It gets colder and colder up on the surface, and we don’t feel it that much down here, but it definitely isn’t as warm anymore. Nua sleeps every night wrapped up in the blanket that Penny gave us, and Bayan comes to us one morning to give us more. I don’t think Ava even said anything to him; he just knew.
As November wanes there is not much to do. We read through the book of fairy tales, and I think Ava tries to look at it often when she thinks we’re sleeping, or not looking. We don’t meet with Sloan or Shan that much, even though I want to talk to Haywood again, but he’s always busy, talking to people and organizing papers and fixing lanterns. He and Alis always sit together in the building that I’ve just taken to calling the map room in my head, because it’s where we first met Penny, where he showed us the map of the tunnels. Haywood and Alis just sit on stools behind the table with screwdrivers and tools and broken lanterns, and don’t say anything to each other, just sit in silence and fix the lanterns, their matching rings glistening in the light when it comes on again.
Ava and Nua and I just sit with Penny and Bayan, either in our tents next to each other or in the western fire forum. Sloan comes with us sometimes, with her dog Chloe, who seems to like Penny’s dog Nano, which is good, at least they don’t fight. More often than not, though, the dogs are on the surface getting sun, which is good for them, I suppose, with Alicia or another one of Haywood or Sigrid’s people. All women, those people, and I know why, but I still want to go up. I want to feel the sun again, but I suppose the fire’s good enough.
Every so often we go to sit with Marissa and Nerev, too, because they want to know what’s going on on the surface too. I would assume that everyone would want to know, but that isn’t even really the case. A lot of people here are happy, just to be free of it all, and just spend their time with each other. Marissa and Nerev ask after her mother, she’s a lawyer too, but Nova didn’t know her. Haywood’s information people keep track of a lot of court cases going on, and they follow whatever Marissa’s mother is working on. They’re following my parents, too, I think, or they’re trying to figure out where they are in the first place, but there’s not a lot they can tell me so far about them.
We get newspapers sometimes too, from Sigrid or Haywood’s people who come down to us in the morning. Penny likes to read them, and Alis has made a habit of giving him the most recent paper whenever he has one. One day as we all sit in the fire forum, Nua with the book of fairy tales in his lap, Penny comes in with breakfast and a paper and a flush in his cheeks.
“Hey Ava, look who’s on the front page,” he says, waving a new newspaper in her face. “Dear old mum.”
“Oh, wonderful,” says Ava, squashing the tip of her nose with her thumb. She doesn’t look at the letters printed on the page, and Nano the dog comes up to her, wagging her tail. Ava pets her. “What’s she up to lately?”
“Some big project, yadda yadda yadda, she’s working with outreach programs,” says Penny, putting the boxes of food down on the table nearby and sitting down to skin through the article about their mother. “They’re working on reforming the system that oversees the agencies, to hold them more accountable.”
“Bullshit,” Ava mutters. Bayan snorts.
“Accountable how?” asks Nua.
“Our mother got her start in the government by being part of that system,” says Ava, rolling her eyes. “She led an investigation of corrupt agencies. Some of them get money from the government based on how many bodies they have, how many boys they take care of. More boys, more government funds. But the corrupt ones, they…”
“They sell the boys,” says Bayan calmly, from the other side of the fire. “Like I told you.”
Nua looks up at him, and Ava shrugs. “Bluntly, yes. Some people are willing pay under the table to take them off the agency’s hands, and they don’t report it, so they keep getting funds to take care of more people than they really have.”
“Mother went undercover and bought Bayan,” says Penny, still skimming through the article. “And then she exposed them and got a promotion and a lot of money and praise and et cetera et cetera. And in all the commotion no one really noticed that she kept Bayan. She’s got a lot of young married people on her side, too,” he continues, looking up from the article as if nothing he just said was remotely disturbing. “All women, of course, why would she want to get any men to have a say in this issue, there’s names. Logan Hart, Abigala Ahman, Katrina Hild-”
“What?” I say, and Ava sits straight up, looking over at me. Nua’s eyes are wide, and Penny looks up at us. “What?”
“Abigala?” asks Ava, and I grab the paper out of Penny’s hands. He protests for a second, but Nua shushes him, looking over my shoulder at the list of benefactors for our wife’s mother’s campaign.
“Here,” says Penny, grabbing the paper back. Ava’s staring at us. “What’s in the article?”
“Here’s a picture,” he says, ignoring her, and gives it back to me. “What’s wrong?”
“What does it say?” asks Ava, and no one answers. I’m scanning the picture for Abigala, and then silently, Nua reaches over my shoulder and points. Ava’s mother is standing in the center, and right next to her is my twin sister.
“Aber,” says Ava, and I look up at her. She looks blurry, and I realize it’s because there’s tears in my eyes. Ava glances between us all wildly, and Penny slowly takes the newspaper back. “So…”
“My name,” I say quietly, “is Aberworth Ahman, and that is my twin sister.”
“Your twin? Why didn't I know your sister was your twin?” says Penny, and then shakes his head. “Wait, no, wrong thing to focus on. Why is your twin with my mother?”
“Excellent question,” I breathe, leaning back, and then I cover my face with my hands. “Oh, Abigala.”
Nano nudges me with her nose and I swallow, then pat her on the head. She sits down. Penny’s staring at me, and Ava’s twisting Keol’s ring around and around her thumb, her hands shaking. I look at her, running my hands over my hair. “What didn’t you tell me?”
She freezes, her eyes widening, and then after a moment she looks up at me. “What?”
“When we were in Keol’s room,” I say softly. “You told me that you knew something about Abigala, but you weren’t going to tell me. Tell me now.”
“Shit,” says Ava under her breath, “I did say that, didn’t I.”
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
She takes a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut, and then says, “Remember when my mother had her intern over for tea?”
I blink, glancing at Nua. Once Miss Lilly made Bayan put sleeping meds in our dinner, and we all slept until two PM the next day. Before I can say anything in answer, though, Ava continues. “My mother works in the government.”
“I know,” I say frustratedly, rising to my feet. “Bayan told us, what does this have to do with Abigala?”
Ava stares at me, and after a moment she nods. “She does agencies.”
“Yes,” I say, almost shouting. Ava sighs. “Think, Aber.”
I can’t think, my thoughts are racing, I feel my breaths start to come heavy. “What, Ava!”
“My mother,” says Ava softly, “is the National Agencies Director.”
National Agencies Director? The words sound familiar, where have I heard them before? I furrow my eyebrows, and then it hits me. I feel a sinking in my stomach. Abigala. Her resume. Assistant to the…
“No,” I say softly, turning away from her.
“There it is,” says Ava dryly. I press my hands to my head, and then turn back to her. “My sister works for your mother?”
“What?” says Penny loudly, and Nua’s jaw drops.
“Surprise,” murmurs Ava. “That’s it. That’s everything, that’s the last thing I know.”
I’m gonna be sick. “I’m gonna be sick,” I murmur, sinking down to the ground. “Oh, god, no.”
“How the hell did that happen?” asks Nua, and Ava just shrugs. I stand up and leave the fire forum.
My head is pounding and my vision is blurred, but no one comes after me. I go down the western track towards Shan, and then I keep walking. I don’t even know what track I go down next, I'm just following tunnels, everything swirling in my brain. Abigala works for Lilly LeGatte. Ava knew that. When Lilly raided the shelter, she took Abigala away, before she took me away. Ava knew. Lilly knew who I was, and she made me marry her daughter. And Ava knew, the whole time. She has known for months that my sister works for her mother. She has known all this time, and she never told me.
I trip over something, and stumble. I catch myself before I fall, and then kick the thing with my foot. It doesn’t budge, and it shouldn’t. It’s a part of the train tracks, half-buried under the dirt and debris, and in the dim light that filters down the tunnel from behind me the dull metal glints a bit. I sigh, burying my head in my hands, and then push a piece of wood over and sit on it. I can’t get my thoughts straight, I wish I had something to write on. Assistant to the National Agencies Director. We’ve been talking about agencies, this whole time, with Bayan and with Penny, about Keol. Bayan told me she ran the agencies, back at the house before we ran, and I didn’t connect the dots, I didn’t even think about Abigala or her resume. They’re funded by the body, Ava says, more boys more money, but sometimes they get rid of the boys so they can just keep collecting checks. No one cared about Bayan, least of all Miss Lilly. Does Abigala? Does Abigala know? Ava knew. Ava knew, Ava knew, Ava knew.
“Hey,” says someone suddenly, right next to me, and I jump, standing. It’s Sigrid, the woman who’s in charge of the women, and she says, “You’re Aber LeGatte.”
“Ahman,” I say. “Aber Ahman.”
“Right,” she says with a slight smile. “You okay?”
“Why didn’t she tell me?” I say, sitting back down, and Sigrid makes a face, and then sits down next to me. “What, Ava?”
“My twin sister works for Ava’s mother,” I say softly. “She knew and she didn’t tell me.”
“Oh, damn,” says Sigrid softly. “Why not?”
“You won’t like what you find.”
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “Oh, god, I thought Abigala was going to help me, I thought she was looking for me, to save me, this whole time she’s been working with my mother-in-law?”
Sigrid sucks in a sharp breath, looking down at her fingers so she doesn’t have to look at me. And I notice on the first finger of her left hand a thin golden band, too, Nova’s old wedding ring from when she was married to Haywood and Alis. I still wear mine on my ring finger. I haven’t taken it off since Ava put it on. I hated it at first, I could feel it against my skin, cold metal digging into me, but now I’d feel naked without it.
“That sucks,” says Sigrid after a moment. “I know Haywood’s been looking into your family. Nova’s trying to see if there’s anything we can do to find out about your parents, but we don’t have that great of connections. Running away from your entire life to come live in tunnels underground often complicates some things.”
I manage a slight laugh. “Everything’s a mess. I just, I don’t know what to do.”
And Sigrid laughs too, leaning her head back. “None of us do, Aber Ahman. God, when Lilly LeGatte’s son came to us, there were some people who didn’t even wanna let him stay. And when he said he wanted to bring his sister here too…”
“Lilly LeGatte,” I repeat in a whisper. “National Agencies Director.”
“National Agencies Director,” agrees Sigrid, nodding her head. “Yeah.”
“I didn’t even know what agencies were,” I say. “I had never even heard of them before, god, I didn't know anything, my parents didn't tell me anything, and they’re, they’re one of the worst things making all of this happen.”
“They’re up there,” says Sigrid grimly. “The problem is that the population is in danger, and that’s why we have this marriage culture, but when babies are born, they’re just abandoned. Especially if they’re boys.”
“Ava told me there’s way too many boys,” I say softly, and Sigrid laughs. “Well. There’s not enough girls, really. But yeah. About five times as many boys get born every year than girls, which makes finding a wife pretty hard, unless she gets to marry more than once at a time.”
“Yeah,” I whisper. “Five to one?”
“Five to one,” says Sigrid. “Last time we checked, at least.”
“That sucks,” I say, and she laughs. “Yeah.”
“And the extra boys, they just, they just go to these places that don’t care about them, because no one else will take care of them,” I say, “and my sister is helping.”
“Abigala Ahman,” says Sigrid softly. “Yeah, Haywood told me.”
Haywood. “Did Haywood know? Why didn’t he say anything?”
“I don’t know if he knew,” says Sigrid gently. “He has been talking a lot to Ava, though. Both of them, both of the twins.”
“Why doesn’t anyone tell me anything?” I say frustratedly, leaning my head back, and Sigrid laughs again. “Well, everything’s kind of a mess down here, Aber Ahman. We’re doing the best we can, but…”
“Yeah,” I murmur. And Sigrid looks at me, and I look at her. I’ve been wondering about her for a while. She’s always there, with Shan, but I’m really not entirely sure what she does, what her people do. She loves Nova, who deals with fights among people down here, I’ve witnessed a few since I’ve come, and Nova’s two husbands Alis and Haywood organize the supplies for everyone, and the people like Sloan who get us information, respectively. But Sigrid, she is just the woman who runs the women. There are not a lot of women in this world, but there are a few down here with us, and they are the only ones who can go up to the surface, because any man would be asked for his ID card, like when Nua and I went to the library. That’s why most men are married. You have to be married to do a lot of things in this world, you have to be tied to a woman, and despite everything some people must think it’s worth it. But there have got to be a decent amout of men out there without a woman, especially since not all women are married, and some of them live underground in the old abandoned train tracks. And I ask her, “What do your women do?”
And Sigrid looks at me again, and laughs, and says, “Are you clean, Aber?”
I feel heat rush up my cheeks, and she looks away, but there’s a grin on her lips. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked, not like that. But I did get my answer. That’s what my women do.”
I rub my lips together, and then squeeze my eyes shut. “Do you make them?”
“Of course not,” says Sigrid. “I did it for a while myself, so I know how it works. And it can be dangerous, but shouldn’t be. It’s just another job for them, and one of the only jobs they can do from down here. And we need the money.”
“Yeah,” I murmur. I wonder if there are any boys who do that. There are five times as many boys in the world than women now, though. Women can get any boy they want, and keep them forever. Men have a harder time with that.
“Talk to your wife, Aber,” says Sigrid gently after a moment. “She’s worried about you.”
And I look at her, tears in my eyes, and Sigrid smiles softly. “She didn’t try to hurt you, I don’t think. She didn’t want to. Let her explain.”
I rub my lips together, and Sigrid nods, and I nod. She stands, and leaves me alone.