“Jem —”
“Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” Jemma looked down on Omar then, met his gaze, and said softly, “I forgive you, Omar.”
CHAPTER
41
Omar’s friend Charlz drove Levi and the others to the back of the Bradbury—the place Jordan had taken the women underground the night of Lonn’s liberation. Zane cut out Omar and Jemma’s SimTags. He put Omar’s in a pair of gloves, but destroyed Jemma’s. He didn’t think he could handle another trek through the storm drains on his leg, so Zane asked Charlz to drive him to the Highlands Public Task department, likely to see Dayle. He took Omar’s gloves with him, promising to lead the enforcers on a pointless chase until Omar decided what to do next.
Levi, Jemma, and Omar traveled the storm drains until morning, making their way to the underground bunker. Evidently, Jordan had removed all Levi’s purple crayon marks—smart thinking—to erase their trail, but it made it difficult for Levi to find the way.
When he finally located their destination, he made Omar stand back in the darkness of the tunnel. “Until I can talk to Jordan,” Levi said. He stepped into the alcove that held the bunker door, took hold of Jemma’s hand, and gave the secret knock.
The door swung in and revealed Jordan’s smiling face. “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting all —Jemma!” He hugged her, kissed the top of her head, and rocked back on his heels, lifting her feet off the ground. “So glad to see you, sister.”
“Everyone’s here?” Jemma asked. “Everyone’s okay? Shaylinn? Mama?”
Jordan’s brows drew together. “We’ve got the women from the harem, all but Mia and Jennifer, who wouldn’t come. But the liberation thing … It didn’t work out.”
Levi stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“When Bender got there, no one was there. Turns out the liberations are recorded in advance.”
“Why would that be?” Levi asked.
“We learned about this when we were in the harem,” Jemma said. “It’s so they can edit them. If they film in advance, they can make sure the people see only what the directors want them to see.”
“Yeah”—Jordan shrugged—”that’s pretty much what that Bender guy said too.”
So … Levi’s mother was already dead? Or was liberation something else? He couldn’t have lost his mother too. “What about the children? You come up with a plan to rescue them?”
Jordan snorted. “You kidding? Most of the women are paranoid because Mason didn’t cut the SimTags out of their faces, and every mother here has a different plan for how to get her children back. I’m not cut out to be Elder of dung. I’m so glad you’re here to take over.”
Levi doubted he could handle the tension any better. First things first: He had to fix this mess with Omar. “I need a favor, Jordan. And you must promise not to hurt him.”
Jordan’s brow wrinkled low over his eyes. “Who?”
“Promise me.”
“Yeah, if you say so. I promise.”
Levi stepped back, reached around the corner, and pulled Omar out by the arm.
Jordan eyes flashed. He tried to push past Levi, but Levi held him back. Before Levi could react further, Jordan spun the other way, knocked past Jemma, and slid to his knees on the storm drain, splashing into the shallow water. He grabbed Omar by the legs and yanked him onto his rear. “You rabid, dung-licking …” Jordan pushed Omar’s head into the water.
“Jordan, no!” Jemma yelled.
Omar squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his lips together, though the water only reached his ears. He tried to squirm free. “I’m sorry! Don’t hurt me!”
“Yeah, beg, you poor excuse for a maggot.” Jordan scooped water over Omar’s face.
Levi grabbed Jordan’s waist and pulled him back. “You promised me!”
“Get off, Levi. This needs to be done.”
“You want me to be the elder? You’ve got to respect my word. And I say stop it, now!”
Jordan elbowed Levi and crawled to standing. “Yeah, okay, Elder Levi. But you’ve got to convince me why I can’t kill him. Can you do that, huh?”
“Yes. But I need you to keep him safe until I can prepare the women for his arrival. Can you hide him somewhere without anyone seeing him?”
Jordan growled. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Without hurting him?”
“I said yeah.”
“Do it then.” Levi helped Omar stand, and they all followed Jordan inside. Jordan secured the door and led them down a short tunnel. It smelled stale, as if it had been ignored for years.
“The big room with the kitchen and TV is to the right,” Jordan said. “The bedrooms and bathroom are to the left. I’m gonna take your swine-stinking brother to my room.”
“Actually,” Levi said, “now that I’ve seen the layout, just hold him right here. I’ll only need a minute. I’ll call you in.”
“You’re the elder, Elder.”
Levi ignored Jordan’s snark, knowing how hard it must be for Jordan not to pound Omar into flatbread. A few yards ahead, the hallway ended in a rotted wooden door. Levi and Jemma pushed it open. The “big room” wasn’t all that big. It had a one-wall kitchen on the end, three round tables with chairs in the center, some ratty couches, and an Old TV.
“Jemma!” Shaylinn ran to the door and hugged her sister. “They found you.”
The next half hour was a mix of mourning and celebration in the bunker under the Midlands. Levi didn’t know which to feel, as he still had Omar to deal with. He finally brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled. “Listen up, everyone. We should make a plan to get you all out of here. I’d like to take you to Jack’s Peak, where you’ll have some protection until I can figure out how to get to the kids.”
“What about the children?” Eliza asked. “We need to get them out of here.”
“They’re all alone …” Mary’s words disintegrated into sobs.
Aunt Chipeta smiled at Levi. “We appreciate your wanting to protect us, but none of us could live with ourselves if we simply left. That you got us out of the harem has given everyone hope we will see our children again.”
Perhaps there was some way they could all help. “I don’t know what they do with liberated people. I hope they’re not … Well, we need to find out. But Mason says the kids are in the boarding school or the caretaking facilities. The enforcers are going to be watching both closely for a while. So we need to be patient. And forgiving. I know this is really stressful on everyone, but we need to stand together. Love each other. Do you trust me?”
“Of course,” Aunt Chipeta said.
“What’s your plan, Levi?” Eliza asked.
Here goes. “First … I ask you all to hold your tongues and open your minds and hearts at what you’re about to see. Jordan!”
The door opened, and Omar stepped into the room with Jordan behind him, broad-shouldered and menacing.
“Oh!” Shaylinn clapped her hand over her mouth.
“What’s he doing here?” Mary asked.
“Did you capture him?” Eliza asked.
Levi smiled at Omar, hoping it didn’t look forced. “He freed me and Jemma from the RC.”
“Omar rescued us,” Jemma said.
Eliza narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“Let’s see what Omar has to say?” Levi sat down so that Omar would have the floor. His little brother, at only sixteen, looked hunched and frail. His skin was pale, his eyes bloodshot and creased with heavy circles, and the black tattoo that peeked out from his sleeve made him look wild. A true “shell” if Levi had ever seen one.
“I didn’t mean for anyone to die,” Omar blurted out. “I just wanted to do something my father would be proud of. Show I was good enough.” He rubbed the scar between his eyes. “But I’m not. And the task director lied to me.” Omar heaved in a deep breath. “I don’t know if I can ever make up for what I did, but—”
“You can’t,” Jordan said.
> Omar looked at his hands and threaded his fingers together. “You’re right.” He glanced up, then back at his hands, then up again. “I know you’re right.”
“What do you want?” Eliza’s voice was low.
“To say I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t undo anything, Omar,” Eliza said. “It doesn’t bring Mark back.”
“Why did you do it, really?” Jordan asked. “Your father wouldn’t have been proud to see you in an enforcer’s uniform.” Levi didn’t understand Omar’s logic either.
“So he could prove his dad was wrong about him,” Shaylinn said. “That he had worth. Elder Justin was so mean to him. He was mean to me too.”
“My father was honest,” Levi said. “He never meant to hurt anyone.”
“But he did.” Shaylinn folded her arms. “And he never apologized. I don’t mean to speak ill of your father, it’s just … we’ve all hurt people without meaning to. Isn’t that right, Omar?”
Omar nodded at Shaylinn. “I never wanted any of these horrible things to happen.”
“Fine,” Eliza said. “Then why didn’t you move to the Safe Lands and leave us be?”
Omar’s forehead wrinkled. “Do any of you remember when Papa Eli told my father to take me hunting with him and Elsu? And how my father reacted?”
Levi hung his head in memory of that awkward moment. Father had been cruel.
“The next day I took a rig to Crested Butte,” Omar said, “hoping to scavenge something that would prove to my father that I wasn’t a useless mouth to feed. Instead, I ran into some enforcers. They asked if I wanted to see the city and took me to meet the task director general. The city was amazing, and I wondered what it might be like to live there. The task director said I could, that he’d send some men to Glenrock to see if you all wanted to give the city a try as well.”
Omar had walked right into the lions’ den. If only Levi had reached out to him sooner.
“I told them to come while Father was in Denver City,” Omar said. “I figured that when he returned and found me gone, he’d be relieved to finally be free of me.”
“Omar …” Aunt Chipeta said.
His words were a fist to Levi’s gut. Omar must have thought their father hated him.
“It’s true, and you all know it,” Omar said, matter of fact. “No one was supposed to get hurt. I didn’t really understand what they wanted. I was stupid, like always.” He heaved a deep sigh. “Anyway, I just wanted to explain to you and to say I’m sorry. Because I am. And now I’ll leave, and none of you will ever have to see me again.” He walked toward the exit.
What? He’s just going to leave? Levi started across the room to stop him.
But Jordan was already blocking the exit.
“One of the things that drove Elder Justin nuts about you was how you always run,” Jordan said. “So prove your father wrong now, Omar. Saying sorry isn’t good enough. You need to stay and work, to help put things right.”
“I got Levi and Jemma out of the RC,” Omar said.
“That’s a start. But this ain’t over ‘til we’re home. All of us. And this place ain’t home.”
Omar rubbed the scar on the bridge of his nose. “What else do you want me to do?”
“Sit down, and let Elder Levi talk.” Jordan pushed Omar into a chair and went to sit beside Naomi.
A swell of pride filled Levi at Jordan’s words. He looked around the room and said, “I’m not the elder unless that’s what everyone wants.”
“But you’re next in line,” Naomi said.
“That may be, but Aunt Chipeta is the eldest.” Levi nodded to where his aunt sat beside Jemma. “Then Mary, then Eliza, then Jordan, then me.”
“Age doesn’t matter,” Aunt Chipeta said. “You’re Elder Elias’s heir. You’re meant to be patriarch.”
Levi agreed, but he didn’t want to do this alone. “Papa Eli had an elder council to help him. I’d like one too.”
So they formed an elder council: Mary, Aunt Chipeta, Eliza, Jordan, Levi, and Mason once he escaped as well. The five present council members crowded around one table to have their first official meeting. Jemma, Shaylinn, and Naomi went into the kitchen to make lunch. Omar sat alone on the sofa.
The council’s first decree was that no one would leave the Safe Lands until every possible member of Glenrock had been rescued. They also discussed whether they should send a message to Jennifer and Mia and if they could be trusted, and ways they might try to free the children. Levi said that their efforts largely depended on Mason and Bender now.
Jemma approached the table and circled to stand behind Levi. She put her hands on his shoulders and squeezed. “The food is ready.”
Levi turned to look up at her. He caught sight of the gold chain disappearing into the neckline of her dress and jumped up. “Elder Jordan!” He took Jemma by the hand and pulled her to Jordan’s side of the table. “Will you marry us?”
Jemma gasped. Naomi hurried toward them from the kitchen.
“Oh, yes! Please do, Jordan,” Aunt Chipeta said. “They should’ve been married days ago.”
Jordan pushed up from his chair. “Really? Can I do that?”
Levi’s heart raced. This was finally going to happen. His wedding to this beautiful woman. He removed the necklace from Jemma’s neck and handed it to Jordan. “Only an elder can. And we are elders now.”
“I’ll do my best then.” Jordan raised his voice. “Gather round, witnesses. We need your eyes. This man and woman wish—”
With a shout of protest, Aunt Chipeta, Mary, and Eliza all stood at once.
“Not right this moment, Jordan,” Aunt Chipeta said.
“While this is far from the ideal circumstance, a bride deserves some time to prepare, both physically and spiritually,” Eliza said.
The women whisked Jemma away to one of the bedrooms, leaving Levi speechless.
“But what about lunch?” Jordan called after them.
“Eat it,” Naomi yelled. “We’ll get some later.”
And the boys were left alone.
Jordan walked toward the kitchen. “Guess I’ll help myself then.”
Omar’s laugh pulled Levi’s gaze to where his brother sat on the couch.
Levi went and sat beside him. “What’s so funny?”
“Did you really think the women were going to let Jordan say, ‘I declare you married’ and be done with it?”
Levi fell back against the stale couch cushions. “That would have been nice.”
They sat together. Omar had been watching a show called Easy Bake, in which a woman was teaching how to make something called boule bread, which reminded Levi of Kosowe, a woman he didn’t want to be thinking about just before his wedding.
Maybe this was the time to do something hard. To try and dismantle this unspoken wall between him and his youngest brother. “Omar,” Levi took a deep breath. “Do you remember a couple years ago? When we stayed the night in Jack’s Peak?”
Omar raised one eyebrow and smirked. “I remember.”
Levi wished he hadn’t. He forced himself to speak. “I’m hoping you’ll … I don’t think Jemma needs to, you know, know. I thought of telling her but … I was wrong even to—”
“You weren’t engaged to Jemma then,” Omar said. “And you didn’t really do anything to be ashamed of.”
Levi sat up straight. “I didn’t?”
“You don’t remember?”
“Only waking up in Kosowe’s teepee.” And seeing Omar’s face.
“You kissed her. A lot. But that was it. All five of us slept in there. Beshup and Tsana got up at a decent hour, but you and Kosowe were dead to the world. I got bored and woke you up so we could go home.”
Levi had jumped to the worst possible conclusion. And Kosowe had let him. All this time the guilt had been for nothing. He looked at his brother in a new light. “Thank you, Omar.”
Omar shrugged and looked back to the TV. “Glad to help clear your conscience.”
Levi took a deep breath. Suddenly, he was trembling. “Omar … would you … That is, will you stand up with me? For the wedding?”
Omar turned his bloodshot eyes back to Levi and broke into a smile. “Sure.”
The women bustled about all afternoon, making food and decorating the underground home with all manner of oddities. When Levi discreetly asked Aunt Chipeta about the fuss, she looked at him more seriously than he was prepared for. “I want to make sure Jemma has a wedding she deserves.” She nodded toward Eliza and Naomi, who were making a bouquet out of pink and white tissues. “I think even the trivial things have a greater meaning right now. Plus, doing this for Jemma is a welcome distraction.”
“I guess I didn’t look at it that way. I just wanted to marry Jemma this minute.”
Aunt Chipeta laughed. “As soon as Shaylinn and Mary finish putting together Jemma’s dress, we should be ready. But while you’re waiting, I suggest you take a shower. You look like you’ve been wearing the same thing for three days. I saw a shirt and a pair of pants in one of the bedrooms—don’t come back until you’ve changed.”
Levi did as he was told, though he discovered both the dark green long-sleeved button-up shirt and the dark blue pleated pants were way too big. When he returned to the main room and Mary saw him fisting the waistband, she threaded a black silk scarf through the belt loops.
Jordan and Omar laughed, so Mary put them to work moving the tables and setting up the chairs, which made an aisle that faced the shower curtain backdrop Aunt Chipeta had put up.
And then it was time.
Jemma stepped into the doorway, a princess in white. The other ladies stood and started to sing.
Here comes the bride dressed all in light,
Radiant and lovely she shines in his sight.
Gently she glides graceful as a dove,
Meeting her bridegroom her eyes full of love.
Jemma walked toward Levi. She wore a sleeveless white dress with a short flowing skirt that showed off her legs. Her hair was long and loose, clipped back above one ear by a single tissue flower. A layer of sheer white fabric poofed over her hair, barely covering her face. The world’s shortest veil.
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