Chapter Twenty-Two: Kai
The night air felt heavy with moisture and the jigger’s mate-luring scent. Kai tried not to breathe too deeply because the air settled into his lungs and the smell made him want to cough. He watched Caryn disappear into the outside entrance of a convenience store’s restroom and leaned against the brick wall of a bar. She had refused to go in the lake and couldn’t wait until they made it back to the hotel. The neon lights from the business signs cast moving shadows along the opposite wall. Kai looked up at the night sky thinking back on the way Caryn’s eyes looked in the starlight. Her smile had made him feel warm inside and he wanted her to be happy in a way he had never wished for the happiness of anyone.
He took a step away from the brick wall and out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a shadow move. Then, before Kai could react, strong hands grabbed under his armpits and threw him back, slamming him into the wall.
“Where’s the ruby Kai?” Red said. Red’s forearm pressed against Kai’s windpipe and when Kai’s eyes refocused on the face now inches from his nose he could not get out more than a whisper.
“It’s not Friday yet.”
“What?” Red said. He leaned harder against Kai’s neck. “I am having a hard time hearing you.”
Kai tried to kick Red’s shin, but his feet met only air. A hand wrapped around Red’s shoulder and Red relaxed his grip enough for Kai to breathe again. Jackknife appeared at Red’s side.
“Do you have the ruby we asked you to get?” Jackknife asked.
“Not yet,” Kai said. “But I’ll have it tomorrow.”
“Well, the T-Man is having a hard time believing you,” Jackknife said as he leaned against the wall and inspected his fingernails. “Every time we’ve checked up on you, you are hanging out with that girl and not even trying to steal a ruby, unless, she happens to be carrying one under her shirt.” Jackknife looked up at Kai and Red laughed.
Don’t react. Don’t react. Kai repeated in his head and he focused his gaze on the brown bandana around Red’s neck.
“I can see how someone like Red would not be able to comprehend what I am doing,” Kai said, ignoring the tightening on his neck. “But I will deliver the ruby tomorrow.”
“You better,” Red said. “Cause I’ll enjoy--”
“Yes, I know,” Kai said. He was tired of the big act Red was putting on in front of Jackknife. “You can’t wait for me to fail so you can cut me up or kill me or whatever it is you do. Tomorrow I am going to laugh in your face and you won’t be able to do anything about it.”
Red looked back at Jackknife with his mouth twisting open. All it took was a small nod from Jackknife and Kai realized he had gone too far. In rapid succession, Red punched him five times in the gut. Kai doubled over and never even saw the upper cut that hit his mouth. He slid down the wall in time for Red’s foot to connect with his ribcage. Red kicked him until Jackknife told him to stop.
“We’re changing the time. You don’t have until Friday anymore we need the ruby by noon tomorrow,” Jackknife said. “Don’t be late.”
Kai watched as Red’s brown shoes turned and walked away down the street. He coughed and spit blood from his lip at the pavement. Why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut? At the thought of the look on Red’s face, Kai almost smiled, but the skin and muscles around his mouth screamed in pain and he groaned. Red was stupid if he thought his devotion to the T-Man enhanced his standing in the gang. The T-Man didn’t care about his gang any more than he cared about the shoes he wore. They could all be replaced, just like Kai would no longer be needed if he was tagged. Just like Noah was. The T-Man never informed the Petersons that Noah had been arrested and they did not get any compensation for losing their son’s future to the T-Man’s schemes.
A door slammed shut as Kai tried to stand to his feet.
“Kai? What happened?” Caryn ran to him and held his arm to keep him from leaning back into the wall.
Unsure of how to explain, Kai shrugged. He felt around his ribs to see if anything felt out of place.
“More of your friends?” Caryn asked.
Kai nodded.
“You might want to consider getting new ones.”
“I plan to.”
He straightened, ignoring the pain in his side.
“You know,” she said, once the hotel was in sight. “I am beginning to think you are the one who needs a bodyguard more than I do.”
Kai managed a half smile.
They took the elevator up to their rooms and once the door to Caryn’s room shut and Kai was alone again, he sagged against the wall. He had to ask Caryn for that ruby first thing tomorrow morning. They could stop by a jewelry store and then he’d have to find somewhere safe to leave her while he was at the T-Man’s warehouse. Then they would give him the information they had on his mom and he would leave the city as soon as his time with Caryn was done.
He pushed off of the wall, frowning at how his whole mid-section ached with the slightest strain, and let himself into his own room. He grabbed the comforter covering his bed and pulled it back to the floor like he did every night in this hotel even though someone kept coming in and placing it back on the bed. He tried to sleep in the bed the first night, but the bed was so soft, compared to what he was used to sleeping on the carpet was too, but with the bed’s pillows and blankets surrounding him he felt like he was being suffocated. After moving to the floor he was able to fall asleep and never bothered with the bed again, although he did like the comforter.
The next morning, Kai woke up as soon as the far sun’s light filtered through his window. Whether his stomach felt tight because of the beating he had the night before or because he would finally know why his mother abandoned him, he couldn’t tell. He went to the marble-walled bathroom and wet his hair down. Then he left his room and waited outside Caryn’s door for her to appear. The door opened thirty minutes later and Caryn stepped into the hallway.
“I thought we might go back to the diner for breakfast,” Caryn said.
“Sounds good,” Kai said. He wanted to ask her about the ruby, but thoughts of food made him decide to wait until afterward. With her it wouldn’t take long, walk in, ask for it and walk out in less than ten minutes. He walked with her out of the hotel and headed to cut through the main square. As they approached the center of the square Kai saw a couple of boys throwing eggs and vegetables at the marble monument. The boys laughed as each boy tried to hit the highest point.
Caryn’s back stiffened.
“What are they doing?” she asked. Kai saw a look of horror flit across her face and she flinched when an egg splattered on the side of the monument.
“They’re just having fun,” Kai said.
“Fun?” Caryn spun her head around and Kai almost took a step back at the bewildered anger in her eyes. “Those people gave their lives so those boys could live and this is how they are honored?”
Kai wasn’t really sure what she was talking about and was about to ask her what people she meant when there was another splat.
“Stop!” Caryn shouted.
The boys laughed at the shot not even hearing her. Kai watched as she began to walk toward them and then run as another boy picked up a tomato.
“I said stop,” she yelled, her voice echoing around the square. The boys noticed her and Kai jumped to a run in case they decided to throw something at her. The boy with the tomato threw it at a wild arch toward the monument and then all the boys turned and ran.
“Stop,” Caryn said. She slowed to a walk and picked up one of the empty egg cartons, then let it fall back down.
With the square emptied, Kai stopped running and watched her move to the monument. She reached up and tried to wipe the red tomato skins and egg shells from the marble.
“Why would anyone do this?” she asked. Her voice was quiet enough that Kai could not tell if she were speaking to him or voicing her frustrations out loud. She brushed off each name as if it belonged to close relatives. Kai waited for Caryn to finis
h cleaning the monument and when they walked away her lips were pressed together and sad furrows covered her brow. They entered the diner and found a table. Caryn didn’t say anything the whole time.
After stuffing the last piece of a biscuit in his mouth, Kai ventured to ask, “What would you like to do today?”
“Does it matter?” Caryn asked. She had eaten one or two bites from her food and her eyes had glazed over.
Kai stared at her.
“What is wrong with you?” he asked. “You were all excited to do things and see stuff at the beginning of this week and suddenly now some kids threw food at a statue and you don’t care anymore?”
“It’s not a statue. It’s the Memorial,” she said. Some of the light returning to her eyes as she glared at him.
“Whatever it is, those people died a long time ago.”
“So no one cares what happens to their Memorial?” Caryn asked, her tone rising.
Kai leaned back in his seat. “I’m sure somebody out there cares, but those boys weren’t attacking you personally, they were just having fun.”
“You don’t understand. My name could be on that Memorial in a week and watching those boys throwing food at it was like having them walk up to me and spit in my face.”
Kai frowned. “What?”
She sighed and her shoulders drooped.
“Do you know what the Memorial stands for?” Caryn asked tentatively. Then she continued when he didn’t respond, “What do you know about the jigger toxin?”
“It’s what’s making everyone sick and they could die if the cure isn’t gathered.”
“Yes, but the biggest component of the Haydon cure is a jigger or jigger egg that has been altered by contact with human DNA. Part of the gathering is to impress large batches of jigger eggs with human DNA so that they can be used later when they are adults. But the eggs are protected by the anemone until they hatch.”
“Why can’t they just touch the fish when they are older?”
“It only works with eggs because while they are growing and changing, they absorb their environment. Once the eggs hatch, the babies no longer take in the materials around them. Their genetic code can’t be manipulated to produce the right components for the cure.”
“What does that have to do with the memorial?”
“The Memorial bears the name of every person who has gathered the cure since the beginning of Beta Earth.”
“And those people died because they were stung by the anemone.” He was proud of himself for making that connection.
Caryn nodded. “They gave their lives for the people and are honored by having their names and faces inscribed on the Memorial.”
“Wait.” Kai’s skin turned cold despite the warmth in his belly. She’d said her name would be on the memorial. She wasn’t just going away, she was going to die. She would not survive. Kai wasn’t sure how he had survived being stung once, but everyone knew to swim into an anemone patch was suicide. A wave of horror passed through Kai like a ghost and he felt the cold seep inside. She was going to leave him, just like everyone else. Worse. She had let him believe that they could be friends, perhaps even more than that one day, and that they could have a future. All her talk about traveling had been lies. She was never going anywhere. Walls shot up around his heart and he clenched his hand into a fist. Caryn kept talking, but Kai only half listened. It didn’t matter anymore. He didn’t, wouldn’t care.
“The mayor invited me to Highton so I could see the other side of the Compound, how they have been using their knowledge of the cure to experiment on everyone. Once every eighty years or so the jigger toxins are extremely potent and will kill all unvaccinated humans. This time the chemical is the worst we have seen in a thousand years, possibly the worst since the first colonists. I was picked to deposit the DNA samples and the scientists will make the vaccine from a few of the eggs to help those who are currently sick. Then they will wait until the other jiggers are adult size and make the vaccine as it is needed.”
“Why do you have to do this? Can’t they find someone else?” he asked. He crossed his arms over his chest and slouched in his chair.
Caryn leaned closer, but her voice stayed quiet. “Anyone could gather the cure, but they would only be able to survive one anemone batch before they passed out. There is also the issue that the anemone viciously attacks and refuses to open for any non-organic object. It can create this rock-hard wall around the eggs and will destroy the eggs if the wall is broken....” She paused realizing she was going off topic. “I was bred for this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Scientists manipulated my DNA so I could hold my breath longer, swim faster and have a higher tolerance for anemone poison. I’ve been training to gather the cure all my life. Granted my DNA has also been given scholastic abilities in case I did not win, but my primary purpose is gathering the Haydon cure. I beat the other contestants to do this, only now I don’t know what to do.”
“The mayor’s offer. You wouldn’t have to do this.” Kai’s brief hope died as Caryn dropped his gaze in favor of the table cloth.
“The mayor only wants me to wait a week. I would still have to gather the cure. But in that time many of the children we have seen at Doc’s house could be dead.”
“Let them die.” Even as Kai spoke the words they twisted into the hopeful plea he thought he had hidden forever.
“It’s possible even you could die too, if it takes them too long to make enough for all the people who will need it.”
“I don’t care if I die.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Kai tightened his jaw and he let ice seal the walls inside. If she was going to do this then he wasn’t going to stop her. There was only one thing he needed from her and then he would never think about her again.
After a moment, he cleared his throat, but refused to look at her as he said, “I need that ruby you promised me and I’d like to get it now if we can.”
“Kai....”
“Don’t. I--I’m done.”
Nodding, Caryn stood and they left the café.
The pieces began to fit together as they stood in the jewelry store. He remembered the looks people had given her and compared it with the look in the jeweler’s eyes. There was a fearful awe on the face of everyone she met. Whenever they rushed to bring her what she asked for they weren’t doing it because she was rich, but because she was powerful. She held their lives and the lives of those they loved in her hands. How had he missed it? He was so stupid, so absorbed in his own problems.
“What size did you want?” the jeweler asked.
“Size six,” Kai said.
The jeweler handed the ruby to Caryn and she held it out for Kai to take. He let the ruby roll around in the palm of his hand and wished he could feel something, but he felt numb.
“I guess I won’t see you,” Kai said and ignoring the slash of pain on her face he walked out of the store.