The night was warm and muggy, the air so thick with humidity it clung to Ariana's skin and made breathing a chore. Letting them out into the yard for Lake Page's Fourth of July fireworks was one of the warden's great gifts to his inmates. It was the only night of the year they were afforded such a privilege, and Ariana recalled that last year the prisoners had been beside themselves with giddiness. Tonight, however, the general population just seemed sluggish and annoyed, as if they would have preferred being left in their common rooms with their TVs and their air-conditioning. They groused and grumbled as they trudged across the lawn or dropped down on the grass to wait for the show. Ungrateful, every one of them.Every one of them, save Ariana Osgood. Ariana couldn't have been more grateful. If she could have, she would have sent the warden a polite little note of thanks. What he didn't know was that he was aiding and abetting what Ariana hoped would be the first-ever escape
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from his precious facility. The fireworks and their noise were going to provide the perfect cover.
Now all she had to do was ditch Kaitlynn. Even though it pained her to do so.
"Did I ever tell you about that Independence Day when Grandma C. took all of us to the Texas hill country to spend the day on the river and watch the fireworks?" Kaitlynn said wistfully as they walked the yard. "Her father always used to take her there for the festivities, and she wanted to share it with us. Briana Leigh whined about it the whole time, of course. She wanted to go to the big barbecue picnic at the country club and hook up with Tad McMurray, but I loved it. I think that was the first time Grandma C. and I really bonded...."
Ariana was only half paying attention to Kaitlynn's ramble. She was too busy scanning the yard for someone to distract her friend. Finally she saw E Cup--real name Maria Huff--strolling by, and grabbed her opportunity.
"Hey, Maria!" Ariana called out, interrupted Kaitlynn in the middle of a sentence. Maria looked over her shoulder, surprised. She and Ariana had spoken a total of three times.
"Yeah?" she said.
"C'mere." Ariana motioned with her hand.
Maria did so, shuffling her small feet. Maria was small all over. About four-foot nine, with toothpick legs, and arms that appeared as if they could be snapped like twigs. Everything was small except her breasts--her humongous fake breasts. She had been a call girl in Las Vegas in her former life: a high-paid call girl with a huge mansion in
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the desert and four cars and five Chihuahuas about whom she loved to talk. Maria had been living the life. Which made Ariana wonder what had possessed her to run over the proprietor of her strip club nine times with each of those four cars.
But then, one never
knew what could make a person snap.
"What's up, Georgia Peach?" Maria asked, hands clasped behind her back.
"I was just thinking about my dog, Tara, back home and I remember hearing that you had dogs too," Ariana ventured, feigning interest. "What kind were they again? Shih tzus?"
Maria pulled an irritated face, her tiny features screwing up like a cartoon mouse's. "Ew. No. They're Chihuahuas. And my sister just sent me new pictures of 'em. Check it out." She pulled several bent photos out of her waistband and held them out for Ariana and Kaitlynn to see.
There they were. Five Chihuahuas all dressed up like ballerinas--tutus, crowns, and all. Ariana bristled. Animals dressed in human clothing was just so wrong. She felt humiliated on the dogs' behalf. Kaitlynn, however, loved it.
"Awww! Look at the little poochies!" she cooed, her voice going up an octave.
"Adorable!" Ariana forced herself to exclaim. She had seen Maria showing those pictures around to her table at breakfast that morning. As her tablemates cooed over them, Ariana had realized that God was on her side. She knew they would make for the perfect distraction tonight.
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Kaitlynn reached for the photos, but Maria slapped her hands away. Kaitlynn drew her hands to her chest and pouted.
"Look, but don't touch," Maria warned.
For a breathless second Ariana thought Kaitlynn was going to walk away to sulk, but the dogs were too much for her to resist.
"What're their names again?" she asked Maria.
"This one's Betty... that one's Sam. The one with the lazy eye is Chita. You should have heard the way she was barking the last time I talked to my sister. I swear she knew I was on the phone."
"Oh, well, she knows her mommy! Of course she does!" Kaitlynn said, jutting out her lower lip in a precious way.
Slowly, Ariana backed away from the pair of dog lovers and ducked behind a crowd of women from Ward Three. Within ten seconds she had become just another one of the hundreds of dancing shadows on the lawn, and she allowed herself a quick moment to breathe. One obstacle down. Only a thousand more to go. But there was no telling how long Maria would keep Kaitlynn occupied. How long it would be before Kaitlynn came looking for her. Ariana wanted to glance back, take one last look at her friend, but she couldn't risk catching Kaitlynn's attention
Up above there was a loud crack, and suddenly the sky was illuminated by a thousand white sparks. Everyone in the yard reacted in some way. Oohing or ahhing or laughing.
"Pretty!" Crazy Cathy yelled, jumping up and down and clapping. "Pretty stars!"