Trap the Storm

Alic strolled down the hallway, the mid afternoon sunlight cast angles of light across the floor. His hard rubber sandals slapped the freshly polished, black and white checkered floor and echoed off the seafoam green walls. He had an appointment with the psychologist for the second time that week, and another appointment prescheduled again in two more days.

The oversized legs of his yellow scrubs flapped around his feet and threatened to trip him as he walked. He was glad that he'd soon be allowed to wear his own clothes. He'd been made to wear the hideous yellow scrubs all residents wore their first ninety days in the facility, and any time they were being disciplined. He had been a resident at the men's facility for a little over a year and had been under disciplinary restrictions the entire time.

Alic stopped right outside the door to the shrink's office to adjust himself. The white briefs the hospital provided were the smallest they had, yet they were still two sizes too big and the back always seemed to twist into a knot or fall down below his ass. The top on the other hand provided ample room to move around and fit like a big nightshirt. He had to roll the waist of the scrubs down several times and still the bottoms stacked on top of his feet like a downed tent.

Alic pulled the door open and sauntered into the office as though he didn't have a care in the world. He smoothed his scrubs out across his butt, just like his twin sister Carla had taught him and sat down on the chaise lounge. He kept his back straight when he sat exactly like Carla taught him to, then crossed his legs and interlocked his fingers over a knee.

"Hello Alic, how are you feeling today," the doctor asked.

"Just fine sir," he said.

"How are you doing with the lower dose of haloperidol," he asked.

"A little anxious I guess," he said trying to keep his knee from bouncing.

"Any other side effects you care to talk about?"

"No, just a bit of anxiety sir," Alic said.

The hospital was real sticklers about manners and respecting the staff. If you were reported for speaking out of turn or caught being rude, the Smith brothers would rough you up in the most legal way allowed for a mental institution... even if that mental institution was more like a medium-security prison for the criminally insane. Alic knew not to push his luck so soon after he was allowed back to his dorm.

"Good, shall we jump right in then?" the doctor asked.

Alic slid his legs up across the chaise, then interlocked his fingers across his chest. He laid his head back and stared at the ceiling. The doctor clicked the play button on a cassette tape at his side. The beginning of every session was the same.

A Morgan Freeman like voice narrated the user through a series of breathing exercises meant to calm and open the mind. Three times he'd been placed in solitary for breathing too loud and once for not breathing at all. Alic made everything just audible enough to let the doctor know he was playing the game. When the tape came to an end, the doctor switched it off. Alic hoped he wouldn't have to endure the mundane routine much longer. He was just waiting for Carla to come save him.

"I'm going to count backward from ten to one..." the doctor said.

Alic thought he saw movement in the shadows behind the doctor. His peripheral vision picked up a flicker in the darkness but the more he tried to zero in on it, the more it eluded him. Alic's twin sister, Carla slowly came into view holding a chain wrapped between her hands. She crept up behind the doctor as he started counting backward.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six..." he said.

The moment the doctor said the word ONE, Carla flipped the chain around his neck and pulled as tight as she could. Alic just sat there, too stunned to do anything but watch his sister strangle a man right in front of him. The doctor's legs shot straight out and started shaking as though the man were trying to run away. He clawed at Carla's hands and the chain seated against his airway but Carla just wouldn't let up. Alic watched in horror as the doctors eyes pooled with blood that started at the corners and worked around toward the pupil. He only struggled for a moment longer and then he completely stopped moving, his tongue hung partway out his mouth and a thin trail of blood leaked from his nose.

"What are you doing," Alic cried out as soon as the doctors arms slumped away from the chain.

"You're going to get us both caught if you don't quiet the fuck down," Carla whispered.

"You killed him, why'd you have to kill him," Alic asked, pacing back and forth pulling at his hair.

"He's not dead, look... he's still breathing," Carla said without even looking at the downed doctor.

Alic studied the man for a moment. He didn't see any indication of his chest rising or falling and even when Alic placed his ear right next to the doctors mouth he heard nothing. The doctor's eyes were a dark shade of red and the single trail of blood below his nostril had already started drying. His suspicions were true, Carla had killed the doctor and they'd blame it all on him.

"He's dead, you killed him," Alic yelled again.

"If you don't stop with the yelling, I'll fucking leave your ass here, you want me to leave you here," Carla hissed.

"No, I'm sorry. I just don't understand why you had to kill him," Alic said looking away.

"Is this not the fuck head that strapped you to the bed and fucking shocked you for several months in a row?"

"How... how'd you know about that?"

"I work for the fucking CIA, there's not a lot I don't know about what goes on around here, baby brother."

"Well... can we please try to not kill anyone else?"

"Can't promise ya' anything, but I'll try 'kay, now get the syringe from his pocket and get outta the way," Carla said, poised and ready to yank the door open.

"Stop, the Smith Brothers are out there," Alic cried, placing a hand on the door to keep Carla from opening it.

Everyone called the two men standing guard outside the doctor's office the Smith Brothers. They weren't really brothers, but they looked somewhat similar so the moniker stuck. Both men had arms the size of telephones poles and scrubs that seemed two sizes too small, but only in the arms.

If anything happened that they didn't like, they'd come in aiming to fuck someone up and Carla had just killed the doctor, so they'd surely fuck Alic and Carla up real good.

Alic had a lot of run-ins with the Smith Brothers in the beginning but since Dr. Clark let up on the shock therapy, Alic found it much easier to relax and follow the rules. He'd been made to wear the ugly yellow scrubs anytime he got in trouble and then at last until he admitted that Carla wasn't real. Alic had done exactly as his twin sister told him. He lied to them to get what he wanted.

"And I have to get through them if I expect to break you out of here don't I," she asked.

Carla twisted the knob and yanked the door open, then hid just inside the shadows. Frank B, the bald man peeked his head through the door and tip toed into the room. His eyes locked on the dead doctor and his expression morphed from curiosity into a look of pure rage. He didn't have the time to even blink, Carla was far too quick for him. She slid like a ninja out from behind the door and swung her arm toward the big man's throat like an airplane wing.

Alic heard the man's throat collapse with a crunch and he gurgled, choked on his own blood, and fell backward in agony. Less than a second later, Billy M, the shaggy-haired fuck face jumped through the door ready to kill someone. He wasn't nearly as smart as Frank but he definitely made up for his lack of brains by being the most ruthless guard in the hospital. His long brown hair swung around his face as he scanned the room for his target.

Carla was waiting in the shadows with a lamp base held high over her head ready to strike as soon as big Billy got within range. Alic closed his eyes when he saw Carla's arm muscles tense up and the lamp base crashed down on the man's skull.

Crunch... badump... Billy M collapsed into a heap of 'not man enough to take out Carla Sumpter.'

"Carla, you promised you wouldn't kill anyone else," Alic cried stepping away from the pool of blood coming from the big man's head.

"Those two deserved far worse than they just got. I would bring them back to life just to fucking kill them again, so you're welcome," Carla said tugging on Frank's foot.

Alic grabbed his other foot and pulled as hard as he could but nothing. Carla wanted to drag the bald man into the office and out of sight but even with the both of them, the big guy was just too massive to budge.

"I wasn't counting on him falling into the fucking hallway. That could really screw things up for us," Carla said kicking the bald man in the back of the head.

"Carla, take it easy," Alic said stepping over the man's lifeless body.

Carla ignored Alic and trotted off down the hall. He tried to keep up but his sister was just too fast for him. She'd been training with the CIA the entire time he'd been locked up. Evermore Psychiatric Hospital was his fifth different hospital in the last two years, and for him, it was also the worst. The bright side was, he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather have breaking him out than his twin sister. Alic saw a lab coat hanging from Carla's hand. A security badge glistened in the overhead lights from her other hand.

"Get out of those ugly fucking scrubs and put these sweats on," Carla said.

Alic ducked into an office down the hall and closed the door behind him. Carla was busily stripping the contents from a man's wallet. Alic didn't have time to register who the man was until he snatched the clothes from his sisters hand. The black sweatpants seemed far too big and the hoodie that had big block letters on the front read 'YALE' and almost drowned him. Both were clearly the downed man's workout clothes. Alic wished the man was the same size, but that just wasn't the case. Even though Alic was technically a man, the hospital didn't have yellow scrubs, or underwear small enough for him to wear. It was like Alic stopped growing at 14 years old.

Carla stripped all the cash from the man's wallet along with a few of the credit cards stuffed in behind the ones in the front. She stuffed the cash and cards in one of her oversized cargo pockets then put the man's wallet in his back pocket.

"Why didn't you just take all the cards," Alic asked.

"That dude is going to wake up and the first thing he'll do is go for his wallet. He'll see all the missing cash, but if all the credit cards are missing, he'll call and cancel them or they'll monitor the spending and track us."

"That dude, that's Dr. Koats, he was really nice... please tell me you didn't kill him Carla," Alic said.

"Calm down, I used the tranquilizer, help me tie him up so he can't call anyone when he wakes up."

The syringe Alic took from the shrink was still hanging out of the man's neck and was stabbed so close to his jugular artery that it pulsated with every heartbeat. Alic used the cord from Dr. Koats's computer to tie his hands to his legs. He rolled the doctor on his side in case he vomited in his sleep. He wondered how he knew to do that but didn't have time to think about anything but their escape.

"We've got to hurry," Carla said stuffing Alic's yellow scrubs under the man's couch.

"What now," Alic asked as he pulled the man's black hoodie on and flipped the hood up over his head.

"Now the lab coat, doctor..."

Carla stuffed the man's car keys in her pocket along with the credit cards and cash, then cracked the door and peered out into the hall. They could both hear a commotion going on down the hall where they had just been.

"We need to get the fuck out of here right now," Carla said.

Carla stuck her head out the door, then darted out of sight. Alic tried to follow but his rubber shoes seriously limited his ability to run. He was glad Carla had come to rescue him but couldn't she have brought some proper shoes. Carla was doing great in her combat boots and black fatigues like Alic expected, but his sister didn't have any idea the kind of skill it took to walk in the hard rubber shoes, let alone run.

"Alice, over here," Carla shouted.

Halfway down the hallway, Carla's head jutted out from an opening in the wall. Alic shuffled as fast as he could, he nearly fell any time he tried to run. Carla pointed at the keypad on the door...

"The key card, swipe it right here... right here, hurry the fuck up Alice," Carla yelled.

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She kept calling him Alice. He knew that wasn't his name but she'd been calling him Alice for so long, he almost started to think of himself as Alice rather than Alic. He thought back to the night his mother explained to the two of them how he'd gotten his name.

His mother shared about how they were expecting. Mr. and Mrs. Sumpter were supposed to be having twin girls but little Alic threw the newlywed parents a curveball and grew 'something a little extra.' Between the ultrasound and birth, Alic had developed 'boy parts' was how his mother said it. He was their unexpected blessing. Their little Carla and Alice became Carla and Alic instead.

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The shock of Carla slapping Alic in the back of the head pulled him out of his daydream.

"Alice, swipe the fucking card!"

Alic swiped the security badge and the door buzzed open. Carla peeked her head outside and clicked Dr. Koats's key fob. A minivan chirped in the parking lot across the street and Carla casually stepped out the door and into the street.

"Don't run, walk to the car. People will remember two people running but no one will think twice if they even notice two people walking across the street," Carla said.

Alic followed his sister to the parking garage. Once they found the minivan, they loaded in and drove off toward the city.

"We need to find someplace to lay low for a minute," Carla said handing Alic the cash and cards. "What do we have there?"

Alic took the bundle of cash and cards and started counting. Carla managed to steal three hundred dollars in cash and seven different credit cards.

"We need to go get some things, they'll be looking for you for sure so we'll need to change your appearance. We need to color your hair and get a change of clothes," Carla said pulling into a strip mall.

"I didn't think you were coming," Alic said.

"I told you I'd be back to get you out. What'd you think... I'd just leave you there to rot for the next ten years?"

"What color are we making my hair," Alic asked.

"Black or brown, let's go get that stuff first," Carla said ducking into a beauty supply store.

Alic followed Carla around the store taking everything and cradling it in his arms. She got so much stuff that Alic resorted to holding his hoodie up, like a little hammock in front of his body, and even still he had a hard time holding it all. Carla pulled one of the credit cards out of her pocket to pay and the cashier looked at Carla, then at the card, and back at Carla again.

"Oh, wait wait, not that card... I'm over my limit on that one. Sorry, use this one instead," Carla said producing a different card.

The cashier took the new card and seemed a lot less interested in the name on the front. Carla tapped her foot impatiently as the cashier bagged all of her items.

"Can we get a receipt please," Alic asked, but Carla shot him a look that he translated as "shut the hell up!"

"What the fuck was that, Can we get a receipt," Carla asked once they were outside.

"Well, so we can pay Dr. Koats back," Alic said.

"We aren't going back, what scenario do you see us ever going back," Carla asked.

"I don't know, but if we do... I'd like to pay him back. I don't want to steal from good people," Alic said.

"Oh my god, is he your boyfriend Alice, were you fucking him," Carla teased.

"No, he was not my boyfriend," Alic said.

"So you were just fuck buddies then huh, did that cute doctor give you extra portions of jello in exchange for blow jobs," Carla laughed.

"Stop it Carla."

"What... I can't help it if you have a history of blowing people to get what you want."

"I never did that, stop it," Alic said.

"Come on dummy, we need to get you some clothes too," Carla said dropping the bags of hair supplies in the minivan.

"I don't like it when you call me that."

"Whatever."

Alic followed Carla into a boutique clothing store. All the clothes looked really nice and super expensive. Carla was already filling her arms with items hardly even looking at what she grabbed. Alic couldn't help but touch the soft fabrics and look at all the pretty colors and patterns. He realized they were in a women's boutique when he picked up a tiered white linen skirt that flared out at the bottom. He held his hands up inside to gauge whether they were see through or not.

"Um... can I help you find something," a young brown-haired woman asked.

"No, I think we're good," Alic said.

"Oh, you're shopping with someone," she asked.

Alic looked from Carla and back to the young lady. "Yeah, I think we are okay."

"Alright, let me know if... y'all need anything," She said before walking away.

"Well that was fucking rude, could she not see me right here," Carla said.

"Probably not from under all those clothes."

"I think we've got enough for right now."

Alic took the pile of clothes from his sister and started shuffling toward the checkout. The underwear the hospital provided started sliding down his bum again and he had to stop to pull them up before he could take another step. He wished he were big enough to wear men's underwear but even the smallest men's briefs were far too big and slid around too much.

"I need some underwear too," Alic said.

Carla just stick her thumb up and continued walking. All Alic could do was trot along behind his sister with the heap of clothes obscuring most of his vision. Carla started taking items from the top of the pile and dropping them on the counter. The same young saleswoman started ringing the items up and folding everything into neat little piles. Alic thought they had a lot when it was piled up over his head but even folded, the pile was massive.

"Underwear," Alic asked quietly.

Carla shot him an angry glance and pointed to a pile of bras and panties of numerous colors. Alic's heart sank when he noticed there weren't any boy underwear in the pile, only panties. He remembered the day Carla went away... he was wearing her panties that day, he'd been wearing her panties for a couple of days by then. His cock twitched in the oversized briefs as he wondered what pair Carla would make him wear first. The young woman pulled him from his daydream when she started speaking.

"Yes, they're some really cute sets, I'm sure your girlfriend will love them," the young woman said placing everything into bags.

Alic and Carla exchanged an uncomfortable look with each other and Alice knew he shouldn't have said anything. Carla took the bags and stuffed half of the handles in one hand then the other half with her free hand and walked away. Alic hurried off in her trail.

"Thank you," Alic said leaving the store.

"Do you understand that we are paying with a fucking stolen card, and you're being a fucking weirdo isn't going to help us either? How about when I tell you to keep your mouth shut, you do just that okay," Carla said.

Alic just nodded, he didn't want to risk a verbal response with his sister already being so pissed at him. Carla loaded everything into the van and jumped in the driver's seat. Alic slid into the passenger side and the van screeched off out of the parking lot. Five minutes later, they pulled into a truck stop and Carla stuffed numerous things into a couple of bags.