“New America. There are folks on the other side of the wall willing to order stuff for us if we pay them enough.” Navarro shrugged. “I told you, we’re not so primitive here.”
“How do you get past the wall?”
Navarro nodded to a woman on the other side of the row of cucumbers. “Cadia. How are you this morning?”
Navarro stepped close, and pressure from his body bled into Joe. Not touch. Body heat. Expectations. Protection and warning. He wanted both to lean into Navarro and to pull away.
The woman watched, her lined, smallish eyes flicking back and forth between Joe, Navarro, and the cucumbers, like she thought they were about to steal the food.
“Cadia oversees the crops. Does a fine job.” Navarro pivoted so Joe was herded toward the rear of the greenhouse.
Cadia followed. Graying hair brushed her shoulders as she walked. She might be the oldest person Joe had ever seen.
“The plants look like they’re thriving,” he said.
“Are you one of those New Americans from the entertainment console? I thought them guys wasn’t real.”
From the corner of his eye, Joe caught Navarro’s grin, but he had no idea what the woman was talking about. “I’m from Texas Territory, ma’am. We had an entertainment console when I was young, but I haven’t seen a working one in almost ten years.”
“Hmph. Well, I seen one ’bout six weeks ago. And them men don’t look real, but here you are.”
“Here I am,” Joe echoed.
Navarro snorted. “We need to head out. I’m checking on Tandaby. Do you have her package?”
Cadia jerked her head toward the back door. Next to it sat a rickety-looking plastic table sitting on a piece of plywood with a handle stuck in it. “Over there. You be sure to tell that girl we ain’t made a money.”
They reached the door. Navarro grabbed a small, neatly wrapped bundle from the table and ushered Joe outside.
“What was she talking about?” Joe asked the moment they’d gotten far enough away from the greenhouse not to be overheard.
“Greenhouse. Solar powered. Feeds most of the people in town.”
Joe growled. “That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
“I gotta get my kicks somehow, nuevecito.” Navarro grinned big, showed off his gleaming smile and dimples that formed vertical slits on his cheeks. “Cadia thinks you’re white and...” Navarro gestured to Joe’s face. “Attractive. Smoking. Bangable.”
Joe wrinkled his nose. “Gross. She’s as old as my dad. Has to be. And I’m not white.”
“Been there, known that. But I made that mistake, too, once upon a time, remember? You and your lying, Spanish-speaking, Mexican ass.”
That had been a million years ago. It could have been yesterday. “Water under the bridge, right?”
“Sure. I forgive you. You forgive me.”
Joe reached for the missing part. The last sentence, the one Navarro couldn’t honestly say. I forgive myself. “What did Cadia mean about seeing an EC six weeks ago?”
Navarro’s features darkened. “She’s one of them. Sons of America. They raid New American towns sometimes.”
So it was possible to cross the border, even if it was done illegally. Joe pictured masked men and women breaking into homes, stealing. Terrorizing? He thought of Aria, her nose buried in a book, her mind a million miles away. “Will I see her?”
Navarro followed Joe’s train of thought without dropping the beat. His voice came out gruff. “Probably. Small town.” He grimaced as his hand flitted to his knee. “So, Tandaby. She’s sixteen. Has a four-week-old baby. She’s afraid to leave her house, worried the kid’ll get sick.”
“Is the father around?”
“Damned if I know. The Sons don’t want me ordering contraceptives. Think we need to grow the town, strength in numbers and all. I tell the people how not to get pregnant, but you know how it is. People get bored and horny. They forget. They aren’t picky about partners. We all take care of each other, so it doesn’t serve much purpose to know who the actual dad is anyway. The baby belongs to the town.”
The memory of baby Nina’s sweet face and chubby arms popped into Joe’s mind. Please, God, let them be okay. He reached for Navarro’s arm, then remembered who he was with and pulled his hand back. “You remember my friend Ebony?”
“The girl you came to Flights of Fantasy with?”
Navarro wouldn’t be asking if he’d seen her recently. Still, Joe needed to be sure. “She hasn’t been through here, has she? Her, a baby, a man.”
“Why would she be?”
Joe glanced around the shacks, checking to make sure he and Navarro were alone. A few people milled about, chatting or watching children play. Joe spotted the little girl who’d helped him find Lil and Navarro’s house. She waved and stuck out her tongue at him. He waved and stuck out his tongue, too. The girl laughed and turned back to her friends. Joe looked up into Navarro’s face. Three years had aged Navarro more than it had Joe. Small lines feathered out from his eyes. His skin had darkened. He was nearing thirty, though. Not many people made it that far.
“Nuevecito? You gonna answer me?”
Despite the absence of people nearby, Joe leaned closer. If it made Navarro uncomfortable, tough. He whispered, “Boggs stole Ebony’s baby. We got it back. Ebony and her partner left. I thought they might have been through here, traveling to New America.”
Navarro sucked in a breath through his teeth. “When were you going to tell me?”
“I’ve only been here twelve hours. It’s not like I’m hiding it from you.”
Seconds ticked by as Joe and Navarro stared at each other. Eventually, Navarro closed his eyes and shook his head. “I haven’t seen your friend. But she probably didn’t come this way.”
“Why wouldn’t she?”
“Why would she? She’s black, right?”
“So?”
“So, dipshit, there’s nothing up there for her. You think the north is this fucking oasis.” Navarro smacked Joe’s arm with his cane. “Your stupid dad fed you nonsense. I don’t care how smart you are. You. Me. Your friend. We could be brilliant, decent, hard-working, and they wouldn’t want us. So why
