"Of course not. Dr. Foreman."
"Make her empty her pocket," I cried.
"We don't lie to each other here." Dr. Foreman said. "My girls and I have an unbreakable chain of trust among us. If she says it's not in her pocket, it's not."
"But... it is. Wait, look at my foot." I took off the shoe and my stocking. Then I lifted my foot so she could clearly see the swelling.
"I don't see anything unusual," she said dryly,
"What?"
"I'm like you. Phoebe. I see and I hear what I want, Insubordination means a session in the Ice Room. M'ladies, do your duty."
"Yes. Dr. Foreman," M'Lady One said.
Dr. Foreman glared at me a moment. I was frozen, my foot still dangling before her. She turned and went back into the house.
"Get the shoe back on and move," M'Lady Three ordered. I shook my head.
M'Lady Two came walking across the yard. "Trouble?"
"Not much. Phoebe here was insubordinate and is to be spending a session in the Ice Room. She's continuing to be insubordinate, which means that session will be longer." M'Lady One explained calmly. She could have been reporting the weather.
I turned away. I couldn't run from them, not with the pain in my foot. I was unable to put any weight on it, and where would I run to?
"You know what one of these is?" M'Lady Two asked, bringing a small, black metal thing out of her pocket. It looked like a man's electric razor. "It's called a stun gun. Ever see one used?"
I had Willie Sturges had bought one and as a joke used it on Dennis Hampton, a fat boy in our tenth-grade class who was always the butt of jokes. I couldn't believe how fast he went down and how he writhed in pain. The sight made me sick and I ran. I really thought Willie had killed him. Afterward. I saw Dennis, still looking stunned, his pants showing where he peed on himself, stumbling along, home. Everyone but me thought it was pretty funny.
"Please," I said "I really did get stung."
"And you're about to be stung again, only this will be far worse," M'Lady Two warned,
"Move," M'Lady Three said. pointing.
"I can't walk." I cried.
"Hop," M'Lady One said. "Now."
They closed in on me. I started to my walk, but merely putting my toe to the ground increased the pain. The tears were streaming dawn my cheeks. I could feel my shortened breath straining my lungs. My stomach churned.
"I'm getting sick." I moaned.
-Poor little Phoebe bird." M'Lady One chimed, and they all laughed. "What's happening to the tough girl we all knew and loved?"
"Where are we going?" I screamed, or at least I thought I had.
When we rounded the corner, MLady Two rushed ahead and opened a door. I hesitated and looked back. Where were the other girls? Where was Natani?
The room inside looked dark. All I could think about was the way Robin had been after she had been put in the Ice Room and the things Gia had said about it. too.
"Listen to me." I pleaded. "I just found out that my mother died. I don't mean to be insubordinate. I'm upset."
M'Lady One pretended she was playing a violin,
"I'm sorry.. I'll go back to my work. I promise I won't say anything nasty to any of you."
"It's too late for promises. Phoebe." M'Lady Three said. "Weren't you told that? When you came here, you left all your promises and excuses behind you You're naked here. It's reality. You are rewarded for good and punished for bad. It's simple and it never changes."