Kingdom of Cages(67)
She really wasn’t doing this just to avoid going out there on her own again.
Sadia didn’t spot Chena in the thickening shadows under the dorm’s eaves until she had her hand on the door. But when she did, a grin spread across the older girl’s freckled face.
“Hey, look who’s back.” Sadia touched her forehead, holding her fingers cocked to turn the salute into something close to the piss-off sign. “Thought you’d left us for the trees.”
“Not my idea,” said Chena, returning the salute with a flourish. “That was Mom. She doesn’t like the smell down here.” She said it casually, to let Sadia know she was kidding.
Sadia blew out a raspberry. “Not my fault Shond won’t take a bath.”
They both laughed a little at that. Then Chena said, “Sadia, you got a second? I want to talk to you about something.”
“Me?” Sadia’s eyes went round and she laid her hand on her chest. “I’d be so honored. I hear you’ve got more money than the hothousers these days.”
“That’s what I want to talk to you about.” Chena jerked her chin up and over, indicating the roof. Sadia looked toward the dorm and the people flowing into it with tired eyes and sagging shoulders. Chena knew she was thinking about a bath and dinner. Her clothes had fresh black stains on them, and so did her hands. Chena found herself wondering what shift Sadia was on now. Harvest was over, but they had to turn the ground over before it froze solid, someone had told her. She remembered that the fields were where you got the nettle blight and winced involuntarily.
At last, though, Sadia nodded. Together they climbed up the outside stair to the roof. They picked their way through the garden, which had turned soggy and brown with cold and rain, and sat on one of the stone benches, while around them the twilight thickened. One of the last brown leaves drifted from the bare, rattling branches overhead and settled at Chena’s feet. The bench still radiated a little heat from the day’s sunshine and it felt good in the cooling evening. Chena couldn’t help noticing Sadia was still wearing just the short tunic and thin pants that had been her uniform all summer. Chena hunched up inside the bright blue quilted jacket she’d bought in Stem, wishing suddenly that she’d left it behind.
Chena decided to get right into it. She didn’t want Sadia to catch her staring, that was for sure. “Listen, Sadia, do you want to get in on this? Running packages? It’s easier than shoveling shit, you don’t end up smelling half as bad, and you get money for it.”
For a minute Sadia looked at Chena like she didn’t understand what Chena had said. Then she looked away, rubbing at the goose bumps prickling her bare forearms. “Right. And who’s taking my shift? I do six hours’ hard labor, every day.”
“You pay your way out, like I do,” Chena told her breezily. “Teal gets a third of what I make to take my shift.”
Another brown leaf dropped down, right into Sadia’s lap. She brushed it angrily away. “That’s two hours, not six, and next year I get upped to eight.”
“So, pay Shond for it. Or, if you don’t want to, pay one of the other dorm babies who’s on the shift coming or going from yours.” She squeezed Sadia’s shoulder and shook her a little, like that would make her hear better. “It’s a way out of the dorms, Sadia. You can save your money, maybe make a full-time thing of it. I keep rounding up new customers. And we’ve got permission.” She pulled the much-folded letter from Constable Regan out of her pocket and put it into Sadia’s hands.
Sadia blinked at the paper and handed it back. “I don’t read, Chena, you know that.”
“No, I didn’t know.” She considered. “You could pay for school if you wanted to. Maybe just a couple of days here and there, but it’d be better than nothing.”
Sadia wrapped her arms tightly around herself and rested her elbows on her thighs. Chena realized she could see Sadia’s knees through her trousers, and wondered why Sadia didn’t patch them up. Maybe she didn’t know how. Chena wouldn’t have if Mom hadn’t showed her, and Sadia had no Mom.
“I don’t know, Chena. Sometimes around here having a little is worse than having nothing at all.”
Don’t you see what’s waiting for you? Are you really stupid? Chena bit back the words, but the anger jerked her to her feet. “Okay, if you will live and die a dorm baby, that’s up to you.” Chena brought her hand up and stopped just short of making the piss-off sign. “Maybe Shond wants a job. At least he’s got the brains to hate this mess.”