The Prior

POV: Max Jameson

I wake up before everyone else. Elliot and Cass are still in Bonnie and Clyde’s bedroom. Belle lays on the couch across from me. The fan gently moves her hair. I get up and walk over to where she lays. Her chest still rises and falls, with life. Thank god. Careful not to wake her, I gently touch the side of her face. She’s warm. Not hot. Warm. I catch my breath a little. She made it through the night and might even be fine when she wakes up.

While I care for Belle, I think my relief subsides mostly from the fact that this means we do not have to stay in this terrifying bank-robber death house for much longer. I sit back down for a little while, even considering going back to sleep. The room is too dark to read the clock on the wall, but a gentle sunrise assures me that it is morning.

A quiet door squeaks from down the hall. Bonnie and Clyde? Elliot and Cass? In a split second, I decide that fake sleeping is the best option in case the footsteps are Bonnie or Clyde. I quickly tuck myself in and close my eyes. It’s only one person. Their footsteps are light, ruling out Elliot and Clyde. I squint one eye open and see that it’s Cassidy. She touches Belle’s forehead, just as I did. I close my eye back after a moment.

“Max, I saw you fake sleep,” she mutters, “It’s just me.”

I open my eyes and see her glaring at me. Her arms are crossed against her chest. I smile towards her.

“Hi,” I whisper. She sits down on the armrest of the couch, near my feet. I sit up and lean against the opposite armrest.

“So, plan recap..” she whispers. I scoot closer to her. She continues, “I’m going to fake discourage Bonnie and Clyde from going out, but in reality they’re never going to make it to where they are going. I don’t really know what I’m doing, but I’ll figure it out. I just know I’m going to put on a show for the recorder, but I’m absolutely not letting them get away.”

“Okay. What do I need to do?” I ask.

She shrugs, “Act natural. Fill in when you see necessary.”

I give her a thumbs up as someone walks out of Bonnie and Clyde’s room. Cass quickly moves to Belle, touching her once more.

I turn my head across the hallway: Bonnie, alone, wanders out. She smiles softly at Cass.

“How’s the girl?” she asks. Cassidy turns back to her.

“I ain’t sure, but I may wake her up. She feels a lot cooler than earlier, so thank ya for the fan,” Cass says, matching Bonnie’s accent once more. Cass gently taps Belle’s cheek until she stirs awake.

“How are ya?” Cass asks. Belle yawns briefly and looks over at me and Bonnie. She nods at bit, sitting up from the couch.

“Fine,” she says, “Can I have some water?”

Bonnie immediately turns away and walks towards the kitchen. Cass quickly follows her, leaving me and Belle.

“Where the fuck are we?” Belle asks, her voice cracking. I hold in a chuckle. Something about this entire situation is quite ironic.

“Bonnie and Clyde’s living room,” I say. Her eyes widen, just before Cass and Bonnie return from the kitchen. Bonnie hands Belle a glass of water. Cass glances at Bonnie, then me. She quickly flips me a thumbs up. I squint at her, but she explains no further. After a few moments, Bonnie and Cass both leave to wake up Clyde and Elliot. A couple minutes later, all four walk out of the room together, laughing. I fold up my bedding and neatly place it on the couch.

“I think we’re leavin’ soon. Got that errand to run,” Bonnie says. Cass nods almost noticeably.

“We’ll be out of your hair soon. We should probably find some gas,” Cass says, glancing at Elliot.

He clears his throat, “I heard on our radio scanner that there’s some cops out waitin’ for ya on the highway. Maybe you guys should wait it out a bit.”

Clyde raises an eyebrow, “Oh, really now?”

Elliot nods as Bonnie glances at Clyde. In his ear, she whispers something. I can’t even hear it, despite my close proximity to them.

“We’ll leave on Tuesday then,” Clyde says, nodding at Bonnie. Cass smiles, contently. Elliot grabs her waist. She stands on her tip-toes and plants a kiss on his cheek. I can’t make out what she whispers to him, but he smiles soon after.

“Great. We’ll keep an eye out for y’all. And, join this group you gave us,” Elliot says. Cass holds the paper tightly.

“Thanks so much for havin’ us,” Cass adds. I motion for Belle to stand up and we both walk towards Elliot and Cass.

“Thank you so much,” I add.

Belle curtseys, “I appreciate all the hospitality.”

We leave their home and walk back into the southern heat. Cass look back at the three of us. She throws a huge thumbs up at us. Elliot gives one back and we slowly walk away from the home. We walk towards the neighbor’s home, nearly half of a mile down the road. In the neighbor’s yard, we all climb into the ditch.

“What the fuck just happened?” I ask. Cass looks over at me and smiles.

“Easy as pie. They weren’t hard to convince. We should jump years any second now,” she says. As she talks, she pulls a piece of paper and a pen out from her dress. She must’ve stolen it from Bonnie and Clyde. On the paper she scribbles something. Elliot nods at her.

“Good job, Cassidy.”

My focus remains on the paper. She leans against the dirt wall of the ditch and discreetly passes me the paper.

I handled it. I told Bonnie that Elliot and I talked about the Congressionalists. She thinks that Elliot was lying & didn’t want them to complete their errand because he’s anti-Congressionalist. I told her to just agree with him, but to complete the mission anyway. For the recorder, it sounds like we tried. They will leave and die in a few hours. Pass to Elliot when you’re done.

I hand the paper over to Elliot. Belle lays down on the dirt and looks up to the sky. I watch Elliot as he reads the note. He smiles at Cassidy and discreetly gives her a high-five. I’m not nearly as excited as Elliot is about this. My stomach actually feels like a pit. I’m not cut out for this shit. I hate the idea of defying the missions –– even if it is the right thing to do. I simply do not want to be stuck in 120º Louisiana decades before air conditioning is common. I look up at the sky. God. Jesus. Muhummad. Grandma. Whoever’s up there… Please save us.

I close my eyes, resting my head against the dirt. My heart leaps against a horrifying background noise. Cass holds Belle carefully against the dirt. I fight my instinct and remain pressed against the ditch. I was not cut out for this. The squealing of tires ring in my ears. My eyes are pressed shut when a new sound explodes in my eardrum: gunshots hitting metal. The shriek of a woman bares little volume in comparison to the volume of the gunshots. The pain in her shriek, though, bares an emotional response. I’ve seen plenty of things. I’ve analyzed murder weapons, rape kits, crimescenes, bullet wounds. But nothing the eyes can see, in the aftermath, is remotely as terrifying as what the ears hear, at the time of the event. I keep my eyes squeezed together, but my eyelids can’t hold back an escaping flow of tears. Hot tears fall right down my cheeks. I’m not afraid for my life. Maybe I should be, but my emotions aren’t faltering out of fear. They’re faltering in a mere biological response, to the death cry of a human being, to the horrifying bullet noises that ring in my ears, to the knowledge that I am morally responsible for all of that.

A hand graples onto my left shoulder. Cass is to my right, pinning down Belle from what I remember. Who is on my left? Elliot, I realize.

His voice whispers to me, “It’ll all be over soon. The police will drive off in a few minutes. Then, your ears will stop ringing.” he squeezes my shoulder. I muster one eye open. He looks at me, his brow furrowed, “We’re in this together, bud. This is scary, horrible shit. I have been there. Right where you are right now. I’m here if you need to talk.”

I open my other eye, to see a soft, genuine smile on his face. Of course he’s genuine. Can’t even hate him. I never had a chance with Cass. He always did. And, despite my relentless terrorizing of him, here he is, comforting me. His hand gently lifts off my shoulder.

“Thanks, man,” I say. He nods. The squealing of policemen’s tires snap me to reality. I take my hands up to my ears and cover them.

After what feels like hours, but was likely only 20 minutes, my ears do stop ringing. I glance at Elliot, who holds eye contact with me.

“You ok?” he half-whispers, half-silently mouths. I plaster on a fake smile––temporarily, at least and nod. He raises an eyebrow, but turns to Belle and Cass.

Belle shakes her head, distraught, “If Bonnie and Clyde are dead, then how are we going to leave?” Leave it to Belle to unknowingly play along for the recorders. Cass looks at her for a moment. Her head tilts from side to side, gently, as she debates what to say.

“Belle,” Cass says, “I have no idea.”

I feel the need to add in, for good measure, “So, we’re fucked?”

Elliot sighs and Cass nods.

“Yup.”