how everything has turned out...

So I’m at Hulk’s. What will the new day bring and what other surprises should I expect from my life?

I got up, made the bed and sat on top of it still feeling a desperate desire to use the toilet. Some voices were coming from the corridor but nobody has come in after me as yet - on one hand it was good since I didn’t know what will happen when they do come, on another hand my need to pee was growing with every passing minute, and soon I was walking in circles almost squeaking from impatience. When will they come? When? If they let me go to the bathroom I’ll put up with any conversations afterwards.

Finally, I heard the lock open and I saw a huge man with a face like a shovel waiting for me behind it. One of his cheeks was crippled by a long scar; his small deeply-set eyes looked sombre but without an animosity. His clothes were quite simple - a black shirt made of some coarse material and a pair of sun-bleached washed out blue jeans. Only his shoes were far from simple - high, with dense tight lacing and a thick sole similar to the military ones. On his wide belt I noticed a few different length sheaths and a black holster made of shuffled leather.

I swallowed nervously. The only reason I didn’t retreat was because I was trying to keep my legs together tightly for an obvious reason.

“Come out.” he said, “and follow me.”

“Toilet!” I squeaked pitifully, knowing that my cheeks are turning red. I must have looked pathetic.

“Toilet is straight down the corridor.” Answered the man, turned around and left the room.

Leaping through the corridor, I flew into a small room and sighed loudly with relief when the accumulated liquid finally came out of my body. Now I can bear any tortures. I almost laughed at the irony of the situation - there is not much one needs to feel utterly happy when they’re in a prison. In fact, in two prisons - Tally is the first one, and this ranch is the second.

I quickly straighten my crinkled up clothes and looked at my own pale reflection in the mirror - what a horrible sight! I ran my fingers through the tangled curls and left the toilet.

We stood in a spacious lobby on the first floor; a little trolley full of cleaning products was already next to me. The man with a scar was gone as soon as he handed me over to one of the maids who appeared to be a short woman with a straight face and narrow black eyes. Maria. Her tarred hair was covered up with a scarf and her extensive waist was tied up in a white clean apron over a dark dress.

“First, you wipe the floor with a cloth, squeeze it well as you can’t get parquet flooring too wet.” she instructed me, at the same time gesturing towards the trolley, “then you take this...”

She picked a bottle with a picture of floorboards on the label.

“Then sprinkle with this covering every single spot. Then you wax it.” Maria showed me another bottle at the bottom of the trolley, “when you finish with this call me and I’ll check your work, do you understand?”

I nodded. When she left, I tied my T-shirt around my belly, my hair with a rubber band and got on with the job.

It took me almost half a day to polish the parquet floor and all this time I carefully, meter by meter, wipe every single board. Sometimes unfamiliar people would walk by but nobody paid any attention to me; I didn’t seen Hulk either. Shuffling the mop back and forth steadily across the floor I glanced at the luxurious interior of the house: there was leather furniture, gold-plated door handles, carpets on stairs and paintings in heavy frames on the walls. The sunlight glowing through the high windows was pleasantly emphasising the golden textured wallpaper. I started off with my work at nine o’clock and now when I’d finished and finally stood up, it was half past three. I polished off the last corner and went to find Maria.

After the maid scrutinised my efforts she told me take the trolley into the pantry - I considered my work had passed the quality control, got rid of the trolley and returned to the lobby to follow her.

The woman led me into a wide courtyard paved with flat cobblestones, and told me to wait at the door as she walked away. While she was gone I closed my eyes for a moment enjoying the fresh air and sun on my skin. In the distance I could see a field with some kind of a tall plants growing and the numerous bare backs of the workers together with the guards, dressed in dark clothes, holding something in their hands which I hoped were not the whips. However, judging by their movements they actually were whips. I swallowed nervously - it seemed that it was the same ranch I once saw from the bus. And yes, further down there was a barbed wire fence which was gleaming from the rays of the sun. Damn it... That’s exactly the same ranch and exactly the same house.

There were different people constantly scurrying through the yard: some of them were pushing carts around, some of them were carrying building planks, others were returning to the house from the utility rooms. The guards were here as well. It was easy to recognise them by their tough-looking faces, well-made clothes and by the whips and batons attached to their belts. The guards, as I learned soon enough, were not watching every single person as such but moving across the territory in different directions, controlling the whole area. I had no doubts if something was to happen they would all gather together in a minute. My quick examination indicated that the ranch was enormous - its territory was hardly limited by the field that I could see from here, most likely on the endless acres of land there were other numerous constructions, not to mention other fields with crops. The evenness of the low planted trees in the distance resembled nothing else but a vineyard which meant that Hulk has even got his own winery. My head was spinning when I thought about the vastness of his estate. I slowly inhaled the hot air and let it out - there must be hundreds and hundreds of workers here! And in order to keep track of them there must be an enormous amount of guards as well, since all the workers are criminals. Wow...

Meanwhile, Maria came back holding different brooms.

“Pick the one you like and start sweeping the yard. When you’re done you have to find a hose over there...” she waved her hand towards a hollow space in the wall, where I noticed a tap and twisted rubber hose, “...and water the ground.”

“And when I’m finished?”

“It’s not as easy and quick as you think. The yard is large and it should be cleaned well, otherwise the owner will make you do it all over again. When you're done find me and I'll show the rubbish you’ll need to take out... After the rubbish you’ll have to collect the cut bush branches behind the house and burn them. Then you’ll have to sort the bags with food in the pantries, and then....

She went on with the list of endless duties I had to take care of. I was half listening to her watching the landscape and hoping that all this work doesn’t have to be done by the evening. When Maria had finally left, I thought that it would be nice to have something to eat but since nobody offered me any lunch I decided not to try my luck by trying to find a meal myself and got on with the sweeping the yard.

For the next three hours, I was thoroughly cleaning and washing the cobbles. I was working slowly and from time to time I would catch the vigilant glances of the guards but none of them rushed me. Sometimes they would stop close by, for a cigarette break or a chat and then they would walk away leaving me to sweep further. Some workers would pass me by and I would glance at them trying to understand what they were busy with and how they were feeling here on the ranch. Strangely enough, only a few of those seemed miserable or daunted, while others seemed quite content with their existence here. Maybe they were paid well or the owner was providing them with some other advantages I didn’t know about? For better or for worse, I slowly began getting used to my new habitat. So what if I have to do some work, even if it’s dirty work? Physical labour was never a big deal for me and as long as I was fed and slept under a roof, I was ready to accept my fate.

I knew that if I escaped, Hulk’s people would catch me in a flash and I still wasn’t sure if myself or Jenny were in Hulk’s good books yet, but the idea of making him angry from the start didn’t appeal to me just now. Perhaps if I'm obedient and hard-working, I’ll be rewarded by his leniency and even payment? Or what if I attempt to flee? I could possibly find a hideout somewhere for a short while but what would happen next? My next thought was not so uplifting at all - most likely he will simply inform the authorities about my escape, contact Roger, and then they will both “frame” me so badly that I’ll definitely be sentenced to the death penalty. I had no doubt what the words "death penalty" really meant in Tally. Roger’s reputation would, of course be affected but would it stop him? I didn’t think so. Besides, where can I hide? I didn’t know anyone here except for Robert and Jenny and what was the point of hiding, if every single person would grass me up at the first opportunity? So, considering a breakaway was not a sensible idea, nobody would feed or hide me, using their own points and I couldn’t pass mine to anyone anyway.

Yesterday I was very surprised when I’d discovered that everything I earned working in "Polo-Grand" remained on my bracelet intact - one hundred twenty-three and two-tenths of a point in total. Nobody took them off me. It wasn’t much but still - one hundred points was a tenth of a thousand and a tenth was a part was a big hope that I will leave this prison one day.

Eventually I drew to the only conclusion - the best thing right now is to stay alive and collect more points if possible, especially since the Hulk’s ranch didn’t seem to be the worst place after all. The important question now was whether Hulk was going to pay me anything at all...

Now and again my thoughts were interrupted by the passing workers but after a while I’d start dwelling on the same topic. I nearly forgot about Jenny, maybe she was doing similar kind of work to me at some other place, I didn’t fancy seeing her angry haunted face. It was up to her now to think of the bed she’s made for herself and how she is going to get out of it.

It was an early sunset when I finished washing the yard. Feeling tired from the constant heat, I wiped the sweat off my forehead and looked up at the sky - if my guess was right it was around six o’clock in the evening. By now I felt absolutely ravenous and looked longingly at the corner of the mansion - a delicious smell was coming from there. That must be the kitchen there.

Trying to destruct myself from the hunger I poised for a while, observing the neighbourhood and holding the hose which still had water pouring from it.

In the light of the sunset this ranch looked like a blooming oasis in the middle of a desert. When the mountains turned the familiar orange colour, the green fields and vineyards turned a beautiful shade of green and maroon. I assumed that the hot climate of Tally certainly allowed the cultivation and collection of several harvests per year. The abundance of heat would provide a variety of fruit and crops with hassle-free growing, and if there was enough water, the prosperity of the owner could only depend on the number of workers which, as far as I could see, was a great deal there.

I stopped looking at the surroundings, enjoying the light cool breeze that’s just appeared and began winding up the hose. It was time to start with the next task Maria gave me.

After another couple of hours, when the sky was coloured deep blue and the last beams sank in behind the distant mountain peaks, I finally finished with burning the branches. Despite the fact that my hunger became unbearable no one was in a hurry to feed me. I sat on the grass at the back yard of the white stone mansion, looking sadly at the lit up windows and the open door, smelling something fried and sweet. I stretched my legs out letting my tired feet to rest, wondering if I should seek Maria who could possibly explain the meal time rules to me. My trainers were next to me, under the bush; my eyes were glued to the opened door which obviously led into the house - could this be a shortcut if I wanted to find Maria?

I got up from the grass, threw a quick glance at the early stars in the sky, cleaned up my jeans and headed towards the door.