"I only bought some of the hair dye today. I've had most of this stuff for years. I knew we'd get our kids out someday and we'd have to disguise them." Mother holds up a bottle of blonde hair dye. "I always have this on hand to cover up my gray roots."
Ernestine throws the fake nose back in the box. "You amaze me, sometimes, Florence."
My mother smiles at her friend and starts playing with the end of my braid. "Elira, I think we should cut your hair short and dye it blonde. What do you think?"
I look at the bottle of blonde hair dye my mother is extending toward me. I've never had the option to change my hair color. "I, uh, sure, if you think so, Mother."
"I think that blonde will look the most different yet natural with your features." She sets the hair dye on the table and picks up another little bottle. "Here is the flesh colored makeup I was telling you about."
"Okay, I'll try it. How short should I cut my hair?"
"A pixie cut would look adorable on you."
"Okay, I don't know what that is, but, if you think so."
Mother turns to my best friend and starts picking through her thinning hair. "Avra, I don't think dyeing your black hair will look natural, but many girls with your coloring do caramel-colored streaks in their hair. What do you think? Or, maybe I can find some caramel-colored hair extensions to fill in the thinning parts of your hair more."
Avra looks at my mother with appreciation. "Yes. I would love that, thank you."
A giggle escapes my mother's lips when she sees Garth wearing a bushy black mustache. "You boys need to decide on a color to dye your hair. Garth and Jefrey, we don't want you to look like twins anymore, so pick different hair colors." The twins look at each other with uncertainty as that news sinks in. "Garth, there is an artificial earlobe you can stick on. As long as someone doesn't stare at it in close proximity, no one will know it's fake."
Garth picks up a flesh-colored half moon and squishes it with his fingers. "Thank you."
Jefrey picks a bottle out of the box. "I will go black. Garth, pick something else."
Garth looks at his brother with annoyance. He looks at the remaining colors of dye and chooses one. "I will go with this then." Mother looks at his choice and nods her approval. "What color would you call this, Mrs. Hamble?"
"I'd just call it reddish-brown."
Knock, knock. Did someone just knock at the outside door? I'm pretty sure guests for Doctor and Mrs. Hamble come to the door upstairs by the piano room, not the concrete-encased basement door. I look at the basement windows and am relieved that the blinds are shut tight with no gaps.
Ernestine jumps out of her kitchen chair and starts throwing bottles in the box. "It might be peace officers. We have to hide all of this and ourselves, now!" We grab everything off the table and run for the bookshelf. I pull the red book out and jerk the hidden door open. We all pile into the room with our arms full and shut the door.
My heart is racing and I'm afraid my breathing will be audible through the bookshelf. I close my eyes and hold my breath for 10 seconds to calm myself down. When I open my eyes, I notice Avra looking wobbly. I gesture to Scott to help her sit on the couch. He helps her sit down, sidles up next to her, and puts his arm around her shoulders. I suddenly hear a loud, deep male voice talking to Florence, or I should say—Mom. I press my ear to the door to hear everything better. Rocky and Ernestine join me.
"...Mrs. Hamble. Sorry for the back-door approach, I've just been patrolling your street, and I wondered if you've had any strange people loitering on your property. I'm sure you've seen the news. Some undesirables escaped from the complex, and we have reason to believe they are hiding somewhere in town."
I look nervously at Garth, who has joined me at the door. He takes my hand. Jefrey glares at him as he butts into our space.
"Thank you so much for your concern, officer. I keep a highly vigilant staff, and they have not seen anyone loitering around here at all, but we will keep a tighter lookout."
"One of the escaped undesirables is your daughter."
"Really? I was sure she was dead by now."
"No. She is not dead."
"With a blotched face like hers, she'll be turned in by today, I'm sure." My stomach drops. She's only pretending my face is repulsive, right?
"Hmm. Do you always sit in the basement alone, Mrs. Hamble?"
"I do quite often, yes. I'm forming a plan to redecorate the basement, so I'm sitting down here to imagine the possibilities."
"Do you mind if I look around?"
"By all means, officer."
The peace officer sounds like he is opening and shutting all of the closets and cupboards in the great room. I wonder what he will do when he sees that the bedrooms look lived in.
The officer's voice is ridiculously loud in general but it gets harder to make out as he explores the far corners of the basement. I press my ear hard against the door. "This bedroom appears to be occupied. Who is staying in it?"
Avra starts rocking back and forth on the sofa next to Scott. He takes her hand and guides her head to his shoulder so she doesn't make any noise.
"All of the basement bedrooms are being occupied at the moment. I've hired a crew of six to help me redecorate the basement and to update my landscaping."
"They are staying in the same rooms you want redecorated..."
"It's the great room that I want to redecorate."
"Where are these workers now?"
"They went to the hardware store to buy paint and supplies."
"You don't say."
"They'll start taping off the ceiling and trim when they get back."
"It looks like your deformed daughter's room is pretty exquisite."
I cringe, thinking of the nightgown I left on the floor, and the unmade bed...
"It's basically a second guest room. I really should tear all that old garbage off the walls and repaint."
"Which would explain why the hired help is staying in there..."
Mother doesn't miss a beat. "I'm just imagining the possibilities now. Pictures of that unsightly blemish turns my stomach. I really should redecorate this room. Thank you for the idea. Would you like to pop up to the kitchen for some lemon cake on your way out? My cook's lemon cake is legendary."
"I-uh, don't mind if I do. Thank you, Mrs. Hamble."
Avra releases her death grip on Scott. I step away from the door and start pacing. We have been lazy, and foolish. I use a loud whisper to say, "We can't leave any evidence of who we are laying around our bedrooms. We should probably put all of our personal belongings in here."
Rocky whispers back, "It's not like we have any personal belongings. We should destroy our jumpsuits though."
"I'm pretty sure my mom already did."
Jefrey stops my pacing and gets right in my face. "So much for a safe place, Elira. Why is living like this better than the complex, again? Remind me. I'm not sure I'm seeing it."
I can't come up with a smart remark fast enough. "I'm sure the officer is leaving soon, so calm down."
He throws his arms out at the room. "This locked room is smaller than the locked dorm in the complex. This is like a prison."
Garth slams Jefrey in the chest. "Get out of her face, Jef. We are better off, and you know it."
Avra's quiet voice chimes in, "They were going to kill me soon. I'm glad we're out."
Ernestine puts a calming hand on Jefrey's arm. "I'm sure every house in the city is being searched right now. It won't always be this way."
Click. The door opens and my mother walks in. She can see the tension on our faces. "It's okay, he's gone. The officer looked around but didn't find anything besides your pajamas on the ground." We all breathe a sigh of relief. "We should keep any belongings that reveal who
you are hidden in here, but don't be too worried. I think he believed my story."
Jefrey pushes past my mother and storms out. Ernestine looks at my mother and me and holds up a pair of scissors. "Let's get these kids disguised right now, just in case."
Chapter 6
I look at myself in the mirror. I can't believe the person's face I'm seeing is really mine. My dress is so beautiful, my hair is short, and it's blonde like my mothers. But more importantly, my scar has disappeared. The makeup my mother gave me worked incredibly well. The skin of my birthmark is still a bit raised, but you have to look closely to see it. I hope my mother will like seeing my face without my ‘unsightly blemish.'
Avra joins me at the mirror. Her hair is short and ‘cut in a trendy way' according to my mom. The caramel streaks are fancy. She looks like she belongs in my mother's world, for sure. I turn around and look at the boys. Scott has attached fake hair extensions and braided it all into what Ernestine calls cornrows and is wearing a big, fake nose. His lumpy neck is completely covered with a high-necked shirt called a turtle neck. I wouldn't know it was him if I were a complex mentor. Rocky bleached his hair blonde. He has a fake ear glued on, a fake little blonde beard thing called a goatee and green-colored eye coverings called contacts. Garth looks different but still amazing with spikey reddish-brown hair, long fake side burns, and brown contacts. Jefrey looks as dark and sharp as he acts with black-colored contacts, hair, and eyebrows. He has just a sliver of fake black hair on his chin.
Ernestine looks at us and nods. "That's what I'm talking about." She has seven less inches of dark curly hair on her head and a fake chin on that protrudes much farther than her real one. "We'll spend the rest of the day working on your vocabulary. If your looks don't give you away, your speech might."
Avra likes what she sees in the mirror. "When will we be able to go outside?"
"If you can master the vocabulary changes I teach you today, I think we could try a short test trip to the convenience store tomorrow. What do you think, Florence?"
"There are peace officers everywhere. They definitely couldn't all go together. A group of six is dangerous with six faces on the news right now."
"Okay. We'll send groups of two or three to the convenience store in the morning and the afternoon tomorrow to see if they can pass as normal citizens, if and only if they take my vocabulary lessons seriously."
Avra and Scott smile nervously at each other. I take Garth aside and whisper in his ear, "Will you go with me?"
He moves some of my short blonde hair behind my ear. "Absolutely."
Jefrey guesses what we're talking about and joins us. "You two aren't going anywhere without me." Just great.
When Ernestine calls us all in for vocabulary lessons, Jefrey beckons me to sit next to him on the—loveseat, as my mom calls it. I pretend like I don't see him and sit on the couch next to Rocky and Garth. If anyone is going to master the real-world vocabulary, it's going to be me. I want to go outside in the sunshine and feel the wind blowing my hair, and I kind of wonder what it will be like to meet new people who don't immediately look at my raccoon eye.
Ernestine clears her throat to command our attention. "Repeat after me: I eat breakfast in the morning, lunch at noon, and dinner in the evening. My favorite place to eat is a restaurant called ‘Ollie's' and I get my hair done at Shannon's Salon."
We all take our real-world lessons seriously. Of course, we want to go outside. Ernestine is finally smiling at our answers to her questions by 10:30 pm. She says we're ready for tomorrow morning. I'll be counting down the minutes until breakfast.
•
As Scott and I wash the breakfast dishes, I giggle at how wrinkly my fingers get. Maybe I should disguise myself as an elderly person. Ernestine puts the last coat of glue on her fake jaw. "I say we try this out. I'm going to take Rocky and Scott to the convenience store and see if anyone recognizes us."
Florence shakes her head. "No, you two are number one and two on the wanted list. Let's start this believability test on the safe side. I'll take Elira and Garth instead."
"Oh no, not without me," Jefrey butts in.
I roll my eyes at him. The constant jealousy permeating this basement is ruining my time with both twins.
Mother is soon persuaded. "Okay, Jefrey, you can come too. We need to see if people can tell that you're twins still." She digs through her shoulder bag thing that I vaguely remember is called a purse and pulls out a rectangular envelope that she extends toward the twins. "Take this money. We'll walk to the little store down the street and buy a bag of chips."
We all look at each other blankly. Garth clears his throat. "I'm not sure if I can tell the difference between a house and store yet, Mrs. Florence."
My mother lets out a long breath. "Just Florence or Mrs. Hamble. I'm sorry. I forget that you don't... Ernestine, are you sure they're ready?"
"Yes. They are. They'll be fine for a 20-minute trip."
"You're probably right, but only because I convinced the peace officer yesterday that I was disgusted that my blemished daughter escaped the complex. He said he was shorthanded for the amount of surveillance that is being asked of him. I convinced him that we didn't need to be under 24-hour-a-day-observation. Who knows how long we can go unwatched. Anyway, I will go with you to the convenience store, but I can't go inside with you. It'll seem odd if I go to the convenience store with my hired help. But I think we should give you all a lesson on using money first."
Ernestine nods her head. "Yes. Good call. I almost forgot about that."
Jefrey looks curiously at my mother. "Why do we need money? We didn't use it in the complex."
"It takes money to pay for the things we need. Very few people trade goods or services anymore. Money is what paid for this house and the breakfast you just ate. It is necessary in this world for survival. The less money you have, the less options you have to buy what you want or need."
Jefrey shifts his head from side to side. "So the more money you have, the more you can get the stuff you want."
She nods, "In a nutshell, yes." Jefrey grins.
Mother patiently shows us the different amounts of money that each coin and bill from her purse represent. She has us pretend to buy something and figure out the correct change to get back. Jefrey lights up during this little lesson. He insists on holding the money for us.
"Don't hold the envelope in front of you like that. You're asking to get robbed. Put it in your pocket instead," Ernestine says grumpily. Jefrey shoves the envelope into the pocket of his... pants, yeah. That's what they're called.
"Yes. Just like that." Mother smiles at us all nervously and opens the door. Ready or not, here we come. She sticks her head out the door before letting us out. "I don't see any peace officers. This is a good time to go. Come on."
The air is so cold it takes my breath away. Mother hears me gasp. "Do you need a jacket, Elira? It is breezy today," She says with concern.
"No, I'm fine," I lie as the wind stings my exposed skin. My mother hands me some dark glasses that protect my eyes from the sun and cover the raised skin of my scar. I realize that my foot in a boot will be note-worthy to a society with no deformities. "Mother, my boot, won't they question that?"
"Yes, you're right. People still get hurt, but it isn't very common. Maybe you and I should sit on a bench outside while the boys go in and make the purchase."
"I thought you wanted to test our..."
Mother lowers her voice. "Don't you want to be outside, Elira? I saw you peeking out the blinds yesterday."
I feel foolish realizing she has noticed my yearning for the outdoors. "Yes, I have always wanted to spend time outside. It's surprising how cool the wind is. But I love the sun." I look up at the bright circle in the sky and smile as the warm rays fall on my pale cheeks.
"I'm tire
d of standing still. Let's go." Jefrey insists.
"Shut up, Jef," Garth says under his breath.
We walk as fast as I can hobble to the little glass-fronted building down the street. Mother clears her throat. "Garth do you see the difference between this building with merchandise for sale in the big windows and the building across the street with fewer, smaller windows and lots of grass?" Garth nods. "Which do you think is the house and which do you think is the store?"
"We're at the store. There isn't much grass, so vehicles can park here while the people buy things inside."
"Correct. Vehicles pull up to these machines to buy gasoline for fuel too." Garth nods as he watches a man put a hose thing into the side of his car.
Mother pats both twins on the arm. "Well, this is the moment of truth. Go in there and buy a bag of chips. Good luck!" Garth smiles nervously at us as Jefrey drags him into the store. He hides his deformed hand in the pocket of his pants.
There is a wooden bench along the side of the building. I limp over to it and ease myself down. My mother joins me. I giggle as I watch a furry little animal scurry up a nearby tree. My mother smiles at me. "You take delight in the smallest things, Elira. It is so refreshing and charming compared to your brothers."
"What are my brothers like?"
Mother purses her lips as she gathers her thoughts. "Brock is a strong, determined man. He works hard and is already a well-liked mayor at his relatively young age. He is a bit of a social climber. He won't stop until he reaches the top."
"What's the top?"
"President of the United Cities."
I think about what my father taught me about the President of the United Cities yesterday. Ernestine told us even more during our lessons last night. The President has to be voted in and becomes the head boss of everyone until he retires to the Complex for the Elderly at age 80. Why would my own brother want to become the boss of everyone? "Does Brock approve of the complex system?"
The Complex Law: Young Adult Dystopian Page-Turner (The Complex Trilogy Book 2) Page 4