They were in the front yard of the bungalow. In the far distance Tracy could see the building where the utility room was located. She had to be there at exactly 1:30. She would change into the street clothes that had been made for her, and by 1:45 she would be lying in the bottom of the large clothes hamper, covered over with uniforms and linens. At 2:00 the laundryman would come by for the hamper and wheel it out to his truck. By 2:15 the truck would drive through the gates on its way to the nearby town where the laundry plant was located.
The driver can’t see in the back of the truck from the front seat. When the truck gets to town and stops for a red light, just open the door, step out, real cool, and catch a bus to wherever you’re goin’.
“Can you see me?” Amy called. She was half-hidden behind the trunk of a magnolia tree. She held her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.
I’ll miss her, Tracy thought. When I leave here, the two people I’ll miss will be a black, bald-headed bull-dyke and a young girl. She wondered what Charles Stanhope III would have made of that.
“I’m coming to find you,” Tracy said.
Sue Ellen watched the game from inside the house. It seemed to her that Tracy was acting strangely. All morning she had kept looking at her watch, as though expecting someone, and her mind was obviously not on Amy.
I must speak to George about it when he comes home for lunch, Sue Ellen decided. I’m going to insist that he replace her.
In the yard, Tracy and Amy played hopscotch for a while, then jacks, and Tracy read to Amy, and finally, blessedly, it was twelve-thirty, time for Amy’s lunch. Time for Tracy to make her move. She took Amy into the cottage.
“I’ll be leaving now, Mrs. Brannigan.”
“What? Oh. Didn’t anyone tell you, Tracy? We’re having a delegation of VIP visitors today. They’ll be having lunch here at the house, so Amy won’t be having her nap. You may take her with you.”
Tracy stood there, willing herself not to scream. “I—I can’t do that, Mrs. Brannigan.”
Sue Ellen Brannigan stiffened. “What do you mean you can’t do that?”
Tracy saw the anger in her face and she thought, I mustn’t upset her. She’ll call the warden, and I’ll be sent back to my cell.
Tracy forced a smile. “I mean…Amy hasn’t had her lunch. She’ll be hungry.”
“I’ve had the cook prepare a picnic lunch for both of you. You can go for a nice walk in the meadow and have it there. Amy enjoys picnics, don’t you, darling?”
“I love picnics.” She looked at Tracy pleadingly. “Can we, Tracy? Can we?”
No! Yes. Careful. It could still work.
Be in the utility room by one-thirty. Don’t be late.
Tracy looked at Mrs. Brannigan. “What—what time do you want me to bring Amy back?”
“Oh, about three o’clock. They should be gone by then.”
So would the truck. The world was tumbling in on her. “I—
“Are you all right? You look pale.”
That was it. She would say she was ill. Go to the hospital. But then they would want to check her over and keep her there. She would never be able to get out in time. There had to be some other way.
Mrs. Brannigan was staring at her.
“I’m fine.”
There’s something wrong with her, Sue Ellen Brannigan decided. I’m definitely going to have George get someone else.
Amy’s eyes were alight with joy. “I’ll give you the biggest sandwiches, Tracy. We’ll have a good time, won’t we?”
Tracy had no answer.
The VIP tour was a surprise visit. Governor William Haber himself was escorting the prison reform committee through the penitentiary. It was something that Warden Brannigan had to live with once a year.
“It goes with the territory, George,” the governor had explained. “Just clean up the place, tell your ladies to smile pretty, and we’ll get our budget increased again.”
The word had gone out from the chief guard that morning: “Get rid of all the drugs, knives, and dildos.”