Mrs. Jenkins arrived home, and after one look at my face, she took me firmly in hand. “Come with me. I have some salves for this.”
“Mom knows herbal secrets that have been around for millennia,” Wei told me. “They really do help.”
I went with Wei’s mother to her room. She brought a small chest out of the closet. It was shiny black with silver and gold designs covering it.
“This chest has been passed down through my family for centuries, since the Heian period in Japan, around the year 794.”
I did some quick math in my head. “That’s over thirteen hundred years ago! Can I touch it?”
“Of course. It’s maki-e, a technique that layers gold and silver powders in the tree sap that forms the lacquer.” Mrs. Jenkins watched as I ran my fingers over the surface.
It almost seemed as if the surface was responding to my touch, in the same way there’d be a slight quiver when I’d run my hand along Pepper’s flank. I looked at Mrs. Jenkins. “It feels like it’s alive.”
“You feel that?” Her eyes widened. “It is rare that anyone notices. The lacquer continually interacts with its environment. The greatest maki-e artisans knew their work would live forever. You are very sensitive to life.” She blinked and then turned away. “I am the last healer in my family. Wei has no desire to learn—she is more interested in getting bumps and bruises than fixing them.”
“Are there other healers?”
“A few, but they must practice in secret. The Governing Council insists that people rely on conventional forms of medicine. Disease and pain are big business. Media makes a fortune advertising cures, all the while filling people’s minds with fear of the very diseases the doctors claim to heal, which causes the very illnesses people are afraid of getting. It’s a vicious cycle that lines the pockets of health care providers and drug companies.”
While we were talking she’d taken three squat stone jars out of the cabinet, uncovering each and smelling the contents.
“This will do.” She took a small amount of greenish cream from one of the jars and mixed it in the palm of her hand with a dab of yellow from another. Even with her butterfly touch, I winced as she applied it to my cheek.
“Have you heard from Mr. Jenkins?” I asked. “Is he okay?”
“Yes, he is fine. He will be home tonight.”
I could see where Wei had gotten her self-control. I would have been at the door, waiting, pacing. But Mrs. Jenkins continued to tend to me in the same slow and gentle manner as she had done before I’d mentioned her husband.
She took a small amount of cream from the third jar and put it on the fingertips of my right hand. “Massage this on your lips. I’ll send some home with you. Mix everything as I did and apply before bedtime and when you get up in the morning.”
“What are these creams?”
“Arnica and goldenseal; the lip balm is my own special recipe.” She cupped my good cheek in her palm. “Maybe you should become my apprentice.” Wiping her hands, she closed the chest. “Let’s go tell Wei about her father.”
At the same time as we entered the living room, Mr. Jenkins walked in the front door.
“Dad!” Wei ran into his arms and held him tight.
When she finally let him go, he turned around in a circle. “See, no bullet holes, no neutralizing ray singes, no bruises…” It was then he caught sight of me. “Good Lord! What happened to you? Jade, have you…?”
“Yes, dear. The full treatment; she will be fine in a few days.”
“What happened?”
“Ed kidnapped her. She managed to get away.” Wei dropped her voice. “I’m afraid I let this happen. I was there, but I—”
“It was my fault,” I protested. “I thought—”
“There’s no blame, girls.” Mrs. Jenkins interjected. “We have lessons; we learn. Let me get you the salve to take with you.”
“Dad, Ed stole Nina’s FeLS contract,” Wei said.
Mr. Jenkins glanced at me, then back at Wei. “Don’t worry. I’ll look into it. But now is not the time. I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic,” he said to me, “but there are several things that need my immediate attention. You still have a while before you turn sixteen, right?”
I nodded. “December tenth.”
“Still a couple of weeks away. Good. And your school is not set to have the Choosing until after Holiday Day, which gives us even more time. Wei will see that you get home safely, and I’ll be sure you have protection.” He disappeared behind a set of ornate pocket doors.
“Don’t worry, Nina,” Wei said. “Dad always keeps his word.”
Mrs. Jenkins returned with three smaller versions of the stone jars that held her medicines. Kissing my good cheek, she whispered, “You will be fine.”
At that moment, I wasn’t so sure.
XXXVII
Early Thursday morning, I was in the kitchen with Gran.
“Your face looks so much better,” she said. “Mrs. Jenkins’s salves must be the reason it’s healing so quickly.”
It felt better, too. The swelling had gone down considerably and my left cheek had changed from the initial dark purple to that horrible greenish yellow that bruises turn when they are healing. My fear was subsiding a little, too. There had been no sign of Ed since the day he kidnapped me; no PAV calls either. Although I kept a constant lookout for him just in case
“Your sixteenth is less than two weeks away,” Gran said. “I’ve made the appointment. Shots first, then the tattoo.”
“I don’t think I’m ready.”
“You know the law, hon. There’s nothing I can do.” She put her arm around me.
I sighed, letting my head sink onto her shoulder.
Dee appeared in the doorway. “What’s going on? Are you okay, Nina?”
I straightened up quickly. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about turning sixteen.”
“That’s so cool.” She took a rapido off the counter and started drawing an XVI on her wrist.
“Stop it!” I grabbed the pen and she stuck her tongue out at me.
“You’d better get going,” Gran said. “You don’t want to be late.”
Dee scooted out the door in front of me. Her reaction was still on my mind as we exited the elport. I’d never looked forward to turning sixteen, not even when I was Dee’s age. Mostly because of the way sixteens act when they can finally have sex without concern about what anyone will say. Then, after seeing that sex vid Ed had left at our house, I was positive I didn’t ever want to do that. Now, with all the things I’d been finding out lately, I dreaded it even more. Not just for myself, but for girls like Joan and for Sandy and, eventually, for Dee.
And then there was Sal. I loved being close to him, kissing him. I got a warm feeling just thinking of his lips on mine.
“How come you don’t want to turn sixteen, Nina?” Dee suddenly asked. “All my friends’ older sisters have sex, some even did it before they turned sixteen.” She jutted her chin in an I-told-you-so manner.
“Is that so, Miss Encyclopedia? You know if you get pregnant before you’re sixteen, you can’t keep the baby.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I wouldn’t have an abortion.”
“Not your choice. If you were paying attention in class, you’d know that before they’re sixteen, girls don’t have choices. Even after you turn, guys get to make the decision about babies, if they want to.”
At Dee’s age I hadn’t had a clue what sex was really about. Not like I was an expert now, but back then it seemed gross and funny. Mostly Sandy and I had snickered and told jokes about it. Now there was Sal, and I wasn’t quite as sure about my feelings on the subject.
We boarded the number 33 and made our way to the back.