She’d thought the woman was being mean and insisted that she wasn’t going to eat that slop. At which point Marcus had called her a Hillie brat, and she’d been even angrier. Toby had apologized to her about the meal and offered his portion of the apples. She’d eaten them silently watching the family. Not understanding what life was really like for them until later that night when Raven and Marcus had told her about the reason that Marcus worked when she’d finally asked her rude question.
She was lucky that the brother and sister were forgiving because she’d been a spoiled child used to getting her own way, and unsure why no one would let her go home. When they’d made it to the gates the next morning Toby had talked to a friend of his in the guard named Carl. He’d scanned her to find that she was the lost child everyone was searching for, and her nightmare had been over. Only it had opened her eyes and she saw the truth about the difference in the classes.
The slum workers were paid pittance wages that barely fed them and not a single one could afford to get a better education. Only ones from the whore’s district in the slums had even a chance of betterment. Although, many chose to stay in the Slum’s even though they could move up into the life of the lower Hill. They didn’t because even then they were not accepted by the people who lived in the hill district. It was hard for Mia to live with the understanding that her whole life was made on the backs of people who were practically slaves.
Mia glanced up at the window which took up one wall and smiled. Standing outside was Marcus. He was waving at her wildly trying to get her attention. She got up, excusing herself. Telling her family she needed to use the restroom. She headed to the door walking out into the street. Seeing Marcus leaning against the wall near the alley she headed towards him. She peered around wondering where Raven was as she approached.
“Hi, so how’s it feel to be sweet sixteen?” Marcus asked, grinning at her.
“The same as if felt yesterday. It’s only a number. Where’s Raven?” Mia asked, surprised her other best friend wasn’t here. Marcus’s face darkened at the question. It worried her. Marcus was always very easy going. To see him with a dark frown on his face was worrisome.
“She wanted to be here, Mia. Only she got hurt at the factory today.” Marcus told her. Mia’s heart clenched.
“Is she okay?” She demanded.
“She’s fine. She ended up with a large cut on her arm. They sealed it up and gave her blood, but she was tired from the meds they gave her.” Marcus told her making relief flow through her that at least that was one thing that the Hill district did for the Slum workers. They all got free health care if they worked in the factories. Their children did too, which was why nearly all the workers chose to work there rather than trying to get other, better paid positions.
If they got those better paid positions they were required to pay for their own health care. That would seem like a better deal if the wages would cover that as well as food and shelter. But it didn’t, so many chose to work for the pitiful wages offered at the factories to keep their families healthy. It was a sad vicious cycle of poverty that no one in the Hill District seemed to notice.
“You’re sure she’s fine?” Mia asked, her face pale and her lips drawn. She wanted to scream at the Hill’s privileged. Her friends mattered. Every person who worked themselves to the bone in those factories that kept their golden world working were important. Only she knew it would not do any good. How many times had she tried to talk to her father about this? Only to have him tell her she was a child and she didn’t understand. It was maddening.
“Yeah, she’s fine. I promise.” Marcus told her, his hand rubbing her back as she stood near him.
“Why didn’t you stay with her? I could have waited until tomorrow when she was better.” Mia asked.
“Ha, you know Raven. She insisted that I bring it today. She’ll only turn sixteen once Marcus. We can’t leave her alone with her family she’d think we abandoned her.” Marcus had switched to a fake falsetto voice when telling her what Raven had said. Making Mia laugh for the first time that night.
“It?” she asked, looking up at him in confusion.
“Oh, right. I almost forgot. This is from me and Raven. Mom said she and Dad would give you their gift when you stop by this week.” He pulled a small box with a tattered ribbon from his pocket.
“You shouldn’t have. Neither should your mother and father. Your friendship is enough.” Mia said, even as she opened the small box. She felt guilty again as she pulled out the sliver bracelet. This must have cost them a month’s wages.
“Marcus, you really shouldn’t have. I can’t accept this.” Mia wanted to keep the tiny charm bracelet, but knowing how much it must have cost she couldn’t. Not when she had a full belly and a warm bed. Not when her friends had likely gone without food to get this for her.
“Yes you can. It’s not as expensive as you think. See. Here it’s bent, and this charms missing its tail. And the humming bird’s wings are different sizes see.” Marcus said pointing out the flaws in the bracelet. “I know the guy who works for the jeweler. He got them really cheap for us because they would have thrown them away. You have to keep it, Mia. If you don’t Raven will be mad.”
“Ha, Raven’s never mad.” Mia said, looking up at her friend with tears in her eyes. They were such generous people. They always thought of others first. To have grown up with so little and not be bitter towards someone like her was amazing to Mia. This gift with all its imperfections meant more to her than the diamond earrings and expensive wallet she’d received from her family.
“She will be if you refuse our gift.” Marcus insisted.
“I highly doubt it, but I will take it. It’s perfect.” Mia held her wrist out for him to attach the bracelet. He clasped it onto her wrist and smiled.
Mia wished she could give him the credits that sat heavy in her pocket. A thousand credits that her aunt and uncle had given her weighed heavily on her as she looked up at him. She knew that he would be offended if she offered it to him. He had his pride, and he told her the last time that she offered him her allowance that he wasn’t her friend for her lousy credits and that if she ever offered them to him again he would never speak to her again.
It was one of the only times he’d spoken harshly to her. He’d also not spoken to her for almost two weeks after that incident. Raven had told her he’d come around and thankfully he had. She’d never offered him another credit again. She did buy them gifts though. She brought them whenever she was invited to dinner. It was mostly food and sometimes clothing. She’d gotten both Marcus and Raven pocket watches once for their birthdays. They had both loved them.
“Okay, I’ve kept you from your party long enough. Give us a hug, then I will be on my way.” He held his arms out to her enveloping her in a bear hug. His lips were barely touching her cheek when she heard a harsh voice from behind.
“Hilmia, your dinner is getting cold and this boy needs to get back home I’m sure.” Her father said making her cringe.
No matter how many times she’d told him she preferred Mia he insisted on calling her Hilmia.
“He was just telling me goodbye, papa.” Mia told him as she pulled away from Marcus. She rolled her eyes up at him making him wink in return before he said a jaunty goodbye and headed home. When he was a few feet away her father began talking.
“I have warned you about that boy. Did he try to get you to give him credits? You didn’t give him any did you?” Her father’s gruff voice grated on her nerves a bit. She didn’t understand why he always insisted in thinking that Raven and Marcus were only her friend for her credits. It wasn’t anywhere near the truth she knew.
“He’d never ask that from me, papa.” Mia told him with a frown. How many times would she have to tell him that? She followed him into the entrance of the restaurant.
“He’s a slum dweller. Of course, he’s like that Hilmia. He’s using you princess, you simply can’t see it.” He grumbled, standing in the hall looking at he
r.
She wanted to argue with him, but she knew from past experience that it wouldn’t do any good. She’d had this conversation with him many times. He never listened. He didn’t know that Mia knew more about life in the Slum district than most of the Hill districts residents ever would. Including her father, which was sad. She’d been going to the Slums to visit Raven and Marcus since she was ten.
“That’s not true…” Mia began, but was interrupted by her father.
“Stop, I will not tolerate this…” Her father was interrupted then by her uncle.
“Hilroy, let the girl be. It’s her birthday. They are just friends.” Her uncle tried to calm her father who was purple in the face and almost frothing at the mouth. She didn’t try again to reason with him. Arguing merely made him became angrier.
“Tristen, you know that he is just using her. He likely wants to convince her to marry him so that he can move up to the hill and live off of me. You know how lazy those Slum dwellers are.” Her father was looking at his brother with narrowed eyes and a dark scowl.
“Stop yelling at the girl. She will learn. You are not going to allow him to take advantage of her so it’s fine. We can protect her. Just let it be.” Tristen gazed at her with a sad sort of pity in his eyes. It made Mia angry that he would pity her for being friends with Raven and Marcus.
“Come back in the family is looking for you.” Tristen told her father.
“Mia lets go back in.”
“Pap..” Mia began, only Tristen told him at the same time. “Let the girl collect herself. The boy’s gone and I will sit with her.
As her father left she sat on the long red bench that rested against the wall. Tristen sat down beside her. She wanted to tell him that she was fine but she wasn’t. Not really. She was fed up with the lack of concern her family and all her other friends showed for the Slum’s residents. She gripped the edge of the seat trying not to yell at him that they were wrong. That all the people in the Hill district were wrong about the Slums residents.
“Mia,” Her uncle said, making her look at him. “You see the truth. Don’t you?”
Not sure what he was speaking about she cautiously asked. “What truth?”
“That the classes are unequal.” He replied.
“Yes.” She whispered a bit shocked that he saw it too.
There was a long pause where neither of them spoke. Then he asked, “Have I ever told you about my mistress?”
Tristen asked shocking her. She knew that many men in the Hill had mistresses but it wasn’t something one usually spoke of with their sixteen year old niece.
“No.” She replied, staring up at him.
“Well. Her name is Pearl. She has a daughter about your age, you know.” He looked at her and she wondered why he was telling her this.
“I met her about nine years ago. Your aunt and I had agreed that we were not in love, but we needed to remain married. I went to find someone to handle that part of my nature. That was when I met Pearl. She is a wonderful woman. I would have left your aunt for her and Racheal you know.” He told her surprising her again. Her uncle wasn’t the type to bring scandal on the family and him leaving her aunt for a Slum whore could have brought quite a bit down on their heads.
“She wouldn’t allow it. She even went so far as to tell me that if I did she would refuse to marry me. Do you know why, Mia?” He asked.
“No, why?” She asked.
“She said that if I lost my position in the council how would I help others to see the truth. If I leave then no one would see them and that she couldn’t live with. I’m telling you this so that you know that not everyone is against them. They have a voice, although it is seldom heeded. They need more people like us, Mia. You can’t force the Hill district to see them, but you can make changes that will help. You only have to work hard so that you can. Do you understand what I’m telling you, Mia?”
She stared at him for a long moment in silence, then she nodded. “I understand. I have to stay silent now but one day I will have a chance to help.”
“Yes, now let’s go back inside before your father comes out again. We will pretend that it doesn’t sicken us to eat to excess while people starve.” Her uncle smiled as he rose to his feet headed back into the glittering restaurant. When they were almost to the door Mia asked stopped him to ask.
“Can I meet them?”
“Of course, I would be honored if you’d meet them. You can invite your friends too. I would like to meet them as well.” Tristen smiled then and Mia felt the weight of her guilt lessen just a bit. She would help them. It might not be today, but one day she would help them. She grinned following him into the restaurants dining area.
Chapter 2
Mia stood at the window staring down at the Slum district feeling lost. She’d been alone in her fight for equality for over a year now and the Slum districts residents were no better off than when she’d began helping her uncle Tristen over nine years ago. She was twenty four and Uncle Tristin had died last year leaving her with only her two best friends Raven and Marcus who truly understood her. Mia sighed, standing there at the window in her room. She felt as though she was no closer to finding equality for the Slum district than she had been at sixteen when her uncle had shown her a way to help her friends.
In the past year, the violent opposition to the worsening plight of the Slum dwellers had become unbearable. About a year and a half ago her friend Racheal had killed her spouse in self-defense which seemed to spur the Hill district into a frenzy of hate so strong the effects were still being rained down on the heads of the current Slum dwellers. Tristen’s intervention in the trial had been the only thing to save Racheal from death.
It had been the last trial he’d attended. It had been mere months before his death and one of his last acts as a council man. She was still shocked that they were now turning to a more permeant form of punishment for Slum crimes. Many of which were unfounded and due more the Hillies prejudice than real crimes that were committed.
They had always thrown offenders out of the city into what they thought of as a lawless world where they would surely die anyway. But that was before the death of the council woman Cain’s son, who was the man Racheal had killed. After Cain’s death they began to administering corporal punishment for the smallest of crimes. It was causing the already bad situation for the Slum dwellers to become much worse. It was disturbing.
She’d decided that she had to act. She couldn’t stand back anymore and watch people starve when she could help them. So Mia had taken a supervisory position at the food intake center today. It would allow her better access to food to aid the Slum districts people. She was frightened by the choice to help them.
If she got caught with the rising tide of anger at the Slum’s it could mean her death rather than just banishment. She knew that she might not make it to the next year if she was caught. She was only twenty four. She didn’t want to die, but she would not sit idly by any longer. She simply couldn’t. Working behind the scene was okay when her Uncle was alive to help curb the council’s opinions.
Only now with the way the situation was shaping into a rebellion from the oppressed faction of the city, she had to act. Her friends deserved to eat and have the same luxuries that so many in the Hill district took for granted. It was sad really. Even her own family was mired in the idealistic view that they were better than the people in the Slums. Her Uncle had shown her the history records when she was nineteen.
It had explained that at first the Slum’s had been a working class that had been fed the same as the Hill and also had access to better jobs and more equal footing. Only as the years had passed those in power had slowly lost sight of how the Slum district helped keep the Hill in the fancy hover cars, and other such luxuries. Then the rules that had allowed council members from the Slum’s a voice had been taken away. This had changed the laws to favor those from the Hill. That was how they began the class system that was now ripping the calm city into a class war that may
bring the entire system down around all their heads.
Mia inspected the city behind the wall from the tower of her home. She want to heal its broken pieces, but she knew that it would take more than her and the rebellion she was working for to stop the war that was surely coming for them all. She heard a light knock on her door. She quickly changed the window she’d been staring through to display a peaceful lake view instead. She turned, calling out to the computerized entryway.
“Allow entry.”
Her brother Hilton strode into the room plopping down on her bed. Mia sighed. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her brother it was that he was here for money, again. She hated what he’d become in the last year and a half. He was hooked on a drug called Juice. It was a designer drug that gave you a euphoric high that lasted for two days. She hated that stuff for taking her dearly love brother and making him into a sad excuse for a man.
“What do you want, Hilton?” She asked even though she already knew.
“Hey, little Mia. Is that anyway to greet your only brother?” Hilton asked, smiling at her. His use of her nickname proved that he wanted funds so he could get high again.
He always called her Hilmia when he didn’t want something from her. These little visits where almost monthly now. She truly hated them. It was usually the only time she saw her brother. After he’d used his own funds for Juice he came to her acting the injured party and begged for her credits. She almost hated him for it. Only he was her brother. She’d talked to her parents about it and they had brushed it off. Her father claimed that the drug was harmless. That the addiction could be cured easily once her brother was older. That he would get bored and stop taking the drug.
Saving Mia Page 2