[Day 359] Eugenia, part 21

Read part 20 here! Writer’s note: Since this is the last update of Eugenia for a couple weeks, I thought I’d give you an extra long section. With love from me to you… enjoy.

After dinner, the three boys and I talked strategy. “Does Bluff have a camera in his office?” I asked Decklan.

“Not that I noticed, although that wasn’t a primary concern. Doubt it, though. He’s pretty secretive for a psycho.”

“Perfect. Ok, which one of you two has had the least amount of trouble with Bluff and other law officials?”

Jon and Andy looked at each other before Andy answered. “That would be me. I’m majoring in environmental science, and I don’t talk much. I probably wouldn’t even come up on their radar.”

“That is just what we need, then. Decklan, you said you had about a half day’s notice before questioning, right?”

“Yeah, he didn’t want it to look too suspicious, since I haven’t technically done anything wrong.”

“Alright, Andy? Do you think that you can get other environmental people to organize some sort of nature protest outside his office in a half a day?”

“Probably. There’s a section of a forest that Bluff wants to mow down for a shopping center that’s causing quite the stir around my fellow major friends.”

“That would be perfect. Since you live with Decklan, you probably shouldn’t be too involved. Start getting them riled up and making signs, and tell them that you’ll let them know when to start. Tell them anything. Then, when you’re creating a diversion and screaming for Bluff to come out, Decklan and I will search Bluff’s office for the list.”

“Wait, how are you getting in?” Decklan didn’t look very happy.

“You said there’s a tree outside his office window, right?”

“This is a terrible idea.” Jon put it, but he was grinning. “I just wish I could be more involved. Maybe I could cover the protest, make it seem like a big deal for Bluff to leave the office?”

“Yeah. Then one of you two needs to call Decklan when Bluff is on his way back to his office. Try to keep him out for a while, though.”

“We’ll do our best. But how do we contact you?”

This momentarily stumped me. “Well,”

“My sister!” Decklan jumped up and ran into his room.

“What?”

“His sister left her cell phone here when she visited last, and she’s so forgetful she still hasn’t realized it’s gone.” Jon explained. “She’s only fifteen, and hasn’t got many friends. So no one will be calling you. Deck, this is an awesome idea. If they check any of our phone records, they’ll just think we’re calling your sister.”

“I know.” he said, reappearing with a lurid pink phone in his hand. “I checked when I was at your house, Meg. You have a little bit of service. It’s not strong, but it should be enough to get ahold of you. I’ll call as soon as I know anything, ok? You should probably get home before it’s dark.”

I nodded and accepted the phone. “Thank you for all you’re doing.” I told them all before leaving. Andy loaned me one of his old hoodies, which was several sizes too large, but hid me nicely. The sky was almost completely black when I got back to the shack.

“Meg?” Julie whispered from the bed we shared. “Is that you?”

“Yeah. Sorry that took so long. Listen…” I repeated everything that had happened.

“I don’t think you should do it.” Julie told me after I finished. “He knows you.”

“He knows you too. Listen, it’s been longer since they had a legitimate sighting of me. For all Bluff knows, the girl that keeps talking to Decklan really does want drugs. Even with your new hair, you’re too much of a risk. I have to do this.”

“But why do you have to go at all? Decklan is already there.”

“Because with two people searching we’re more likely to find something. And these three guys are risking their lives for us. Showing up is the least I could do.”

Julie shook her head. “No, staying out of trouble is the least you could do. Decklan is a smart guy, he’ll figure it out. Look, if you’re caught, everything they’ve done will be in vain, and they’ll all be convicted for treason. You and I can help by finding the others once we’ve got the list. Please… call them and tell them you can’t go.”

I looked at her small face in the dim lantern light, the shadows falling in the lines that weren’t there the last time I checked. There was real worry in those lines, so I didn’t press the issue. She was right, I could be the heroine another day.

Julie called Decklan the next morning before I woke up and explained everything. He agreed with her, and promised to keep us up to date.

Two days later, I was picking carrots when the phone rang. The ringtone was some section of a pop song and I dropped everything I was carrying, startled. I could hear Julie laughing from the other side of the garden. With every bit of pride I had left, I reached for the pink thing and answered.

“Hello big brother.”

“Yeah, you’re a real joker. 5:00.”

“And you’re sure I can’t come? Not even to be a part of the protest? It sounds fun…” I tried to keep my voice casual, but I was dying to be a part of this.

“Sorry, I promised Julie that you’re sitting this one out. Besides, we have it under control. You have no idea how vicious these environment people are. If Bluff doesn’t come out, they’ll burn the place down.”

“But won’t that put unneeded CO2 in the air?”

“If they can create a diversion long enough for me to find this list, I don’t care how hypocritical they are. Smart, by the way. Good for you.”

I blushed and turned away from Julie so she wouldn’t see. “Be careful. I can’t start over again. It’ll kill me.”

“Again? What are-”

“Good luck. Get back to class. Political Theory started ten minutes ago.”

“Yes, mom.”

Smiling, I hung up, but found myself with a new thought. My parents had rarely passed through my mind these six years, but Decklan’s casual use of the term “mom” brought them back.

Even after all those years, I couldn’t bring myself to forgive them. I knew that it was how the system was; in fact, had I passed, I would have turned out the same, I was sure of it. But what I could never forgive was the fact that before that day, I hadn’t had a life.

We didn’t go on family vacations. I didn’t get to play sports or do art classes like the other kids; my father spent all the waking hours with me preparing for the test I was destined to fail. I woke up two hours early to do math flashcards before school, and then once I finished with my homework at night, we reviewed logic questions.

My father never told me he loved me, and the only time my mother said those words was when we were with company. No one kissed me goodnight before I went to bed, and no one smiled at me when I woke up in the mornings. It was always the test, always.

Julie and I passed the rest of the day playing cards, waiting for the phone to ring again. I couldn’t help but wonder if my parents had another child, or if they hadn’t bothered. Knowing my father, his pride would have taken over and they would have tried again. What would the country club think if he never produced an offspring that was worthy of the Carroway name?

Did they ever think of me? Did they know that I was still out there?

My reverie was quelled momentarily when Decklan called, sounding grim.

“No dice.” he sighed. “I only had about five minutes, Bluff wasn’t too impressed by the demonstrators. There was no time to get on his computer, but he didn’t have anything on or inside his desk. I checked. I’m really sorry, Meg. We’ll have to try again next time.”

We didn’t know when “next time” would be, though, so the next step on the agenda was to organize a meeting. Jon assured me that he’d get it all set up and call me when and where it was happening. In the meantime, all I could think about was my possible sibling and what I was going to do about the man who wanted me dead. >THIS IS WHERE THE REGULAR BREAK WOULD GO BUT AGAIN SINCE IT’S THE LAST SECTION FOR A WHILE I’M GIVING YOU MORE YOU’RE WELCOME<

Good to his word, Jon called me the very next day. “There’s this great used bookstore called Malia’s Shoppe of Wonders off of-”

“I know where it is.”

“Awesome. The owner is a sympathizer, she’ll let us meet there. And since most of us are college students, it doesn’t seem too out of place to all be going to a bookstore.”

“Right. What time?”

“Seven. We figure it will be dark enough at that point, and it’s supposed to be cold.”

“Julie wants to come.”

“Yeah, I figured that. But you dyed her hair, right?”

“Jon. She-”

“She deserves to know what’s going on. Just wear scarves over the bottom of your faces and keep your hoods up. It’ll be fine. She’s a smart kid.”

I sighed and said goodbye. Julie, as I expected, was excited to finally go into town. She spent the rest of the afternoon deciding on her outfit, finally deciding on a large black hoodie and a plaid pink scarf. I had a similar hoodie with a light blue scarf to cover my face.

Holding hands, we navigated through town more cautiously than I was used to, and I took mental notes of every security camera I saw, mapping out safe routes in my mind. Jon had picked a good time; almost everyone we passed was wearing similar attire, so we didn’t stand out.

The bookstore was one of the only businesses still lit up on its street when we arrived, and Malia ushered us inside quickly. When I removed my scarf, she smiled at me knowingly and showed me to a back room.

Whatever I had been expecting, it wasn’t what I found. In addition to the three boys I’d already counted on my side, there were ten more people waiting to meet us. Decklan stood up to greet us.

“Hey guys, glad you made it ok. This is Mitzy, Lorena, Ashleigh, Megan, Haleigh, Andrea, Tom, Ian, Matthew, and Casey.” They all nodded in turn, smiling.

“Well, let’s get down to business.” Haleigh began, opening up a notebook. She patted herself absentmindedly before Ashleigh, who I assumed was her sister, handed her a sparkly purple pen.

“Right. So we know that the first thing to consider is this list. It would be really helpful to get it soon.” Andy put in.

“Get list,” Haleigh muttered.

“How will it help, though? Names aren’t going to get us very far…” The boy called Ian spoke up.

“You think his list just has names?” Casey scoffed. “Knowing Bluff, he’ll have pictures, ages, and last known locations as well. He’s a psychopath, remember?” It seemed as though this description of the Senator was used a lot.

“Let’s move on. What else?” Decklan tried to move the group along. There were a lot of murmurs with all fourteen people, including myself, trying to get a word in.

“We need to figure out the third test.” Julie spoke up, and I smiled like a proud parent.

The group fell silent and nodded as one.

“But how?” Lorena asked.

“Well, we also need proof of the gas chambers, so I guess we’ll kill two birds with one stone.” Jon responded. “On the next scrapping tour, we’ll tag along.”

“Ok, so we need to find out when that is-”

“-and arrange for transportation-”

“-and plan rations-”

“-we should also take pictures of the work camps. I have an idea they aren’t too much fun either, even though those kids aren’t killed-”

“-so we’ll have to find out where those are-”

This went on for a while, with Haleigh struggling to keep up in her notebook and everyone else putting in their ideas. After about an hour, it was deemed as too dangerous to stay, so phone numbers and schedules were exchanged.

“Did you hear about that new medication?” Lorena was saying to Decklan before she left. “My biology class was talking about it earlier. Some pharmacy Bluff was funding discovered a pill that makes you immune to heart disease. Crazy, eh?”

“Yeah…” he muttered distractedly. He was looking worriedly out the window into the dark night. “Meg, I don’t think you guys should go home.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s pretty dark out there, and you guys are about an hour and a half away. It’s too dangerous these days.”

“But where will we go?”

“Oh, don’t be silly,” Malia put in, after being silent for the entire meeting. “You’ll stay here, of course!”

Continued in part 22!