Sunset Rising (19 page)

“It’s freezing!” Jack exclaimed when he put his hand in the water.
“I’m not getting in there.”

“You don’t actually get in.
Soak your towel in the water and wash off that way. You can dry with mine. You go first.” I headed for the door.

“Wait
. We’re supposed to be married. Isn’t it going to look weird if we’re taking turns in here?”

“I’m not watching you have a bath. I’m only prepared to take the pretend marriage thing so far
.”

He gave me a wry look.
“We’ll just turn our backs on each other. It will save time, and we can get back before lights out.”

“I don’t know.
It seems a little… intimate.” But there was a guard on duty within view of the bathroom, and he might wonder why we were taking turns.

“I promise I won’t peek,” Jack
said, but I wasn’t convinced. “Hey, I’m taking a big risk here, too. You know how many girls would love to see
the
Jack Kenner naked?”

That made me smile. A week ago, that was probably true.
“I can’t believe I’m going to do this. Turn around.”

We both turned our backs on each other.
I stripped as fast as I could so I wouldn’t have time to change my mind. I heard his clothes drop to the floor. An image of my hands on his naked chest came back to me, and a feeling of excitement began to grow in the pit of my stomach. If I turned around right now we would both be naked and only inches apart. A warm sensation spread through me at the thought, and my chest tightened, making it difficult to breathe. I wanted to banish the thoughts from my mind. I didn’t want to think of Jack in that way.

I
dunked one of the towels into the water and scrubbed my arms. The water was freezing and made me shiver, but at least now I could blame my heavy breathing on that. And I was grateful that the cold water was helping to douse the heat that seemed to be consuming me. I finished washing, and then rinsed the towel. I stuck it out behind my back and passed it to him.

“That was quick,” he
said. I heard the water splashing behind me then Jack sucked his breath in. “Oh my god, it’s cold!”

I dried off and put on my clothes
. I waited for him to finish and get dressed before I knelt down to wash my hair.

“Not so bad,” Jack
said, but I could tell he was lying.

He
dipped his head in the water, ran the bar of soap through his hair, and then rinsed. I was still working on my long hair. A lot of coal was coming out, darkening the water. I felt a little guilty considering the water had just been changed. Finished, I wrapped the towel around my head to hide my red hair until I could reapply the coal.

“Ready?” he asked when I stood up.
I nodded. We made our way back to the apartment.

“Even though it was freezing, it feels good to be clean,” Jack
said when we were back in the apartment.

“I like the cold. It’s refreshing
.” Maybe I would have to have a bath every night if my body was going to continue to respond to Jack like that.

I crossed the room,
hung up the towels, and took the hairbrush out of the drawer. I pulled it through my long tresses, working out the tangles. I would have to wait until it was dry to reapply the coal. I put the brush away when I was finished and turned around to find Jack flopped in a chair observing me.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.” He looked away. But there was something about the way he was looking at me…

“Did
you peek?” I asked.

“Sunny
,” Jack shook his head, but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and his cheeks turned pink. “Of course I peeked. I’m a guy.”

I
threw one of the towels at him. He caught it in mid-air, laughing.

“Jerk,” I
said, trying to look serious, but the whole thing was ridiculous. I knew I never should have trusted him.

The lights went out
, and my eyes quickly adjusted. Jack opened his eyes as wide as he could and looked around the room. I could tell he couldn’t see a thing.

“I’ll take the chair tonight
,” I said. “You really need to get some sleep.”

“I’m comfor
table right where I am.”

“It’s not fair that you have to have the chair every night
.”

“How about tomorrow you take the chair.
Okay?”

I knew
that even if I did get him to go to the bed, he would only put me in it and take the chair once I was asleep. “Thank you, Jack. Good night.”

He yawned.
“Good night.”

I found my way to the bed.
I slipped off my pants and crawled under the blanket, grateful to have time alone to think. Now that my initial shock at Reyes had worn off, I could think a little more clearly. If I was going to be honest with myself, I was more embarrassed to be told off by him in front of everyone than I was hurt by anything he had to say.

I had known Reyes forever.
We were in the same class in the sixth-floor common room and often played together during lunch breaks. At the age of twelve, we finished school and joined the workforce like everyone else in the Pit. Almost a year went by before I noticed him again. He had gotten a lot taller and more muscular from his work in the mines. And he noticed me too. Our attraction grew quickly and within a few months of reconnecting, we swore a betrothal to each other.

I tried to remember how I felt four years ago when we met again.
I remembered thinking how handsome he was, how tall and strong. A lot of other girls wanted him too, but he picked me and that made me feel special. I liked being out in public with him—socializing with our friends. But I couldn’t remember even one time that I responded to Reyes physically the way I was responding to Jack. Whenever Reyes had tried to make love to me, the only feeling he stirred in me was fear. If I was to be honest with myself, I hated the way his hands groped at me, pressuring me to do something I didn’t want to do. Yet with Jack… just thinking about him made me ache.

Deep down, I knew the
only reason I had stayed with Reyes was because we both needed a partner in order to qualify for an apartment. That was the main reason everyone in the Pit eventually married. If I had not accidentally married Jack, then I would have married Reyes after the next Cull. Maybe in time I would have come to enjoy his touch.

It took a long time to fall asleep, but
just before I did, I heard Jack softly snoring in the other room. He was my last thought.

Reluctantly, I brush
ed away the mists of sleep. I felt a glimmer of happiness that morning, and I think it was because I had a nice dream. I’d like to go back to that happy place and forget my reality. Forget the chaos that had become my life. But I had to go to work. I rolled out of bed, put my pants on, and went into the living room. Jack was still sitting in the chair looking exhausted.

“I’d ask how you slept, but…”
I trailed off. He probably didn’t need me telling him he looked like hell.

“I probably look worse than I feel.
I managed to get quite a bit of sleep last night,” he said. I was pretty sure he was lying.

“You have to take t
he bed tonight.” If he allowed himself to get too tired, he would start making mistakes in his work and get himself beaten.

Despite the dark circles under his eyes, he did look more handsome than usual this morning.
I didn’t want to stare, but his eyes were closing and he seemed to be going back to sleep. Then I figured it out. He didn’t have the coal in his hair. It was back to its natural light sandy color. His facial hair was thicker too, and it gave him a rugged look. The t-shirt he was wearing was dirty and torn from working in the mines, and where it had ripped, the skin on his hard, muscled torso peeked out. He didn’t look anything like the Jack Kenner I first met upstairs in the Dome. He still had the darker skin of the average bourge. My mother told me they were darker because of the special lighting they had in the Dome. But any resemblance to other bourge stopped there. He was more handsome, if that was possible.

I continued my inspection, my eyes following the curves of his muscular arms and back up to his
face. I liked the way his black eyelashes framed his blue eyes… blue eyes that were staring straight back at me. I almost jumped when I realized he’d caught me looking at him.

“I was just looking at your hair… I need to darken it.”
I felt a tell-tale blush creep across my face. He smirked as he closed his eyes again. “And you’ll need to get a razor soon. You’re beard is coming in blonde and using coal on it will look obvious.”

“How do I
get a razor?”

“We need to make enough cred
its to buy one for you.”

“How
long will that take?”

“Probably longer than we have down here
.”

I
retrieved the coal from the cupboard and rubbed it through the strands of his hair, thinking how surreal this act was. If anyone had told me a week ago that I would be living with Jack Kenner and sharing my secret for dark hair, I would have laughed. Yet here I was enjoying the feeling of his soft, wavy hair between my fingers.

H
e had fallen back to sleep, for which I was grateful. Maybe when he woke up he would think he had been dreaming when he caught me checking him out. I let him sleep while I darkened my own hair and put my vest back on.

“Jack,
time to wake up.” I shook his shoulder gently.

He woke up with a start at my touch. I remembered
that the first time I had to wake him he’d gone for my throat. This time I stood behind him just in case. He took a few seconds to orient himself.

“Did you see where I put my hat?” he asked groggily.

I picked it up from the table and handed it to him. He got up and followed me out of the apartment.

“I don’t suppose you have any caffeinated or energy drinks down here?” Jack asked me on the way to breakfast.

“We have water and occasionally hot tea.” I had never heard of an energy drink. Maybe it was like the protein shake he had given me up in the Dome. I remembered it helped combat the effects of the wine.

“Then I’ll pray for tea,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

I saw the look of surprise on Jack’s face when I didn’t head down to the sixth level common room, but he didn’t question me. The only person down there to see now was Reyes, and he had made it clear he didn’t want to see me anymore.

We joined the
queue to receive our rations. Jack asked for tea but got water. I spotted an empty table for two and headed toward it. I was happy not to have to share a table with anyone else. Jack sat down and scanned the room, stopping to look at someone in particular.

“She looks familiar,” he said with a puzzled look on his face.

I followed the direction of his gaze. “That’s Crystal. I work with her in laundry.”

She was sitting with two people I assumed were her parents.
She cast a glance in our direction, and I could tell she recognized me. Then she saw Jack. I was sure I saw a look of surprise on her face before she dropped her gaze.

“How do you know her?”

“I don’t know. She just seems really familiar.” Jack turned his attention to his breakfast. “Oh, stew again. What a surprise.”

He took a mouthful and I could tell he was forcing it down.
I opened my container and did the same.

I was concerned about Crystal.
If she’d recognized Jack, we could be in a lot of trouble. I remembered Di didn’t seem to think she was trustworthy.

“I’m sorry things didn’t work out so well with Reyes,” Jack
said. I wasn’t sure if he was just trying to make conversation or if he really cared.

“I’ll get over it
.”

“To be honest,
I’m surprised at how well you’re taking it.”

I watched Crystal get up and leave with her parents. “Are you done?” I asked
, trying to eyeball his container. It looked empty.

“In a hurry?”

“I think I better get a head start on work today.
The laundry room is backed up because of the lockdowns, and I don’t want to have to work late again tonight.” I lied— what I really wanted to do was get to work early again and have a conversation with Crystal.

“Guess I’ll get a head start o
n chiselling out some coal.” He stood up, and I followed. We walked down the hall together to the stairs. “Be careful,” he said and kissed the top of my head. It was the second time he had done that, and I liked it. I hoped it was becoming a habit.

I watched him until he was gone from sight and then scrambled up the
stairs as quickly as I could. Traffic wasn’t too heavy yet so it didn’t take me long to climb the two levels to the laundry room. As I hoped, Crystal was there waiting for the laundry room to open.

“Good morning,” I said cheerfully.

She gave me a nervous smile and then turned to stare at the closed doors.
“Supervisor Madi isn’t here yet?”

“No,” she said almost under her breath.
She turned her attention back to the doors.

“So how long have you been
working in laundry?”

“A couple
of years.”

“Do you like it?”

“It’s a job.”

A
deep bruise on her forearm peeked out just below her t-shirt sleeve. She saw where I was looking and tried to pull the shirt down over it. It reminded me of the bruises Reyes left on my arms when he grabbed me the other day.

“That looks like it hurts
.”

“Mind your own business
,” she snapped.

“Sorry.
I didn’t mean to pry.” I wondered why she was so touchy about it.

Supervisor Madi came up behind us
, cutting off any more conversation. Crystal turned her back to me, making it clear she was here to work, not socialize.

“Scan in,” Madi
said as she unlocked the doors.

Crystal got to the scanner first then almost ran to her
workstation. I waved my hand over the scanner and went in search of the laundry carts. I took the first one and went to my usual station to start sorting the clothes.

Di greeted me with a smile.
“Well, you’re in bright and early again today. Morning, Crystal,” she called over her shoulder. Crystal mumbled something in response. “Looks like you have things in hand,” Di said when she saw my sorting job.

“I could always use an expert opinion
, though,” I said, hoping she would check over my work.

“Let’s see.” She rummaged through the clothes, a look of satisfaction on her face. “Not bad.
I’d put this in with this pile, though. And that should be hand washed.” She pulled a dark grey shirt out and placed it in another pile, and then put a dress off on its own. “Good job.” She left to select a cart for herself.

I gathered up one pile of clothes and took
it to a machine. Lots of people were arriving to work, and the laundry room was getting busy already. I knew once the machines and irons were going full tilt, the room would become unbearably hot again. I added the detergent to the machine and pressed the button. I repeated my steps with the next two piles until my entire cart of clothes was in the washing machines. The only item of clothing left to do was the dress. Crystal did the hand washing, and I was glad for an excuse to talk to her again.

I went over to her.
“Di told me this should be hand washed.”

“Just put it there.” S
he motioned to the empty counter next to the sink.

“I was hoping you could show me how to wash it myself
.” That would allow me more time to talk with her.

“
That’s my job. You don’t need to know how to do it.”

“I know, b
ut if Supervisor Madi ever asked me to do it, then I sure would appreciate knowing how to do it properly.”

She gave me a sidelong glance.
She knew as well as I did that if I was ever assigned a job to do and did it poorly, Madi would beat me.

“Just this once
. So pay attention,” she said. “Feel the temperature of the water.” I stuck my hand in the sink. The water was freezing cold. “Colors will run in warm, so it has to be cold. Then you use this kind of detergent.” She pulled out a small bottle and poured a very little bit into the cold water. “Make a few suds like this. Then put the dress in the water and start squeezing it gently.”

“Can I try?” She stood aside and let me wash the dress.
Within seconds my hands ached from the freezing water. “How do you do this all day long?”

She shrugged.
“You get used to it. So I’ve never seen you in our common room before.”

“I’m new on the fourth level.
I just got married, and my husband and I were assigned an apartment there.” It wasn’t a complete lie.

“Was that your husband with you this morning?”
She eyed me to see my reaction.

“Yes.
Handsome, isn’t he?” I was almost certain she knew something.

“I didn’t notice.”
I could tell by her expression she was closing me out again.

“Di tells me
you like to sing.”

“
Like
to sing? Di should mind her own business.” Crystal shot a sneering look over at Di. “The dress is done. Wring it out and hang it.”

I wondered what I had said to make her angry.

Madi was bearing down on us.
“What are you doing over here, Jones?” I heard her say “Jones,” and she was looking at me. Then I remembered
I
was Jones. Autumn Jones.

“I asked Crystal to show me how to hand wash. I thought if I knew how then I could help out if she ever got too busy
.”

Madi kept coming at me
, raised her hand, and struck me across the head. Stars appeared in my vision and for a moment I thought I was going to black out, but then the stars faded and I could see Madi’s angry face again.

“You think you can run this place better than me?”

I shook my head. Di had warned me about Madi, but I had no idea she was this quick to anger.

“I knew I didn’t like you any
more than I liked her,” Madi said, jerking her thumb toward Crystal. “Get back to your station and do your own work unless I tell you otherwise! Do you hear me?”

“Yes
, ma’am.” Every fibre of my being wanted to lash back at her, but I knew it was a fight I couldn’t win. I dropped the dress back in the water and returned to my station.

“Crystal
, you know better!” Madi yelled. I heard her strike Crystal, and I cringed. “Do your own damn work!”

I watched Madi go back to
her desk and plop down into her chair. I felt awful about getting Crystal into trouble. Judging by the bruise on her arm, it looked like she had enough trouble lately.

“I told you before, you mind yourself around Madi,” Di whispered to me from her station.
“I’ve seen that woman thrash a worker to death.”

I kne
w now that Di wasn’t exaggerating. I should have listened to her before. I put my head down, determined to stick to my own work. From then on, I wouldn’t even risk asking Di for help. If I messed up, then at least I would only implicate myself. My head pounded from the force of her blow.