“John William,” Maggie yelled from the opening in her door, “let me out so I can help Shana.”
“Shut the hell up and go to sleep, you little whore,” John William yelled back to her.
Then, after several moments, he considered that if Myles found out that he had let the lowest bidder take Shana just to prolong the fighting between the kids, Myles might kill him. John William reluctantly went over to Maggie’s cell and opened the door, not because he was letting the bitch tell him what to do, but to cover his tracks with Myles.
Maggie rushed into Shana’s cell. She gasped when she saw the bruises on Shana’s arms and legs. Shana looked as if someone had tossed her into a clothes dryer with large rocks. Gathering herself, she pushed forward to where Shana lay on her cot.
“She’s bleeding from her mouth,” Cali said in low voice.
“OK, Shana. Open your mouth. I need to take a look at what’s wrong,” Maggie urged.
When she did, her tongue was swollen to twice its normal size. Maggie turned to John William and said, “I need you to get a bowl of clean water and a couple towels.”
John William left the three girls in the cell and locked the door behind him. He returned a few minutes later with the items that Maggie requested. She soaked one of the small towels in water and gingerly began to clean Shana’s tongue. But as she wiped, the cuts kept bleeding. Maggie was able to see many slashes on Shana’s tongue.
“OK, John William, you have to bring me a small glass, baking soda, and salt—right now!” Maggie ordered.
John William’s angry eyes bored into Maggie.
“I’m sorry, John William. Please, can you bring me the stuff I need?” she managed.
When he returned with the three items, the first thing Maggie did was mix a palm full of salt into the glass of water. She looked at Cali and then over at Shana, who was only partly coherent. “Shana, I’m going to hold the glass so that you can take this salt water into your mouth. I don’t want you to swallow it. Just hold it in there for as long as you can and then spit it out.”
Shana gave her a slight nod.
Maggie moved closer. “It might burn. I don’t know. But it’s going to help.”
Maggie helped Shana take in small amounts of the salt water until the glass was empty. Then she made a thin paste of baking soda and water. “OK, Shana. I need you to open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue as far as you can.”
Maggie scooped the thin, white paste out of the glass with her small finger and covered Shana’s tongue with it. Then she stood and turned to Cali. “That’s all we can do for now. We need to make her gargle with salt water and put this paste on her tongue every hour or two.”
Then Maggie looked at John William. “We need to sleep in here with Shana to put this paste on her tongue. It’s really swollen, and I’m scared something bad will happen to her when she’s sleeping.”
John William left the cell without saying another word and locked the door behind him.
Cali watched Maggie for a minute. “How did you know what to do, Mags?” she asked, using the pet name that she came up with the week before.
“I read it in one of the books that Dr. Barnes gave me. It’s all about home remedies. The salt water will help so the cuts don’t get infected and the baking-soda paste is supposed to help make it feel better and heal faster,” Maggie explained.
“Wow. That’s some crazy shit, Mags. You did real good tonight. I didn’t know what to do to help her. I’m proud of you, baby,” Cali said, running her hand down Maggie’s arm.
“Cali? I feel like it’s my fault that this happened to her. It looks like whoever she was with was really mean to her. Is there anything we can do to help her?” Maggie asked naively and with true concern.
“I’m not sure there’s anything we can do right now, but I bet we can figure something out,” Cali assured her.
Cali wanted to give Maggie hope that they would find a way to fight back. Cali knew deep in her heart that the odds of getting out or taking control were slim to none. But she wasn’t willing to dampen Maggie’s spirit or her belief that one day they would all be set free. She was pretty certain that day would never come for herself or for the others, but she had a feeling that Maggie’s fate would be different. She just hoped it was for the better.