Feeding Time

Chapter Sixteen

Noah looks up from the piece of paper in his hand to Samantha, to me and Morona, then back at the paper, his brows furrowed in thinking.
"Let me get this straight", he says slowly. "You think that by some miracle, you can somehow fix the damage caused by the electroshock and make Theresa and Morona normal again?"
She shakes her head, still smiling as she replies, "Not reverse anything. Dampen the urge until it stops talking."
"Some of these medications need a prescription", the man points out. "How am I supposed to get those?"
Morona raises a hand from the dining room table, tapping away on a laptop.
"That's where I come in", she says brightly. "I have friends remember? One of them happens to be a brain surgeon here in Texas. He owes me a lot of favors."
"What for?", I ask sleepily from beside her, laying my head down on the wood. "Who'd you kill for him?"
"His rich father, bratty wife. Ooh, and his five year old son."
"You killed a five year old?!", my mother exclaims. "What in the hell would possess you to do that?!"
"One: Not my fault entirely. Two: This is going to sound unbelievable, but he took pictures of his long term babysitter naked."
"Back to the subject at hand please", Noah breaks in. "What can your friend do?"
"Get the medications immediately and leave no record of anything happening. I called him earlier and you can pick them up at noon."
He sighs.
"The things I do nowadays."
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"Take two of these", my mother says, dropping the red pills into my palm. "And one of this." A green tablet. "And another two of this one." Multicolored medication. "Got it?"
"Is it too late to say no to this?", Morona asks me, staring at the pills in her hand. "I like the way I am, can I just-?"
I use my free hand to force the medicine into her mouth, covering it so that my friend has no choice but to swallow.
When she does, I do the same, washing the tablets down with a glass of water.
"They'll work in around an hour or so", Samantha tells us. "You might want to take it easy."
"It won't work", Morona chuckles, launching herself up from the couch. "I'm gonna find a homeless man to murder. See ya."
We watch her go in silence before my mom joins me on the couch, twiddling her thumbs.
"It'll work", I say finally. "I have faith in you, Mom."
She smiles and places her hand on top of mine. "I appreciate that, Theresa, but I'm out of practice. It might not, at least, not until I crack this."
I nod my head slowly, blinking my tired eyes and run my forehead, sighing.
"Are you alright?", Samantha asks gently, squeezing my fingers. "You seem pretty out of it."
"I'm just tired", I say quietly. "I had a hard time sleeping."
She nods and says, "Turn around so your back faces me."
"Hmmm?" My head snaps up and I glance at her. "You want me to do what?"
"You heard me, Theresa", my mother says. "Come on, do as you're told."
I obey, squeaking as she places her hands on my shoulders.
"Its okay", Samantha soothes. "I'm just getting some of the tension out of you. It will hurt a bit, but only for a minute."
I nod my head, letting out a tiny whimper as her fingers dig into my skin, moving around the knots inside me, unraveling them as I let out quiet cries of pain.
"I'm all done", she says after a few minutes. "Feel any better?"
Instead of saying anything to answer, I lean back and curl up in a ball with my head in mother's lap, letting out the breath I didn't know I was holding as I close my eyes.