food.”
“I guess. I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far in advance.”
“Obviously!”
There was no way to explain to Needles what he saw in Ramone. Ghosteye wasn’t even sure he understood it. Others saw it, though. The girl Marci. Blythe, the lawyer. There was something. He wasn’t dreaming it. And now Ghosteye was changed. He felt like he’d been asleep for years, was just now shaking off the dust of immobility and had started a new motion toward something painful and scary, but…better, somehow. His course was decided by a spur of the moment reaction to something he saw clearly as an injustice. A week ago he would have seen what was happening to Ramone as right and correct, or at least, he’d have said Ramone deserved what was happening, as a threat to the status quo, and he would have been complicit in the outcome without feeling a bit of guilt.
“What are you going to do?” Ghosteye asked, quietly. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could just let Elliot destroy Ramone’s body. Blythe hadn’t moved from her vehicle out in front of Ramone’s house. She seemed paralyzed with fear. And Ghosteye hadn’t done anything with her feed, yet. He didn’t want to take the audience away from Ramone. He wanted their guts to ache like his ached. He wanted them to weep in anguish. He wanted them to awaken and step outside the voyeuristic paradigm and recognize the humanity of man. It would make them wake up. It had to.
“What the hell can I do? You got any suggestions? At some point I expect a knock at my door and then maybe a couple nice beatings before I’m taken to a high security cell somewhere. Hopefully you’ll be there and I can kick your ass.”
“So you plan to surrender?”
“Surrender? Surrender? You’re delusional, man. This is the way it is. What am I supposed to do? There’s no choice here, man. They know where I am. They know where you are. They know where that old man is. You think they’ll let a couple idiot Editors just walk away from the system?” Needles laughed bitterly and swore. “Right now I wish I’d never agreed to take this stupid feed for you. All she’s doing is crying. Can’t even tear her eyes away from the feed. That’s how effective your little stunt is. It’s just turning everyone into sadists. They’ll end up loving it. Just you watch.”
“You’re blind. At some point you’ll realize it. It will be too late then. Figure it out now, before you really have no choice,” Ghosteye said, biting his lip as he worked and hoped for Needle’s eyes to be opened.
“If I knew where you were, I’d come over there and break your neck, you know that?”
Ghosteye scoffed, but didn’t say anything. A plan was forming in his head as he worked on veritable autopilot. Could he trust Needles? He felt a responsibility to him and the weight of it surprised Ghosteye. He’d never felt responsible for anyone but himself. Even when Beth was around. He’d never felt yoked with the weight of a partnership with her. He was in it for himself, then.
He needed to act quickly. Time would be against them soon. Blythe. Ramone. Marci. They didn’t know it, but their salvation was resting on Ghosteye now.
*****
Crying didn’t help. Once the jet was aloft, Marci took her slate into the bathroom and sat on the toilet with the lid down. She felt like wailing loudly, but knew it would attract attention. It might even frighten them into taking her into custody. The legal limit for bathroom use on passenger jets was only five minutes. After that, they’d come for her.
“Ramone, Ramone, Ramone,” she whispered, unable to tear her eyes from what the creepy bastard was doing. Why was this being broadcast? Why was this man hurting Ramone? What had he done? He had only loved another woman, but he’d done nothing, really. He was the one who was being hurt! The man should be questioning Sue, not Ramone!
“We’ve been watching you, Ramone. You had to know that.”
Ramone
“I guess. I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far in advance.”
“Obviously!”
There was no way to explain to Needles what he saw in Ramone. Ghosteye wasn’t even sure he understood it. Others saw it, though. The girl Marci. Blythe, the lawyer. There was something. He wasn’t dreaming it. And now Ghosteye was changed. He felt like he’d been asleep for years, was just now shaking off the dust of immobility and had started a new motion toward something painful and scary, but…better, somehow. His course was decided by a spur of the moment reaction to something he saw clearly as an injustice. A week ago he would have seen what was happening to Ramone as right and correct, or at least, he’d have said Ramone deserved what was happening, as a threat to the status quo, and he would have been complicit in the outcome without feeling a bit of guilt.
“What are you going to do?” Ghosteye asked, quietly. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could just let Elliot destroy Ramone’s body. Blythe hadn’t moved from her vehicle out in front of Ramone’s house. She seemed paralyzed with fear. And Ghosteye hadn’t done anything with her feed, yet. He didn’t want to take the audience away from Ramone. He wanted their guts to ache like his ached. He wanted them to weep in anguish. He wanted them to awaken and step outside the voyeuristic paradigm and recognize the humanity of man. It would make them wake up. It had to.
“What the hell can I do? You got any suggestions? At some point I expect a knock at my door and then maybe a couple nice beatings before I’m taken to a high security cell somewhere. Hopefully you’ll be there and I can kick your ass.”
“So you plan to surrender?”
“Surrender? Surrender? You’re delusional, man. This is the way it is. What am I supposed to do? There’s no choice here, man. They know where I am. They know where you are. They know where that old man is. You think they’ll let a couple idiot Editors just walk away from the system?” Needles laughed bitterly and swore. “Right now I wish I’d never agreed to take this stupid feed for you. All she’s doing is crying. Can’t even tear her eyes away from the feed. That’s how effective your little stunt is. It’s just turning everyone into sadists. They’ll end up loving it. Just you watch.”
“You’re blind. At some point you’ll realize it. It will be too late then. Figure it out now, before you really have no choice,” Ghosteye said, biting his lip as he worked and hoped for Needle’s eyes to be opened.
“If I knew where you were, I’d come over there and break your neck, you know that?”
Ghosteye scoffed, but didn’t say anything. A plan was forming in his head as he worked on veritable autopilot. Could he trust Needles? He felt a responsibility to him and the weight of it surprised Ghosteye. He’d never felt responsible for anyone but himself. Even when Beth was around. He’d never felt yoked with the weight of a partnership with her. He was in it for himself, then.
He needed to act quickly. Time would be against them soon. Blythe. Ramone. Marci. They didn’t know it, but their salvation was resting on Ghosteye now.
*****
Crying didn’t help. Once the jet was aloft, Marci took her slate into the bathroom and sat on the toilet with the lid down. She felt like wailing loudly, but knew it would attract attention. It might even frighten them into taking her into custody. The legal limit for bathroom use on passenger jets was only five minutes. After that, they’d come for her.
“Ramone, Ramone, Ramone,” she whispered, unable to tear her eyes from what the creepy bastard was doing. Why was this being broadcast? Why was this man hurting Ramone? What had he done? He had only loved another woman, but he’d done nothing, really. He was the one who was being hurt! The man should be questioning Sue, not Ramone!
“We’ve been watching you, Ramone. You had to know that.”
Ramone
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