Chapter Twenty Three

 Chapter Twenty - Three

     Olive entered her apartment where it was warm and cozy. Corby brought her home safe and sound. She was back to her normal life. It was normal as it could be.

     Something was baking in the oven. Leslie must have been at home and hanging out in her room. Olive went to the fridge and took out some leftovers from their feast.

     She remembered how she used to create meals out of the leftovers from Thanksgiving. As she made her meal she thought about what a blessing Corby was, but she did not know what her status with him was at that point. She placed the plate into the microwave.

     Olive took her laptop out of her bag and placed it onto the table. She searched online for current events. She visited her long neglected profile online. She couldn’t remember the last time she changed her picture.

     Olive posted: I made it back from my annual trip to Idaho. It’s been a while.

     A string of welcome backs and how have you been appeared in the comments. A few likes and loves appeared on her status. Some of her friends asked for photos. She wasn’t sure what they wanted to see since there was barely anything left. It would have been heartbreaking to post pictures.

     “God, most of you already know what it looks like,” she grumbled. She wasn’t even sure if a camera could take a decent picture where radiation remained.

     Leslie entered the kitchen, “Oh! Welcome back! How was your trip?”

     “The usual,” she replied. “Things are still in ruins. New houses were rebuilt. I wouldn't want to move back, but it’s their funeral.”

     “Some people want to be at home,” Leslie took chicken out of the oven. “I can’t believe that you have the courage to use a microwave. Won’t that make your condition worse?”

     Olive retrieved her plate from the microwave and ignored her comment, “Did you hear that the government is starting to track all of the medicine that we are using?”

     “Liberals are turning it into a conspiracy theory,” she balked.

     Olive sat down at the table and looked at her coolly, “You liberally throw that word around as though you know what it means.”

     “Well, obviously there is some kind of a shortage,” she said. “Why else would they be tracking it?”

     “All medications?” asked Olive. “That’s what I thought at first, but they are tracking every single little thing. Everyone is required to turn in their booklet annually. Somebody is being nosey.”

     Leslie shrugged and dug into her lunch, “People are being paranoid.”

     Olive picked at her cranberry sauce and she searched the Internet, “I hope that is right.”

     Olive posted: Boyfriend was refiling his pills at the clinic and found out that everyone’s pills are being tracked. That is messed up!

     She began searching for groups. She searched for government groups and anti-Wolfe groups. Nothing could be found except for a group specifically set up by the White House and the Wolfe Administration.

     Any group that appeared to speak against Wolfe was banned. Protesting was banned altogether at some point. Anyone who joined groups faced fines and imprisonment. What had the world come to?

     The death of her father and other members of the Air Force were covered up. Her mother never received any compensation. Her mother was threatened for saying anything about it. This was while she was sick and in the hospital.

     Olive drummed her fingers on the table. What had the country come to? This was glorification of mistreatment of others. A message popped up on the bottom right hand of the screen.

     “Be careful what you post,” warned Leslie.

     Janice: Isn’t that post personal?

     Olive: Everyone else is going through this. I’m pissed off. It could be happening to me, but I refuse to take medication. Isn’t this happening to you?

     Janice: No.

     Olive: Do you know anyone else who is going through this?

     Janice didn’t respond. Nobody responded to her post. Nobody marked that they liked it or were mad at it. Evidently, they liked that she was home.

     “Good to be alive, I guess,” she muttered and closed the computer.

     Her cell phone began to ring. Janice’s name appeared on the caller ID. Hesitantly, she answered.

     “Hello?” Olive greeted her.

     “We haven’t spoken in a while, girl. How are you? I wasn’t sure if you had the same number,” said Janice.

     “Yeah, it’s been a while,” Olive left the dining room and went into her room. “What’s up?”

     “I have to keep this conversation brief,” she said. “We are having a get together at my house. Maybe you should come.”

     “I’m not sure,” Olive grumbled.

     “Yeah, you and your boyfriend should come,” she said. “You two will find it informative and helpful. It would be a spiritual experience.”

     “You know that I don’t smoke weed, right?” Olive asked.

     Janice chuckled, “No, it does not involve any drugs. I wouldn’t say anything on the phone like that. Probably would end with homeland security knocking on your door. Speaking of an uplifting experience; I am making my enchiladas that everyone raves about. So, bring your honey and we will have a get together.”

     “I’m not sure if he is my honey anymore,” she said. “We had an argument while we were on our trip.”

     “Really?” Janice sounded shocked. “What was the argument about?”

     “I was concerned with what is going on with the prescriptions,” she sighed. “I may have been reacting to seeing where my old home was.”

     “Nonsense,” Janice grumbled. “I’ll tell you what. Forget about him for now and just come hang out with me.”

     Olive felt a note of suspicion, “I’m not sure if I feel like going anywhere.”

     “I know it’s been a long time since we have done anything, but I don’t want to be stuck without any friends,” she protested.

     “Okay, what time should I be there?” Olive asked.

     “Be here around eight,” she said.

     “I’ll be there,” said Olive.

     They hung up. Olive was really unsure that she wanted to go. It was weird how Janice just called after their short conversation online. Janice really wanted her to come for some reason.