She cocked her head and looked at me like she was reading my thoughts. I stuttered about for a second, gathering my thoughts, then said, "Ginnie didn't have anything worth much. All her jewelry was fake and her designer stuff was knockoff. The only things Ed ever gave her were cuts and bruises."
Sal had been quiet the entire time we were talking. It threw me when he said, "This Ed sounds like a great guy, I can't wait to meet him."
"There's no reason you would," I said, and quickly looked away.
"I'd like to," Wei said.
"Yeah, the Cliste Galad girl." Sal's mouth curled into a half smile. "He wouldn't know what hit him."
"We can't go out there looking for him now," Mike said. "Sandy's not here and Derek hasn't played yet."
"I'm sure he's long gone anyway." I made eye contact with Mike, purposely avoiding looking at Sal.
A sigh of relief escaped Mike-he was about the most nonviolent person I knew. Not a scaredy-cat, just not someone who'd go looking for a fight. Especially not against a former government spy and grown man. I didn't blame him.
"You're right," Sal agreed.
"What I want to know," Wei said, "is why he went after you, Nina. We all thought he was after Dee. Did he say anything, give you any clues?"
"Our apartment was broken into the other day, but nothing was taken. And Ed said maybe Ginnie gave me something that he wanted." A chill ran through me. I thought back to those last few minutes with Ginnie-her certainty that my father was alive and her instructions to get the book to him. I had had enough of keeping all of this to myself. I needed help. But as much as I wanted to tell my friends about what was really going on, I couldn't, not in public, where anyone might hear. I was contemplating when and where I could spill all my secrets when Sandy walked in.
Riley and Derek were on the stage, which consisted of two chairs set up in front of the tables. Derek was tuning an antique guitar he'd found in a junk store and restored. Riley was hitting a note here and there on his accordion. But no one was paying them any mind-all eyes were on Sandy. Even Sal watched as she approached our table.
Sandy's Saturn blue plether pants were so tight there was no way could she have gotten them on over underwear-and it was obvious she hadn't. She wore black thigh-high sueded boots and a cropped faux-fur jacket over a skimpy little top. Her hair was the only thing about her that looked familiar.
"Skivs!" Mike exclaimed. "What the hell did you do, Sandy? You look like-"
"A model," I blurted out before Mike could make things worse. Yeah, I thought, a model for sex-teen of the year. The outfit made me cringe. I sincerely hoped the Sandy I knew and loved was under the Media-hyped crap she was wearing.
"I've missed you sooo much!" she squealed, yanking me out of my chair.
She hugged me and blew air kisses, and though I wanted everything to be like it used to be, it wasn't. I tried to forget about her sex-teen look, but it was impossible. I pulled away and introduced her to Wei. They chatted for a minute before realizing that they both adored raw galactic music.
Sal stared at me as I sat back down. I could feel my neck getting hot. He cocked his head toward the door and got up. I don't know why, but I followed him outside. It was freezing and I'd left my coat back at the table. Hugging my arms around me, I waited for him to say something.
"What do you think you're doing, putting yourself at risk like that?" He glared at me.
I could hardly believe it. He was mad at me. "It's not like I did it on purpose."
"It was stupid of-"
"Stupid?" My finger shot right up into his face. "I am not stupid and I am not going to listen to your insults. I may not be some top-tier, ultrachic sex-teen who fawns all over you, but I am sure as hell not--"
"Nina. Stop." He grabbed my outstretched arm and pulled me up close to him. "You are not stupid. I am." He kissed me. It was like electric currents racing through my body. After what seemed like a much-too-short eternity, we came up for air, but he still held me close. "I will never let anyone hurt you, ever." It felt so right, being in his arms. I ignored the bit of doubt in the back of my head-this didn't feel like he was only interested in me for my father.
His hot breath on my neck sent little tremors though my whole body. I was shivering, but not from the cold.
"Skivs, I'm an idiot." He ripped his jacket off and threw it over my shoulders. "Let's get inside; you must be frozen."
When we were back at the table, Sandy made no secret of scrutinizing me and Sal. He'd scooted his chair next to mine and was holding my hand under the table. She grinned, pretty smugly, and said, "Sixteen's right around the corner, Nina. Told you ..."
I felt a blush rising up my neck and started to pull my hand away from Sal's, but he wouldn't let go. And I didn't mind.
"Oh, come on, it's not like you can stop it from happening." Flouncing her hair, Sandy gave a quick glance around the room. "By the way, have you heard from Ed?"
Sal squeezed my hand; Wei and Mike stared at Sandy.
"What did I say?"
I grabbed a napkin and wrote, Can we find somewhere DZ to talk? I pushed it into the middle of the table.
"Not until after Derek plays," Mike said. "He's counting on us being here. Besides, we couldn't leave him out of this."
Everyone nodded in agreement, except Sandy, who still looked confused. "What's going on?"
Wei whispered something to her and she didn't say anything else.
Mike was right. I wasn't too eager to leave anyway; Ed might still be out there.
Derek and Riley started their set. They weren't playing the electro-tech that everyone listened to, which didn't surprise me. Media owned all the popular broadcast stations, so all music was government sanctioned. Occasionally a rogue broadcaster would tap into PAV airwaves and play old protest songs from the 1960s and the 2070s. The GC really hated that. Ginnie'd always said that they persecuted the rogues because the music they played made people think about what freedom really was. Those underground broadcasters were always on the run from the Audio Media Management agents, so there was no telling when you could hear them.
The guys were great. I was glad I hadn't insisted we leave. I wouldn't have ruined Derek's moment in the spotlight for anything. When a string on his guitar snapped, he and Riley took a short break. While the room was relatively quiet, I listened in on Sandy's conversation with Wei. She was rattling on about the guys in her school, all the XVIIIs.
Sal nudged me to look at Mike. His elbow was on the table, his chin firmly seated on his hand; he was hanging on Sandy's every word like she was giving directions to the lost treasure of San Cabalo-or the nearest free all-you-can-eat buffet.
As he leaned close, Sal's lips barely touched my earlobe. "Looks like he's smitten," he whispered.
That can't be, I thought. Mike being infatuated with Sandy would not be good, not at all. Even though she herself was low tier, she looked down her nose at welfare families. No matter how low you are, you can always find someone lower, I thought. Two of my best friends on a collision course with disaster; I knew which one would be crushed.
I noticed Wei's eyes were glassed over and her smile looked more than a little forced. Sandy's babbling on about FeLS and boys definitely had that effect on people. I started to intervene, but Derek and Riley took care of interference by playing again.
The crowd loved them so much they did three encores. When they finished, Riley went to the table where his twentieth-century music clique was sitting. They were going nuts, pounding him on the back and yelling like he'd just won a free trip to Galacticaland.
"Well ... ?" Derek avoided direct eye contact with all of us, he was so nervous. "What'd you guys think?"
"I loved it!" Wei said.
"It was cool," Sandy said, leaning forward so her shirt gaped open more. Then she tossed her hair just like the girls in the XVI Ways how-to guide.
"What kind of music is it, Derek?" I hoped to steer Sandy off course.
"Zydeco. From New Orleans."
The blank look on all our faces demanded an explanation.
"Oh, come on, guys. The city that was totaled after the Cat Six hurricane in 2025. What was it called? Hey, Ri," he yelled across the tables. "What was the name of that storm that took out New Orleans?"
"Sandra!" Riley yelled back.
"That's the one-Sandra."
"That's my name," Sandy squealed.
"Huh?" Derek shook his head and went on: "It was like the third hurricane to hit in a couple of decades. It washed away so much land, there wasn't anywhere left to rebuild."
"After that storm and the multiple oil disasters in the Gulf, that's when they finally got serious about alternatives for oil, wasn't it?" Sal asked.
He, Derek, and Mike started to talk about fuels, which I knew would lead to a discussion of transports. We'd be there forever if I didn't interrupt.
"Can we go?"
"What?" Derek asked.
I held up the napkin so he could read it, and mouthed, "Ed."
"Is Dee okay?"
"Yes, but we need to, you know ..." I gestured toward the napkin. "Come on, let's go."
"I've gotta put my guitar away."
"Just do it, then." No sooner were the words out of my mouth, and I saw his reaction, than I felt awful. It was his big night and I had just ruined it by being a bitch. "Derek, I'm sorry," I called after him as he walked back to the makeshift stage and put his guitar in its case. He either didn't hear me or he didn't want to.
Wei's eyes followed him as he packed up his music.
"I should've been nicer," I said.
"Yeah," Sandy replied. "That was uber-B. What's got into you?"
"You need to hear the whole story first." Wei turned her back on Sandy. Reassuring me, she said, "He won't mind once he finds out what happened."
Over Wei's shoulder I saw Sandy's eyes narrow and I knew what was coming next. The last thing anyone needed was Sandy losing her temper.
"I'll apologize, okay?" I directed my words at Sandy.
She shrugged and proceeded to fuss with her hair and straighten her jacket. I noticed a couple of guys checking her out. I glanced at Mike. The look on his face was unquestionably fanaholic.
Derek's shoulders slumped as he walked back to us, guitar case in hand.
On the way out I whispered, "I really am sorry. You were great. Everyone loved you guys."
"Yeah, thanks." He repositioned his guitar between us, eyes intent on the sidewalk.
Tangling with Ed had been bad enough, but hurting one of my best friends felt worse. Derek had always been there for me, and I'd just stomped all over him. I'd have to make it right, somehow.
"Where can we go?" I asked.
"The park," Sal said. "Not far from your moun-by that place where we met. There's a vert tower near there, it's not total DZ but it scrambles everything."
"Not like anyone's paying attention to us anyway," Derek said, scuffling his feet along.
Wei caught up to him. "I wouldn't be so sure ..." She began whispering to him.
Sandy tried to catch up with them, but the best she could do was a precarious wobble in her stiletto-heeled boots. It was pathetically sweet when Mike grabbed her arm to steady her.
"Hey," he said, "they got some new calves at the zoo. Want to go see them tomorrow?"
"Yeah, maybe." She leaned on him, her gaze intent on Derek's and Wei's backs.
XXVIII.
No sooner had we gotten to the park than a police trannie cruised up in front of us-and stopped. Two officers, one male, one female, got out.
"You girls, over here." The female officer pointed to a spot by her. "Boys there, with Officer Gorton."
Sal squeezed my hand quickly and then we separated. Wei sidled up next to me, Sandy was on my left. She looked over her shoulder at the policeman and sighed. I would've thought it was funny if I hadn't been a trembling mass of jelly inside. Ed might have sent them looking for me. I had, after all, attacked him. I'm sure they'd believe a government Chooser's word over mine.
"This way!" the female officer barked. "Where are you all going?" Before we could answer, she added, "Get your IDs ready."
She trained her LED on our faces. I could see Wei's expression, as cool as the marble in her home. She put her hand out. Sandy, meanwhile, had dropped her purse, spilling the entire contents of makeup and who-knows-what all over the ground. I turned my hand over, hoping the cop didn't notice how badly it was shaking.
"Wrists." The officer sounded bored.
We all turned our arms over. She shone the LED on them. One bare and then there was Wei's. The colors of the thistles popped in the light.
"A Creative?"
I detected a note of derision in the woman's voice.
"Yes, ma'am," Wei said. "It's on my ID."
The officer squinted into her scanner. "Huh. Like I asked. Where are you going?"
"Down by the horses." Wei was in complete control. "It's cool to see them at night. Don't you think?" She had one of her most charming smiles on-and it seemed to have the desired effect.
Sandy'd been kneeling on the ground collecting her things. When the policewoman got to her, she jumped up, flipping her hand. "My dad was a policeman. Killed in the line of duty."
"Uh-huh." The officer made a cursory glance at scan. "Wrist."
Sandy turned her arm over. "He was on a foray when he was-"
"You better pick that stuff up," the cop said.
Sandy knelt down again, busying herself with getting everything back into her purse. I could tell her feelings were hurt.
"Oberon?" The woman read from her scanner and shined her LED on my face again.
I was beginning to hate my name. I tried to smile, but the result was probably more of a grimace. I really wished I had some of Wei's composure.