Earlier, when I complained about wanting to see a doctor, Jeb really had given off the impression that my injury wasn’t bad enough for me to be seen by anybody. So it was possible that the only reason I would be taken out of my cell were if I were knocking on death’s door. I bet if I acted like I was really sick, he would rush into my cell to see what was wrong with me.
When I had eaten this candy earlier, it had coated my entire tongue white. I could bite down on one piece of candy and allow it to turn my tongue white; maybe I could line the edges of my mouth with some. With the other piece of candy, I could mix it up with some saliva in my mouth and just keep in the sides of my cheeks. Now, if I were to do all this while convulsing on the floor, he would have to come in to check up on me. I was sure the last thing he would want to go down on his record as a security guard was that someone died while he was on shift. That was part one of my plan. Part two was going to be far more difficult, because getting him in the cell was not going to be that hard, but getting myself out and somehow getting him to stay inside and stealing his swipe card key from off of him was going to take a lot of work. My ankle was still killing me and I couldn’t apply a lot of pressure on it. So I’d have to get creative. I looked up at the wall in front of me. There was a small space in between the cell bars and where the metal seat that wrapped around the room began. There was nothing there but the blank, empty wall. My eyes flew open and the smile that was on my face grew even wider. This blank wall was perfect. I could definitely use this to my advantage.
The woman at the end of the hallway let out another cry for help. I needed to hurry. I placed my hands on the outside of my pocket, then I pushed the two pieces of candy up from out of my pocket and onto the floor. Removing the pieces of candy from their tiny plastic wrappers was difficult because my hands were cuffed. It took me a few seconds longer than normal, but I got them off. I tossed the first piece of candy into my mouth and made sure not to swallow any of it. I rolled the mixture of crushed candy and spit over and under my tongue until I felt like it was properly coated. Just to make things look all the more convincing, I dabbed both corners of my mouth with some of what was resting on my tongue. I tossed the second piece of candy into my mouth, clenched down on it, and kept it between my teeth. I made sure that I didn’t crack it open yet. I’d do that when Jeb got over here. Finally, I lay down with my back toward the empty wall. I took in three deep breaths to help steady my nerves. Once I felt like I was ready, I curled up into a fetal position and let out a loud deep bellow from out of my stomach.
“Hey, shut up down there.” I recognized that voice; it was Jeb. Good; I got his attention. I let out another long bellow and tried to make this one sound more agonizing than the first one. “Hey, if you don’t cut it out down there, I’m going to give you something to really be upset about!” I tried my best not to laugh at his little threat. Jeb was a balding, extra-large-sized man with a belly that looked like if he unzipped his pants, it might touch his toes. How did someone that out of shape get a job as a security officer? Whatever; I shouldn’t be concentrating on that right now. I went back to my bellowing and moaning. For a minute, I felt like what I was doing wasn’t working and that Jeb was just going to ignore me until I stopped. But just when I was about to give up hope, I heard them; the sweet sound of Jeb’s loud footsteps. It was showtime. Immediately, I started shaking my entire body. I kept my fingers close to my chest and clenched and unclenched them. I stopped moaning and instead I started to make this husky, dry-sounding noise that gave off the impression that I couldn’t catch my breath.
“Oh my God! Something’s wrong with this girl!” Jeb screamed out in a state of panic. From out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Jeb swiped the key card across the lock in front of the cell door. At that moment, I bit down on the piece of candy that I was holding in between my teeth. I quickly mixed the broken pieces of candy with my spit and I pushed a little bit of it out of the middle of my mouth. Jeb rushed to my side, knelt down behind me, and picked my face up with his sweaty, clammy hands. Just for a dramatic effect, I started to roll my eyes up as far as they would go. Jeb pinched my cheeks with his fingers and he shook my face from side to side.
“Come on, kid. Get it together! What’s wrong with you?” This was it; Jeb was finally close enough, and it was now or never. When he let go of my cheeks, I cocked my head back, collected up every bit of moisture that was in my mouth, and shot it out of my mouth and directly into Jeb’s eyes. Jeb immediately let go of me after my spit came in contact with his eyes. While his hands were up and he was wiping the spit away, I got up and I threw myself at him. I grabbed hold of his uniform and pushed Jeb with all of my might toward the empty wall that was behind us. Jeb was caught by surprise and tried to get a better hold on his footing, but there was no stopping what was happening. He continued to shuffle backward until I pushed him as hard as I could onto the wall. Jeb gasped for air after his back hit the wall. I pinned him against the wall using all of my strength, which was no easy task because Jeb was pushing me back at full force. If he had been a much stronger man and not a man that was made completely out of jelly, this fight would have been over in three seconds.
I started to push my hands up toward his face. I needed to do something; otherwise, we would be stuck in this stalemate forever. My fingers were climbing up Jeb’s round checks when I felt a strong blow to the side of my stomach. I cried out in pain as Jeb continued to push me off of him with one hand and punch me repeatedly in the side with the other. After taking several hard punches to the side, I took a deep breath and I dug my fingernails into Jeb’s face. Once I felt like I had a good enough grip, I pulled his head forward, then I slammed it against the wall behind him. Immediately, Jeb’s body became limp and he slid over onto the floor. He let out a few low-sounding moans before he finally slid down the wall and passed out in front of the cell bars.
I didn’t have any time to waste, so I ignored the throbbing pain in my side and ankle as I got up from the floor. First things first; I had to get these plastic cuffs off. I patted Jeb’s pocket. Thankfully, the keys were right there, so I dug them out. It took a couple of tries, but I managed to unlock the cuffs. It felt really great to take them off. Jeb was still out of it, so I took the plastic cuffs and placed them on his wrists. With my hands free, I was able to take Jeb’s swipe card, which he kept draped around his wide neck, stick my hands through the bar doors, and swipe the key card through the door slot so I could get out. I hobbled my way down to the cell at the end of the hallway.
“Hey, are you okay down there?” I called out. I heard nothing except for some deep, heavy breathing. I hoped that lady was okay. To be honest, I was in no condition to fight. My sides were so sore after that beating Jeb gave me. When I reached the cell at the end of the hallway, I cautiously peeked inside of the cell. Standing up with her back to the wall was a Martian woman with disheveled orange hair. She had on a blue, long-sleeve dress on with white polka dots. A few of the buttons at the top of her dress had been ripped off. She was using one of her hands to keep the ripped part of her dress together. When I passed the other cells I didn’t see anyone else. Now why in the world would they keep a Martian woman up here away from everyone else? Behind bars where no one can see her. I thought I knew who this woman might be.