Conor explained who he was, but I didn’t understand. He’s related to someone, maybe Bronco.
I was more interested in where all the food went. Did someone steal from Anders? He pushed a lot of buttons last night to make the house safe. What happened? Lights flashed at the front door when Mama opened it for Conor. The biker man had to push something on a panel to make them stop.
Overwhelmed, I asked Conor why the stove didn’t work. I was certain he wanted to laugh. Thankfully, he didn’t. Mama was far too frustrated to deal with his mockery.
Right after Conor explained the stove, Anders walked into the kitchen, looking half-asleep. Now, we’re waiting for food from a restaurant. Mama keeps eyeing the stove, anxious to cook food she recognizes.
Today, I hope to go to the supermarket with Topanga. Back with the Volkshalberd, I only visited a tiny store selling canned food. However, the supermarket will have raw vegetables and fruit. That’s what I want to do the most today.
Well, I think sexual intercourse would also be a good use of my time, too. Anders seems like he might need more orgasms. Especially since he looks so aggravated with Conor.
Before the store and breakfast, we sit at the kitchen table. Conor shows us a basic drawing of the Village. We’re confused at first. Then he explains how one spot on the paper is supposed to be the front gate.
Understanding now, Mama, Dove, and I start drawing on the huge sheet of paper that covers the table. Future scribbles on a smaller piece of paper, wanting to copy us.
“There’s the kitchen,” Mama says, drawing a rectangle. “And here are the main living quarters. Before John Marks, this building was for everyone. Then the despot claimed it for his house.”
Mama’s anger is palpable. I wonder if she fears for Perry’s safety. Except she said something last night that made me think he wasn’t hurt. More like he was bribed by John Marks to turn against us and tell them where I was hiding.
Still working on the map, Mama mutters, “They called me a quisling.”
“What?” Anders asks, leaning against the counter nearby.
“Quisling is their word for traitor,” I explain.
Standing by the back door, Conor asks, “Who would you pick to run the Village?”
Mama shrugs. “Depends on who is still alive after John Marks is dead.”
Dove smiles at our mother’s words and then grins bigger when Future talks about his picture.
“He’s so alert,” I tell Mama.
Her expression reveals much about her uncertain feelings. When I went missing, John Marks’s brainless toadies attacked Mama. They threatened to give Dove to the torch bearer and send Future to the sun. When Mama fought them, they beat her. Then, they sent her back to our tabernacle and kept Perry, who likely took their side to save himself. Except he didn’t know where I was either.
If Anders and his biker friends hadn’t shown up, Mama wouldn’t have survived much longer. The Volkshalberd wanted to make an example of her. Dove would have ended up in John Marks’s bed while Future was put out of his misery.
But Anders brought us to this big house with the bigger yard. We can be comfortable here in a way we weren’t even at the Collective.
Except we don’t know these people. And though I love Anders, he isn’t a simple, soft man.
In truth, I don’t trust him. He doesn’t trust me, either. No one taught him to love or sacrifice for others in a way that didn’t involve violence. He’s like a baby in so many ways. A giant child lacking experiences that would make him a good man.
But I still love him, and I want my family to be happy. We could make a comfortable home for all five of us. I believe in that, but I don’t know what happens when John Marks is dead. Or if Anders decides he doesn’t love me anymore in the same way Perry turned on Mama.
Rather than worry, I smile at my family and then Anders. Then I smile at Conor. Anders doesn’t like that part. Still, Conor helped us with the stove, and he ordered food. Now, we get to repay him by making this map of the Village.
“Be sure to put every little thing,” I tell Dove. “Even the holes in the ground where men defecate. Who knows what the Executioners might need to know?”
I catch Conor grinning at Anders, who grunts. Men are very complicated in this world. Not so much at the