Children of the Uprising (8 page)

“It doesn't matter where they go,” Addy answered him. “They just keep running—forever.”

They kept talking
until Addy left about an hour later. Max suggested that Christopher try to get some sleep, as if that were even a possibility. Instead, Christopher waited until Max went to bed and then he took out his phone. “you there?” Christopher texted to Evan.

He got a reply in a matter of seconds. “yes,” was all it said. Christopher closed the office door and dialed Evan's phone number.

“What the fuck, man? This is not how you treat a friend,” Christopher heard Evan's voice say before he even heard the phone ring.

“I'm sorry,” Christopher said, happy to hear Evan's voice even if he was angry.

“What the hell is going on?” Evan asked, the anger in his voice already slipping away.

“You'll never believe me if I tell you,” Christopher said, staring at the empty walls around him.

“Don't give me that shit,” Evan ordered.

“I can't even really talk,” Christopher said to Evan. “I wanted to get back to you so that you would know that I wasn't ignoring you. Things are a little crazy now.”

“You can't leave me hanging like this,” Evan said, his voice full of nervous excitement. “At least tell me one thing—did you kill those guys in the woods?”

Christopher thought for a second about how to answer. He knew that he was eventually going to tell Evan everything, as soon as he figured out how. Maybe this was a good place to start. “Yeah,” Christopher said, “but only because they tried to kill me first.”

“Holy shit.” Evan spoke half into the phone, half into the air.

“Listen, Evan, I'll try to call you again soon. Check in on my parents for me. Don't tell them that you talked to me, but try to make sure they're okay.” Christopher hung up the phone without waiting for a response. What response could he hope for anyway? Then he eased himself back down on to the pull-out sofa and put his head on his pillow. Since sleep wasn't coming anytime soon, he stared up at the ceiling and began to count every day of his life that contained at least one distinct memory. He'd been alive for roughly six thousand five hundred days. He finished counting the ones that he could actually remember long before he fell asleep.

Addy marched straight into Reggie's office early on the day after she'd met Christopher in Max's apartment. She hadn't been invited, never mind summoned. She wasn't about to sit around and wait for an invitation this time. Reggie was surprised when he saw her walk through his door. Reggie always claimed to have an open-door policy, but no one ever took him up on it—until Addy that day. “Addy?” Reggie said as she closed his office door behind her.

Addy got right to the point. “If he agrees to let us hide him, I want in. I want to be a part of it” were the first words out of her mouth.

Reggie was caught off guard for a second, but only a second. “Christopher?” he guessed.

“Of course, Christopher,” she answered him. “Who else would I be talking about?”

“You know that he hasn't even agreed to let us help him yet, right?” Reggie asked her.

“I know. But if he does agree to go, I want to be on the team that helps hide him.”

“And if he doesn't agree to let us clean him?” Reggie asked. Addy swore that Reggie was more than staring at her—he was staring
into
her. Reggie had known for quite some time that Addy wasn't happy. He did what he could to make her happy. She was good at what she did, but she was also so young and so hungry. Addy understood what Reggie was asking her. Reggie was asking if she was planning on going with Christopher even if he refused to let them hide him.

“I hope I don't have to answer that question.”

“Me too,” Reggie agreed.

The three of them drove away from the compound in a car that same afternoon. Max drove. Addy sat in the passenger seat. Christopher sat alone in the back. They were driving farther south. For now, they were only headed to Palm Beach. The drive took about an hour and a half—door to door—from the compound to the house where they were supposed to spend the night. They didn't know where they'd be headed after that. Reggie didn't want to waste any time. As soon as Christopher told Reggie that he was willing to be cleaned, Reggie started working the phones and making arrangements.

Christopher wasn't sure when he actually made his decision. He wasn't even sure that he actually made a decision. He just didn't see any other options. He did negotiate one point, though. He told Reggie that he was willing to be cleaned only if Max went with him. Christopher was surprised when he learned that the girl from the night before, Addy, would be going with them too. He wasn't upset about it, just surprised.

Even though it was hot out, Max drove with the windows open and the air conditioner off. It wasn't something Christopher would have ever done, but the wind whipping by him felt good on his skin. Without saying a word to Max, Addy leaned forward and turned on the radio. She had to turn the volume up really loud so they could hear it over the sound of the wind.

About ten songs later, they pulled up to the house where they were staying. It was the biggest house any of them had ever seen. “See, Chris,” Max said as the three of them stepped out of their car, “running ain't so bad.” But Christopher could still hear the surprise in Max's voice.

“Holy shit,” Addy whispered to herself as she stared at the mansion in front of them. It was set back from the road, surrounded on all sides by ten-foot-tall bushes. Until you pulled into the wide U-shaped driveway, you couldn't tell how large the house was. It was seemingly as wide as a city block and three stories high. Even with the tall shrubs surrounding it, you could see the entire expanse of the Atlantic Ocean from the upper two floors.

“Welcome!” a voice shouted from the doorway. “Welcome, welcome, welcome.” A tall, tan man walked out of the house. He had on loose-fitting linen pants and a long-sleeved white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His hair was silver and slicked back but hanging loose at the sides. The man walked up to Addy first. Christopher half expected the man to bend down and kiss Addy's hand, but he shook it instead. “It's a pleasure,” he said to Addy. Then he turned to Max. “My name is Jay,” the man said as he shook Max's hand. He didn't wait for either Addy or Max to answer him before he turned toward Christopher. He took Christopher's hand in his. “And you must be Christopher,” he said slowly, staring at Christopher as if studying him. Christopher nodded in response. “Where are your bags?” Jay said to the three of them without taking his eyes off Christopher. “I can get one of my men to carry them inside.”

Max opened the trunk of the car and pulled out all three of their duffel bags. “I think we can manage,” he said, slinging the bags over his shoulders and walking toward the open front door.

“Barry,” Jay shouted into the house without moving, “can you come and show these folks to their rooms?” At that, a big man in a blue polo shirt and khakis stepped into the doorway, blocking Max's entrance.

“Sure thing, boss,” Barry boomed in a deep, resonant voice. Then he took the duffel bags from Max without any further objections on Max's part.

“We'll have dinner in an hour,” Jay informed them. Then he nodded to Barry and Barry led Max, Addy, and Christopher to their respective rooms.

Their rooms were on the same floor, spread out along a long hallway. In between their guest bedrooms were sitting rooms and studies and a pool room. Addy was dropped off first, then Max, and finally Christopher. “So you're the kid,” Barry said to Chris as he led him into his room. Christopher's room was at the far end of the hallway, at the corner of the house. The massive room was bigger than the entire ground floor of the house that he'd grown up in. Christopher walked over to one of the windows. It looked out over the ocean. The sky was turning pink, and he could see whitecaps out in the water.

“I guess so,” Christopher answered. Barry smiled and nodded and walked out, leaving Christopher alone.

It was new to Christopher, this sudden aversion to being alone. For most of his life, all he'd wanted was to be left alone. Circumstances had, however, changed. Christopher waited until he could no longer hear Barry's footsteps in the hallway and then he went to the door of his room and peered outside. He stared down the hallway in the direction of Max's and Addy's rooms, though he couldn't even remember which doors they were stashed behind. He was hoping that they, like him, would open their doors and they would all look toward one another for comfort. Christopher waited like that for a few minutes, but neither Max nor Addy opened a door, so Christopher went back into his room. The room was large but cold. There were paintings on the wall, but they were abstract paintings and there were no pictures of family or friends. Christopher figured that maybe it was impolite for rich people to put personal pictures in their guest rooms. He walked over to the north-facing windows. From there he could see the road that they had driven down on, winding north along the coast until it disappeared from sight. Then Christopher went into the bathroom attached to his room to wash his hands and face. He honestly wondered if the next hour would actually pass or if he would be alone in this giant room forever.

While Christopher stared out his window, waiting for the time to pass, Addy, having never seen a bathroom as large and luxurious as the one attached to her room, took a bath. Max spent the time rummaging through his room, unsure of what he was looking for or even whether he would know it if he saw it.

Barry came to get them when it was time for dinner. Another member of Jay's staff, a woman named Alice, served them while they ate. They could see a third servant in the kitchen cooking. None of the servants spoke as they worked, but Christopher caught each of them staring at him when they thought no one was looking. Christopher, Addy, Max, and Jay all sat at a rectangular table in a large dining room on the ground floor with the view of the courtyard and the fountain in the back. Jay and Christopher sat at the head and foot of the table, with Addy and Max facing each other on the shorter ends.

“Well, I hope you all like your accommodations,” Jay said to them as they were served the first course.

“Your house is beautiful,” Addy told Jay. Christopher could smell Addy from a few feet away. Her scent wasn't overwhelming. It was simply noticeable. She smelled like rose petals.

“It's amazing,” echoed Max, looking around him.

Jay looked at Christopher, waiting for his approval. “It's big,” Christopher said.

“Yeah,” Max agreed. “How did you come by your money?”

“Speculating,” Jay said with pride. “It's amazing how simple the rest of the world seems when you grow up in a system as fucked up as ours. More wine?” Max, Addy, and even Christopher all nodded. Alice came out of the kitchen and refilled their glasses. “Though the wealth wasn't the original goal, it's merely a necessary means to an end.”

“So what's the end?” Christopher asked, staring across the long, shiny table.

“Avoiding having to fight in the War.” Jay swirled his wine in his glass before taking another sip. “It's something my father taught me. If you make yourself valuable in other ways, they won't ask you to fight. So I made myself valuable by literally becoming valuable.”

“How does that work?” Max asked.

“Are you kidding?” Jay laughed. “I pay more in tithing to the War than I do in taxes and nobody from the War ever comes to fill in the potholes on my street.”

“So what do they do for you in exchange for all that money?” Addy asked. This was new to all of them. Max and Addy knew about tithing, but this was different.

“They leave me alone and they try to keep the other side from finding me and ruining their sweet little deal.”

“Are you married?” Christopher asked Jay, somewhat out of the blue.

“Divorced,” Jay answered.

“Why'd you get divorced?” Addy asked, her lips loosened by the wine.

“My ex wanted to have children,” Jay answered.

“And you?” Christopher asked.

Jay shook his head. “I didn't want to bring anyone else into this War.”

“You have pretty strong opinions about the War,” Max said.

“I hate it. Why do you think the three of you are here?” More food came out. As Alice pushed the kitchen door open, bringing out slabs of red meat for the diners, the cook glanced at Christopher again over the steaming pots and smoking burners in the kitchen.

“You're a way station. The first stop in cleaning Christopher,” Addy answered over a forkful of food.

“Sure,” Jay said. “I'm also paying for you to run. Your hotels, gas money, food, plane tickets if you need them. I'm paying for it all. The Underground needs money too.”

“So what's in it for you?” Christopher asked the silver-haired man.

“You are,” Jay answered, the levity dropping entirely out of his voice. “I just wanted to help keep you alive.” He stared at Christopher. “My one condition before agreeing with Reggie to pay for your little escapade was that you stop here first so I would get to meet you.”

“And have I lived up to your expectations?” Christopher asked, his face a stone.

“Have another glass of wine,” Jay said to Christopher. “You have to realize that just by being alive, you mean so much to so many people. Your life is proof that the bastards aren't perfect.”

“My life means a lot more to me than that,” Christopher said.

“Just remember, boy, only the real crazies like the War, the ones that want to be heroes and bleed for a cause. The rest of us merely tolerate it because we don't want to be killed. Dessert, anyone?”

They were all drunk when dinner ended, all four of them. They'd gone through five bottles of wine. “I'm off to bed,” Jay declared with some panache, throwing his napkin on the table and wavering only slightly when he stood. “It's been an honor to meet each of you. And you, sir,” Jay said, staring at Christopher. “I didn't get this house making bad investments.” And with that, he exited the room as if he were walking off the stage.

Barry led Addy, Max, and Christopher back to their rooms, and this time, when Christopher peeked out his doorway, Max and Addy were peeking out theirs as well. “It will be safer if we all stay in the same room,” Max announced with only a slight slur to his speech. They all knew that it was merely an excuse to stick together. Since Christopher's room was the biggest, they all piled into it, Addy and Max carrying sheets and pillows from their beds.

Once they were all inside, Christopher closed the door. He felt an uncertain level of giddiness that he could never remember having felt before. “So what did you guys think of our host?” he asked, not entirely sure if in this crowd, Jay was the weird one or he was.

“Dude's nuts,” Addy offered. Then she began to lay her blanket down on the floor on the opposite side of the room from Max.

“I'll sleep on the floor,” Christopher said to Addy. “You can have the bed.”

Addy laughed at him. “I don't do chivalry,” she told him.

As they were settling in, Max had a sudden idea. “I know what we should do, Addy.”

“What's that?” Addy asked. She was sitting next to one of the windows looking out over the ocean. Christopher couldn't see the waves, but he could hear them.

“Let's give him a name,” Max said.

“Who? Christopher?” Addy asked.

“Yeah. Everybody needs a name.”

“What do you mean?” Christopher asked, growing dizzy from listening to how quickly Max and Addy spoke to each other.

“Your name. If you're going to be part of the Underground, you need a new name.”

Even though he'd read about it in his mother's journal, it hadn't dawned on Christopher that Max and Addy weren't his new friends' real names. “So you guys picked your own names? And you just forget the old ones?”

“Yeah,” Max said. “Try to forget anyway. No one's called me anything but Max for almost ten years.” Then he laughed before instructing Christopher, “Ask Addy how she got her name.”

“Shut up!” Addy yelled across the room to him. Christopher felt like he was on the outside of an inside joke.

“Why, where'd you get your name?” Christopher asked meekly, hoping not to offend anyone.

“It's not a big deal,” Addy said. “It's short for Adelaide—like Saint Adelaide. She was a princess, the daughter of a king, and her father arranged for her to be married to a man she didn't want to marry. When she refused to marry him, they threw her into solitary confinement in the Castle of Garda. But she was rescued by a priest who dug a tunnel under the castle walls and snuck her out.”

The room was quiet for a moment and then Max stifled a laugh. “God, you take yourself so fucking seriously, Addy.”

“It's better than your name,” Addy shouted at Max. “At least I didn't name myself after a children's book.”

Christopher looked at Max and tried to remember his favorite books from when he was young. He really had only one favorite. “
Where the Wild Things Are
?” he asked Max.

Max nodded. “Of course.”

“But why?”

Max grinned a grin that could have made even his worst enemies fall in love with him. “Because I'm the king of all wild things.”

“Jackass,” Addy muttered, but the word was full of warmth.

“So, what name should we give Christopher?” Max asked, staring at him. And for a moment Christopher wanted nothing more in the world than to have these two people he barely knew christen him with a new name.