Instinct by Jason Hough (best memoirs of all time TXT) 📕

made me pretty sick and it hurt so much, I thought I would die. My leg swelled up. All I did was stop to rest awhile and I guess I stopped right beside one, but you don't have to go out there to find them. They're here, too, you know.” She looked around the barn as if that information made her happy. “You could get stung just as easily sleeping in this filthy barn.”

I looked at Gia and Mindy. They continued to undress and get themselves ready for bed.

“That's not true, is it?” I asked.

“Of course it's true,” Mindy replied.

“Gia?” I asked.

She paused and thought a moment before turning to me. “You know what a minefield is? How they put bombs in the ground to blow up enemy soldiers who might step on the wrong spot?”

“Yes, so?”

“Well, that's what it's like being here. You're always walking through a minefield. If it's not one thing, it's another, and Dr. Foreman doesn't do much to make it any safer for us either. In fact, she plants the mines.”

“You don't mean she puts things in here, do you?”

“What do you think?”

“That's crazy. That's ... we could be killed or something.”

“Hello. Welcome to your nightmare,” Gia said, smiling.

She seemed to take such pleasure in telling me all these horrible things.

“Yeah, well, if it can happen to me, it can happen to you,” I threw back at her.

She shrugged. “It's already happened to me.”

“What? What's that supposed to mean? What are you saying, Gia?”

She ignored me. Robin got into bed without speaking and Teal continued to stare up at the ceiling.

“Well, it hasn't happened to me!” I screamed.

The door opened. M'Lady Three was standing there.

“What's going on in here?”

My heart was pounding. I half expected either Mindy or Gia would point a finger at me to earn more of those precious positive merit points, but this time no one spoke.

“You had better get some rest, my little princesses,” M'Lady Three said. “You'll need it. Tomorrow, we're whitewashing the cow barn and it will take all day.”

She closed the door and the lights went out. All I could think of now was something creepy crawling over me. I felt as if I were back in my Atlanta apartment, waiting to feel a rat scurry over my feet.

“They can't do this to us,” I muttered. I was thinking aloud. “If we die, they'll be responsible. They'll get into trouble.”

“No, they won't. They'll just make up a good story,” I heard Mindy mumble. “I'm sure she's done it before. I'm sure she's made up a whopper about Posy.”

“Who? What did you say?”

“Shut up and go to sleep,” Gia commanded sharply. “Keep your mouth shut, Mindy.”

“What did she say? Who's Posy? Gia?”

"If you don't shut up, we'll all get into trouble and it's going to be hard enough tomorrow. You heard her.

Believe me, we know what it's like when they pile it on," Gia said.

“I won't let her cut my hair like that,” I vowed.

“Of course not,” Mindy said, laughter in her voice. “Teal didn't let her either. You heard her. Her hair ran off.”

“Maybe that's what happens when you get bitten by a scorpion. Your hair falls off,” Robin offered, and the two of them laughed.

“I'll give you a maybe,” Mindy said, propping herself up on her elbows. “Maybe Teal wasn't stung by accident.”

“What?”

“Maybe someone followed Teal and when she lay down to rest. . .”

“I'm warning you, Mindy,” Gia said.

“Okay, okay. Good night, ladies,” Mindy sang.

That couldn't be true, I thought, could it? Dr. Foreman had her stung by a scorpion to teach her a lesson?

I lay there with my eyes open, listening. Was it possible to hear something crawling over the straw-​covered floor? After a few moments, I could hear Teal's breathing get low and regular. Robin whimpered and then went silent. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I heard someone crying just as I had when I was with Dr. Foreman in the house.

This time I knew it.wasn't my imagination. I did hear someone crying.

It was me.

I cried myself to sleep just as I used to when I was a little girl and no one came to my bedside when I had nightmares or fears. It made me think I was going backward, getting younger and younger. One morning I would wake up in here and I would be an infant.

I had no idea how or when I fell asleep, but I did. The morning light was like an alarm bell. Everyone groaned and rose before M'Lady Two opened the door to announce we were to line up outside like troops. When we dressed and stepped into the unrelenting sunshine, we were made to recite our prayer as usual, then told to march over to the barn for our individual assignments for whitewashing the cow barn. Each of us would be responsible for a specific section. Cans of paint were open and ready with the rollers. Ladders had been set up as well.

“Try not to make a mess of things,” M'Lady Three said. “Breakfast in two hours. Get started.”

We began our halfhearted attack on the sides of the barn. Teal was the first to wail complaints. She splattered herself with some paint and moaned about its getting into what was left of her hair. The mess wasn't what made it terrible, however. I think they deliberately chose to have us begin on the east side of the barn. That way the rising sun would be sending its hot darts into us the whole time. In a matter of minutes, everyone looked drained and defeated; even Mindy and Gia were feeling it more than usual. Mindy trembled so badly on her ladder, it rattled.

At one point she turned and looked at Robin, Teal, and me angrily. The fury in her face made me uneasy. I couldn't stand being stared at so hatefully.

“What is your problem, Mindy?” I asked.

“I'll tell you my problem. They're only making us do this because of you three and the