“He attacked Riju this morning, and he locked me in the basement with no food or water,” gasped Kit. “I said I wanted to go. He was going to keep me like a real slave.”
“He tried to keep us from leaving,” Riju managed to say as he tried to get his air back. “He attacked me this morning, and tonight-”
“Don’t listen to him,” snapped Trig, drawing the guard’s attention back. “Riju’s not mentally well, and our pleasure slave intended to rob me. He got Riju to do what he said because he’s retarded, and he’s easily led astray-”
“That’s not true!” shouted Riju. “Kit didn’t steal anything.”
Trig yelled at the guards who appeared beyond confused. They’d probably never had a real issue beyond a couple of petty fights between students or kids trying to sneak onto the grounds for a dare.
The second guard told them all to shut up. “We can’t tell what the fuck is happening when you’re all squawking. You two, go inside the guardhouse.”
“They need to come ho-” started Trig.
“Can you shut up for a moment?”
Kit tugged Riju into the high-ceiling room that was perfectly square. It had a window so the guards could stay out of the rain or snow if needed and still see anyone coming. A brazier gave off a little heat, and a couple of stools were by one side. On a table sat a couple of small pails that likely contained their dinners. Riju leaned on the wall and hugged Kit who was shaking.
“We’ll be fine,” said Kit. “They can’t make us go back.”
Leaving a relationship wasn’t a crime, but he hadn’t thought about what the guards might do if Trig convinced them Rijuwasn’t mentally well enough to be outside. A lot of people knew Trig and viewed him as a decent man. Riju wasn’t exactly known as “normal.”
“What if they think I have to go back and force me?” hissed Riju.
“What? They can’t.”
“But what if they think I’m like a child in my head who can’t be outside alone?”
Kit squeezed him. “I won’t let him take you.”
The second guard came in while Riju tried to hear what Trig was saying. “Did either of you rob him?”
“No!” Riju and Kit said at the same time.
“What’s in the pack?” asked the guard.
“My clothes, a couple of dolls, and my money. The money ismine. I’ve been saving for years.”
“Can I see it?”
Riju handed over his pack and pulled back his sleeve. “He slapped me this morning, and he grabbed my wrist and yanked it because I tried to go to my room to get away from him.”
The guard squinted at the cloth which had wrinkled, especially where Riju had looped it over his thumb to secure it, and it looked like it had been on for hours. “Trig did that to you?”
“Yes! I said I was leaving him, and he was furious and said I couldn’t. He kept Kit locked up all day.”
“-liar because he doesn’t know better, and Kit’s been telling him all sorts of shit,” Trig was saying. “I didn’t know our pleasure slave was getting Riju’s head twisted in private. If you lived with us, you’d see Riju’s retarded and quite gullible. They both are, but Riju is worse, and I need to take them home.”
“We’re not retarded,” Riju shouted as he opened his pack.
“You all need to stop yelling.” The second poked his head in. “What do they have?”
Riju took out his dolls since he wasn’t letting the guards touch them. Both looked at him oddly, and the second dug through the pack.
“It’s just a few basic items, clothes, and a coin purse.”
“That’s my saved wages,” said Riju. “If you think we robbed him, look at the ledger for our business and personal expenses, and check how much money he’s got in the office lockbox for small things. We’ve always kept a record of what’s there, and it’ll match exactly because I haven’t stolen shit and neither has Kit.”
“Trig’s nose is bleeding,” said one.
