The Wall

34

Lots of greenery in the fridge. Lettuce, cucumbers, apples, herbs. Other fruits as well. No meat. Several kinds of juice. A white woman, Moses thought. Typical. He reached for a carton of papaya juice and drank out of it. He knelt down beside the cabinets and turned the spigot on the water canister. Let it run and gulped down water. So incredibly thirsty.

In the bathroom, he pulled a towel off a bar and wiped the sweat from his face and arms. The towel smelled of expensive soap. Moses pressed it against his face and inhaled. He wondered what parts of herself the occupant of this house had dried with this towel. He hung it back up. Would she catch his scent later, too?

Though small, the lounge had been decorated with at least a little good taste. Colorful, no excessive frills. A few photos were sitting in a small cupboard next to the TV. A brunette woman with medium-length hair. A photo with her mama, one with a friend, one with another friend, and yet another with a different friend, who looked Asian. No man in any of them. Maybe she was lesbian. Would make sense. Many lesbians were vegetarian. He’d read that somewhere. Or someone had told him that. Way at the back, there was another photo showing her sitting on the beach wearing a bikini. Next to her, another woman in t-shirt and shorts, perhaps ten years older than her. Moses studied the woman in the bikini who had to be the one living here. Tried to mentally undress her, to imagine her naked. He shook his head. He had other worries. Real worries.

Back in the bathroom, he lifted the toilet lid and peed. As he was about to flush the commode, some impulse made him hesitate. It was best to not be too loud. Someone might be standing at the door, someone who knew that the woman wasn’t at home right now. In that case, the sound of flushing would raise red flags.

What should he do now? In here, he was at least safe for the time being. But that safety was only relative to what was going on outside. Who might be searching for him close by? And who might come in the house? And the million-dollar question still hadn’t changed: How could he get out of here?

Moses quietly cursed the fact that he was now farther from the exit than he had been a few minutes ago. If he’d been lucky, he might already be looking at the gate. What now? He was about the same distance away as he had been the moment he started running from the two whites. How much time had passed since then? He looked at his watch. It was already two o’clock.

Only two. It had been less than an hour since he’d started trying to escape. And yet, it felt like an eternity to him. And it was still so damned hot. He was dripping in sweat again.

Somewhere, he heard the rising sound of a siren. They were coming with sirens blaring. Moses listened more closely. And then even more closely. There was something about this tone that bothered him.

It slowly dawned on him that what he was hearing wasn’t a siren.