There was
nothing left except for the dry heaves.
Corporate
Man was chained to a toilet, which was good in one respect since he’d spent
most of his conscious hours puking into it.
Unfortunately, his captor had not left sufficient slack in the chain
which would have allowed him to assume a seated position and account for the
ample losses he was enduring on the other end.
This bathroom was not equipped with a tub, but the shower stall was
close enough that he could maneuver his lower half inside. The idea was to make use of the drain. This was only partially effective since he
couldn’t reach the fixtures and turn the water on.
And now,
dry heaves. At least three hours of
them. It was almost as though his body
would not desist until it managed to turn him inside out.
“Knock,
knock,” a voice chimed in unison with a cheerful rap on the door. There was no pause for reply. The door opened. “You hungry?”
Corporate
Man responded with more dry heaves.
“Didn’t think
so. You think we can get some water in
you?”
Corporate
Man gingerly shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
“Stinks
pretty bad in here,” the voice said.
“How about I rinse out the shower?”
More dry
heaves. These lasted through the entire
rinsing process.
“Who…”
Corporate Man tried when the retching subsided.
“I’m a
friend,” the man said.
Corporate
Man shook the chain. It rattled loudly
against the porcelain and he thought his head might explode.
“That was
for your own good. They’ve got you on
some serious junk. This seemed like the
only way to ensure–”
Another
bout of serious gagging interrupted this last bit. When it passed the man squatted down and put
his hand on Corporate Man’s shoulder.
“It’s almost over. You’ve been
here since Friday night. Tomorrow’s
Monday. But I don’t think you’ll be
ready to go in to work.”
Corporate
Man’s eyes finally focused on the man’s face.
The custodian. What was his
name? Hector? But no, this man was no custodian. He was something more, something far
more. And Corporate Man recognized that
face. It was quite familiar. Through cracked lips and with a dry tongue he
spoke the name associated with that face.
“Junior.”
