by Valerie Puri
Belle’s face darkened. He was wearing black pants, like the pant leg she glimpsed in the school. Was he trying to stop this assembly?
Isaac stood in front of the platform and addressed the room. He could have climbed the platform and taken over the podium. But no. He remained on the same level as everyone else. This was a ploy to show the people he was one of them.
“Sneaky,” she said under her breath.
“What?” Mitch asked.
“Nothing. Nevermind.”
Isaac was sharper than she thought.
“This man had his friend nominate him after hauling Victor away to a cell. Need I remind you that both Jack and the man nominating him deposed Victor? When no one else stood against our fallen elder, he was the first. Only then did some of you follow. By removing Victor from power himself, he hoped to gain your confidence. He postured as though he were protecting you. He acted strategically to try to seize power for himself.”
“That’s not true,” Jack gripped the sides of the podium. “The evidence of Victor’s deceit is at the wall. You all know he did us no service by luring those monsters to our home. They will destroy everything and everyone we love. We’re stronger if we work together. I am up here today to work with you and for you as an interim elder.”
Isaac clapped slowly, sarcastically.
“Very well said. Only I believe you’re just echoing my words. If you can’t make a case for yourself with your own words, how would you be as a leader? Mimicking me the entire time? I’m sacrificing my interests to lead our people through this threat. You are only seeking to advance your own.”
Belle’s face burned hot. Isaac was projecting all of his behavior onto Mr. Caraway.
Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Isaac held up his hands.
“I call for a vote. If you are for this man say ‘aye,’ if you oppose say ‘nay.’”
The room erupted at once with a garbled response. Belle tried to make out the distinct responses, but it was too loud to tell.
Mitch called out, “nay.”
Her stomach plummeted. How could her classmate be so blind?
Isaac raised his hands, similar to how Victor would to call for silence.
“Thank you all for casting your votes. It is clear to me, and everyone here, that the majority of you said ‘nay.’” He turned to Jennie’s father. “Thank you for your efforts, Mr. Caraway, but the good people have spoken. You will not be an elder.”
Jack’s face reddened. He stomped down the steps, across the room, and out the door. They failed.
Twenty-Three
Ethan
Sleep helped his tired body, but his heart was still broken. No amount of rest could heal that.
Ethan stared at the ceiling above him. The thatched roof was a welcome sight. It was nice to be in a treehouse again, only he wished he was in his own home.
When he knocked on Tulsi’s door the night before, she opened it. She jumped into his arms, gripping him tight. Her raven black hair was neatly combed and straight as one of his arrows. It flowed like silk over her shoulders.
“Ethan, I thought you were dead!” she said. “Of course, you can stay here.”
She gave Jennie a curious look, then raised her eyebrows at him. “Who is this, and what in the world happened out there?”
“This is Jennie.” He squeezed Jennie’s hand. She shied behind him.
“I can see you two have been through a lot. You can fill me in tomorrow after you’ve had some rest.” She stepped inside, letting them in.
Tulsi’s house was tiny, and situated towards the edge of Arborville. It was one of the newer homes. She was a couple years older than Ethan and wanted to move out on her own. People usually did that around here when they turned twenty.
She hadn’t decorated it much. There was a little wooden table, a chair, a kitchenette, and a sleeping loft.
“I just have to ask, why come here and not to your house?” Tulsi opened a tall cabinet and took out a couple blankets.
“I can’t go back there,” Ethan grumbled.
Tulsi hugged the blankets to her chest, studying him. “Right. We can talk about it later… only if you want, though. You can stay here, but the loft only sleeps one,” she held out the blankets, giving them an apologetic look. “Sorry, I don’t have anything more comfortable than the floor.”
“Trust me,” Ethan said, “it’s an improvement from where we have been sleeping. It’s better than the lemeron infested ground.”
Thanks to my father, I can’t stand to sleep in the same house as him. I had been looking forward to sleeping on my plush stuffed mat.
His father. Just thinking those words soured his mind. He let Ethan believe he adopted him, but he was his biological father. The lie hurt more than the truth.
Why couldn’t he have made something else up, like he really was his father and his mother died? Would that lie have hurt any less?
When morning broke, Ethan sat up. Jennie was still sound asleep beside him. Her deep breathing was calming. He wished he could have slept that well last night. He tossed and turned, reliving the night before.
He took the photo he once cherished out of his pocket. Unfolding it, he looked at the face of his mother, Marlene. She hadn’t aged at all since the day this photo was taken eighteen years ago. On her lap, she held Ethan as a baby.
He turned the picture over and read the note she’d written on the back.
My dearest son Ethan,
You have brought me so much happiness in your short life, and I wish our time together could have been longer. The world in which we live is no longer safe, and I am unable to keep you from the growing dangers….
His hands shook. The faded ink blurred as tears welled in his eyes. I’ve had enough of her lies… and my father’s.
She didn’t leave him to try and keep him safe. She was selfish and didn’t want the responsibility of being a mother. That much was clear based on how cold she had been.
Her attitude when she told Ethan about his father was ‘get over it.’ She didn’t know what it was like. Marlene abandoned him. Brenden lied to him. Ethan couldn’t even think of them as his mother and father anymore.
He had enough of the lies. He had enough of them.
Turning the worn paper over, he looked at the image one last time. His mother’s face stared at him. Telling him again to just get over it.
No, she can get over it herself. I’m done with my parents. I don’t need them.
He gripped the top edge of the picture and tore it down the middle. Putting the two strips together, he turned them sideways and ripped it in half again. And again. And again. His fingers trembled as he let the pieces fall to the floor.
That photo was the only thing he’d had his entire life. Now he destroyed it. A pang of regret stabbed his heart.
What have I done? He buried his face in his hands. What am I doing? I don’t know anymore. I don’t know anything anymore.
“Ethan?” Tulsi asked.
He lowered his hands. They came away wet with tears. He looked down at Jennie, sleeping on the floor beside him. At least she wouldn’t see him crying.
“Ethan, what’s wrong?”
He looked up to see Tulsi standing beside the ladder to the sleeping loft. His face burned hot from embarrassment. How much had she seen?
“I just need some air,” he climbed to his feet and went to the door, drying his face on his sleeve.
Outside, the morning air was crisp and cool. He leaned over the platform rail. Everything had a purplish hue as the sun broke the horizon.
Purple, like my door.
He clenched his fist. He couldn’t even see a color without thinking of the place he used to call home, and all the lies that went with it.
Tulsi leaned over the rail next to him.
“Did she do something to upset you?”
The question startled Ethan.
“Who? Jennie? No. She would never.”
“Then why are you so upset?” Tulsi as
ked.
He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
She took a step back so she could face him directly. Her big brown eyes darted over his face, trying to read him.
“I’m your best friend, you can tell me anything. Ethan, what’s wrong? I’m worried about you. You disappear for days on end and come back different… and with a girl, too. What happened to you out there? I’ve never seen you like this.”
“It’s just-” Ethan sighed. He didn’t know how to explain what he was feeling. “It’s just that I found out that my adoptive father is actually my father.”
Tulsi scrunched up her face. “You mean he didn’t just find you in the woods? It was all planned somehow?”
“It seems that way.”
“Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?” She asked.
“Being lied to my whole life? How is that a good thing? Just leave it alone, please.” Ethan snapped. He groaned. Tulsi didn’t deserve that. “I’m sorry. It’s just, my whole life has been a lie. I… I don’t know…” He trailed off.
“Who told you about your father?” Tulsi glanced over at the door.
Ethan leaned on the railing, looking at the purplish ground below. It was turning pink as the day brightened.
“My mother.”
“Your mother?” Tulsi shrieked. “Where is she? Is she here?”
“She is now, but I first saw her in the Commune.”
Tulsi shook her head, confused. “What’s the Commune?”
“It’s a whole town of people living in the middle of the forest. There’s a huge wall surrounding it to keep them safe. That’s where Jennie’s from… and my mother.”
She narrowed her eyes at Ethan. “They’re from the same place? It sounds to me like Jennie had more to do with this than you’re willing to admit.”
Ethan shook his head. “No, she was only trying to help.”
“Help with what?” She crossed her arms and jutted out her hip. “Really, Ethan, I’m worried for you. I’ve never seen you this upset. She had a hand in this. Trying to help or not, she ended up scrambling your life worse than an egg.”
He couldn’t help smirking. Tulsi always had a way with colorful analogies.
“You’re right about one thing, my life’s a mess right now. But Jennie’s not the reason for that. She’s one of the few good things to ever happen to me.”
Tulsi dropped her arms to her side. “If you feel that way, then I’m happy for you. Only, it breaks my heart that you lost your identity in the process.”
Ethan shoved off the rail to face her. “How dare you? I found out who I really was when I met Jennie. I didn’t lose a shred of who I am.”
“Are you still Ethan McAllister?”
He scoffed. “Yes.”
“Isn’t that your father’s last name, though?”
“Well, yeah. It’s my last name, too. Why should I give it up?”
She gave him a wry smile. “You shouldn’t. Because you’re Brenden’s son. By name. By blood,” she shrugged. “It doesn’t matter how. You’re still his son.”
Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but he didn’t know what to say. Tulsi twisted it all around to where it seemed right. Maybe she had a point? His father had raised him. It didn’t excuse the lies, though. A lifetime of lies. How could he forgive that?
Twenty-Four
Jennie
The house was quiet when Jennie woke. Stretching out her arms across the floor felt good. It was smooth, unlike the rough ground. Sleeping with rocks and roots jabbing in her back was not something she enjoyed. Spending the night on the floor wasn’t either, but it was a marked improvement.
She brought her arms back down to her sides. Her fingers stroked the soft woolen blanket. It was nice to have such a luxurious covering to keep her warm. Even back at the Commune, her bedcover wasn’t this nice. Or this thick.
I wonder where they get the wool.
They grew cotton in one of the fields back home. Only so much could be produced every year, so new clothing, bedding, and linens were heavily rationed. As a result, her bedding was covered in threadbare patches.
Smiling, she bunched the wool blanket up in her fists. It must be a finger-width thick.
“Ahhh,” she sighed.
Despite all the problems plaguing her, her people, and Ethan, that was the best sleep she had in a long time.
The house was silent. Finally opening her eyes, she looked around. Ethan’s blanket was sprawled out on the floor beside her, but he was gone.
Something scattered on the floor next to the fleece caught her eye. She crawled over to it and gasped.
“Oh no,” her heart ached for Ethan. “What did you do?”
Back at the Commune, Ethan showed her the picture of his mother with the letter on the back. She remembered how Marlene’s eyes and Ethan’s were the same green. Now it lay in tatters on the floor.
She turned all the little torn bits of paper over, so the faded color side was up. One square at a time, she pieced Marlene and Ethan back together. First, Marlene’s face. Then her hair, his face, his smile… oh, how she wished he would smile like that again… Marlene’s hands. Her fingers lovingly holding Ethan upright.
Jennie shook her head. There was so much love in this picture. Where did it all go? The world was cruel to divide such a happy family. Now, they were torn apart, just like this fractured image.
“Just leave it alone,” Ethan shouted from outside.
She leapt to her feet. Marlene or his father must have tracked him down. They couldn’t even let him have a day to cool down. If they were out there, she wasn’t going to let him face them alone.
“Ethan has every right to be upset with you right now,” she practiced saying out loud. “Give him his space.”
No. That was what Marlene was planning on doing… indefinitely. She was so willing to sever ties with any relationship as if it were an inconvenience.
“You need to make an effort to make things right with your son. The son you abandoned.”
There. That was better.
She could rehearse all day, but that wouldn’t help Ethan. It was better to be by his side than pacing in here, talking to the walls.
Jennie threw the door open.
“Ethan has ev-” she stopped abruptly.
Where was Marlene? Brenden?
They weren’t there. Only Ethan and Tulsi who raised one of her arched eyebrows at her.
“I thought I heard arguing. Is Marlene out here?”
“No, it’s just us,” Ethan said.
“I find it interesting that when you hear conflict, you think it’s one of your own. That says a lot about you people.”
She recoiled at Tulsi’s remark. It wasn’t fair to lump everyone in the same bale of hay. Jennie was nothing like Marlene. In fact, very few people were.
“Marlene is nothing like the rest of us,” she crossed her arms. “No offense to Ethan, but she’s a recluse and a bit selfish.”
“Then why did you bring her here?”
Ethan cleared his throat. “Actually, we were trying to catch up to her.”
“Why was she coming here then? To find you?”
“Partly…”
Tulsi rolled her eyes. “Stop beating around the bush. Spit it out.”
“She was on her way here to ask us for help.”
Her brow pinched together, creating a deep vertical line above her pointed nose. “Why would she need our help?”
“Because the lemerons are swarming at our wall,” Jennie said.
Tulsi’s face went slack. A little light went on in her eyes as though all the pieces to this puzzle finally clicked in place.
“Holy tree leaves. The lemeron migration. That’s what you went to investigate. They’ve been heading to Jennie’s settlement this whole time.” She swallowed. “How many are there?”
Ethan blew out a long breath of air. “Hundreds and more coming. The Commune is in great danger. We need to help if we can.” He took Jennie’s ha
nds. “I’m sorry, Jennie. I lost sight of the bigger problem. We need to save your home. My meager problems aren’t important next to this.”
Jennie stepped closer to him. She could smell the forest on him. “It’s all important. The wall will hold together for a few more days, but your family may not. Please talk to your parents again.”
He dropped her hands, shoving away from her. The scowl on his face cut through her heart. Her jaw trembled.
What did I say?
“I can’t forgive them. Ever. Neither of you can change my mind. If you’re not going to support me in this, then I need to be on my own.”
Jennie bit her lower lip, breaking the cut on it open again. The autumn leaves blurred together through her tears, looking like the forest caught fire. Just last night, Ethan wanted to run away with her. Now, he was leaving Jennie alone in this hell.
Twenty-Five
Marlene
“Damn drama,” Marlene plopped into a chair by the fire.
“What’s that?” Brenden asked, stoking the glowing logs.
Marlene let out a heavy sigh. Her head was pounding from lack of sleep. All night she tossed and turned, thinking about the mess she’d made.
“I spent the last eighteen years worrying about Ethan. Now he wants nothing to do with me.” She rubbed her temples. “I missed you as much as him. When I saw you, I couldn’t help myself, I had to embrace you again.”
He took her hand and kissed it. “Eighteen years is a long time.”
“Someday Ethan will understand.” She stroked his dark brown hair salted with grey. “Do you think he’ll get past this?”
“In time. The boy’s got a bit of your fierceness.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good thing. He hates me. I saw it in his eyes.”
Brenden added another log onto the fire. It threatened to smother the flames, but he poked it with a metal rod. The flames came to life again, stronger than ever. A bead of sweat formed on his brow. “He’s not happy with me either, but he’ll work through it. I’m not ready to give up on him.”