Hatfield held back his vitriol and nodded obediently, then watched the thugs march away.
Without delay, he raced into the bedroom, finding Jess, Justin, and Tami asleep. But there was something about their body language—an uneasiness in their position, the way they tossed about—that suggested their sleep wasn’t restful.
And he got no sleep at all.
Instead, he stared at the ceiling all night, with his head invaded by way too many thoughts. Things were spiraling out of control. Hatfield found himself in a situation where it was his job to make everything right.
THE NEXT MORNING, everyone woke up with faces dragging. Before getting out of the bed, Jess turned to her husband gingerly and asked, “Honey, did you hear about Cecil?”
He nodded. “I was there right before he got captured.”
They embraced without another word on the subject.
As was becoming their custom, the gangbangers charged inside the room, loudly demanding the family get into the kitchen and get to work. When they stormed out, Hatfield gave everybody’s face a scan.
They seemed nervous, but not their spirits hadn’t yet been broken. They were strong, and they had each other. It made him proud to know it took more than a little intimidation to break the will of the Hatfields.
Still, he had concerns. “Has everybody been okay for the last few days?”
No immediate reply, then Justin said, “Well… not really, but we’re still alive, right? I guess we should be grateful for that.”
With a wry grin, he told his son, “You don’t look so grateful.”
“I’m trying, Dad,” the kid answered. “We’re all trying.”
He stroked Justin’s hair. “Look, guys. I’m in charge of this compound now, but I haven’t forgotten that my first duty is to you all, my family. What we’re going through is no picnic, but I promise you, one way or the other, it won’t last. Do you hear me?”
Everyone nodded.
“Right now, what I need from you is to show me how strong the Hatfields can be. And I promise you, we will be free.”
The kids nodded again, this time with more spirit. But Jess tilted her head, unsure what her husband had in mind. He gave her a slow nod that said, Trust me. We will get out of this. She nodded back, her eyes still a little uncertain.
Another series of angry pounds at the door startled everybody again. This jolted the family up and out into the kitchen, where they got to work right away.
29
The kitchen work that morning was even more grueling than the previous day. Today, they all seemed preoccupied with getting everything clean. It was clear that there was no real purpose to the work being tasked to the homesteaders. The work was assigned for the sake of cruelty. Nothing more.
A gangbanger—the big, bearded one—waved Hatfield over to the stove. He pointed to it. “I want that spotless. You hear me?”
“But it was just cleaned a few days ago,” he protested. “It doesn’t need cleaning.”
The guy sent razor-sharp eyes to him, then took off his left boot, reached it inside the oven, and banged it against the sides until all the caked-in mud tumbled to the oven floor. He casually slipped the boot back onto his foot and said, “Looks like it needs cleaning to me.”
Hatfield swallowed hard, struggling once again to keep his rage under control. “Yes, sir.”
As the gangbanger stormed off, he got to work.
With his family out of sight, he kept his ears alert, checking if he could hear anything to let him know all was well. But he couldn’t detect anything.
From behind, he heard a soft voice. “Hi,”
He turned, finding Grace, scraping away at a dish. “Hello, Grace,” he said, making sure to keep his voice low. “Good to see you again.”
“You really mean that?” she asked. Her demeanor seemed fragile, like a child approaching her dad with an admission of guilt. “The three of us weren’t really sure how the rest of you would receive us after everything that happened.”
“We don’t blame the three of you if that’s what you mean. You did what you had to do.”
She nodded, then managed a weak smile.
“Besides,” he added. “If it’s redemption you seek, you’ll have a chance for that soon.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, her voice soaring to a dangerously high volume that attracted the stare of the gangbanger on duty.
“Shh! Just wait. I’ll give you all details later.”
With the gangbanger in charge a little distracted by a friend stepping toward with a steaming test tube of liquid. Hatfield didn’t think anything about it, figuring it was just some kind of homemade alcohol. But with the distraction in place, he ducked down another hallway, hoping to see what his family was up to.
At the end of the hallway, he found Jess backed into a corner. The bearded gangbanger had her boxed in, his hands firmly planted against the wall as he pressed against her ear. She tried to push him away, but he wasn’t budging.
Hatfield’s instincts balled both hands into fists. He charged into the corner, seeing his wife give him head frantic shakes. This was a warning to her husband not to be so impulsive. “Uh… sir.”
The gangbanger turned, rolling his eyes as if he didn’t appreciate the interruption. “What is it?”
The impulse to push an angry fist deep into this guy’s skull hadn’t fully faded. He took a deep breath and paused. Finally, he spoke. “I’m done cleaning the oven.”
“Bullshit. You couldn’t have finished that quickly.”
“I did, sir. I’m a fast worker,” Hatfield said. He didn’t mention that his reason for working so quickly related to his family’s safety. No way would he trust his wife and kids around these animals.
“Wait here!” the guys yelled. Then he stormed away.
Once alone, Hatfield leaned closer to his wife. “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head no, but her eyes said something different.
“Are you sure?”
“He scares me. All of them do. But no, they haven’t hurt me… yet.”
He embraced her, easing her head under her chin. He could feel her desperate sobs rattle both of their bodies. His mind was working overtime now, devising a way out, a way to never have to deal with these people again. “Just remember what I said. I need you to stay strong for the kids. Can you do that?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. It won’t be long.”
She yanked her head away, brought their eyes into contact as if trying to read him. “What does that mean?”
“It means just what it sounds like. This won’t last forever.”
“Honey, I don’t want you to do anything crazy. We need you. The kids and I need you, and now that the captain is gone, the compound needs you.”
“I understand that.”
They embraced again, and another question snapped into his head. He pulled some pills out of his pocket, held them up discreetly for her to see.
“What sort of impact would these have on a body?”
Once again, she gazed into his eyes, worried now. “Why?”
“I just need to know.”
“Well, this one,” she said, indicating a large bottle, “is an anti-bacterial medication. The other two are sedatives.”
“Sedatives, that means it puts you to sleep, right?”
“With the right dosage, yes.”
He nodded, his eyes dancing with a plan.
“Trevor, even if you were trying to use it to poison these people—number one, you’d need a lot more than one bottle to have enough for everybody.”
“What could one bottle do?”
“Well, it could—”
From behind, a stern voice sliced into their conversation. “The oven looks like crap! Get back there now, and keep cleaning!”