Blue (11 page)

Seemingly just after she had closed her eyes, her alarm went off to alert her that it was 4:00 a.m. She jumped out of bed, pulled on her hiking sandals, and ran her fingers through her hair, putting on some mascara and heading quietly out the door of her room.

She walked quietly across the courtyard and into the dining hall, slipping into the kitchen, as the metal doors swung shut behind her. Marguerite always left the oven light on so that Tabitha could see well enough to grab the key, without conspicuously turning on the kitchen lights. She lifted the can, grabbed the key, and made her way to the back of the kitchen through the entryway to the outside.

The door was made of thick metal and almost too heavy for her to even open and close on her own. It was dead bolted from the inside and outside. Not many of the residents even knew about this door to the outside; even Tabitha was shocked when she found out it existed. The only door to the outside that most of the residents knew about was the front entrance that was protected 24/7 by armed guards. And to their knowledge, the rest of the compound was surrounded by those thick concrete walls, thirty feet high with shiny, sharp barbed wire coiled at the top. Tabitha couldn’t help wondering if the walls were more for keeping the bad people out, or keeping the children in.

Marguerite had left a bag of trash by the door, as she always did, and Tabitha picked it up. She unlocked the door to the outside and punched in Marguerite’s code, hearing the faithful “click” that said that she was temporarily free. She set the bag down to pull on the door with both hands, caught it with her back, and picked up the trash bag again, letting the door close behind her.

Looking along the wall for the guard, she saw that he was far at the edge of the compound. She left the bag of trash by the dumpster and tip-toed into the woods, walking out of the light on the outside of the compound and into the darkness of the early morning. She turned on her flashlight and began making her way out to the overpass.

The morning was chillier than she expected, and the clouds were dark overhead again. It began to rain about ten minutes into her hike, and she pulled the hood of her windbreaker over her head. Today they would have to spend most of their time at the overpass to stay out of the rain, even though she was extremely curious to look at the water level behind the dam. But for now, she would wait under the overpass for Marguerite, and if the rain slowed down they would walk to the dam together.

She reached her rock under the overpass and set her backpack down. She felt the water splash onto her feet as she hung them over the edge, and she reached down to take off her sandals, finally able to enjoy hanging her feet in the water from this spot. The water had never been this high before.

By the time Marguerite reached the overpass, the rain had stopped, and together they decided that they would walk the half-mile to the dam together. They picked up their backpacks and turned on their flashlights, kicking all the rocks under their feet on their path to the dam.

“So, what’s with these ‘vitamins’?” Tabitha asked Marguerite bluntly.

“Ugh,” Marguerite sighed. “I’m scared to find out. How did your first day go?”

“Fine. I didn’t have any reaction or anything,” Tabitha said, shrugging her shoulders. “The doctor said that they would help them get a better harvest—make our hair and nails grow faster. I don’t know. If that’s true, I don’t really mind my hair growing faster. I kinda like it,” Tabitha replied.

“Yeah, but Tabitha, those pills make me so nervous. They store them in dozens of huge, unmarked plastic containers in the pantry. I opened one of them yesterday and opened one of the capsules and the powder inside was odorless,” Marguerite said suspiciously. “There’s no telling what is inside of those capsules. I don’t trust them.”

“Well, obviously, I don’t either,” Tabitha said, letting her head hang as she stared down at her feet. “But what am I supposed to do? Dr. Hance basically forced them down my throat with his glaring stare yesterday.”

“I know. I’m sorry. There’s not really much that you can do,” Marguerite replied, as they reached the metal steps that led up to the top of the dam.

“I guess these vitamins are the ramifications of the new harvest laws, then. Don’t you think?” Tabitha asked, walking up the steps behind Marguerite and holding on tightly to the metal rail.

“Part of them,” Marguerite said as they reached the top of the dam and gazed out over the water.

The sun was peeking up over the horizon, illuminating the water behind the dam. The water was billowing up and splashing against the dam with large white caps. The shear volume of water behind the dam was staggering. Tabitha couldn’t believe that the dam wasn’t bulging under the pressure.

“Only part of them?” Tabitha asked, turning to Marguerite and touching her arm. “Wait—what did you hear?”

“Not much, really. It’s just—” Marguerite said, pausing a moment and looking out over the water.

“What?” Tabitha asked. “Just what?”

“It’s just that at our last staff meeting, they told us that we would all be getting a raise after the next harvest. And they already told us about the plans to improve all of the compounds around the entire country. And I’m just not convinced that vitamins to make your hair and nails grow faster could possibly give them the money to do all that they are talking about doing.”

“So, what are you saying?” Tabitha asked, looking her in the eye. “What did they say?”

“Nothing. They didn’t say anything to us directly,” Marguerite said as the sprinkles of rain began to fall harder on their hoods. “There are just rumors, that’s all.”

“And?” Tabitha asked, crossing her arms.

“And, I don’t even know if they’re true yet,” Marguerite said.

“You know I don’t care,” Tabitha said. “If you know something you have to tell me.”

“I just don’t want to scare you,” Marguerite said.

“Just tell me. I’m a big girl. I can take it,” Tabitha said. “What else could they possibly take from us?”

Marguerite looked out over the water with a somber look on her face as the water splashed up around their feet. Marguerite turned her eyes back to Tabitha and sighed, knowing that she would have to tell her what was on her mind. She paused and took in a breath.

“Beetha. I think it’s gonna be blood.”

C h a p t e r 
9

Anytha stood, looking at herself in the full-length mirror in her room, as her mother zipped up the back of her dress. Her hair was done in voluminous curls that fell down around her waist, and her makeup was done dramatically, fitting with the edginess of her black velvet dress. She smoothed out the sides of her bodice and pulled at the tight fabric around her waist, then spun around to face her mother.

“Well, how do I look?” Anytha asked, lifting her arms straight out at her sides, then flopping them down again against her body.

“Just gorgeous,” Delah said, winking at her. “So hot.”

“Great. Exactly what I was going for,” Anytha said, rolling her eyes and shooting her mother a sarcastic smile.

“Oh, don’t be a buzzkill tonight! Try to let loose and have a little fun! You’re eighteen now. It’s all about you tonight,” Delah said to her, smoothing out a long curl around her face. “Okay, I’m going to run and put my dress on. We’ll leave in fifteen minutes or so. So excited!”

Anytha stood looking down at her bare feet, her toenails painted bright red with silver glitter. She looked at herself in the mirror and hardly recognized the woman that looked back at her. She had never felt like a woman before. She wiggled her toes in the carpet and looked up again at herself, her stance looking much too child-like for the dress and face she was wearing. She reached over to grab her heels out of the box, slipped them onto her feet one by one, and turned to inspect herself again in the mirror. Now her posture matched. She brushed a piece of white lint off of the bottom of her dress and turned to the side, flexing her calf muscles. She could hardly even imagine what the camp members would think when they saw her tonight. She was not the Anytha that they were used to seeing. She wasn’t the Anytha that anyone would recognize.

“It’s almost 10:30. We should get going. You ready?” Delah asked, peeking her head in and leaning against the doorframe of Anytha’s room.

“I think so,” Anytha said, nodding and walking out into the hall.

Anytha walked into the living room at the same time as her father, who was wearing a tailored gray suit.

“You look very handsome, Dad,” Anytha said.

“Thanks, baby. You look beautiful yourself,” Chester replied, kissing her on the cheek.

Anytha grabbed her purse and her mother began pushing them all out the door into the driveway. Anytha grabbed the car keys off the hook near the door, and Chester caught her hand.

“We won’t be needing these tonight. Just bring the house key,” Chester said.

“Why not?” Anytha asked.

Chester smiled and grabbed her arm and walked her to the front door and opened it. In front of their house waiting for them was a black stretch limo and a driver, waiting with the door open.

“Oh, Dad, you really didn’t have to do this,” Anytha said, trying not to sound disappointed.

“Well, this only happens once. I figured that we would drive around for a while, and then have you show up just a little bit late. We’ll drop your mother off at the party and let her make sure everything is in order, then we’ll drive around for a while, drink some wine and show up right before midnight. Sound good?” Chester asked.

“Why not?” Anytha asked, forcing a smile as her dad escorted her down the driveway.

The three of them loaded up into the limo and headed to the reception hall. Chester popped open a bottle of red wine, and poured himself a glass, settling into the corner of the limo. Anytha sat with her knees together, pulling at the velvet fabric of her dress that covered her lap. The driver pulled in the driveway of the reception hall, got out of the car, and went around the side of the vehicle to open the door. Delah got out of the vehicle and peeked her head in the back seat.

“Okay. See you guys a little later. Love you,” Delah said as the chauffeur closed the door behind her.

The driver pulled out of the parking lot and began driving down the road.

“Where are we going?” Anytha asked, scooting closer to her father as her dad poured a glass of wine and handed it to her.

“We have one more stop,” Chester said, smiling.

Anytha sipped the red liquid in her glass and couldn’t help but flinch at the horrific flavor.

“Dad, this is horrible!” Anytha said, coughing a bit, and laughing.

“It’s an acquired taste,” Chester said, laughing back at her and linking his arm with hers.

Anytha leaned her head against her father’s shoulder, and he kissed the top of her head. She couldn’t remember the last time that she and her father had done anything together—just the two of them. She waited in anticipation, wondering what other surprise her father had planned for the two of them before the party. Anytha felt hopeful that her father would have them drive someplace that they had loved to spend time together when she was a child, to reminisce. To remember the time when his little girl laid her head full of ringlet curls against his shoulder.

She picked up her head, sipped twice more at the glass and decided that she had had enough of the vile drink. It would be best just to hold the glass as a decoration. Anytha had noticed that the driver had taken them into a very ritzy neighborhood. The limo pulled up to the entrance of a gated portion of the neighborhood, and the driver typed a number into the keypad. The gate opened, and they drove inside.

Anytha had never been in this neighborhood before, but she was in awe of what she saw. All around her were expensive houses—ones that looked like where movie stars would live. She looked from one side of the road to the next, taking in the breathtaking architecture and landscaping that was all around her.

They approached a house with a large circle drive at the end of the road. To call it a house would have been an understatement. Anytha thought that the word “mansion” would be a better description. The second story balcony was held up by six Corinthian ivory columns in the front of the home, and in the driveway was a black sports car. Anytha couldn’t understand why there was a car in the driveway when there was obviously a four-car garage on the side of the home. Surely the owner didn’t own more than four vehicles.

The limo driver pulled up into the horseshoe driveway and stopped in front of the front door. He got out and approached the home, walking along the hedge-lined walkway that led up the marble steps, and rang the doorbell.

Anytha watched as the door opened, revealing a young woman wearing a maid’s outfit, who listened to the driver and went back inside. She returned a moment later and opened the door widely. Commissioner Inali walked out of the front door and followed the driver to the limo.

“I thought it would make your entrance even more dramatic if he came in with us,” Chester said, “so I told him we would pick him up.”

Inali walked up to the vehicle and the driver opened the door for him.

“Thank you,” Inali said to the chauffeur, dipping his head down to enter the vehicle. “Chester. Thank you so much for the ride.”

Inali made eye contact with Anytha and reached for her hand.

“Happy birthday, Ms. Lindewe,” Inali said, kissing her hand, “and happy activation.” 

“Thank you,” Anytha said, trying not to let her hand linger too long in his.

“Here. Let’s get your night started off right. Champagne?” Chester asked Inali, popping the cork out and pouring some into a flute.

“I’d love some,” Inali said, reaching out to take the flute from him. “Thank you.”

The three of them rode back to the reception hall together drinking champagne, which Anytha found to be a bit more bearable than the wine, and talking about other activation parties they had attended. Anytha sat sipping on her flute, still not impressed with the flavor of the drink. She listened to her father and Inali chatter, trying not to be disappointed with the fact that her father hadn’t planned anything special for the two of them after all.