The v Girl (25 page)

Chapter 39

The blonde, green-eyed woman
looks at me, petrified.

“Good evening, Aunt Olga.”

Olga Busko, Angie’s mom, is my only living relative in town. While my father was recovering from the amputation of his legs, we stayed for a while with my uncle Flint Velez. We fled when Azzy told me that our fifteen year old cousin had showed her his penis. We ended up living with Aunt Olga for a while. She’s always been kind to me and my siblings, but she’s still on bad terms with Dad. She can’t forgive him for marrying my pure-blood Circassian mom.

“Would you let me stay here just for tonight? Please?”

My aunt looks at me and understands that I can’t give her a reason. “Sure, Lila. You’re welcome any time.”

Aunt Olga’s hut is humble but full of furniture thanks to Rey’s carpentry talents. He made pieces of ornamental art out of chairs, cupboards, cabinets, and an engraved musical clock, giving the small one-window room a cozy look. Fine woodworking that was supposed to be a surprise for his bride.

My uncle Ben died but Olga is relatively safe. No soldier, no Starviller, would dare to come near a hut that is so close to the museum ruins and their ghosts. Just in case, she has three dogs that are almost as big as Poncho, although their lack of fierceness makes it evident they’re not genetically modified. After the ritual of smelling their asses, they welcome Poncho like an old friend.

I end up sleeping in Angie’s bed. As usual, vivid dreams assault my slumber. A beautiful, deadly lion howls in pain, searching for the mate it lost. Its search around the wood becomes frenetic, desperate. The lion’s mate won’t come back, and the predator’s agony is evident. For some reason the agony of its loss breaks my heart. The lion starts a race toward the cliffs at supernatural speed.

My habit of getting up at three-thirty wakes me up at that exact time. I toss in bed for a while, thinking about recruitment.

Aunt Olga gets up when the clock chimes five o’clock. I accept the piece of bread she offers me as I get ready for work. I’ll spend the night at the factory for a night shift.

“Only ten days until recruitment,” says Aunt Olga, interrupting my musings. A shiver runs down my spine. Even if I’m somehow afraid of him, I’m sure he wouldn’t let them rape me. After his C.N. confession, I think he wanted the privilege of raping me for himself.

At that moment, Poncho whimpers, springing to alertness. He’s sensed something. It takes a little bit longer for my aunt’s dogs to detect the enemy. When they start to bark and snarl loudly, Poncho remains utterly still, angling his body towards the door. Ready for combat.

I take a cautious look out of the window and freeze on my spot. There are no words to describe my shock.

“Aleskey,” I whisper.

The cop is scanning the entrance of the museum ruins fervently.
A genetically-modified hound accompanies him. My scent must have led the dog there, and it won’t be long ‘til he follows my trace here.

He looks as confident, regal, and fierce as always, but there’s something different about him. There are hints of despair in his stance. In the way he storms through the museum entrance shouting my name. In the way his fist hits the unhinged doors when he finally comes out, making them fall to the ground with a crashing sound.

Aunt Olga looks at me worriedly. “Is there anything wrong?”

I peer outside one last time. As he runs his hands through his blonde mane his face reflects anguish. Even pain. I’ve never imagined such a strong, expressionless man could show despair like that. He reminds me of the lion of my dream.

Except that lions don’t mate for life. For Aleksey, I’m not a long-term mate. I’m prey.

I lower my voice. “An Accord cop will come looking for me. Please tell him that I visited you two days ago and that you haven’t seen me since.”

“I knew you had gotten yourself into trouble,” she says as she takes a look outside.

The barking turns deafening; Aleksey must be getting closer.

She looks at me knowingly. “What have you done to that man?”

“I wish I knew,” I whisper. With a closed up man like Aleksey, I might never know.

* * *

Knowing well that Aleksey is never at the clinic in the afternoon, I return to leave a false trail and check on my family. I find the twins trying to cheer up Duque. All of us thought Duque was feeling better and determined to rejoin TCR after Sara’s execution. But the Diazes are taking turns to be with him night and day to prevent him from ending his life.

“
You are a chiiiiiiiiiild of the universe, no less than the trees and the staaaars, you have the riiiight to be here
,” sings Olmo at the top of his lungs in his chiming voice. Totally out of tune. “
And whether or noooooooot it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfoldiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing as it shouuuuuuuuuuuld.
” Azalea makes a gagging expression behind Olmo’s back. She has caught Duque’s attention and is making him smile. But it becomes evident that Duque’s trying hard to look like my sibling’s attempts to cheer him up are working while the agony in his eyes indicates the contrary.

I ask the twins to give me a moment with Duque. Duque knows me well and realizes I’m nervous. “Do you want to tell me something?”

I nod. “Duque, you used to say that you’ll never leave Starville.”

He inhales deeply and shakes his head. “Not anymore. I hate this place. Here, everybody … knows. Everybody laughs—” He doesn’t need to say more. I haven’t forgotten how I beat his ex-fiancée because of her mean comments.

I pace around the room. “If they don’t recruit me, I’ll try to find a place in Shiloh. Why don’t you come with me?” Starvillers are allowed in Shiloh. They don’t get good jobs, and it’s difficult to find housing when you only have coupons to pay the rent, but it’d be a change.

“Shiloh isn’t far enough. I was thinking of a farther place.” His words imply that Duque’s determined to leave Starville, and he thinks his only way is through death. Not now, as he has to be here for the ceremony. Once you’re eligible for recruitment, you can’t escape by suicide unless you don’t care if the troops recruit your family as retaliation. That’s not Duque’s case.

“Nobody knows you in Shiloh and you’re the best musician in town. There’s always “Musician Wanted” signs all over there.”

“I don’t know, Lila. Maybe. It sounds better than ... I dread the moment I’ll have to walk those streets again with all the gossip and girls looking down at me and—”

I pat his arm. “Shh. I know.” Starviller’s comments about my mom still sound in my nightmares. “At least you’d consider it. Rey would never leave unless it was for the seminary.”

His head snaps back and there’s venom in his words. “Well, Rey won’t have trouble finding a wife would he? But what woman would want me after what happened to me?”

“I know of one.”

He sighs and looks at the window. “I hate your jokes, Velez.”

“I couldn’t be more serious.” I’ve planned my actions and words carefully before coming here. His eyes grow wide when I take a jar of ink from my dress pocket and kneel beside his bed. It’s not the official tattoo but it’s valid enough to count as a binding promise. “Duque Charles Diaz, would you marry me?”

Chapter 40

Duque’s amber eyes open wide
at the same time that Azalea’s booming surprise startles us. “
Menstruating mother of goat
!” A crashing sound, as of breaking glass, confirms my suspicious that the twins are eavesdropping.

“I’m sorry,” says Olmo in a loud, apologetic voice. I leave the room briefly to scare them off.

When I return, Duque’s still in shock. I wait patiently for him to recover from the shock. Duque bursts out laughing, his hilarious outburst mixing with winces. Apparently, laughing causes him pain.

“I’m serious, Duque,” although I’m only doing this to make him desist his suicide plans. “Marry me, and start a new life with me in Shiloh.”

Duque smiles sadly and holds his stoma up. “Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t want that kind of pressure on me. I’ll never ever need to … lay with a girl. I’m broken, Lily. I can’t perform groom duties while my waste is on display.”

“Who cares about that? You’re beautiful, kind, brave, loyal, smart, and funny.”

He thinks about it for a moment and sits up straight. “You can’t imagine how good you’re making me feel. Because I know I have competition. The burly cop and my own brother ... you prefer me over them?”

“Absolutely!” I say and Duque smiles at my sincere enthusiasm. One is a rapist the other is in love with a ghost. Duque on the other hand is a V-boy as inexperienced and afraid of the troops as I am, and he would be a great life-partner. “You’ll make a better husband than either of them.”

“You’re wrong. They are too strong to be raped whereas I—” He sighs and turns his back to me. “I know why you’re doing this, Lila. Thank you. I’ll have to think about this.”

I know Duque’s answer will be negative, but I hope I made him consider other options that don’t include his death.

* * *

The time at the clothing factory flies by. Around me, dozens of seamstresses sitting in two large tables keep embroidering the open crinoline dresses that Patriot women love. Finally, my night shift is over. Tiredly, I put my backpack around my shoulders. I’ll come back later for a double shift that will keep me in the factory all night.

“What are you girls looking at outside?” asks our female supervisor

My coworkers are gathering their things before going home. There are tall windows in the square-shaped plant and my coworkers are fighting to get a look out of the window.

“There’s a mutant pacing at the entrance,” says a high-pitched voice.

A short-haired blonde girl nudges her way through the giggling girls to gain a spot near the window. “A mutant?”

“He has to be a mutant. Otherwise, why is he so handsome?” answers the first girl in an admiring tone.

“Look! He towers over the guards!” says a girl who is practically bouncing in excitement.

I stop dead in my tracks. Tall?

“I didn’t know the Accord cops could be so handsome,” says another admirer.

I don’t need to hear anymore. I dash toward the stairs. I reach the roof and jump around building roofs using the Parkour techniques Aleksey taught me. I find Poncho at Shiloh’s plaza and together we make for the railroad.

Aleksey is going to be extremely difficult to avoid. I barely managed yesterday morning. There are only two places where I can spend the night without the risk of being found.

* * *

I wake up curled against Poncho in a dark storage attic and brush the dust from my cloak. Broken-beyond-repair artifacts, black armor, and dusty cardboard surround me. A story below me, the Accord cops end whatever business that keeps them busy in the evening and are heading for bed. The sound of steps and conversations in foreign languages filters through the loose floorboards.

The Accord headquarters are at an old three-story house. Soldiers won’t come here as they consider this building UNNO territory. And the lion never hunts at a lion’s den. Even less its own den. Aleksey won’t search for me in here.

The murmurs fade and the night watch starts as evidenced by the sound of steps going back and forth in the dark. I hope that the watchman’s rounds don’t include checking the attic.

I spend most of that night dozing at intervals. I don’t have a way to know the hour but my natural clock tells me it’s around four a.m. I have to leave before the cops wake up for their 0600 drills.

Just when I thought I could relax, Poncho snaps his giant head up. Someone is climbing up the attic stairs. Poncho and I hide behind some huge carton cardboards and remain utterly still.

To no avail.

The dim light of a flashlight points directly to where we are. The sound of a confident, heavy stride approaches.

“Miss Velez,” says an accented, beautiful voice.

Chapter 41

Poncho wiggles his tail and walks
enthusiastically toward the new arrival, leaving me alone in our hiding place.

The accented voice sounds closer. “I saw your dog’s silhouette when I pointed the light. The cardboard is translucent.”

I reluctantly step out of my hiding place and am momentarily blinded by his flashlight.

“We wouldn’t hurt a citizen for trespassing on UNNO property, but it’ll be better if my comrades don’t find you here.” He grabs my arm. “Come on. Let’s go to my room.”

Tristan’s room is illuminated only by a candle. It’s so small that the door collides with the nightstand. The wardrobe is almost as big as the room, and there’s barely any walking space next to the regular single bed.

The lanky cop courteously helps me to take off my cloak and I sit next to the bed’s headboard. “Have you been hiding here all this time, Miss Velez?”

“No. Please don’t tell Aleksey that I came here.”

“I can’t promise you that. He’s my general and I’m supposed to inform him everything. Besides, we’re very close and it breaks my heart seeing him so afflicted.” He looks at me as though he likes having me here. “I’ve been worried, too.”

That’s when an idea occurs to me. It’s only eight days until recruitment. I can’t rely on Rey or Aleksey for emergency deflowering. I’m alone with a young man who seems to like me and who is neither a priest nor a rapist. What if …?

Before he knows what’s happening, I hurl myself against him. He loses his balance and falls to bed. I pinion his wrists to the mattress and straddle his stomach. He looks surprised but doesn’t push me away when I lean in to kiss him

“Tristan, let’s have sex. I … don’t want the troops … to recruit me,” I say, trying to nibble his earlobe, almost pulling his earring too hard.

Why do I have to miss Aleksey’s lips now? My mouth becomes feverish in my desperation to get him out of my mind. I only stop to take off my T-shirt. I awkwardly try to push down the bands that cover my chest, but seeing the doubt in his face, I attack his mouth again.

“Miss Velez,” says Tristan timidly, his voice muffled by my desperate mouth.

“Call … me … Lila.” I speak between kisses, but his lips don’t yield.

He wiggles beneath me. “I’m sorry, Miss Velez. I can’t.”

“You can’t call me Lila?”

That makes him smile. “I can’t make love to you. Sorry.”

Not that again! “
Why not? Come on, Tristan!” I’m still struggling to pull down the bands. Perhaps looking at my breasts will entice him more than my lips. “You fear rape, too. Let’s have willing, consensual sex while we can.”

“Firstly, I wouldn’t make love to the woman Prince Aleksey loves.” I snort incredulously
.
Tristan swallows before continuing. “But more importantly: I don’t want you. Not the slightest bit.”

My face reddens in humiliation. I climb down his chest and look for my T-shirt on the floor. It’s so not like Tristan to be rude in that way. Why do I keep finding rapists or guys with medieval moral reservations? My sexual life seems to be reduced to one rejection after another.

He looks at me apologetically. “I’m sorry, Miss Velez. I didn’t explain myself well.”

I embarrassedly reach for my cloak. “Don’t. You don’t have to say anything.”

“I have to. I don’t want you at all because I don’t want
any
woman.”

Any woman? As if …?

I fight the impulse to gasp. “You … prefer men?”

“
Shh
! You have to keep this a secret.”

Wide-eyed, I nod. I’m still recovering from both the humiliation and the surprise. It makes sense. Homosexuality is forbidden for Patriot military people and it’s punished with recruitment. No wonder Tristan fears rape. As long as they’re in Patriot territory, the cops submit to the same laws.

“Don’t tell Aleksey that I tried to …”

He rubs his earring absentmindedly. “I’m sorry, Miss Velez, but I can’t promise you that. I told you. I’m obliged to tell him everything because we’re family.”

“But—”

“Literally. We are first-cousins.”

My chin drops nearly to the floor and I cover my mouth with both hands. Why didn’t Aleksey tell me? Oh, right! Because he always hides the important details about his life. My first impulse is to ask Tristan about Aleksey’s family. Perhaps it would explain why he’s into C.N. But something tells me that Tristan’s unbreakable loyalty to his cousin will keep his mouth shut.

Tristan sighs. “Miss Velez, I don’t know exactly what happened between you two, but please don’t judge Prince Aleksey so harshly. You haven’t seen him in the past two days. Your absence is hell on him. Even my fellow cops have noticed he’s in a bad place. He misses you terribly and is worried about you. Go back to him, Miss Velez. Please.”

“Tristan, I can’t. Because of my mom, because of Duque. Aleksey represents everything I fear and
hate
.”

Tristan looks horrified. “Miss Velez, never ever say that again! If you tell him that you hate him, you’ll destroy him. You hear me? Completely, irrevocably ruin him.”

My eyes shut upward in disbelief. “You’re exaggerating. I’m just a … temporary thing. He said so himself.”

He sits up. “Miss Velez, he hasn’t opened to anyone but you. He’ll never come out of his shell if the only girl he’s ever loved—”

Love? I snort. “Since when does obsessive lust mean love?” Tristan is about to argue but I ignore him. “He’s full of dark secrets and he never—”

“He shared one of them with you and you left him.” Tristan’s velvet voice is unusually recriminating. “It must have been difficult for him to be honest and he did it for you. I never thought he’d ever open up to anyone.”

“I can’t ... rescue him from …”
his rapist tendencies.
“…Whatever it is that makes him close his doors to the world. I’m too busy rescuing myself and we won’t see each other after recruitment. I can’t stand rapists like him. My mother was—“

Tristan winces. “Whatever he is, he isn’t a rapist, and it angers me that you say so. He’s a good man and life hasn’t been kind to him. He deserves to find his happiness.”

I stop my attempts to get out the room. What if I’m taking Aleksey’s kink the wrong way? Perhaps Tristan knows information that can make me trust Aleksey again. “So … did he tell you about C.N?”

He looks at me sincerely confused. “ C—What? No! What are you talking about?”

I sink to the floor, grabbing my head between my hands. Tristan has proved before that he needs to believe the people he obeys can do no wrong. He doesn’t seem to know about Aleksey rapist tendencies, but even if he did, he’d be in denial.

“Miss Velez, I’m sorry but I can’t let you go yet. Aleksey is on his way.”

I spring to my feet. “On his way? That’s impossible.”

“I called him. My earring is a j-device.”

I hurry to the exit but he blocks the door with his body. “Tristan!” I squeal loudly.

Tristan shushes me. “I beg you to listen to him. You have to talk out your differences.”

“No! You don’t understand …”

“You think all he feels is lust, but you’re wrong. Prince Aleksey can deal with lust. You won’t find a man more skilled in giving women pleasure. But he’s not used to dealing with … other emotions. It doesn’t help that you’re being too hard on him,” he says in a calm tone. “At least listen to him.”

"Not yet! I promise I’ll talk to him one day, but the last thing I need so close to recruitment is—” He doesn’t budge. “Tristan! If you force me to stay and talk, I’ll hate him, and I’ll make sure to tell him. I swear I will.”

Tristan looks at me with a sad face and finally lets me pass. Poncho and I run down the corridor to get to the attic. In my hurry, I make some of the garbage and old armor in the attic fall noisily to the ground, but I don’t care. I have to avoid him at all costs.

The wind is hollowing furiously when we climb out the attic and onto the butterfly-style roof. We jump to the adjoining building.

That’s when a colossal form hurls against me and pins me to the ground.