Page 26 of The Hangman's Rope
Madisyn: Well, got a measuring tape? And no, I’m not talking one of those metal ones you guys use for construction, either.
Me: That’s all I have.
Madisyn: Okay, well do you have any twine, or string, or anything flexible then?
Me: Yeah, I got something.
Madisyn: Guy or a girl?
Me: Woman
There was a long, long pause before anything appeared on the screen again and I figured Madisyn was filling her bestie in without giving away too much. Or maybe she was. Fuck if any of us knew how the girls found out about what we were doing or had going on, but sometimes they figured it out or just knew. I know it wasn’t Synister spilling the tea because anytime Madisyn piped up about something when we were doing our own talking in code he looked downright pissed and it almost always started some kind of argument between them.
Madisyn: So, you’re going to need everything. Right? Shirt, pants, shoe, bra, the works.
Me: Yeah.
Madisyn: How many color of pens you got lying around?
Me: I don’t fucking know!
Madisyn: Well figure it out! It can and will be a lot easier on you than doing it the hard way.
Me: What’s the fucking hard way?
Madisyn: Writing ever measurement down…
Me: The fuck?
I guess she wanted me to take a piece of long cord if I had it and make each measurement a different color and just pass the cord off to her. It wasn’t a bad idea and took a lot of the work off me – I wouldn’t have to find a measuring tape and send each one. Just tell her a color as I took one and hand over the cord.
I could appreciate that.
I scared up some pens around the apartment and came up with black, blue, and red, easily enough. I also found a couple of permanent markers. One in green and one in brown. Last-ditch effort, I found some silver duct tape and black electrical tape. I could make it work. If I had to, I would wrap tape and do a colored pen line on the silver to make another color. I didn’t know exactly how many measurements I would be taking, but I figured it was going to be a lot. More than I’d ever had to go through for a suit or dress uniform.
I kept catching Lorelai looking at me, her rapt attention drawn away from her movie as I moved around the apartment looking for all this shit.
The last thing I needed was in the bedroom. I went back there and stared at my suspension setup and felt my mouth go dry. I wanted to play. I hadn’t in a while, and damn it was so tempting to just…
No, I wouldn’t ask. It wouldn’t be right.
I opened the top drawer of the nearby chest of drawers and gritted my teeth. There were all kinds of bundles of rope inside. I needed something on its last legs that I wouldn’t mindsacrificing to the cause. Preferably something white or neutral colored enough to show the ink markings.
I dug around in the back of the drawer and managed to come up with a length of white bamboo rope. High quality and expensive shit, but the fibers on this bundle were starting to wear and show their age. I hated doing it, but it would have to do. I just – even just to take measurements, I couldn’t justify putting something rougher like hemp or jute against her pale skin. Granted, I would probably be making the majority of these measurements over her clothes, but still.
I went back out and tossed the bundle onto the kitchen island and picked up my phone, sending a snap of the acquired supplies to Madisyn.
Madisyn: Yeah, all that will do, but try not to freak her out too much. With the knife block in the background this is a little serial killer-esque.
Me: Ha, fuck, you’re right. I think she trusts me a little… we kind of have an accord. I’m really just trying to help here.
Madisyn: Well, go easy on her.
Me: I have been! Now what do I do?
I waited a good long while and sure enough a wall of fucking text slammed down minutes later that left me dizzy and fucking confused.
Me: I’m not reading all of that. Maybe let’s go one at a time.
