by Sara Bushway
"This will be due back in two weeks," he said matter-of-factly as he stamped the due date onto the lined card inside a little paper pocket. "If you need it longer, just bring it back, and we'll renew it for you." Honey nodded and picked up his book and the library card.
"Thank you," he said politely, bowing his head to the man. It felt odd to do so without his trademark cowboy hat on, but it was the only sign of respect he could think of other than bowing to the man as though he was royalty or something. The librarian chuckled and nodded to him, bidding him farewell.
Honey walked briskly until he got to the bottom of the steps and then ran the rest of the way home. He slowed to a jog as he rounded the corner at the end of his street and paused as he caught sight of a familiar face.
"Silas?" Honey muttered aloud. Silas was a client of Beaumont's Mansion who had bought Honey for a few hours because it was a busy night for the girls and regaled him with stories about how he was a gun for hire, an assassin who had dispatched of over two-hundred marks for various clients, including both local and federal governments. At the time, Honey wasn't sure if the guy was telling the truth, but seeing him out in the world, skulking about in a long, black coat and a wide-brimmed hat. He was looking directly at Honey, nothing else, and his position on the corner sent shivers down Honey's spine.
He knows where I live? But why? How? Maybe that man at the pharmacy...? He managed to unlock his gaze from the man and started walking home again. Then it hit him.
Beaumont?
Then he started running again. He slowed as he approached the walkway leading up to the house, trying to catch his breath. As softly and slowly as he could, he turned the handle and slipped into the foyer. There lay Jez on the couch, playing with his puzzle cube, as he usually did, and no one else was around to see. Honey slipped his shoes off, lining them up next to Dane's.
A deep voice cleared behind him, and he turned to see Dane staring down at him, arms folded, seemingly waiting for an explanation. Honey froze, eyes locked with the older boy's.
"I—your—I took—" Honey tried over and over again to find the right place to start defending himself, but it seemed that no matter which words he used to start his argument, it didn’t absolve him of what he had done. The connection was broken as Anastasia’s voice rang from the upper floor.
"Boys," she called as she made her way to the top of the stairs.
Dane dashed over to Honey and grabbed the book, quickly sliding it under the cushion under Jez’s feet. Jez either hadn’t noticed or hadn’t cared enough to protest as he gazed at the little cubes comprising the big cube.
Dane approached Honey again and pulled him into a hug. Anastasia smiled and commented on how sweet it was that the boys were getting along so well. Meanwhile, Dane whispered into Honey’s ear, "We’re going to talk about this later."
Chapter Nine
The night went on as usual. Dane cooked dinner. Anastasia praised the boys for how clean the house was and how quickly Jaq and Ettie had fixed the sink. "I swear, there isn't a thing you boys can't do between the four of you," she commented before taking another bite of the saffron salmon Dane had expertly prepared for her. It was, after all, her favorite.
After dinner and cleanup, Honey went to the couch to retrieve his library book, but it was gone. Panic struck hard in his chest. He froze in place, looking under the cushion and around it as though he had missed it somehow. His mind raced as he put the couch cushions back and fluffed the pillows. When he turned around, Ashelynn was standing there staring at him.
Honey Gasped.
"Ashelynn, did you clean this room?"
It stood there silently.
"Ashelynn," he asked again, "did you find a book under this cushion? Where did you put it?
Silence.
Honey sighed, "Okay, Ashelynn...If you did find anything, it might belong to me--well, not really but kind of--and if you could put it on my bed without telling anyone about it, that would be great."
It blinked at him, hands folded in front of it, as per usual.
Honey nodded to Ashelynn as though maybe it had responded and passed by it to go upstairs. He wasn't sure what it was capable of or even if it understood him. For all he knew, it spoke an entirely different language, but it made him feel better to try. That book had to be somewhere.
He decided that going about his might as though it was normal was his best course of action. He grabbed his towel off the hook and went to take his shower. After he was finished, he prayed that the book would be lying on his bed when he went back to dress. It wasn't, but just as Honey was dressing himself, there was a knock at the door. Honey finished pulling his t-shirt over himself and answered. It was Dane. He stepped inside and held the book out to Honey.
"I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about moving it," he said. "I just worried she would stay out there and insist on family time, the one time we really don’t need her out there. She wouldn’t be happy if she found this."
Honey took the book from him and looked it over, then back up at him. "Why doesn’t she want us to read?" he asked. "Why is that a bad thing? And why do you get to do it behind her back but not me?" He instantly realized how childish he must have sounded, like a boy begging to stay up late because his older brothers got to.
Dane sighed. "Look, there is nothing wrong with reading. Anastasia just worries that it will get in the way of getting our household chores done. Plus, it’s unsafe for any of you to go out alone."
"You go out alone all the time," Honey said. "I know you’re so much bigger and stronger than us, but that still seems very unfair."
"It’s not fair," Dane admitted. "I ‘get’ to go out because if I didn’t, our lady would have to do all of the shopping and errands herself. I get leniencies because it would otherwise inconvenience her. The rest of you—" He stopped and thought for a moment before continuing. "You’re not like me. I’m something else. We just have a few duties in common."
Honey blinked up at him for a moment. "So, what are you?"
"I’m a houseboy."
Honey shook his head in confusion. "And the rest of us are…?"
Dane paused for a moment. "Are you familiar with the term concubine?"
Honey stared in disbelief. He had, in fact, heard that word used before. They were like wives to the royalty in the far east, but they were just there for the pleasures, not for love.
"It’s not worse than what the state classifies you as," Dane reasoned and sat down on Honey’s bed. "Household sex workers are illegal outside of whore Houses, so to keep the upper-class and politicians all happy, people like you are classified as--"
"As?"
"Pets," Dane finally said. "The same laws that apply to household pets also apply to people who are owned. Think of it this way. At least you aren't a Nobody."
Honey sat on the bed, closed his eyes, and sighed, "I dread to ask, but what is a Nobody? What is Ashelynn?"
"The Nobodies are like 'replacement people," Dane said. "They are sold to the government, kind of like how some sex workers are, but instead of being sold to a private buyer or into a House, they are kept in massive colonies far away from nice neighborhoods like this, and there, they stay until someone buys them or a company assigns them to become someone. Say the master of the house dies. Our lady could then cash in his life insurance policy and receive a bunch of money, or she could have a Nobody assigned to replace him. Before the Nobody comes to live here, he is taught how to walk, talk, and act like her husband. If the policy is good enough or if she's willing to pay more for it, the company will even perform surgery on him to make him look like her husband."
"That’s insane," Honey said. "You can’t just replace someone. They aren’t that person."
"But they are," Dane explained. "In every way possible, the Nobody takes over who that person was. Their job, their hobbies, their obligations, everything."
Honey stared into the blue fabric of his bedding. Someone could be assigned to be a completely different person? This
‘Nobody’ had to spend the rest of their life pretending to be someone else because someone gave them up and someone else paid for them? How awful. Had he taken his life as a whore for granted? At least he had been given the freedom to be himself within the confines of Beaumont’s House.
"So, Ashelynn belongs to Anastasia as a Nobody. Who is it supposed to be? Did Anastasia have a child?"
"No," Dane replied. "She wanted one but could not have one, so her husband gave her permission to buy one. She wanted a daughter but then thought twice about having a daughter in a house full of men."
Honey was shocked. "She thought we would--"
"No," Dane said again. "She didn't think anything. She knew she didn't like to share. She didn't want there to be any chance of having to share her men or her daughter."
Honey nodded, still trying to wrap his head around the situation.
"So, Ashelynn is a boy?"
"No, again," Dane chuckled wryly. "Ashelynn is an androgynous Nobody, andro for short. Ashelynn is neither male nor female, as far as genitalia is concerned. It is neither, and it doesn't fulfill Anastasia's need for a daughter either because it doesn't have anyone to mimic, no real daughter to embrace the essence of. Some might say that's a dangerous gamble; an andro allowed to act and think for itself, but Ashelynn is well-behaved and a good addition to the house, I think."
Honey nodded again, trying hard to think of what Ashelynn has done rather than what might or might not be under its skirts.
"Do..do you have to be a child to be sold to the..the ‘Nobody’ company?" He asked.
Dane shook his head. "No. As long as you are a human non-citizen, you can be sold to them."
Honey swallowed hard. "Like…like me?"
Dane nodded. Honey's mind raced. Suddenly, he was very aware of the dangers posed by him breaking so many of Anastasia's rules. She could just sell him off and replace him with someone more obedient, like replacing a desk that doesn't fit into the corner quite as well as she would like. It would be a matter of finding another desk that did.
"But that’s not going to happen," Dane said comfortingly. "You just need to be careful not to make too much of a fuss over little things. She doesn’t want to send you away—"
"Has she?" Honey asked. "Has she ever sold a boy away?"
Dane shook his head. "No, but—" He trailed off and glanced around the room before continuing. "She almost did…but circumstances changed."
"Circumstances? Like he got better and started listening? Who was it?"
"You don’t know him," Dane said quietly, "and you never will."
Chapter Ten
For several days following Dane's explanation of the missing boy, Honey made it a point to stay in the house, keep his book well-hidden, and avoid Ettie at all costs. He hadn't given Honey much trouble as of late, but Honey had mostly attributed that to his constant companionship with Dane when possible and the twins when Dane wasn't around.
A week passed without any sign of Anastasia's wrath or any of the boys acting strange around him, but Ashelynn seemed different. It came around more and always seemed to be watching him every time he turned around. Being looked at never bothered Honey, but it was different when the Nobody stared. It made Honey feel haunted.
Dane found time late one night to read the book to him once and guide him through it a few times before being called away to service the lady of the house. Honey continued practicing reading at night over and over to himself. It became easier to recognize the words and just know what they meant and how they sound, just like Dane said they would. After reading the book several dozens of times, he finally could make his way through it without stopping to think or stumbling over a single word.
Honey also practiced reading the newspaper with the twins after Dane was done with the puzzles. He quickly learned that the pronunciation of some words was up for interpretation, having watched the twins bicker about several words like "privacy" and "aluminum." He later asked Dane about it, who insisted that it didn't really matter as long as people could make sense of what you meant because people from different parts of the world spoke in different dialects. He enjoyed listening to the twins read about the doings of the local Adventurer's Guild outposts. Although the paper sometimes made the guild's work out to be highly controversial, it seemed to Honey that the adventurers were just doing what others wouldn't do, like chasing down criminals who had escaped the law and bringing them to justice. Sometimes there were stories about the police receiving help from adventuring groups for larger operations like hunting down and arresting small rebel groups. Honey didn't quite understand who they were or what they were trying to do, but he was glad that, with the help of some adventurers, they were able to stop them from setting fire to public service buildings like the Church, State buildings, post offices, and courthouses.
"That's amazing!" Honey exclaimed. "They worked together and stopped the bad guys even though the police don't really like them helping out. Maybe they'll finally start to appreciate the help."
Jez shot Honey a cynical look and shook his head. "I doubt it. The government doesn't like anybody doing their work, even if they don't wanna do it themselves. It's a control thing." Jaq nodded in agreement and plucked the paper from Honey's grip to check the scores for the previous day's street hockey game.
Though Honey appreciated the others supplementing his standard reading with newspapers, he still craved to explore the fiction section of the library, of which he hadn't even made a dent.
It’s time for a new book, Honey thought to himself with a great sense of triumph.
He would have to get the book back to the library before it was due, and he would have to do so without raising suspicion. He decided that if he was going to do something he wasn't supposed to, he wouldn't put anyone else in harm's way to do so.
When the opportunity arose, Honey made his move. He watched Anastasia leave in Gerig’s car to go shopping. Shortly after, Dane left to go by the bank and run a few other errands for the house. Honey had gotten most of his household chores done early on and took his time finishing up putting away his laundry while the other two prepared to leave. The click of the front door closing after Dane sent Honey rushing to his closet to grab a sweater and book and down the stairs to put on his shoes. The other boys were still occupied with their own chores.
No witnesses, Honey thought as he tied his shoelaces. No one to get in trouble over me.
The moment his hand touched the doorknob, he felt Ashelynn's eyes on him. He turned and spotted Ashelynn peering around the corner of the stairs. Honey froze in place. Ashelynn was not to speak, but if it did, what would it have to say about this?
"I-I-I won't be gone long," he said. "It's important."
It blinked at him knowingly, hauntingly.
Honey approached it. "I'm not running away," he said quietly, "I just...think it's unfair that..that...well, I don't know how to make you understand or if you even understand me at all. But I'm coming back. Just wait here." It blinked at him again.
And, with his newfound sense of purpose, Honey opened the door and left to return his book.
*****
Honey passed through the hall to go to his room. Anastasia had left to go on an outing with some of her high-born friends, so Honey took it upon himself to get his chores done quickly and hide in his room with his book. He was growing tired of looking at the same words over and over again, but he could feel himself absorbing their knowledge. He passed through the hall and to his door before he paused to notice it.
The door, he thought as a gazed down the hall. Dane's door was closed, as per usual, but the other door was left narrowly ajar. He would have never noticed it had he been looking from any other angle than from his own door. He looked up and down the hall. It was the only door open. The rest of the boys were downstairs. He was sure no one knew where Ashelynn was but as quiet as it was, it wasn't invisible.
Honey took his hand off of the doorknob and approached the open room. He looked up and down t
he hall again. Then, without hesitation, he opened the door and stepped inside.
The door clicked shut behind him, and a wave of emotions came over him.
It's Nixo's room.
He stood still at the door and gazed around at the colorful paintings on the wall. It looked like a painted canvas on wooden frames splashed with brightly colored waxes, but upon closer inspection, Honey could see it was thinner than canvas. It was cotton, most likely white cloth from clothing crudely stapled to simple wooden planks and painted with cheap water-based paints the girls used to draw fake tattoos on their bodies. The bed was made but had a thick layer of dust caked over the black and red swoosh designs all over it. The dresser was identical to Honey's, though there were no knick-knacks on top. This room was obviously bigger than Honey's because this one also contained a simple desk with three drawers on the wall opposite the bed. On top of the desk was a small vase full of flowers, all made from colorful sheets of paper.
Wow, Honey thought. I wonder what kind of magic made that.
Honey reached out to touch it and suddenly pulled back. He couldn't shake the feeling he had gotten when Dane grasped his hand out in the greenhouse and stopped him from touching the orchid.
It's probably very fragile. I should leave it be.
It was a nice thought, but Honey couldn't stop his curiosity from growing.
Who was this boy? What was he like?
Honey looked over at the door, unsure if he had heard something or if he was just paranoid. After all, someone had opened the door once. Someone could open it at any moment now. The dial to lock the door from the inside had been removed, which also led Honey to worry about someone locking him in. Going out the window from the second floor would not be fun.
I guess I had better make this quick, then, he thought as he opened the top drawer of the desk. Inside were dozens of papers covered in drawings, doodles, paintings, waxes. Every medium of art he could imagine was in the drawer. Some of the pictures looked like Anastasia, the boys, and other people Honey had seen in the neighborhood. Others looked like swooshes of color across a white page, like magic floating through the air.