“What about Vice?” Rey asked.
“I think I’ve worked out something with him.”
“Have you?”
I dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and sat back on the bed. “Kind of.”
“I heard about your parents.”
“Yeah.”
“I celebrated when Jamie killed my uncle.” Rey grinned. “Slow and painful. He deserved it and so do your parents. They’re gonna raid your community.”
Man, Rey might be as sweet as a cake, but the glint in her eyes when she thought about her uncle or the impending raid on my community gave me the creeps. “You’re vicious. It’s creepy.”
“Only if you’re mean to me.”
“Well, I’m lucky, then.”
Rey got up and paused at the bedroom door, ready to leave. At her side, her free hand clenched, then relaxed, clenched and relaxed.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“I wonder if you’ll be back.”
“I don’t know yet. I gotta make sure he’s not here, that he’ll really leave for New City. I don’t know what to say about all this. I’m surprised, I guess.”
“Vice is a nice guy.”
I sighed. “I’ve done things to myself, things I’m not proud of. When I think about all the things he would do for me, and I can’t give him what he wants, when I’m around him, I feel…” I shrugged, unwilling to burden Rey with my issues.
Rey sat beside me and threw a hand over my shoulder. “Worthless. You feel worthless.”
I nodded and whispered, “He tries. He doesn’t make me feel this way, but I do anyway.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s not even his. I’m starting to think it’s not even the Pairing Program.”
“The pairing should be free of charge. We shouldn’t come with a price tag.”
“Well, yes, but…you know Reem? The girl who owns the barking poodle?”
“Yeah.”
“Her parents visit with her. They do barbecues and picnics at the beach. The problem is in our communities, in the leaders. Reem didn’t come from our communities.”
“Where did she come from?”
Rey tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Community One. Her parents? Sometimes they come and load her up in the car. They travel everywhere, see everything, see everyone.” She took my hand in hers, and I found her eyes. “I wish I could see again. I wish I could see Jamie. But I can’t. Do you think I’m worthless?”
“No, no. You’re…” I paused, and my eyes filled with tears as I realized what she was trying to tell me. Things beyond our control didn’t make us worthless. We had to accept the things we couldn’t change, and move ahead. “Thank you, Rey.”
She stood and wiped her eyes. “I’ve become a pregnant monster, crying all the time and short-tempered. I hope it passes when the babies come.” She cleared her throat, and I felt there was more to say.
“Spit it out, Rey. We’re having a party.”
“I manage, but I don’t know how I’ll manage being a mother. It’s not one. There are six babies inside.”
“Oh. My. God.” I gaped. Six!
“Why, thank you, Dewlyn.”
“I meant…wow, that’s…amazing.”
“Six.”
“Okay, it would freak the shit out of me.”
“Mm-hm. What I’m trying to say is, I hope you stick around. I don’t have anyone else, and they’d have you.”
I put a hand over my heart, honored she’d think of me and terrified at the same time. “Oh man, I don’t know a single thing about babies. I’m like…überclueless. They’re cute. That’s all I know.”
“I don’t know anything either.”
“Won’t Jamie’s mom come? Give you some pointers? To see them, at least?”
“Yes, but not for a while. Something to do with their dad. I don’t think they like him much, and he sort of approves the leaves from Tineya. So, it’s me. And you, because Jamie won’t let anyone else near them.”
I wasn’t so sure Jamie would let me near them either. We didn’t really get along.
Rey and Dark left. I looked around. Jeans? Check. A nice house. Check. Money to buy anything I wanted. Check. All of it at my disposal, Vice-free. He’d given me everything I wanted, if only I’d stop running. Okay, then.
I left the bedroom in search of Kickster. In the garage, under the other three rooms, and on top of the worktable sat a freshly painted Kickster. Awww. He’d painted my skater red. “Looking good,” I told my skater and picked it up.
It wouldn’t budge.