She nodded.
“Then let’s go.”
IX
To me, Wei’s house was the most beautiful place I’d ever been. It was an ancient three-story brownstone walk-up. Even as exhausted as she was, Dee’s eyes widened in amazement as we walked up to the front of the house. Lights glowing on the stone-pillared front porch welcomed us. “This is ultra,” she whispered to me.
Chris activated the retinal scan hidden behind the brass numbers. “I’ll program you guys in tomorrow.”
Mrs. Jenkins must’ve heard us coming, because she was descending the marble stairs as we stepped into the foyer. Showering Dee and me with motherly hugs and murmurs of reassurance, she said, “Consider this your home, girls. I’ve put a few things in the chiller in your place, in case you get hungry. We’ll figure out everything else tomorrow.”
There were two apartments on the first floor. One was Mr. Jenkins’s office. The other was now ours.
“I hope this will be comfortable.” Mrs. Jenkins opened the door to our new home. Even as tired as we were, it would’ve been impossible not to be impressed.
The living room was furnished with an overstuffed sofa and two chairs that were so big I was sure I’d sink down and get lost in one. A FAV hung on the wall across from the sofa. Flanking it were two bookshelves, filled with books—real books, not just chips like we used at school. I was awestruck at being surrounded by so many precious historic things. We’d had a few real books back when my mom was still alive, but they’d all been confiscated by B.O.S.S. after she died
“It’s more than comfortable,” I said. “I don’t know how we can ever repay—”
“Nonsense.” Mrs. Jenkins waved off my mention of indebted-ness. “It is an honor to be able to help the family of my dear friends.” I remembered her telling me how close she and my mom had been. “Let me show you the bedrooms. You must be exhausted.”
“Nina, you shouldn’t be alone tonight,” Wei said. “I’ll go grab my PJs and be right back.”
When Wei returned, Mrs. Jenkins left, reminding us that there would be breakfast in the morning upstairs.
“We should get to sleep,” I said. “I’m totaled.”
“Me, too.” Wei stifled a yawn.
“I guess so.” Dee looked ready to drop, but hesitated at the door to her room. She obviously did not want to be alone.
“You know, the bed in my room is huge,” I said. “There’s plenty of room for three.”
As it was, we could’ve fit in a fourth, it was so huge. Even with all that space, Dee fell asleep curled up in my arms.
A warm beam of sunlight across my face woke me. I bolted upright. “Where am I?”
“Huh?” was the muffled reply.
“Wei?”
She threw back the comforter, stretching her arms over her head. “You’re awake.”
“Yeah. It took me a minute to remember what all’s happened.” I patted the pile of covers next to me. “Where’s Dee?”
“She woke up just after I did. I sent her upstairs for breakfast.”
Just the mention of food made my stomach come to life, growling like an angry dog. But I had other things to take care of before my hunger. “Where’s my bag? I have to call Metro and check in on Gran. Will my PAV work in your house?” With all the antisurveillance technology that Wei’s house was wrapped up in, I didn’t know what would and wouldn’t work.
Wei produced my bag from beside the bed. “PAVs work fine here. If you want to know how, though, you’ll have to ask Chris. All that techie stuff is space jargon to me.” She rolled out of bed. “Come up when you’re done.”
I lightly tapped on the door. Wei’s mother welcomed me, putting an arm around my shoulders, like Mom used to do. It made me sad, but it felt good, too. How I wished… no sense in that. There was too much for me to figure out. I didn’t have time for what Gran called pie-in-the-sky thoughts.
“This is so kind of you.” I felt myself tearing up. “I don’t know—”
“It is the least we can do,” she said. “We are fortunate to be in a position to help friends. Your father, although distressed about his parents, was glad to know that you and Dee are safe with us.”
They talked to him—my father. I had spoken to him only that one time, weeks ago. But they’d already gotten word to him. How many emotions and questions just hearing “father” brought up. I settled them all back to sleep.
“Dee doesn’t know about him—I mean, about him being alive, that is,” I said.
“I thought not. She also doesn’t know that he’s her father, does she?”
I shook my head. “Just you and me, well, and my father—we’re the only ones who know.”
“And that is how it will stay until he decides to tell her. We will not talk openly of Alan around Dee. I’ll be sure that Chris and Wei are aware.”
“It’s so hard to keep secrets. Like the FeLS information. Because of it, Ginnie’s dead.”
“Yes, that and so many other reasons.” Mrs. Jenkins hugged me tight. “Someday the truth about everything will come out.”
“Do you know when or how my father is going to let the world know what FeLS really is?” It was naive of me to think that one chink in the Governing Council’s armor would bring them down. But at least exposing the FeLS sex-slavery side would stop low-tier girls, like Mike’s sister, Joan, and me, from being exploited in that way.
“I have heard that there will be an announcement soon. Let’s not focus on that today. When you go to see your grandmother, you want to be happy, positive. Take a few hours to enjoy life and not be worried about it.” She cupped my chin in her hand. “I hope staying here will bring you some happiness, Nina. You so deserve it.”
I craved happiness. As to whether I thought I deserved it, I wasn’t so sure.
We walked into the kitchen. Chris was at the cook center, using it on manual, like Gran liked to do. Wei and Dee were already tucking into plates full of food.
Dee put her fork down. “How’s Gran? Can we go see her now?”
“The doctor is going to call me when he gets in. The nurse said Gran was ‘as well as could be expected,’ but we can’t see her again until the doctor approves visitors.”
“Sit here.” Wei pointed to a chair next to her. “I’ll go with you if you want.”
“You can go if it’s after you’ve practiced your piano lessons.” Mrs. Jenkins gave Wei a stern look.
Wei rolled her eyes. “Okay.”
“Here you go.” Chris came over with a plate of French toast, dusted with powdered sugar. A pat of spread in the middle was melting into a steaming pool. “Strawberries. Blueberries.” He scooted a tray with two pots of toppings in front of me.
I spooned strawberries on one side of my toast and blueberries on the other. As I was eating, I realized Mr. Jenkins wasn’t there. “Where’s your dad?”
“He’s taking care of a storage unit for your things,” Wei said.
“After breakfast, if you haven’t heard from the doctor yet,” Mrs. Jenkins said, “you can go back to your apartment with Chris to deal with the rest of your things.”
All at once, it hit me. “Oh, no! I almost forgot. I have to go to the Art Institute. I’m supposed to work today.”
“Dee can get me into the apartment.” Chris said. “My friends and I will do the packing, and she can make sure we don’t miss anything. We might still be there when you’re through with work.”
The thought of my job, which entailed sitting in the middle of a cavernous storeroom filled with art, was inviting. It would be a little bit of sorely needed peace for me. But there was so much to do, and Gran… “Why don’t you go on and see what happens?” Wei said. “It’s better to do something than to just sit around here worrying. If the doctor calls, you can get in touch with Chris and he’ll bring Dee to the hospital. Don’t stress.”