Authors: Thomas Christopher
Joe untied the soiled rag around his elbow. When he pulled it away, the dried blood peeled off with the rag. It stung like being cut all over again. Some blood dribbled down his arm. He stripped off his clothes. He saw the scabbed-over scratches on his legs from when they were attacked in the forest. It seemed ages ago when that happened. Once he filled the sink with water, he took a washcloth off a rod and picked up a bar of soap in a dish and washed himself all over. The water in the basin turned blackish-gray with dirt. He ran the soap over the cut on his elbow.
Then the door opened and Joe grabbed a towel to cover himself.
“Here’s the clothes,” Eve said. She must’ve caught his startled look because she added, “You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.” But she didn’t leave after that. “Let me take care of that cut,” she said.
“That’s okay,” Joe said. He tied the towel around his waist.
“No, it’s not okay. It’ll get infected if not done right.”
There wasn’t much Joe could say. She seemed dead-set on helping him. After she opened a cabinet, she pulled out a small bottle and unscrewed the cap. She wrapped her fingers around his skinny forearm and turned it to see his elbow. He must’ve flinched a little because Eve said, “Hold still. I’m not going to hurt you.”
She poured a few drops from the bottle onto his cut, which burned and made him suck his teeth before the burn went away. Then Eve dabbed it with a cloth. Joe watched her attentively. He noticed the faint lines fanning out from the corners of her eyes and the little creases like water ripples at the sides of her mouth. She looked older now that he saw her up close. He smelled the cigarette smoke on her breath, peppery and sweet at the same time, and he smelled the lavender coming from her hair.
“Why are you being so nice to us?”
“A person needs a reason to be nice?”
“No, I was just wondering because of the way you acted before.”
“That’s just a front I put on to protect myself.”
“So you’re not really like that?”
“Cynical, you mean?”
He didn’t know if that’s what he meant or not. He didn’t know what “cynical” was.
“I’ve always been a bit leery,” she continued. “It’s my personality. I’m sure they weren’t expecting that little glitch when they designed me. I’m not artificial or synthetic or anything like that.” She paused for a second. “Do you have any idea what I’m talking about? Do you know what a GeM is?”
Joe remembered Frank talking about people in the Green Zone who were “enhanced” and called themselves “transhuman.” Frank didn’t really understand it all. It was just stuff he heard about but never really witnessed. Joe didn’t know if that was what Eve was referring to or not. He didn’t want to appear dumb if he was wrong, so he didn’t say anything.
“Let me put it this way,” she
said. “I was created in a laboratory. Genetically modified, altered, mixed, whatever you want to call it. They used specific genes, so I’d be a certain way. It’s basically crossbreeding, the same thing you do with plants and animals but at a more sophisticated level. Anyway, my real name isn’t Eve. It’s GeM X7-391.”
Joe was curious now. “But you’re still human, right?”
She laughed. “Yes, I’m still human. Which is part of the problem. That’s why they fast-tracked the creation of Amalgams that are more programmable. Part computer, part human.”
“But they look human?”
“You wouldn’t know the difference.”
“So what were you made for?”
“To serve top officials in government and industry, in particular the head of the Ministry of Peace and Security.”
Joe remembered that title. “Is he the same man I saw on TV?”
“That’s him. Scaring everybody with the terrorist bogeyman.”
“What happened?”
“I didn’t like him. I couldn’t stand him really, and one day I said screw it. I refused to service him. So I was expelled. I was renamed, retagged, and dumped in the Fulfillment District with a suitcase and a hundred shekels. Luckily, part of my training included dance. And I’m good at it. That’s how I get by these days.”
Eve finished cleaning the cut and grabbed a piece of gauze out of the cabinet. She pressed it on his elbow and tied a string around it to secure it.
“That’s better,” she said.
When she looked at Joe, he realized she’d caught him staring at her. He looked away, but not before he saw her grin. It wasn’t a full grin, though, or even particularly genuine; it seemed half-hearted at best.
After Eve left the bathroom, he put on the white pullover shirt she’d given him. It didn’t have any buttons down the front. And then he slipped on the brown pants. The clothes were baggy, but they were better than his raggedy old ones. He felt sort of funny not wearing a green button-up shirt like he always wore. He grabbed his pocketknife, the empty coin purse, and the three bullets out of his old clothes and stuffed them in the pockets of his new pants.
When he came out of the bathroom, he looked at Mary.
As usual, she had her head down and he really couldn’t see her.
Joe spread his arms out and said to her, “What do you think?” Mary didn’t answer. “You are going to spoil me with all your compliments.”
Eve held a tray with slices of brown bread and a glass jar of red jam. She set the tray on a table in the corner where there were two chairs. Joe sat down across from Eve as she spread some jam on a piece of bread.
Now that Joe felt more at ease, he realized that Eve’s room had electricity, and the scratchy music was coming from a big radio standing in the corner.
“There’s a blackout,” Joe said. “How’re you getting power?”
“I have a battery for emergencies,” she said. “It cost me a hell of a lot, too.”
When she handed the slice of bread to him, she caught him staring again. One side of her mouth curled up into what he thought was going to be a smile, but it turned out to be only a half-smile, or perhaps it was another half-hearted attempt at a smile or not a smile at all. Maybe it was just another sign of her doubt that anything was truly what it appeared to be.
“You hungry?” she said.
“Starving,” Joe said.
He took a big bite and never tasted anything so good. The bread was firm and the jam sweet. It tickled his tongue.
“You like it?” she asked.
“It’s delicious.”
“Raspberry.”
Eve glanced at Mary, who was sitting in the plush chair again.
“She doesn’t talk,” Eve said.
“She does once she gets to know you. But even then she doesn’t say a lot.”
“What did you say her name was? Mary?”
“That’s what I call her. I tried to get her name but she wouldn’t tell me, so I had to give her one.” Joe took another bite of bread and jam. “I don’t know what her real name is.”
“You don’t know her real name, but she’s having your baby?”
Joe realized how that sounded, especially in light of the story he’d told Eve when they first met. He chewed and swallowed.
“She’s an orphan. She never had a name.”
“Are you two married?”
“Of course.”
“No rings?”
“I don’t have money for something like that.”
He hoped his answers satisfied her, but when she looked at him, one eye narrowed while the other eye widened, as if she were peering through a keyhole to see if someone was really on the other side.
“You should take her to a hospital,” Eve said.
“I will, when she’s ready.”
“I think she’s ready now. Isn’t that why you came here?”
“Yes.”
“Just take her, then. Take her to the public ward.”
“Is she okay?”
“She could go any day. Take her. There’s no point in waiting.”
“I will,” Joe said.
“I don’t believe you,” Eve said. “What are you hiding?”
“Nothing,” Joe said.
“Don’t give me that. You can’t lie well, so don’t even try.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re not? Then why are you staying at a place that’s not even close to the hospital? And why are you out driving in that piece of crap wagon all day and gone all night? That looks like somebody who’s not telling the truth, and who’s up to no good.”
“I’m not up to anything.”
“Who sent you?”
“Sent me?”
“I’m not buying your dirt-eater act one bit. Who are you working for? Is this a set-up?”
“No. It’s nothing like that.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I am right,” Joe said. “I thought you were going to be nice to us.”
“Being nice is a luxury.”
“Do we really look like trouble to you?”
“The devil always looks innocent. That’s why he’s the devil.”
“I think we need to go now,” Joe said.
Joe took three big bites and then crammed the rest of the bread and jam in his mouth so his cheeks bulged.
“I’m only looking out for my interests,” she said.
Joe’s mouth was too full to say anything. He got up to grab Mary, but Eve caught his arm.
“Hold on,” she said. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I don’t know if you’re up to anything or not. It’s just in my nature to see the dark side in everything.”
He swallowed the hunk of food in his mouth. “We should still go,” he said. “It’s been a long night.”
The look in Eve’s eyes made Joe think she might be sincere, which surprised him. Eve let him loose and
he went to Mary and leaned over her. He grasped her thin hand and helped her to her feet. When he turned around, he half expected Eve to say they didn’t have to leave, especially after what she just said. He might’ve reconsidered leaving, but in the end she didn’t say anything. In fact, she didn’t even look at them.
On their way out, Joe said, “Thanks for helping us.”
He meant it too.
Chapter 37
Back in their room, Joe tried the light switch but there was still no power. He forgot it was morning outside and all he needed to do was open the curtains. Instead, he found the candles in the cabinet and lit them with a box of matches from the drawer. He didn’t realize his mistake until after he stuffed the matches in his pocket and turned around. Mary had pulled open the curtains and now stood facing the bright sunlit window. For a moment a blur of yellow light outlined her body. After she moved away, Joe saw dark spots floating in front of his eyes.
He didn’t know what to think about what just happened with Eve. Should he be nervous about her sudden suspicions or not? He tried to brush it off. He told himself that she’d fallen from her formerly high position and had no power to harm them now. Or did she? Maybe she still had connections. Maybe she was engaged in something illegal herself, and that’s why she got so suspicious.
“We have to go and find Templeton right now,” he said to Mary, “and sell the diesel so we can get out of here.”
He paused. Mary sat in the chair by the window. Her knees were apart to accommodate her belly and her hands were sunk in her dress between her little stick legs. She looked so vulnerable, so delicate. Even though he knew she was stronger than she looked, there was still a part of her that was a frightened girl inside. He realized he needed to calm down. More than likely he was overreacting and making Mary worry for no reason.
“Maybe we should rest before we go,” he said.
He smelled lavender again and he figured the scent must’ve followed them from Eve’s room. But when he stepped closer to Mary, he realized the smell was coming from her.
“Did she give you perfume?”
Mary nodded. She held out her wrists for him to sniff. He bent over, lowered his nose to her skin, and breathed in a heady bloom of lavender.
“That’s nice,” he said.
“She let me put some jewelry on, too.”
“I bet you felt rich then.”
“No. I didn’t want it on.”
“It was a rough night, for both of us,” he said. “I’m sorry I scared you. I didn’t mean for all this stuff to happen. I’m glad I’m back, and you’re safe, and we’re together again. The rest we’ll just have to deal with.”
When Mary didn’t say anything, he thought maybe she was upset with him.
“You’re not mad, are you?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“That’s good.”
He remembered what Eve said about Mary being ready to go any day. “How is the baby?” he asked. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”
“Everything is fine,” she said.
“You sure? You’re not just saying that? You’d tell me if something was wrong?”
“Yes.”
He finally sat down on the edge of the bed facing Mary in the chair. He stared at her, at her frail little body carrying that big stomach that held another frail life inside it. At that moment, he wondered if the baby would be a boy or a girl. He wondered what its name would be. What would Mary name her baby? Would she name it after him if it was a boy? Would she name it Joe? Or maybe she would name it after the father?