undies,â she says defensively.
I bolt to her side and pull the pack away, then shove the scattered contents back inside.
âLyricââ
I look into her face and know she found the gun. She doesnât have to say it. Her eyes are shouting it.
âBex, the pack isââ
I donât know how to lie about this. What kind of story could I invent that wouldnât sound like outrageous BS? I fumble a few times, starting and stopping, leaning toward spilling my guts, but before I can, she gets up and points to the closet.
âIs this off-limits?â Itâs a little sarcastic and sounds awful, like
What craziness are you hiding in here, too?
But it also sounds like an out. She wants to change the subject, and Iâm grateful, but it feels like weâre now standing on either side of a fault line and the ground is rumbling.
âI need something to wear today,â she continues. âI canât go back home until Russell calms down.â
I nod. âTake whatever you want.â
She turns her back on me and opens the closet.
âWhere are all the skirts?â she says, sorting through the survivors of my tantrum. âDidnât you have a blue mini in here?â
She turns to me with a cocked eyebrow. âOh, wait! Did you say whatever I want?â
âI did.â
âThe flapper dress?â
âItâs yours. Early birthday present,â I say.
âSeriously?â
I nod because the next word would accompany sobs. Watching her pull it from my closet and squeal while she clutches it to her chest is excruciating. It feels like she ripped a child out of my arms, but it has to be done. Anything you want, Bex, as long as we get back to stable ground.
Compared with todayâs throng, yesterdayâs crowd was downright chill. There are easily twice as many people gathered outside the school, and they are bigger, meaner, and shriller. And the biggest, meanest, shrillest of them all, Governor Bachman, is back in a fresh blue business suit and a brand-new megaphone. This one is painted red like the shirts the Niners wear. Her face is painted with phony conviction.
âAmerica welcomed the Alpha with open arms. Thatâs what we always do. Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free! Thatâs what makes us so exceptional: the world knows that America is a place where you can start a new life. I personally extended an olive branch, but they turned their backs on me. I tried to show them all what our great nation has to offer those who work hard and pledge allegiance, but theyâre an arrogant bunch. They call themselves the Alpha, the First Men. I hear they think theyâre better than us. Their actions over the last three years tell me so. They donât want to be part of our nation. But oh, are they ready for the handouts! Now they want a free education! Well, I say enough is enough. You want to thumb your nose at us? Fine! Human schools for human children!
âI call on the president, Congress, and the mayor of New York to give up this failed experiment and let the children of Coney Island have the school their parents worked so hard to provide for them.â
âThis is no place for sea monkeys,â someone shouts.
Bachman smiles. âNo sea monkeys!â she echoes, and it morphs into a chant.
A reporter pushes to the front and begs the governor for an interview. âGovernor, how is your plan to build an electrified fence on the beach coming?â
âItâs an uphill fight but one the people of New York will win,â Bachman says with a smile.
âI reviewed your plans. You want it to be constructed five yards away from the shoreline.â
âAnd thirty feet high, which Iâm told is just higher than an Alpha can jump,â she sings.
âThat will push them back into the ocean.â
Bachmanâs face is full of mock surprise. âWill it? Well, you know, that
Paul Preuss
Daniel J. Kirk
The Hunter
Janet Kelly
Keep a Little Secret
J.F. Jenkins
Alyssa Shelasky
Lynn Michaels
B. L. Blair
Janet Lane-Walters