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I don’t see anyone here over twenty.
He starts to walk away, glancing back at me. “You know, some people wanted your cousin in the prisoner exchange.” He runs his fingers through his greasy blond hair as I follow. “They thought he’d be fun. Personally, I wanted Thomasin Dietrich.” He takes a shot off another barrel tabletop, turning to face me. “I mean, she’s practically a Rebel anyway, and in no time, she’ll be an adult. She wants to be one of us.”
“But she’s not old enough.”
He nods. “Yeah…” Almost like he’s thinking out loud.
Thomasin Dietrich is Nate and Piper’s kid, and she’s a freshman. And she’s a Pirate, but only reluctantly. If she weren’t at the mercy of her address, she’d come to school here instead. I’ve seen her hanging out with the Rebels a lot over the past couple of years when she was—and still is—far too young to be out of the house, on her own, at any hour of the night.
This place is an escape for her. She suffocates in the Falls like I do, both, in part, due to our parents’ history.
“But more than anything,” Farrow continues, “I wanted a girl.”
I tilt my head, seeing him grin. His eyes dance like something downright evil is playing behind them, which is even more eerie, because they’re such an innocent shade of blue. Like cornflowers.
“It couldn’t have worked out better,” he boasts.
“Yeah, considering—” Calvin starts to say.
But Farrow interjects. “Shhh.”
People drift by, their eyes taking me in, and he continues walking, passing an old Nova with the engine running. The six-liter pipes pump out exhaust in clouds, the car rumbling on the pavement as a young woman leans back against the fender with her shirt unbuttoned.
I don’t watch where I’m walking. Just stare as the car vibrates against her body, making the slivers of her breasts I can see shake. She peels off the shirt, standing topless as everyone gazes at her, and some guy stalks up to her, pulling off his T-shirt. She dares him with her eyes, and everyone watches as he takes her ass in his hands and presses his naked chest to hers.
And they keep going.
I narrow my eyes, watching him unzip the back of her skirt and then start to unfasten his jeans, their eyes never leaving each other, and no one else’s gaze faltering from them. Their bodies pulsate against each other, trembling with the car, and my feet move under me, taking them out of my line of sight.
What the f—?
“So why did you volunteer?” I hear Farrow ask.
But I still crane my neck, trying to see if the exhibitionists are takingeverythingoff. “What are they doing?”
But my voice is barely a whisper.
“Was it ego?” he doesn’t seem to hear me.
“Escape?” Calvinchimes in.
I turn my attention back to them, Farrow broaching further. “Entertainment, maybe? Is that why you volunteered?”
“We’re soooo entertaining,” Mace jeers, circling me.
A deep brown townhouse looms behind Farrow, a light glowing in both of the bottom-floor windows and one on the second. Tattered curtains hang over them, and I spot the house number on a black oval plaque with gold trim next to the large brown front door.
01.
I open my mouth, but I’m not sure what I wanted to say. Something scratches at a far corner of my brain.
House numbers beginning with zero are rare. I’m remembering something.
01…10. Zero-one. One-zero.
I glance at the houses on both sides of this one. 1313 to my left. 1323 to my right. 1333 next to that one…
I’m lost in thought when Farrow continues. “You came with us because you thought that who your father is would matter. You wanted a fresh audience, didn’t you?”
