Xvi (23 page)

“One time I was going to a party where I knew your grandfather would be. I wanted to get his attention, so I decided to get all dolled up. One of my girlfriends came over and we spent the entire day getting me coiffed, polished, and stuffed into clothes I’d normally never dreamed of wearing.”

“Did it work? Did he notice you?”

“Oh, he noticed me all right.” Gran laughed. “He walked over to me and said, ‘Edith, you look like you fell into a bucket of paint, face-first, and stuck your finger in an electro socket gettin’ out of it.’

“I was so embarrassed, I ran out crying. He was right behind me, braying like a donkey. He finally caught me and asked what I’d done to myself. He said I was the prettiest girl he knew—no matter what I did with my hair or what I put on my face. But that he liked me best natural—like I always was.”

She started loading the dishes into the sterilizer. “I went home that night, washed the gunk off my face, shampooed the curl out of my hair, and got rid of those clothes. I never tried to change myself to impress anyone again.”

I couldn’t imagine Gran being any way except how she’d always been. She’d confirmed what I’d suspected all along. When two people liked each other, it wasn’t about clothes or makeup or hairdos.

“You’re going out tonight?” Gran said.

“I’m meeting everyone at Soma.”

“Can’t they come here, and pick you up?”

“I’ll be fine, Gran. The trans picks us up right out front and Soma’s at North and Wells. One well-lit block from the trans stop. Please don’t worry about me. I’m always careful.” It wasn’t me I was worried about anyway; Dee was the one in danger.

“It’s not your carefulness, it’s other people’s carelessness that worries me.”

“Well, don’t.” I kissed her cheek and went down the hall to get ready.

I left for Soma, dressed in my usual T-shirt and jeans. Sandy’d called from the express and I gave her directions, telling her I’d meet her there. When the trans neared North Avenue, I didn’t get off like I should’ve. Instead, I rode up to the stop by Robin’s Roost. When I got off the trans, I crossed the street and stood in front of the building. I conjured up the image of how it had looked in the photograph of my dad and Mr. Jenkins. I knew it was silly, but something about this place made me feel close to my father ... and to Ginnie. They had been here often. I bet they’d even stood right where I was standing. Tilting my head back, I looked up toward the roof. Light sleet peppered my face. I wondered if there was a way to get up there. Gran had said it was Ginnie’s favorite place.

“I’ll find him, Mom. I promise,” I whispered up to the sky.

I realized I was running late. At least Soma was just a few blocks down Wells. I hurried around the building and slipped on a patch of ice. I reached for the wall when someone grabbed my shoulders.

“Thanks ...” I looked up—right into Ed’s face.

“Well, well ...” Ed tightened his grip and put his face close to mine, the smell of tobacco and garlic and his aftershave almost gagged me. I tried to wrench myself free, but he had a secure hold.

“What are you doing here?” I glanced around, hoping someone would come down the street, but it was empty.

“Looking for you. I want to talk about Ginnie.”

“What about her” I tried jerking free again. “You didn’t call or come over after she was killed. Why the sudden interest now?”

Ed laughed, and I could feel the blood rushing to my face. “She’s the mother of my child,” he said. “Maybe she left something for me. Maybe you found it. Maybe I want it—now.” He shoved me against the wall, hard, but didn’t let go of my arm.

The streetlight shone on his face and I recognized the look in his eyes—the same one he’d get before Ginnie’d send Dee and me to Sandy’s. Instinct took over and I rammed my knee up between his legs. He yelped and loosened his grip enough for me to struggle free. I took off like a veljet. He lunged at me, catching the pocket of my coat. It ripped as I kept on running, narrowly avoiding crashing into a couple of guys as they exited an apartment. Ed wasn’t so lucky. I heard the collision and the ensuing curses and accusations, which grew fainter as I raced up the street.

Instead of going straight down Wells, I ducked into an alley that cut through to Clark. Slipping and sliding on the sleet-slick pavement, I somehow managed to get out the other side. Racing to North and Wells, I didn’t stop until I was inside Soma.

Bent over, hands on my knees, my lungs screamed for air. I saw Wei about the time she saw me.

She rushed over. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Bathroom,” I gasped.

We went down a narrow hallway and through a door marked “FEMS.”

“Are you all right?”

Still breathless, I pointed at the door, making a locking motion.

She secured it. “Nina, what on earth’s happened?”

“Ed.” I gasped for air.

“What about him? Dee’s okay, isn’t she?”

I finally managed to fill my lungs. Exhaling, I collapsed onto the stool in one of the stalls. “She’s fine. I was coming here ... and I ran right into him ... got away ...”

“Did he follow you?”

I shook my head. “I dodged a couple of guys; he wasn’t so lucky. I don’t think he knows where I went.”

“We need to tell the others. Are you sure you’re okay? He didn’t hurt you?”

“I’m fine.” I looked down at my ripped pocket, “My coat, however ...” I flipped the flap of ripped material back and forth.

We both stared at the torn pocket. I started to giggle. After a moment, Wei joined in. Then all my emotions burst out in uncontrollable laughter. I clutched my sides and Wei was rocking back and forth. We didn’t stop until someone banged on the door, yelling for us to get out.

As soon as we stepped into the main room, I scanned it for Ed. Wei spotted Sal and Mike. Sal. I didn’t realize he was going to be there. I took a breath.

“Forget your good coat?” Mike asked, pointing at my pocket.

I sat down in the chair facing the door, and tried to ignore Sal. “I ran into Ed. Literally.”

Sal raised an eyebrow at Wei. “Everything okay?”

“No. Ed attacked her when she was on her way here.”

Even in the dim light, I could see Sal’s jaw muscles tighten. However, any hope that he might still care about me was dashed when, without even looking at me, he said, “Guess you’re okay.”

“Yeah, sure I am.”

“What happened?” Mike asked.

With only a slight alteration of the truth, I said, “When I got off the trans, I turned the corner onto Wells and there he was.” I recounted the details and concluded, “That’s it.” I didn’t say why I was on that particular corner in the first place.

Then all the what-ifs started racing through my mind: What if I hadn’t caught him off guard, what if I hadn’t kneed him as hard as I did, what if—

“I wonder why he followed you?” Wei asked.

“Yeah. You’re not his daughter,” Mike said.

“I don’t know.” I really didn’t want to start dissecting things now. Soma wasn’t the place to be telling my secrets.

“Did your mother leave you anything valuable?” Wei said. “Maybe he gave her something and wants it back.”

Startled, I stared at her. It was as if Wei knew, but she couldn’t possibly.

She cocked her head and looked at me like she was reading my thoughts. I stuttered about for a second, gathering my thoughts, then said, “Ginnie didn’t have anything worth much. All her jewelry was fake and her designer stuff was knockoff. The only things Ed ever gave her were cuts and bruises.”

Sal had been quiet the entire time we were talking. It threw me when he said, “This Ed sounds like a great guy, I can’t wait to meet him.”

“There’s no reason you would,” I said, and quickly looked away.

“I’d like to,” Wei said.

“Yeah, the Cliste Galad girl.” Sal’s mouth curled into a half smile. “He wouldn’t know what hit him.”

“We can’t go out there looking for him now,” Mike said. “Sandy’s not here and Derek hasn’t played yet.”

“I’m sure he’s long gone anyway.” I made eye contact with Mike, purposely avoiding looking at Sal.

A sigh of relief escaped Mike—he was about the most nonviolent person I knew. Not a scaredy-cat, just not someone who’d go looking for a fight. Especially not against a former government spy and grown man. I didn’t blame him.

“You’re right,” Sal agreed.

“What I want to know,” Wei said, “is why he went after you, Nina. We all thought he was after Dee. Did he say anything, give you any clues?”

“Our apartment was broken into the other day, but nothing was taken. And Ed said maybe Ginnie gave me something that he wanted.” A chill ran through me. I thought back to those last few minutes with Ginnie—her certainty that my father was alive and her instructions to get the book to him. I had had enough of keeping all of this to myself. I needed help. But as much as I wanted to tell my friends about what was really going on, I couldn’t, not in public, where anyone might hear. I was contemplating when and where I could spill all my secrets when Sandy walked in.

Riley and Derek were on the stage, which consisted of two chairs set up in front of the tables. Derek was tuning an antique guitar he’d found in a junk store and restored. Riley was hitting a note here and there on his accordion. But no one was paying them any mind—all eyes were on Sandy. Even Sal watched as she approached our table.

Sandy’s Saturn blue plether pants were so tight there was no way could she have gotten them on over underwear—and it was obvious she hadn’t. She wore black thigh-high sueded boots and a cropped faux-fur jacket over a skimpy little top. Her hair was the only thing about her that looked familiar.

“Skivs!”
Mike exclaimed. “What the hell did you do, Sandy? You look like—”

“A model,” I blurted out before Mike could make things worse.
Yeah
, I thought,
a model for sex-teen of the year
. The outfit made me cringe. I sincerely hoped the Sandy I knew and loved was under the Media-hyped crap she was wearing.

“I’ve missed you sooo much!” she squealed, yanking me out of my chair.

She hugged me and blew air kisses, and though I wanted everything to be like it used to be, it wasn’t. I tried to forget about her sex-teen look, but it was impossible. I pulled away and introduced her to Wei. They chatted for a minute before realizing that they both adored raw galactic music.

Sal stared at me as I sat back down. I could feel my neck getting hot. He cocked his head toward the door and got up. I don’t know why, but I followed him outside. It was freezing and I’d left my coat back at the table. Hugging my arms around me, I waited for him to say something.

“What do you think you’re doing, putting yourself at risk like that?” He glared at me.

I could hardly believe it. He was mad at me. “It’s not like I did it on purpose.”

“It was stupid of—”

“Stupid?” My finger shot right up into his face. “I am not stupid and I am not going to listen to your insults. I may not be some top-tier, ultrachic sex-teen who fawns all over you, but I am sure as hell not--”

“Nina. Stop.” He grabbed my outstretched arm and pulled me up close to him. “You are not stupid.
I
am.” He kissed me. It was like electric currents racing through my body. After what seemed like a much-too-short eternity, we came up for air, but he still held me close. “I will never let anyone hurt you, ever.” It felt so right, being in his arms. I ignored the bit of doubt in the back of my head—this didn’t feel like he was only interested in me for my father.

His hot breath on my neck sent little tremors though my whole body. I was shivering, but not from the cold.

“Skivs, I’m an idiot.” He ripped his jacket off and threw it over my shoulders. “Let’s get inside; you must be frozen.”

When we were back at the table, Sandy made no secret of scrutinizing me and Sal. He’d scooted his chair next to mine and was holding my hand under the table. She grinned, pretty smugly, and said, “Sixteen’s right around the corner, Nina. Told you ...”

I felt a blush rising up my neck and started to pull my hand away from Sal’s, but he wouldn’t let go. And I didn’t mind.

“Oh, come on, it’s not like you can stop it from happening.” Flouncing her hair, Sandy gave a quick glance around the room. “By the way, have you heard from Ed?”

Sal squeezed my hand; Wei and Mike stared at Sandy.

“What did I say?”

I grabbed a napkin and wrote, Can we find somewhere DZ to talk? I pushed it into the middle of the table.

“Not until after Derek plays,” Mike said. “He’s counting on us being here. Besides, we couldn’t leave him out of this.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, except Sandy, who still looked confused. “What’s going on?”

Wei whispered something to her and she didn’t say anything else.

Mike was right. I wasn’t too eager to leave anyway; Ed might still be out there.

Derek and Riley started their set. They weren’t playing the electro-tech that everyone listened to, which didn’t surprise me. Media owned all the popular broadcast stations, so all music was government sanctioned. Occasionally a rogue broadcaster would tap into PAV airwaves and play old protest songs from the 1960s and the 2070s. The GC really hated that. Ginnie’d always said that they persecuted the rogues because the music they played made people think about what freedom really was. Those underground broadcasters were always on the run from the Audio Media Management agents, so there was no telling when you could hear them.

The guys were great. I was glad I hadn’t insisted we leave. I wouldn’t have ruined Derek’s moment in the spotlight for anything. When a string on his guitar snapped, he and Riley took a short break. While the room was relatively quiet, I listened in on Sandy’s conversation with Wei. She was rattling on about the guys in her school, all the XVIIIs.