“And now no one knows where he is,” Phoenix says. “They should have to answer for that.”
We all nod.
“The Birthing Celebration is tomorrow,” I remind them. “Maybe I’ll find out more then.”
Gwen stands up, stretching her arms above her head.
“Bed,” she says. When Phoenix isn’t looking, she winks at me and I suppress a smile.
I head back to the compound once Phoenix has fallen asleep on the couch. I have a headache and now there’s a slippery vein of worry creeping around my brain, exactly the type of thing I try to avoid. I have a bad feeling about all of this. At first Phoenix was just intriguing, different from any woman I’d ever met. It’s easy to become infatuated with something that is both hard and soft at the same time. You become determined to understand the hard so you can inspire the soft. No matter how hard they make you work for it. When I reach the compound, I park the car far enough away that I won’t wake anyone. I lean my head back and think about how her neck felt beneath my hand, the skin so soft I’d wanted to dip my head and kiss it until she moaned. I imagine her riding me, throwing her head back, the grace of her neck exposed. I’d reach up and wrap a hand around it and—there’s a rapping on my window. I crack one eye open. Selfish.
I wave, but I make no move to roll the window down. After a few minutes of standing there, she storms off to her apartment. I make a run for the compound.
SIXTEEN
JACKAL
Female porcupines are interested in sex only about eight to twelve hours in a year.
The Birthing Celebration is a Statehead tradition. It’s one of the only times the lower and upper ends come together, filling the streets of the city until there is barely a place to move. They seat the pregnant women on stage, lining them up next to the mothers with babies that were born since the last celebration, and we honor them with wreaths and bouquets of flowers.
Every Region has smaller scale festivities, but the Birthing Celebration is renowned for the over-the-top spectacle they make to celebrate yearly and impending births. A different Region is chosen to represent each year, and this year it’s convenient for me that it’s in the Blue. The End Men come together for the occasion, and they parade us around like show dogs on leashes.
From morning until night, floats hover over the streets, each decorated more outlandishly than the last. The pregnant body is celebrated and worshipped, rituals are performed, and the air is heady with sex and lust. I’ve always enjoyed the experience, just another opportunity to get drunk. It’s a nonstop party, after all, but I feel nothing but dread about this one.
In the past, Foley and I would catch up. It was at one of these things that he’d tossed me the bottle cap and told me that one day we’d drink to a changed world. But with Folsom missing, the whole tone of the affair is more somber than usual. The Society has done their best to pretend nothing is wrong, going as far as removing his face from every billboard and piece of media across the Regions.
We gather in the hall for a toast before our part in the ceremony begins, my first time seeing most of these men in the past year. I shake Bastien’s hand and hit Titus on the back.
“Any word?” is all Bastien says.
I shake my head and his eyes cloud over. I look around and catch Bone’s eye. Bone and Marcus are tight.
“Has anyone seen Kasper or Marcus?” I ask.
He moves closer and leans in. “I’ve been trying to reach Marcus for months. No one can tell me anything about him. I’ve asked everyone here already. You don’t know anything?”
“I’ve heard they’re trying to move him out because he isn’t producing,” I tell him.
He pales and steps back. “I need to find him.”
“If I hear anything, you’ll be the first I contact...any idea where Kasper is?”
“Right behind you, motherfucker.”
I whip around and there stands Kasper in his bright blue designer suit. Leave it to him to try to show me up in my own fucking Region.
“Represent your own Region…” I say.
“Yellow is not my color.” He dips his head toward my ear and says under his breath. “If you happen to see Gwen, tell her she better get to Folsom soon. Sophia is…” He kisses his fingers and squints his eyes like he’s tasting a fine wine.
I jump at him, wrapping my hands around his throat and squeezing as hard as I can. His eyes widen and his skin turns a beautiful purple...speaking of his color...I think I’ve found the perfect one for him.
Titus and Bone drag me away, and Kasper straightens out his suit jacket, chuckling, but eyeing me warily.
“So you have seen her…” he says. “You and Foley...such uptight pricks.” He tries to move in closer to me, but Titus holds his hand up, blocking him.
“Where is he?” I yell.