Redeemer (3 page)

She leaves it alone and I go on.

“I also had a friend who was demoted. Her name was Jamie.”

Isabel's eyes narrow. “When?”

“Less than a year ago. She got pregnant. At least, I think she was demoted. She was taken.”

She tilts her head and studies me. “Were you close?”

I take a deep, shaky breath and nod. “She was my best friend.”

A smile breaks across her face. “Well then, this is your blessed day.”

My heart stops beating for a fraction of a second.

I stare at Isabel.

She's just given me two pieces of wonderful information. One, Jamie might be here, in this city. I haven't even considered it, I've been so preoccupied.

But number two blows me away. She told me it is my blessed day. Blessed.

That is a Christian word.

“Can you tell me how to find her?” I ask quietly. I will consider the Christianity thing later.

Isabel stands and holds out her hand. “Tell you? Sugar, I will take you there.”

 

 

 

 

4

 

My heart beats in triple time as we trek through the city. I take deep breaths, willing my heart to calm down. It's Jamie. At least, I hope it's Jamie. Isabel could be wrong.

Oh, but I hope not.

After four blocks, Isabel stops at a building. This one is two stories, and it doesn't look too bad. Frost Moon must have made sure I was in the worst building in the worse part of the city.

The bricks on this building are clean and mostly intact. A few people gather on the steps, talking and laughing. A tree even grows near the sidewalk, but it's too big and its roots have ripped apart the old concrete. All that's left now are gaping cracks in the ground.

My knees wobble as I stare at the building. Could Jamie really be inside?

“Whatcha need, Issy?” one of the men asks. He's tall and pale, almost sickly. His light eyes are sunken into his face, and his clothes hang off his shoulders like a blanket.

Despite his obviously underfed state, the man seems friendly.

“Howdy, Benji. Looking for Jamie and the baby. Are they around?”

“Haven't seen them today. Must be up in their apartment.” The man named Benji stares at me, but I barely see him.

This is it. I have finally found Jamie, but why is she here? Why in Lesser 4?

Isabel starts up the steps and I hurry to follow her. Glancing at the men seated on the steps, I move ahead and try to focus.

“How is she?” I ask. “When did she have her baby?”

Isabel smiles and holds up her hand. “Save those questions for your friend. She'll be glad to see you. Now that I think about it, she's mentioned you a time or two.”

Tears burn my eyes, and I blink them away. Jamie has mentioned me.

This makes it much more real. This truly is Jamie.
My
Jamie.

We climb the stairs to the second floor where Isabel knocks on the first door in the short hallway. The door jerks open almost immediately, but it's only a crack. “I just got him to sleep,” a voice hisses. “Who is it?”

Him? Jamie has a boy.

I start sobbing like a big bawl baby, and Isabel chuckles and shakes her head.

“It's Isabel from four blocks over. I've got someone out here you might like to see.”

The door closes again and the muffled sounds of a scraping metal chain rings in the air. The door reopens and Jamie's face emerges.

I cry harder.

Jamie gasps. “Hana?”

I try to answer her, but I can't stop sobbing. Instead, I nod.

She rushes out and pulls me into the tightest hug I've ever had. I manage to work my arms around her to return the hug. After a moment, I realize she's crying too. We pull back, and I wipe my face.

Jamie looks terrible. Her cheeks are so sunken in, and her hair is dirty and matted.

“What are you doing here?” Jamie asks. She takes in my clothes and cuts and bruises. “You're not here on assignment, are you?” Her voice holds the fear I feel in my own heart. The last time I saw her, I promised to find her—only I promised to come while on training in order to improve the Lessers' lives.

My throat swells and I swallow down my emotions. “No, not on assignment.”

She sighs and nods. “Come on. You can tell me about it inside.”

I glance behind me to Isabel, but she has slipped away.

I follow Jamie inside where she closes the door softly behind her. She relocks the door and heads toward the couch, but I reach out a hand to stop her.

“Can I see him? Can I see your baby?”

Her hardened face softens and she nods. “Sure. He's in the bedroom.”

Jamie's apartment is set up like mine, with a main room and a bedroom off to the side. Beside her bed is an old, tattered crib. Inside lies a small bundle of pink skin and brown clothing. He lies on his back, his arms spread out wide. Black hair tufts off his head.

The tears are back. “What's his name?”

“Easton,” she says.

I chuckle. “I don't know why I didn't think of that.” Turning to her, I try to smile. “He's so beautiful. Did it hurt?”

She chokes on something between a laugh and a sob then nods. “Yeah. A lot.”

We make our way to the living room and plop onto the couch. I'm not sure where to start, but before I can say anything I notice the way Jamie rings her hands together and the lines on her forehead draw together.

I take her hand. “What is it, Jamie?”

She glances at me and swallows hard. “Can you tell me about Easton?”

Questions swirl through my head. What did they tell her when they sent her away? They obviously lied to her, just like they lied to Easton. They told him she'd opted to abort the baby and stay in Middle City, but none of us ever saw her again.

Now here she was.

“He disappeared for a few days,” I say. “I assumed you'd both been demoted, but then I saw him in the market with his dad. I confronted him, but he was a pitiful mess. Cuts and bruises, but also a totally defeated spirit.”

Jamie's frown deepens.

“He asked to meet me, and when we were alone he said you wanted to abort the baby and stay in Middle City 3. I knew you wouldn't do that, but he wouldn't listen. After several days, when he hadn't seen you, he didn't know what to think. He was pretty heartbroken.”

Tears pool at the corners of her eyes and fall down her cheeks, but she doesn't make a sound. I stare in awe at her silent tears. This isn't the way she used to cry, but then I remember baby Easton. She's probably learned to be a little quieter in everything she does.

“Jamie, what did happen? How did you end up here?”

She takes a shuddering breath. “Well, I refused to abort the baby. They said I had to, I wasn't allowed to choose, but I told them I knew better. When they figured out I wasn't going to give in, they told me I would be demoted and Easton said he wasn't coming with me. I wasn't sure it was true, but I didn't care. I had already felt the baby move, and I couldn't change my mind.”

I nod, encouraging her to go on. She tries to smile, but it's more like a grimace. “They sent me to Lesser City 3 first, but I guess I kind of lost my mind. I kept telling people I knew the truth, that the Greaters were liars. They didn't like that, so they sent me here.”

I gasp. “Jamie, why would you say those things?”

“I know I acted like I didn't care about the things you said,” she says, stopping to frown. “I'm sorry about that, by the way. But I really was listening. I spent a little time with Ava before I was sent away, and I went to her house. I was telling her parents about your mom, and Ava's dad got all upset when I mentioned it was too bad we didn't have chemo anymore.”

The mention of Ava makes my heart shatter in my chest. Poor Ava. Did she ever wake up after I smacked her in the head with a rock outside the prison? Brought there to be shipped out to war, she was in such a bad state I'm not sure she could have lasted long, regardless.

But I force my mind back to the conversation at hand. Ava's dad used to be Greater, but he tested as Middle when he was a teenager. He must have known the Greaters have chemotherapy available.

“I knew the truth, then,” Jamie says. “The Greaters weren't allowing your mom to get better. So then I began questioning other things you'd said, like how you wondered about God. I asked around about that in Lesser City 3, and Hana, you won't believe it, but I think I met that Fischer guy's parents.”

I laugh and nod. “You probably did. They live there. I met his dad at the hospital.”

“Yes! I had to go there when I got really sick with the pregnancy. He told me about God.” She pauses. “Do you believe in Him, Hana? Because I do.”

Happiness bubbles to the surface of our dark and dingy surroundings. “Yes, I do. I'm so glad to hear it, Jamie.”

She smiles and nods, but she shifts on the couch and takes a deep breath. “Now it's your turn. How did this happen, Hana? Why are you here?”

Where to begin?

I take a deep breath and tell Jamie my story. I don't leave anything out. Not Mr. Elder's death, not my raging feelings for Fischer and Keegan, and not how I manage to bring danger to every person who is unfortunate enough to get close to me. I consider asking for advice about Fischer and Keegan, but I ignore the thoughts and barrel on—there's no point getting advice when I'll probably never see them again.

By the time we finish catching up, the sun has set and darkness has fallen across the apartment. Baby Easton woke up, ate, cooed, then went back to sleep, and now Jamie moves through the apartment lighting candles.

“Don't we get any electricity at all?” I ask. Thoughts of long winter nights in the dark haunt me.

“I don't really know,” she says. “I've only been here during spring and summer. Winter will be here in a couple of months, and I've heard we'll get some heating allowances.”

Moving to the window, I gaze out on the dark city. Dim light shines through a few other buildings, but mostly everything is black.

“Are there curfews?” I ask.

Jamie shrugs. “Not really. If you happen to be caught out after dark, you might get into trouble, but probably you won't even be caught in the first place.”

Going back to my apartment is the last thing I want to do. “Do you mind if I stay here?”

Her eyes light up and a huge smile spreads across her face. “I would love for you to stay here.” She rushes toward me and wraps me in a hug. “I don't have much food, though.”

“That's OK. Isabel let me eat something at her apartment earlier, and she gave me some water. We're going to get in line for allowances tomorrow.”

I stop and frown, remembering the man named Benji's words about Jamie staying inside all day. “Jamie, did you get your allowances?”

She sighs and nods. “A neighbor stayed with Easton while I stood in line. I was lucky enough to get in quickly.”

“I won't be a bother. I promise.”

She hugs me again. “You could never be a bother.”

I snuggle onto her old, dilapidated couch and smile. For it being my second night in Lesser City 4, I'm not doing so badly. Things could definitely be worse.

 

 

 

 

5

 

Early morning light has just begun to shine through the windows of Jamie's apartment. Jamie hugs me and I squeeze her back. “Come right back when you're done.”

I nod and move toward the door. “I will, as soon as I get my allowances.”

Being outside disorients me and I scan the area, trying to figure out which way to Isabel's apartment. I finally find my way and see Isabel waiting for me on the street. We hurry to get to the arena early.

The line is already long, filled with people who missed it yesterday, but it's not as bad by far.

“Did you get all caught up?” Isabel asks.

“Yes,” I say. “Thank you for helping me. You could have kept the information to yourself. You don't know me at all.”

“Now why would I do that?” she asks. “You'd have to be pretty coldhearted for something like that.”

She's right, but it's exactly what would have happened in Greater City, and probably even the Middle Cities. “Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did, honey.”

I smile and glance around to make sure no one is watching us. “Yesterday you told me it was my blessed day. Why did you say blessed?”

Her eyebrows raise but she smiles. “You seem like you already know the answer to that question.”

Hope makes tiny pinpricks in the bubble of despair around my heart. “Yes, I think I do. I want to know more. Are there more of you? I would like to meet the others.”

Isabel nods slowly. “We would love to have you, Hana.”

“But you have to make sure I'm trustworthy?”

She laughs. “Not hardly. What more can the Greaters do to us at this point? Killing us would just send us to our Maker. We meet every Wednesday night at the northwest side of the city. It's easy enough to find us, if you're interested.”

I do a mental count and figure out today is Tuesday. “I'll be there.”

She smiles and nods, and the line moves forward. The people are quieter today, more reserved. Tension buzzes in the air and I step closer to Isabel. “What's going on? It seems like everyone is upset.”

Frowning, she glances around us. “It's the second day. If they run out of allowances this time, everyone's out of luck until next month.”

The severity of her words settles on me. If these people get gypped out of their food today, they will have nothing for at least another month. Will all of them live that long?

Or will the people resort to stealing for their food—we all have to eat, don't we? Fear settles over me as I realize the Greaters promote this lawlessness. They want these people to be violent and desperate. Then they have something to tell the Middles and Greaters, keeping us separate and at odds.