Cube Read online

  Cube

  Coral Russell

  Published: 2011

  Tag(s): "science fiction" fantasy horror

  Dedicated to my stepson who asked me to write a story about a Rubik's Cube. He can solve it in two minutes.

  His wife was two inches short of a perfect 36-24-36 figure. Along with black hair and blue eyes, that was the main reason he married Rosemary - for her looks. Four kids later, she was a balloon with stumps for legs and arms.

  He stuck another cigarette between his teeth and reached for the dash lighter. It took several jabs before thin tendrils of smoke escaped the end of the red coil. The pot-marked dirt road needed a fresh dump of gravel to smooth it out again. He didn’t have the money.

  With five mouths to feed, he never had any money. A corrections officer’s pay wasn’t bad, working for the Feds… but the State system sucked. The only perks were a steady – if measly - paycheck, regular vacation days and irregular working hours.

  Plan A. Cut expenses. They lived on the outskirts of a small town, up in the mountains, on forty acres of land. Their house consisted of two mobile homes parked close together in a small valley surrounded by rocky hills. The kids stayed in one and he and his wife in the other. No electricity. No phones. No running water. Gas heat and a gas stove. He bought apples by the case and a huge sack of oats to feed those five mouths.

  The worthless cow took it all in stride. He needed a plan B.

  ***

  The 4x4 truck door creaked on its hinges. He ground small ridges of ice left over under his feet, as he strode to the prison entrance. White clouds puffed out from the dark hollow of his winter coat at regular intervals.

  It was a bit quicker to get in the prison than out. All the guards' cars were searched after signing off from their shifts. They were thorough with Garry’s truck because of the camper shell on the back.

  “Garry,” the guard on duty said.

  “Hey… ” His glasses fogged up as he stepped through the door. After he wiped them clean and set them back on his nose, “… Frank. Anything interesting going on?”

  “It’s always interesting.”

  ***

  His metal lunch box lid clattered against the table.

  “Garry, Beth and I have this great idea and wanted to know if you all wanted to come.”

  “Where?”

  “You’ve got some vacation coming in a couple of weeks, right?”

  “Yea?”

  “Doing anything special?”

  Does getting rid of my wife and kids count? “No, not really, why?”

  “Beth and I were thinking, we should go some place warm. Vegas isn't too far away. What do you say? Want to make it a double date? The wives could hang out while you and I gamble a bit.”

  Garry chewed his sandwich, thinking about Plan B.

  “Garry?”

  “Huh, yea. Oh yea, that sounds like a great idea. Let me talk to the little lady.”

  He listened to Frank chuckle and continue on about God knew what. Garry nodded his head at the appropriate moments, grunting in occasional agreement. Staring at the prison walls, he realized, I live in a jail cell made of human walls. A fat cow of a wife; a 400 pound son with psoriasis; a 16-year old daughter practicing to get pregnant; a second son as dumb as a box of rocks; and the youngest, a boy, who actually seems normal, but goes out of his way to annoy the piss out of me.

  “All right Garry, let me know what she says.”

  “Who?”

  “The little lady,” Frank nudged him and chuckled.

  I live in a jail cell made of human walls.

  ***

  Plan B. Garry sat in his chair watching a T.V. powered by a generator expressly for that purpose. He would literally beat the shit out of anyone who used it before he got home.

  He barked orders from his chair, “Adjust the antenna. Change the channel. Shut the hell up! Get outside. Go to bed. Rosemary, I’m going to Vegas for my vacation.”

  “We are?”

  “No, I. I am going to Vegas.”

  Silence. He loved silence.

  ***

  “So what did she say?”

  “She was thrilled, Frank, we’re going.”

  “That’s great. It would be good if our wives got to know each other better since we get along at work.”

  “Yea, that would be great.”

  “So are we driving up together?”

  “Let’s take separate cars, but yea, we can follow each other.”

  “We could split the gas if we took my car.”

  “Yea, but I’m a big boy and so is the wife. It would be more comfortable if we took two vehicles. Are we driving straight through?”

  “It’s about twelve hours provided we don’t run into bad weather.”

  “I bet we can make it in ten.”

  ***

  Plan B. How to get rid of five people without getting caught? The idea was to break out of the cell he was in, not exchange one for another. He smiled to himself, My youngest is smart. He’d turned to Family Services, but nothing happened. They weren’t starving. They had clothes. They had shelter. Basically, if this was how his family chose to live there was nothing they could do.

  The click of plastic on plastic brought his attention back to living room.

  down inverted

  front inverted

  down inverted

  front inverted

  down inverted

  front inverted

  down inverted

  front inverted

  down inverted

  front inverted

  two rows match

  flip the cube

  “Where the hell did you get that?”

  get to the cross then with one full white side

  front clockwise

  down clockwise

  front clockwise

  down clockwise

  front clockwise

  “I found it. It’s missing some stickers. Do you have a marker?”

  “Do I look like I have a marker? Go outside.”

  “It’s too cold outside.”

  “Get away from me then.” He noticed the look his youngest gave him as he slunk back from his chair. Yep, the smartest one of the bunch.

  The weatherman drew his attention back to the small screen. “Stay tuned for the latest weather report. Could a surprise storm be headed our way?”

  He scooted to sit at the edge of his chair. A storm. A storm would be good.

  ***

  For the next week, the weather became the most important thing in his life. He watched it at home, at work, listened to it on the radio. There was a storm brewing. Oh yes, there was a perfect, wonderful storm headed this way.

  front

  right

  up

  right inverted

  up inverted

  front inverted

  repeat until you get to the L

  match up the cross pieces

  Garry glanced away from the weather report, “I thought you didn’t have all the colors?”

  “I took my knife and carved a letter - R for red, W for white, B for blue, G for green, O for orange.”

  “Bet you can’t solve it.”

  “What’ll you give me if I can?”

  “What’ll you give me when you don’t?” His son returned to manipulating the cube. “I’ll give you a candy bar.”

  “Really?”

  “No. Yea, yea I’ll give you the candy bar of your choice, if you solve it.”

  “All right!” He watched his youngest return to the puzzle, muttering to himself.

  With any luck, in a week, I won’t have to worry about it, Gary thought with a sigh.

  ***

  The timing was going to be tricky. Blizzard conditions were headed this way. He needed to leave as the
snow started, but not so soon they would figure out what he'd done. If he left too late, then he wouldn’t be able to get to the freeway. Oh who am I kidding, they aren’t smart enough to figure it out, he said to himself as he hid the portable propane gas tanks.

  No one spoke to him as he packed his suitcase. He ignored their eyes as they followed him. His wallet was packed with cash from his paycheck.

  As he made his way to the door, his wife waddled up to him, “Are you sure you want to leave now? It really looks like it’s going to get bad soon.”

  It took everything he had not to laugh in her pudgy face. “I'll be fine. It’s not like I don’t know how to drive in this kind of weather.”

  “I know, but no one drives in a blizzard.”

  “I’m not going drive in a blizzard, for Christ’s sake.” He snapped his suitcase closed and tried to make it out the door without touching her. Her meaty hands clutched at his clothes until he bent down and let her kiss his cheek.

  “Have a safe trip,” he barely nodded in response, as the freezing wind blew the words away.

  ***

  Since the storm was not headed south, he would be in Arizona in no time. Then west on I40 and finally cut up north on US 93. Frank and Beth expressed their sympathy over his wife’s sudden illness when he met them. He looked down and shuffled his feet to hide a smile.

  Once he'd reached Flagstaff, he rolled down the window, cranked the radio up and chain smoked to his heart’s content. A large, dome-shaped orange glow appeared ahead of him. He’d convinced Frank to drive straight through. Viva, Las Vegas! he sang out in a tone-deaf voice.

  ***

  The strip shone so bright he didn’t need his headlights. Frank shopped around and found the cheapest hotel on the strip which turned out to be the MGM Grand. Frank and Beth wanted to waste time seeing Cirque du Soleil or some shit. Instead, he hit the slots, Blackjack tables, and Caribbean Stud.

  Twenty-four hours later he lay in bed. The glow of the lights seeped through the curtains. By now, the storm had hit and they were frozen. He was free.

  Garry didn’t even mind his losses after a nap and a trip to the buffet. Frank and Beth suggested something he didn’t mind doing - a helicopter ride over the strip. The buildings glittered like giant bars of solid silver and gold. The notable exception being the large, black pyramid outlined in white lights and the MGM Grand itself done up in emerald-green.

  Sorry to bid those happy, shiny lights goodbye, he climbed into his truck. At least he had enough money to make it home. As he got closer to what he hoped to find, he flexed his hands on the steering wheel over and over. He left Frank and Beth with a quick good-bye.

  The trip up the road rattled his teeth and nerves. His excitement mounted as he rounded the last curve to see the car buried and snow half-way up the mobile homes. Digging his way to the door was hard work. He pried open the front door and looked around. It was very, very quiet. Maybe they’re holed up in the bedroom. Peeking in the bedroom, he expected a large, covered mass. Nothing. Sweat soaked the shirt underneath his coat as he dug through to the next mobile home. Empty.

  Where the fuck were they?!

  ***

  Luke’s body jerked with a spasm. He was warm, comfortable, and full, so he must be dreaming. Smiling, he remembered his mother being tipsy for the first time tonight. Tonight? Oh yea. He wasn’t dreaming, they had been rescued.

  His sister’s boyfriend, Jack, took his father’s four-wheel drive Jeep up the potted gravel road to pick them up not long after his dad took off. Jack told his mom it would be better if they rode out the storm in town.

  Luke rubbed his eyes and sniffed the scent of French Toast coming from the kitchen. His oldest brother was named after his father and his sister after his mother. His parents must have run out of ideas because he was named Luke and his other brother, John.

  When they piled into the Jeep, not an easy thing to do since his brother and mother were kind of on the big side, Luke knew everything would be alright. He relaxed, something he had not done in a long time.

  After they arrived, they settled in and played Crazy Eights until the wee hours of the morning. Jack's parents talked his mother into trying beer, which made her giggle. He ate more food then he ever remembered eating before and passed out snuggled up in extra blankets on the floor of Jack’s room.

  From the comfort of Jack's house, Luke thought the blizzard was amazing and tons of fun. Jack had several brothers and they passed around coats, scarves, gloves, and hats so everyone got to play outside.

  Luke stumbled into the kitchen to his mother saying, “I’m pretty sure he’ll be home tonight.” Luke made his way around the table without anyone paying him any attention and grabbed a fork and a plate piled high with French Toast smothered in syrup. The sticky, sweet goodness took his mind off having to return home.

  ***

  Luke sat with his eyes glued to the T.V., enjoying the laughter rippling through the living room. He refused to look away, even when the pounding on the door started.

  His father bellowed at his mother, “Why the hell did you leave?”

  Jack’s parents tried to calm his father so they would stay another night, but his father yanked Luke up by the arm and pushed him toward the front door. Everyone made their way quietly to the truck. His father shoved him toward the truck.

  His mother protested, “Garry, it’s too cold back there.”

  “No, it isn’t. They won’t freeze to death.”

  Luke stole a look at his father’s face and knew what he’d suspected for a while now. His father was trying to kill them. Kill them all.

  ***

  right

  up

  right inverted

  up

  right

  up

  up

  right inverted

  repeat until corner pieces match

  Luke had no one to tell.

  His sister stole away with Jack at every chance. He had overheard them planning on running away come spring. As soon as his father left for work, his oldest brother bullied the rest of them, pretending to be like their dad. His other brother, John, followed him around everywhere, mainly to keep from being beaten up Gary junior.

  At least John would do what he asked, usually. But what could he ask him to do?

  up

  right

  up inverted

  left inverted

  up

  right inverted

  up inverted

  left

  repeat until all corners match

  He was getting close to solving the cube.

  Tossing the cube in the air, he thought about his father, six feet, three inches tall and pushing three hundred pounds. At twelve years old and skinny like a whip, there wasn’t anything he could physically do. He already tried Family Services and they were useless. At school, they were all teased for wearing rags, mom’s special hair-cuts, and shoes with holes big enough for a mouse to crawl through.

  Any thought his father was not trying to kill them was squashed when the old man left in a hurry for more gas the day after they had been torn from the comfort of Jack’s house. Luke seemed to be the only one to put two and two together - his father had left them during a blizzard with no way to heat the mobile homes and no way to get out.

  He tossed the cube up a final time and then let it rest in his hand. Staring out the frosted window, he realized he would have to watch his father very carefully until he figured out a way to save his family.

  ***

  Spring came and bare patches of dirt, rock and brown grass started to appear. Soon, thought Luke, the prickly pears would be ready to eat. He and his brothers gorged themselves on the ruby-red globes, no matter how many stickers they got in their hands. The fruit was like free candy.

  right inverted

  down inverted

  right

  down

  repeat until all colors are lined up 3-3-1

  the end comes pretty quickly

&nb
sp; just repeat the

  right inverted

  down inverted

  right

  down

  for each side

  Luke’s hands shook and he rubbed his palms on his jeans to dry them. He was almost done. Almost. There!

  He held the cube up in front of him and twirled it. Faded stickers of each of the solid colors passed before his eyes - red, white, blue, green, orange. He smiled, “Hey, John. Look.”

  “Cool.”

  “Dad said he’d give me a candy bar for solving it.”