by Martha Adele
Sam heads back to the kitchen and calls out to us both. “Do either of you want something to drink?”
“No thank you,” I tell him.
Bonnie shrugs and looks back to him. “I’ll take a water.” Before anyone can say anything else, Bonnie continues. “I was just telling Sam about my new friend Carrol. She is so wonderful, and she lives less than a mile away. She works with Sam and I.” She leans in and puts one hand beside her mouth to keep Sam from reading her lips. “And between you and I, Carrol has a daughter that I think Sam will like.”
“Mom.” Sam brings her a cup of water and takes a seat in one of the separate chairs near the couch. “What are you telling, Mavis?”
“Oh nothing.” She smiles at me and winks. The longer I sit here with Bonnie, the more and more she reminds me of Sam.
Sam rolls his eyes at her and chuckles. Before any of us can say anything, he silences us, “Sh! It’s on!”
The three of us listen as the radio on the fireplace mantel calls out, “And that wraps it up, folks! The polls are in! Grab your family, grab your friends, the votes are in!”
We look around to each other as the announcer tells us about how big and important this is, and I think to myself, If this is so important, why don’t you just spit it out already?
He must be able to hear my thoughts because as soon as I finish the thought, his voice echoes through the room. “This new nation of the free and hardworking has been given a name, and that name is Frieden. Yes, you heard it here first, Frieden. The home of the freed Diligent workers. The home of two nations combined as one. Frieden.
“The new capital, located toward the outside of Frieden, has also been named. It’s new name is Kern. Kern, the capital.” The announcer chuckles to the other announcer. “You know, that’s kind of funny.”
“Wayman,” the other announcer says to him, “I think I’ll take it from here. Listen up, guys, the new state lines have been finalized. What used to be Verwend and Metropolis has now been combined into State One. What used to be all of Meer and part of Hout has now been combined into State Two. The rest of Hout and part of Bouw has been combined to make State Three. What used to be all of Bloot and part of Bouw have now been combined into State Four. And what used to be the rest of Bouw and all of Minje is now State Five. All of this will be repeated throughout the next couple of days, and I imagine the rest of this month, so don’t worry if you didn’t catch all of that.”
“All right, Benson, since you got to announce all of that, I feel that it is only fair that I get to announce Frieden’s new chancellor.” A pause floats throughout the room as the three of us wait for the two announcers to figure out who is doing what. “Wayman” continues. “All right, citizens of Frieden, your new chancellor has been chosen. And you know what?” He chuckles out. “It wasn’t even a close call. The new chancellor of Frieden is … Thomas Ronan Oswald!”
The announcers continue to chat between themselves and comment on everything as the three of us stay silent in the house. Oswald was the only real candidate that said he would do everything that the Diligents believed in. Most of the others seemed to want to compromise. I didn’t do as much research as I probably should about this election, but I wasn’t one of the ones who got to vote.
Oswald was the candidate whom Derek and his mom voted for, and by the smile on Bonnie’s face, it looks like that is who she voted for too.
I can only hope that they all made the right decision.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Logan
I sit on the couch, watching Chancellor Thomas Oswald address the nation.
He waves to the crowd, thanking everyone for this wonderful opportunity. “I will not let you down, Frieden. My trusted advisors and I will take our jobs seriously. We promise to think of the people first in all cases and do what will be best for them rather than best for us.”
On the hologram screen that the news coverage is being broadcasted on, the camera changes viewpoints to the crowd. There are people crying with what seems like happiness and others who are stone faced, never showing how they feel.
I am somewhere in the middle. I care about this, I do, but not enough to cry. From what John told Eric and me, Oswald was the obvious choice.
About halfway through his speech, a few knocks on my door scare me. None of our neighbors have ever come to visit, and John didn’t say he would be dropping by. I rise to my feet and head to the door, only to be surprised by two of my favorite faces.
“Mavis! Sam!” I cheer. “Hey!”
Sam springs forward and wraps me in a bear hug. “Logan, man, it’s been so long.” He pulls away and enters my house without any hesitation. “Wow. Your new place is fantastic! It’s even bigger than mine!” Sam turns back to me with wide eyes and looks me up and down. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have started with that. How are you? Mavis said that you got blown up!”
“Twice,” she corrects.
I chuckle as I look back to Sam. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s sort of a long story.”
“Well, we have time.” Sam looks over to Mavis and smiles. “Mavis and I are done working for the day. Is this a good time for us to hang out? Catch up? Maybe eat some of your food that I assume you are hiding in your brand-new ginormous refrigerator?”
I nod, still chuckling at the fact that Sam seems to have gotten back to normal. Last time I saw him, he was red-eyed, angry, and barely had anything to say. Now, he is back to the nonstop chatter and focused on food.
“So,” I say to Sam, leading both him and Mavis over to the couch, “how are you, Sam?”
“I am actually doing great! My mom and I are now living together right outside of the city on a farm, where we also happen to work, and now that I have a job, I can afford to come and visit you! Not that the cabs are superexpensive or anything.” His face falls, and his eyes widen as he looks over to Mavis then back to me. “Oh, man, I’m sorry. Mavis told me about your granddad. I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s fine,” I tell him. “It’s fine. I’m just happy that your mom is okay.”
Sam smiles at me. “Me too. So go ahead, tell me, how exactly did you manage to get blown up … twice?”
A smile rises on my face and leaves just as quickly as I hear a door squeak open from across the house. The three of us turn to the source of the noise to find Eric crutching out of his room. With his hair and clothes in disarray, he clears his throat and straightens his posture to try to make himself look less of a wreck.
Mavis and I look at Sam, whose jaw is clenched. Though I expect Sam to seem angry or for him to become irrational, he is remaining calm.
Eric gives a slight chuckle and runs one of his hands through his hair, trying to comb it back. “You didn’t tell me we had company.” He pauses and looks from me to Mavis, to Sam. Without another word between the four of us, Eric turns around and crutches back into his room.
A moment or two of silence after Eric closes his door, Sam turns to me. “Can I go in there to, um, to talk to him?”
I shrug hesitantly. “I guess so.”
I really hope he won’t lose his cool.
I really hope neither of them will.
Sam rises to his feet and takes a deep breath. He heads back to the room Eric just entered and gives the door a knock. Mavis and I hear Eric say, “Come in,” and Sam listens.
Mavis scoots over beside me as Sam closes the door behind him. “Do you know what really happened between them?”
“Yes,” I whisper back. “Eric told me the same day that he and Sam met in the cafeteria. He told me that this dude who was part of the Taai was messing with Sam and Eric got them to stop.”
Mavis nods. “Yeah. What else did he tell you?”
“That he confronted the others after Sam was safe, and he paid the price.”
“He told you that he got beat up?” she asks me.
“He showed me too.” I
think back to the horrid bruising he showed me. “I don’t think Eric was lying.”
“Neither do I. Janice told us what Eric told her, and it sounds like he told you the same thing.”
“Meaning he kept his story straight,” I say.
“That’s not easy to do when you tell a lie.”
I nod. Mavis smiles back to me for a moment before her eyes flit away and look at our hologram where Oswald continues to give his speech.
“You know,” she says, chuckling, “Sam’s mom has a crush on him.”
“What?” I laugh. “Really?”
“Yeah, she says his jawline and cheekbones are her favorite thing, along with his ‘gorgeous blue eyes.’”
“Oh yeah?” I laugh again. “What about you? What do you think about him?”
“Eh.” She shrugs and looks back at me. “I prefer brown eyes.”
A small flutter of joy finds its way into my stomach. I don’t know what exactly to say, so I look back to Oswald as he introduces his advisors.
Eric’s door swings open, and Sam comes storming through the room. “Thank you, Logan, for letting me go back there, but I think it is time for me to leave.”
“What?” Mavis rises to her feet. “Already?”
Sam gives her an annoyed, and yet a pleading, look.
“Okay.” She turns back to me. “Thank you, Logan, for having us over, but I’m going to go with Sam.”
“Oh okay.” I walk Mavis to the door as Sam heads down the driveway. “I’ll call a cab for you guys.”
Speed walking over to Sam, Mavis looks over her shoulder to me. “Thank you, Logan. I’ll see you later, okay?”
I nod to her and give a wave as I head to the wall phone. I call the cab company and have them send one our way, but by the time I hang up, Mavis and Sam have already left the cul-de-sac. I assume Sam decided to go ahead and walk to the nearest cab, so they should be picked up shortly.
After a brief moment of considering to ask Eric what happened, I brush it off and sit back down to listen to the news. If Eric wants to tell me, he will tell me. I don’t want to cause any more problems.
The next morning, I wake up with an alarm blaring in my room. The annoying repetition of the same beep drives me nuts, to the point that if I hear the beep once, I want to go and break my alarm clock.
I take that anger and shove it deep within me, hopefully never to be seen again. After swallowing the rage against my alarm clock, I rise to my feet and wipe my crusty eyes open. After shutting off the clock, the sounds of the chirping birds outside my window catch my attention. They call out to each other, back and forth, over and over, until my attention is diverted by another noise, this one in the house.
A light weeping.
I head out of my room and follow the sound to the outside of Eric’s bedroom door. Slowly, I enter to see Eric sobbing in pain. He squeezes his pillow as he lies on his stomach and holds his head down. “It hurts …”
“Eric?” I say, trying to see if he needs help. “Are you okay?”
He twists his body and throws his pillow at me. “Get out!”
I dodge the shot and make my way over to his nightstand. I pull out one of his vials and hold it out to him. “Here, take it.”
“No!” He turns his head away from me so that I can’t see his eyes. “Get out, Logan. Now!”
Just as I set the vial down onto his nightstand, I remember Grayson and Caine administering the vial to Sam, our first night in Bergland. If they can do that to someone they don’t even know, I can do this to my friend, who needs my help.
I stick it into the back of his leg right before the amputated portion. Eric shouts once more as the medicine kicks in. “I told you I didn’t want it. I was fine.” He takes a deep breath and wipes his eyes, trying to play it off as if he is okay. “I could take it. I didn’t need the medicine.”
“You did,” I tell him. “You are allowed to take medicine. You don’t have to tough it out.”
I don’t want to go in to work today. I can’t leave Eric.
“Please,” he whimpers. “Please leave.”
I take a moment and continue to stay beside him. I know I need to work, but Eric needs me.
“Please?” he reiterates into his bed.
I slowly move away, retrieve his pillow for him, and leave the room.
I know Eric could take it, but he didn’t have to. He takes the medicine when it is most needed, and sometimes, not even then.
I leave the house and obey Eric’s wishes. I call a cab and take it to work, but am unable to think about anything other than about how Eric’s prosthetic leg is going to be ready tomorrow. I really hope that Eric will take it. I really hope it will make him feel better. The nurses told me that walking around on it should help his body release much more of the “happy hormone” than it is releasing right now.
Eric could use some happy hormone.
Last time I spoke with one of the nurses, she told me that it has been measured and designed to fit Eric’s leg and every specific need he has or may have. I don’t know all the mechanics of it, but I do know it will be very high-tech so that Eric will be able to get back on his feet as soon as possible.
Every day, I go with Eric to physical therapy or help him do physical therapy at home. Never once has Eric admitted how he feels about his new prosthetic. Other than “I hope it works,” he hasn’t said anything about it. Not even to John.
As I continue disinfecting the small hand weights, John enters the room and calls my name loudly and proudly. “Forge.”
I turn to him and rise to my feet. “Young.”
He grabs my hand and gives it a good shake. “How are you enjoying being a cleaning lady?”
“Why,” I snort back at him, “I’m enjoying it very much, sir.”
“That’s good, that’s good. You are doing a terrific job at it too.” He chuckles and pats me on the back. “It’s nice seeing you up and out.”
“It’s nice being up and out.” I return his smile, letting my resentment toward him roll off my back. “Are you happy with who won the election yesterday?”
He nods. “I am very happy, and speaking of which, the invitations to the chancellor’s inauguration ball went out this morning. You and Eric should be getting yours any day now.”
“Thank you, sir.” I take a seat back down on the bench beside the weights. “I just hope that Eric will be up for it.”
John takes a seat beside me. “Why wouldn’t he be?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug it off, not wanting to embarrass Eric. If I told John what happened this morning, I don’t think Eric would ever forgive me. “He is just in a lot of pain and won’t let anyone help.”
John shakes his head and chuckles. “Eric is about as stubborn as they come. He is a tough kid, but his pride has always been something he has had trouble overcoming.”
I nod in agreement, not knowing what else to say.
John takes my silence as a hint to continue the conversation. “When does he get his leg?”
“Tomorrow,” I answer.
“Wonderful.” John grabs one of the disinfecting wipes, along with one of the weights I have not cleaned yet. He wipes the handle, but misses the corners between the actual weights. I stare at his missed spots, hoping he would wipe them down, but he misses them and sets the weight back in its spot.
I make a note in my head to go back and reclean that one when John leaves, but try to continue the conversation as normal. “So what exactly should I be expecting for the ball?”
John grabs another weight and attempts to clean it off as well. “What do you mean?”
“Like, what sort of clothes do we need to wear? Who will be there? What will be happening at the ball?”
He chuckles as he wipes off the ends of the weight. “Don’t worry about any of that. I’ll get the clothes for you
and Eric, and I will arrange your ride. It’ll be just a large social gathering of fancy people. Most of them will be political officers or affiliates. Some will be high-ranked military.”
I nod as I track which weights John fiddles with. “Will anyone else be there?”
“Yes. Everyone gets a plus one.”
I turn to him. “Really? Everyone?”
He nods. “That’s the deal.” John quickly brings his watch up to reveal a vibrating cuff. He clicks its screen a few times and clears his throat. “Young.”
“Young, the prison! It’s been blown.”
“What?” he asks the cuff.
“The prison! A bomb went off.”
Mavis
Click.
I take a picture of what is left of the brick building.
Click.
I take a picture of the rescue team looking through the rubble for any survivors.
Click.
Rolling.
I video “Jamie Jenkins,” a reporter, whose assignment it is to cover the prison bombings. Her perfectly sleek blond hair is tied back in a perfect ponytail, revealing her unusually large ears. I mean, she is really pretty, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that … her ears are much too large in proportion to her head.
I shake off my rude opinions as Jenkins clears her throat and reiterates her name. “This is Jamie Jenkins, and I have just been handed the incident report from tonight’s attack. It says here that a Bestellen radical was seen on the prison security cameras, planting bombs on the cells of his fellow radicals. After a miscalculation of the strength of the bombs, this radical is responsible for killing six hundred and forty-two prisoners, as well as eighty-seven prison guards.
“Wow. That is all I have to say about this situation. Wow. I have no doubt in my mind that our new Chancellor Thomas Oswald will have a lot on his hands in the next few years. He promised us that as chancellor, he will monitor and turn in any Bestellen radicals before they can cause any damage, but it looks like he is already behind. Will Oswald be able to follow through on his promises? Will he and his administration be able to keep Frieden’s citizens safe? This is Jamie Jenkins.” She gives me a nod and pulls her earpiece out. “Go ahead and take that to Trolly. He wants it as soon as possible.”