Jimmy by William Malmborg Read Free Book Online Page A

blankets that had been folded and left in the rear corner of the shelter.  Before doing that he had untied the ropes from her wrists and told her to sit against the wall.
         Samantha nodded a thank you and wrapped herself with the warm blanket.  It felt wonderful, despite the itchiness, yet didn’t get rid of the shakes right away.  The comfort of finally being free from the ropes, however, made it difficult for her eyes to stay open. 
         Jimmy uncapped the bottle of water she had drunk from the day before and helped her take a few sips.  For the first time in her life Samantha was glad the water was warm.
         “Do you need to use the bathroom?” Jimmy asked.
         “Y-yesss.”
         “Okay, stay here a second.”  Jimmy stood up and walked over to the wall with shelves and picked up a metal bucket.  He then brought it back.  “Use this.”
         When he had asked, Samantha had assumed he would take her into the house and let her use one of those toilets since this little shelter didn’t have one.  Now she just stared at the bucket with disgust and humiliation.  “I ca-can’t go in th-that.”
         “If you need to go you can.”
         Samantha looked at Jimmy and then back at the bucket, disgusted.  How could he be doing this to her?  Why was he doing this to her?
         “If you don’t use it now I’ll just tie you up so your legs are straddling it.  But then you’ll be stuck with the smell until I get back from school.”
         “S-school?” she asked.  “What time is it?”
         “It’s just after six o’clock in the morning.”
         As soon as he said it the hunger that had been showing up on and off throughout the night hit full force.  She was starving.
         “Can I e-eat something?” she asked, hesitation gripping her as her eyes studied the shelf with canned goods.
         “Oh, yeah.”  Jimmy got up and walked to the shelf.  “What do you want?”
         Samantha didn’t know what was over there, so she didn’t respond.  Anything would satisfy her as long as it put an end to her hunger.
         Jimmy turned.  “Crackers?”
         Samantha nodded.
         Jimmy moved a few cans around and took out a box of crackers and then returned to Samantha.  “I bet this started out as the Hoods’ Y2K shelter, but then wasn’t enough for the coming nuclear war with Islam they thought was going to occur.”
         Samantha wasn’t sure if she heard it correctly, but it seemed like Jimmy was trying to start up a simple conversation.  Why would he do that?  Rather than answering him, she just waited for him to bring the crackers.
         A day earlier, crackers for breakfast would have been a joke unless she was dieting.  Now her stomach opened up with just the thought of a single small square.
         “Let me see your wrists,” Jimmy said once the box was open.
         Her arms felt like they had gone through a heavy workout, and she had trouble holding them out to him.
         Jimmy looked at the red marks the rope had left and slowly began rubbing them.  He then asked, “What was it like standing there all night?”
         Samantha didn’t respond.  Last night had been the worst night of her life and now he was asking the question like it was nothing.  It could have been a bed he was asking about, and how comfortable the new mattress had been.
         “If you want some crackers you better answer me,” Jimmy said, his voice growing stern.
         “It hurt,” she said.  Her voice wasn’t as shaky as before and now her body actually felt warm. 
         “I’ve always wanted to know what it would be like,” Jimmy said.  “Standing there like that, arms over your head, the bite of the ropes, knowing you couldn’t get free.”  He shook his head.  “I envy the experience you had.”
         Samantha couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  Was he serious?