Jerimiah stopped at a staircase that descended into darkness, a large sign above the entry. The sign was split in two, and its top half was missing, but Tye read it easy enough. “The subway? You really think underground tunnels are a good idea in this case?”
“You’re right. The virals live down there. But it’s night, and they’ll all be out on the town looking for tourists,” Jerimiah said. He skipped down the steps into the dark maw of the subway entrance and was gone.
Chapter Thirty
Year 2076, Respite
Randy didn’t understand how such a beautiful day could go the hell so fast, but it had. He and Hazel were supposed to attend Alex Serregio and Emily Pendaltine’s pairing ceremony together in the Womb, but old man Hasten had put a stop to that and Hazel said she had to stay with her mother and grandfather throughout the ceremony and she wasn’t allowed to talk to him after.
“No dance? No dinner?” Randy had said.
No, was the only answer he’d gotten, though he thought Hazel was upset about it. It was hard to tell with her. Some days she acted like she loved him and couldn’t wait for their fire guard test, but other days she acted like she didn’t want to know him. Was this one of those times? And why hadn’t Tris spoken up for her daughter? Did she hate Milly so much she’d take it out on her child?
The Womb was decorated with palm frond streamers and white gardenias, and the Perpetual Flame roared in its natural fireplace. The crowd was thick, but Randy saw Hazel standing between her mother and grandfather in the front row, head down. How he loved her. He wished he had someone to talk to about it but his father, Curso, was useless, a mere shell of the man he’d known as a young boy. Milly leaving had hollowed him out, left him nothing to care for, which hurt Randy more than he was willing to admit. His father didn’t care about him, or if he did, was unable to show it.
Curso hadn’t come to the Womb for the ceremony. He rarely came to public events, and Randy didn’t blame him. The stares. The whispers. It was enough to drive any sane person bezoomny.
Fire Master Aragorn walked across the dais, bowed before the Perpetual Flame, then turned to the crowd. “My fellow citizens, we are gathered here today to mark the pairing of Alex and Emily, and bear witness as they take the rites before the adult members of our community. May we seal their bond and be the foundation in the house of their relationship.”
A muttering of amens. Randy didn’t think they sounded like a community that was excited to approve a union. The couple was an odd one. Emily had been named after Felix Hoenikker’s daughter from Cat’s Cradle because she was smart, and Alex and his droogs were considered leadership material, but he wasn’t particularly smart.
“Alex and Emily, please join me,” Fire Master Aragorn said.
The pair rose and clasped hands, then made their way to the fire master’s side. He placed a hand on Emily’s arm, then his other on Alex. He glanced over his shoulder and nodded to the Perpetual Flame, and bowed his head.
“Let us give thanks to the Perpetual Flame and all it provides,” the fire master said.
“Amen,” Randy said.
Fire Master Aragorn took the betrothed hands and linked them together, then put his hands on top. “Emily, do you take Alex, to love and cherish, through hardship, sickness and death?”
“I do,” she said.
“Do you agree to abide by the rules of Respite on all accounts, which includes the procreate pledge?”
“I do,” Emily said.
“Do you agree to be faithful in this lifetime commitment, and agree that once paired, the paring cannot be undone?”
“I do,” Emily said.
Fire Master Aragorn turned to Alex and asked him the same questions, all of which he answered in the affirmative. When they were done, Fire Master Aragorn said, “What say you Respite? Yay?”
A chorus of yays.
“Nay?”
Silence.
“Let it be marked then in the official record that on this day, February 19th, 2076, that Alex Serregio and Emily Pendaltine have become an inseparable one, and agree to live their lives together as a unit, and serve Respite as such,” Fire Master Aragorn said.
“I do,” the couple said.
“Very well. You are hereby paired and you may kiss your life partner,” Aragorn said.
Alex and Emily embraced and kissed to the serenade of the screaming crowd. Then the party started.
Randy hated big gatherings. He didn’t feel comfortable, and he knew Hazel didn’t either, but you’d never know it by the way she was dancing with John Hampton. The little shit.
He felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Hazel’s mother, Tris.
“No food or drink for you? There’s no dinner tonight, you know, this is it,” she said.
Randy forced a smile, and said, “Yeah, I’m not that hungry.” He looked Hazel’s way, then realizing he’d done it, jerked his eyes to the ground.
Tris sighed. “I know this is hard for you to understand… you’re so young… but you and Hazel can’t be together. It just can’t happen.”
“But I—”
“But nothing. My father will kill you if he catches you near her again, and there’s nothing I can do to stop him. Do you understand?” Tris said.
“No. I don’t. Is it my fault my mother is a flake and ran off with your husband? Is it my fault my grandmother and your father messed with each other? Sold out their families for sex?” Randy said. He was on fire
