Chapter
1: Billie
Billie couldn’t believe she was
finally here. Her mom and dad had
threatened her before but she never believed they could betray her like
this. The sign above her head read Merry
Acres Rehabilitation Hospital, but in town it’s just Merry Acres Crazy House to
Billie and all her friends from school. She always thought it was just the nightmare
for parents to get their kids to clean their rooms, but that didn’t change the
gray walls and flickering lights closing in on her as the doors closed on her
freedom. She could hear herself arguing
with them for what felt like the hundredth time. She didn’t have a problem and she wasn’t on a
diet. Her parents were simply
overreacting. She counted her calories,
that was all. She was being healthy for
Christ’s sake, what did they know, fat cows, munching their way through life
but not going anywhere. She had
goals. She did, she just couldn’t think
of any right now.
“Name,” said the nurse at the front
desk.
“Billie Klein,” she answered. The nurse looked at her computer screen
blandly. Billie figured she had done
this too many times to give a crap anymore and wondered absently if she was
happy here. She didn’t have any pictures
on her desk, but pictures of family probably aren’t safe in a nut house right? Maybe the staff would be afraid what they
could do with someone who wasn’t broken yet.
“Personal items allowed are stuffed
animals, books, slippers, bath items, pictures, and mp3 players. Of course, all these things have to be
earned. Right now you have a set of clothes
and a toothbrush that will be supplied by a staff member when you are in the
bathroom. Here, follow me,” she
said. “I’m Nurse Baker and I will take
you on a tour of Merry Acres, your home away from home. We will start with the nursing station.” She was up and walking before Billie could
blink and she had to run to keep up with her.
“You will pick up your meds from the
nurses’ station every morning after breakfast at 9:30 a.m. They start serving breakfast at 8:00 in the
dining room which lucky for you is our next stop.”
She barely slowed down as she
continued to explain the rooms that she and Billie passed on their sprint down
the halls. Yet, what really fascinated
Billie was the faces residing in the rooms.
All of the faces were different but somehow the same. There were a few older men and women, but the
majority of the “clients” as Nurse Baker called them, were very young. They were much younger than she had expected
and there were actually guys here. Sure
the crazy farm isn’t the best place to pick up a date, but it wasn’t the worst
either. She’d seen documentaries of
women dating serial killers while they were in prison. That was bad, but still Merry Acres and the
pale pajama wearing zombies walking past her or sitting and staring at her or
at nothing at all weirded her out. It
kind of made her mad because she wasn’t one of them. How could her family feel like she belonged
here with all these freaks?
She passed by a girl who was sitting
in a chair by the door that led to the TV room.
She was small and quiet. Billie
noticed that half her head was shaved and the other was matted down to her
skin. Billie could tell she wasn’t
white, but the answer to the question of her race didn’t feel like it could
easily be labeled. Billie could see it
in her eyes. This girl was ready for a
fight, and Billie would have never made it through middle school if she hadn’t
learned how to avoid those faces, and in moments of desperation how to imitate
them. She kept her eyes down and made
sure Nurse Baker was between them when she passed the door. The nurse never slowed down, and the girl
never looked up from the open book on her lap.
“Well, I guess the last place you
really need to see is your room right?” Nurse Baker asked, although Billie
guessed most of her questions were rhetorical.
“Yea, I guess so,” she replied,
doing her best to be uncurious and noncommittal, no matter how fast her heart
was beating. She could feel her face begin to flush and her arms begin to
tingle with the rushing blood in her system as she tried desperately not to
panic. She clasped a hold of her arms so
no one would be able to tell that her hands were shaking.
“Because of hospital policy
roommates are chosen with concern to their diagnoses being considered. Don’t worry with your anorexia we won’t be
placing you with any clients with hostile or violent disorders. You will be rooming with Bekah Strausse. You were supposed to be with Fern, but we had
to move Alice last night,” Nurse Baker growled out the last sentence. She quickened her step and began to talk about
Billie’s schedule, and Billie guessed she had heard more than Baker meant to
share. So why did this Alice girl need
to move so suddenly? What was wrong with
her? Or more importantly, what was wrong
with Bekah?
“Here we are room 4 on the
corner. Bekah come out and meet your new
roommate,” she called as she knocked briefly then opened the door and walked in
without waiting for a reply.
Billie wasn’t really sure what to
expect when she walked through the white door, but she figured, got to find out
sometime right? She took a deep breath
and then stepped into the room. The
crackling floral wallpaper was dingy in quality. It reminded Billie of that story in school
about that crazy chick who couldn’t take the yellow wallpaper. Maybe it was the same decorator, she joked
with herself to ease the tension growing in her chest.
“This room is called, ‘Serenity
Gardens.’ The staff gives every room a
name to give them a homier feel to it,” said Nurse Baker. Billie politely smiled at her while trying
not to look that disappointed by the sparse condition of the room. The small room held two twin beds, a
nightstand with a lamp, a desk and what struck Billie as a very plain-looking
girl. She had done nothing to improve
her appearance, and Billie wondered if it mattered anymore, especially in a
place like this. No one cares about
make-up on the crazy farm.
“Bekah, this is your new roommate
Billie,” said Baker. “Billie Klein,
she’s from Memphis and you will do your best to get along with her right
Bekah?” Nurse Baker seemed to be staring
Bekah down, and Billie had the odd feeling she was missing out on an unspoken
conversation they were having about her.
Billie looked over at the girl
sitting on the bed. She was slowly
drawing in a sketchbook next to a stack of books. Guess she has her privileges already, Billie
thought to herself.
“Yes ma’am,” Bekah finally
said. “Nothing but hospitality here,”
she said with an obviously fake half smile.
“Great,” Billie murmured as she
wandered over and looked out the barred window.
She chuckled to herself. No
matter how much her mother tried to spin this place into a spa-like retreat she
couldn’t gloss over the bars on the windows.
“What was that Billie?” asked Baker.
“Oh nothing,” Billie said. She met eyes with Bekah, but quickly looked
away. She moved over to the empty bed
and sat down. She was aware of the nurse
making her best effort at an exit, but she wasn’t listening. She just looked at the tip of her shoes and
waited for the silence. Nurse Baker said
something about going to see a doctor in the morning, then she quickly walked
over to the door and left them alone in the room. She looked up and was surprised to realize
that Bekah was staring at her.
“What?” asked Billie. She crossed her arms, and glared back defiantly. “So what’s the deal with this place?” she asked Bekah, not really sure if she
expected an answer.
Bekah continued staring at her. Her eyes moved up and down Billie long enough
that Billie couldn’t stand it anymore so she got up and began to pace the
shoebox they called a two person suite.
What a joke, thought Billie.
“So, what are you in for?” Billie
asked, not pausing long enough for Bekah to answer. “My parents sent me here because they think
I’m anorexic, as if. I could totally
stand to lose a few pounds, but my parents want me to be just like them, you
know?”
She stopped short when she had made
the turn at the door and was again facing Bekah. Billie couldn’t understand this girl. What was her problem?
“Well, if you aren’t going to tell
me about yourself how about you tell me about the other crazy people here,”
Billie declared. Bekah looked up at her,
rose to her feet and shrugged. She
crossed the room slowly as if each step caused a certain level of pain.
“Dinner is at 6:30. Most of the kids go early and sit in the TV
room,” said Bekah dryly as she crossed to the door. She grabbed the knob and walked out.
“Okay, I’ll stay here, no really, I
don’t mind walking alone,” Billie sarcastically replied to the empty room. Something told her she’d be talking to an
empty room a lot with this roommate. A
few moments passed and Billie’s growling stomach made her groan and stand up to
stretch. Usually when her stomach
growled she went for a run, but she had a feeling dinner was not optional so
she rose from her bed to follow Bekah to the dining hall. She opened the door and almost jumped out of
her skin at the grinning face awaiting her.
“Hi,” screamed the small girl. Once Billie got a better look at the girl in
front of her she could see that the girl’s hair was frizzy and bright red,
almost orange. Her entire body seemed to
vibrate with energy, and her shoes had holes in the toes. Her fingers were multi-colored with rings and
fake nails, causing Billie to wonder how she got away with that in such a
rule-ridden place.
“Hi, I’m Alice, what’s your name?”
she bellowed. Her voice seemed to come
out louder than the girl intended and she appeared to lean in towards Billie to
the point Billie had to take a step back.
“My name is Billie, ever heard of
personal space?” she said.
“You’re Bekah’s new roommate
right? Boy, are you in for a wild ride
with that one,” Alice said, ignoring her question.
“What do you mean?” Billie asked in
spite of herself.
“Oh nothing,” Alice lilted as she
started to skip towards the dining hall.
After a few steps she stopped and turned around to look at Billie.
“Bekah can’t keep a roommate, been
here five years and can’t keep a roommate longer than a month. You’re next,” she yelled on her tiptoes. She turned around and began to laugh as she
made her way to the dining hall.
“Awesome, just awesome,” Billie
muttered as she walked into the dining hall for her first night in the nut
house maybe she’d get dinner and a show.
