Xvi (21 page)

I twirled the straw around in my glass, taking halfhearted sips. Dee noticed.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “My dad will understand that I can’t live with him.”

“Uh-huh.” Her wanting to see him changed everything. Keeping them apart was not going to be easy.

The bell attached to the door jingled. It was Mike and Derek.

“Check this out.” Mike handed me a chip as he pulled up a chair. “I thought you’d get a kick out of it—it’s Van’s newest vert. They’re giving them away in exchange for your opinion about a new PAV.”

“You’re just like your dad,” Derek said.

“Am not.” Mike sounded a little hurt. “And it’s not like he wants to take all those drugs they stick in him. He only does it so we have a decent place to live. I’d never let anyone put all those drugs and stuff in me. I’d rather be homeless.”

“Just kidding—calm down.” Derek looked at Dee. “How’s everything?”

“Nina’s worried that my dad might want to take me to live with him. But Pops needs me too much. I’ll just tell Ed and everything will be fine. It’s no big deal.” The trust in her eyes made my stomach lurch.

“Hey,” Mike said. “Where’s my cake?”

After dinner, when Dee went to her room to do homework, I talked with Gran and Pops about Ed. I didn’t want to scare them, but I couldn’t keep all of this from them any longer. I chose my words carefully. “Dee says she wants to see him. I guess I understand a little. He is, after all, her father.”

“He’s a snake, is what he is. If I didn’t have this damned leg”—Pops banged a fist on his stump—“I’d go out there and give that jerk what he deserves. Father or not, he’d never come around Dee again. I know some people ...”

A wave of sympathy for Pops flooded over me. These people from all Pops’s stories were probably in about the same shape he was. It must be awful to be a prisoner in your own body.

Pops went on: “I can call in some favors, you know.”

“I know,” Gran said. The look in her eyes was exactly what I felt, only a thousand times more. “Let’s hope it won’t come to that. All the same, you might want to give them a heads-up that something’s brewing.”

“Good idea, old woman.” Pops shifted in his chair. “You want to get down the scrambler, Nina?”

I hoisted myself up onto the counter and removed the machine from its hiding place. Gran took it from me and plugged it in. “We’ll leave you here to talk in private.” She laid a hand on Pops’s shoulder, then motioned for me to come with her.

Once we were in the living room, she said, “His friends will be glad to hear from him. After a few minutes of bluster and bravado, they’ll start reminiscing; he’ll forget all about Ed.” The sadness in her voice cut right through my heart.

“How do you do it, Gran? I feel awful for Pops.”

“When you’ve loved someone as much and as long as I’ve loved that old man ...” Her eyes glistened. “You do whatever it takes to help them keep their pride and dignity.”

Gathering up dishes from the table, she went into the kitchen. My PAV beeped; it was Sandy. I took a deep breath and herded all my worries into a corner of my brain. They’d still be there when the call was over.

By the time Sandy and I’d finished talking, we had worked out the whole weekend. She was coming to town Saturday for the first time since I’d moved. I should’ve been ecstatic, but I wasn’t. I had no idea how she and Wei would get along. Never had I known, and liked, two more opposite people. I did still like Sandy, I told myself. She was my best friend. I shook off any thoughts to the contrary.

Sal hadn’t called and I hadn’t seen him at school. By Friday I wasn’t shaking every time I moved from one class to the next. And my ears weren’t permanently tuned for the sound of his voice. Dull was exactly how I felt. Thankfully, none of us had seen or heard from Ed, either. Maybe he’d changed his mind about Dee. Probably not, but I could hope.

On the way home Friday, Derek told us that Riley would be playing music with him on Saturday night at Soma. It was the newest place to hang out. Patterned after coffeehouses from the mid-1900s, it featured acoustic music and espresso. I personally couldn’t stand coffee—but it smelled great. I was sure Sandy would love going there, especially if there were lots of boys.

“You guys better be there,” Derek said. “We need the moral support. This is our first real gig.”

“Can I come, too?” Dee said.

“It’s past your bedtime,” I said.

Dee shot me a look and kicked a rock down the street. “Fine.”

I didn’t enjoy playing the role of mother, especially when Dee got peevish with me.

“How about I come by your house at seven-thirty?” Wei said to me.

“I’ve got some stuff to do before then.” I’d been neglecting my art and I’d planned on spending the day sketching at the Art Institute. “I’ll meet you guys there.” At the corner of Clark and Dickens, I said, “See you tomorrow. I think maybe Dee and I will go through the park instead of taking the trans.”

“Really?” Dee brightened.

“It’s warm today,” I said. “Last time till spring probably.”

“You sure you want to do that?” The concern in Wei’s voice wasn’t lost on Derek. Or me.

“We’ll go with you,” he offered.

“Yeah,” Wei said. “I haven’t been by the zoo in ages. We could walk along the perimeter and maybe see the horses and cows. Okay?”

I agreed, because I knew they were right. No matter how much I didn’t want to think about Ed, he was always in the back of my mind. And even though it was the middle of the afternoon, and we were in a public place, if he showed up, I wasn’t sure if I’d know what to do.

By the time we passed the zoo, Derek and Wei had fallen behind us. They were talking low and Wei was laughing. We were close to my mountain. I didn’t want to think about the last time I’d been there, with Sal.

I turned to Dee. “Mom and I used to come here,” I said. “We would picnic and play games. It was before you were born. I had so much fun.”

“Just you and Mom? What about Ed?”

“She didn’t know Ed back then. I don’t think she had a boyfriend. Though, you know, come to think of it, there was a guy sometimes. I don’t remember him very well. He used to make me clover-chain crowns to wear. They’d talk and laugh together while I rolled down the hill. You wanna do that?”

“Nina.” She scrunched up her mouth. “I am almost twelve. I do not roll down hills.”

“Well, maybe you ought to.” I reached over and tickled her. She screamed and darted away. I chased her and we tumbled down, wrestling around like we used to. It was the most fun I’d had with her since Ginnie’d died.

Wei and Derek caught up and were standing over us. “What are you doing?” Derek said.

“Playing,” Dee said through her giggles. “See?” She flopped over and rolled down the hill. “You do it, too,” she called up to us.

“It’s getting late,” Wei said. “We should make sure you get on the transit.”

“We’ll be fine,” I said. “The stop is right over there.” I pointed through the trees. “Nothing’s going to happen.” Having fun, for once, and being in this place made me feel almost safe.

“We’ll wait here and make sure. Okay?”

“You really don’t need to. I can handle it.” I made an exaggerated martial arts move complete with sound effects. “Waaaah!”

Derek rolled his eyes. “I guess it’s okay. You think?” He looked to Wei for confirmation.

She glanced down the hill at Dee before whispering, “I think you’d make Ed fall down laughing. That would give you plenty of time to get away.” She took Derek’s hand. “We’ll stay here till you get across the street. How’s that?”

“Fine.” I laughed. “Come on, Dee.”

We got across Stockton Drive and I waved to Derek and Wei. They waved back and left.

Dee and I were almost to Clark when a trannie whizzed past us from behind. It was green. I knew it was Ed.

He rounded Eugenia by Lincoln’s statue and turned onto Clark, blocking us off from the transit stop. We were in a wide-open area with no place to run and hide. Derek and Wei were too far off to hear if I screamed.

My PAV beeped.

“I’m here to see my daughter,” Ed said.

I clicked off and grabbed Dee’s hand, “We’ve got to—”

Before I could get “run” out of my mouth, a yellow hire-trannie pulled up between Ed and us. The window rolled down—it was Sal.

I pushed Dee into the back, hopped in beside her, and slammed the door. “Go!” I yelled. “Now!”

“Who was that?” Dee twisted around, looking out the back window.

“Nobody,” I huffed, trying to catch a breath. “Sal saw us. Beeped me. Wanted to talk. Couldn’t stand in traffic.”

That seemed to work for her. She turned back around and sat down. I tried to will myself to breathe.

Sal maneuvered through traffic like a Saturn 1000 driver. When I looked out the back window, Ed’s trannie was nowhere in sight.

“What the hell are you two doing out here all alone this close to dark?” Sal demanded. “Are you nuts?”

“We weren’t alone. We were with Derek and Wei at the zoo,” Dee said. “I didn’t know you were an HT driver. I thought you went to school.”

“I do. I’m just test-driving this for my brother.” Sal glanced over his shoulder at me. “Something wrong? I saw you guys and figured I’d stop ...” He shrugged a shoulder toward Dee.

I couldn’t believe my luck. He hadn’t seen Ed and I wasn’t about to say anything in front of Dee.

“Nothing. I’ll tell you later.”

“Secret boyfriend stuff,” Dee teased.

“DeeDee, cut it out!” I immediately regretting losing my temper and reached for her. “I’m sorry.” She pushed my hand away.

“Leave me alone.” She crossed her arms over her chest and turned back to the window.

Great. I huddled in the corner of the backseat until we got home.

“Go on in and tell Gran I’ll be right up.”

Dee grumbled, “Okay,” and slammed the HT’s door behind her.

I watched her enter the building, and avoided making eye contact with Sal. “So you didn’t see him, did you?”

“Who?”

“Ed. He was across the street—between us and the trans stop. He called me and said he wanted to see Dee.” Then the tears started.

Damn! Was I was going to cry every time I was around him? He already thought I was an idiot about the government and Media. He’d have “emotional wreckage” to add to the list. I bet that girl who’d been hanging all over him at school would never fall apart. I hated it, but I’d been so scared; tears streamed down my cheeks. I finally managed to stop.

“Sorry.” I sniffed, dabbing at my eyes.

“That’s just adrenaline.” Sal didn’t even turn around. “When a crisis is over, your body does crazy things.”

“Right. Adrenaline.” My tears dried instantly and in their place was a growing anger. Not just at his matter-of-fact tone but because of the remark about my body doing crazy things. Like when he’d kissed me. That pissed me off even more. Before I said things I would certainly regret, I got out of the HT. “Thanks for the ride.” I slammed the door just as hard as Dee had.

I strode into the building without a backward glance.

Dee pulled me into the living room; she was white as Gran’s hair. “Someone broke into our apartment. Gran had to give Pops one of his tranqs he was so upset.”

“Broke in?” I glanced around the room. There were books and chips strewn across the floor. “Skivs!” I ran down the hallway. My clothes and my art supplies were everywhere. My makeshift dresser was empty. I rifled through the piles on the floor. The book was gone. I raced back down the hall and into the kitchen. “Dee’s baby book! Where is it?” I grabbed Gran by the shoulders. “Someone took it! You don’t know how important it is!”

Gran extricated herself from my grip. “Calm down, Nina. What about Dee’s baby book?”

“It’s got ... I promised Ginnie ... There’s important ...” I hadn’t planned on telling Gran anything about the baby book until I’d found out for sure that my father was alive.