I nodded. I’d seen how he had treated Leslie and there was no doubt in my mind he’d been a real jerk to others too.
“He’d do anything that stupid chick he’s sleeping with tells him. And she thinks all of us that work here are below her,” Leslie said frowning. “Like we’re all here just to serve her. Things were better before she arrived. I really shouldn’t be saying this. The only reason I know I can is because she wouldn’t have had you roughed up if you were her friend.”
“She’s not our friend,” I said sharply.
I should have watched my words. There was always a chance that Leslie was on Eva’s side. A spy or something. If I hadn’t seen Leo harass her with my own eyes, I would have been more careful.
“What did you do to get on her bad side?” Leslie asked still looking at Leah.
“All I did was exist. That was more than enough to annoy her,” I said.
“What about you?” Leslie asked jerking her chin toward Leah.
“All I did was arrive with him,” Leah said with a smirk directed at me.
I snorted but sadly, it was true. Leah hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Lucky you did arrive with him, though, or you might have been shot or put to work here. Not sure which is worse,” Leslie said. “It sucks there isn’t anything else out there.”
“There is that other town. The one that’s stealing from us,” I said.
“You’re kidding, right?” Leslie asked looking over her shoulder at me. “That place isn’t going to be around long. The idiots here have no idea how to share and work together.”
Leslie sighed and looked at her feet. She suddenly appeared smaller, as though she’d deflated.
“I’m sorry,” she said waving her hand. “I shouldn’t have come here.”
“No,” Leah said grabbing her hand. “I’m glad you did.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Leslie said. “I just feel so alone here.”
Leah smiled and squeezed her hand. “You’re not alone. You have us, right, Adam?”
“Yeah, of course,” I replied.
“Quite reassuring,” Leslie said. She released a quick exhale. “That woman is selfish. Demanding. And she thinks she knows better than everyone else. I hear that she wants to get rid of the ‘old geezers,’ her words, not mine. If that happens, the workers will strike. This is just a huge mess. Anyway, I need to go before someone realizes I’m gone.”
Leah bit her lip. “Are you sure? You could stay for a bit, eat with us.”
“I can’t,” Leslie said. “The last thing I want is to get in trouble again. Sorry, again, I wasn’t able to help.”
“It’s not your fault,” Leah said. “I would feel terrible if you would have done something and gotten hurt too. I’ve had much worse than this in my life.”
“I know what you mean,” Leslie said.
Leah walked with her to the door. “I’m going to keep my head down even more from now on.”
“That doesn’t always work,” Leslie said. “Anyway, see you around.”
“See ya,” Leah said before carefully opening the door.
Leslie peeked out and darted off without another word. Leah held her hand on the door for a long moment.
She slowly turned to me. “I hate this place.”
“I’m sorry I brought you here.” My eyes shifted toward the window. I couldn’t look at her.
Leah shook her head. She didn’t want to hear it. I knew she didn’t blame me.
The rest of the night was typical. There were no more knocks on our door. Everything was quiet but we were distracted.
I couldn’t stop thinking about all the things that could have gone wrong. Sleep didn’t come easy.
I tossed and turned as if we were back to sleeping out in the middle of nowhere. Even though my clothes were dry, I could remember how the soaked fabric itched my skin.
When morning came, it felt as though I hadn’t slept at all. I was exhausted.
It felt like I was in a dream as I walked to the door. Leah was still asleep. I just wanted the person on the other side to stop pounding so I could go back to bed.
I pulled open the door and met my dad’s eyes. My mouth opened but snapped shut. There was something in his eyes that closed my lips.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“You and Leah need to come with me,” my dad said.
I shook my head. “What for?”
“Mandatory meeting,” he said. “I have to bring you myself.”
“Are we in trouble?” I asked. My lips felt like they were coated in glue, making it hard to form the words.
My dad grimaced. “Go get dressed.”
15
Stevie
Ella bounced and squealed. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I wish we could all go,” Becki said.
“We’ll all get there eventually,” I said but the words tasted bitter.
“I’m kind of scared to leave,” Lucy said shaking her head. “I don’t think I’m going to participate. My mom needs to stay here to keep everyone fed. I can’t leave without her.”
My head bobbed. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“I guess I wouldn’t want to go without Noah,” Ella said crossing her arms as she puffed out her bottom lip.
“Here we go,” Gage said as he entered the room, holding a bunch of cut bamboo skewers.
I stayed in my chair, watching as everyone gathered around him. A smile grew on Winter’s face as she held up the shortest skewer.
“I get to go!” Winter said shaking her hand as if she’d touched something too hot. “Oh, my God. I get to go!”
Becki was holding a short stick and carefully comparing it to the others around her. Her hands dropped to her sides.
“I guess I
