Alida squashed her nose up against the passenger-side window. Dust billowed around the car. A week ago, before Mum got sick, this would’ve been the most exciting thing ever: her first time in a car. Shame it was taking her somewhere she didn’t want to go. She waved at one of her gawking neighbours. Grief made her weak. She couldn’t let anyone clock that.
‘They can’t check you through the tinted windows.’ Ganya took one hand off the steering wheel to scratch the kaleidoscope of flowers tattooed on her scalp.
‘How do I open the window?’
‘Don’t open the window.’
‘This button?’ Alida tapped a button below her window and it rolled down.
‘Eish! Close the bloody window, Alida.’
Hot air gusted into the car, carrying the stench of unwashed bodies, ash and smoke, melting plastic and hints of someone’s breakfast cooking. Alida’s curly black hair bustled about, riding the air currents, like a dancer in some music tube. She stuck her head out the window. ‘It’s me, Alida. I’m in a car,’ she yelled.
‘Classy.’ In the back Zave chuckled, his legs spread wide, his arm draped across the top of the seat. Playing it cool, like he got to ride in cars regular or something.
Ganya tapped the dashboard. The window whirred and the glass came up, closing off the outside.
‘Hey!’
‘Don’t push me, Alida.’
Alida sat back in her seat, swallowing a smart reply. Cool air came through a vent and blew gently on her face. Soon the car stank fresh and bland once again.
‘So I’m guessing Freel wants to ask me about the rent situation.’ Alida clenched her jaw and stared out through the windscreen.
‘Firstly, he wants to offer condolences for your mum.’ Ganya slowed and pounded on the car horn, scattering a pack of mutts from the road.
Alida’s throat was suddenly dry.
‘I liked your mum. I grew attached to her over the years. She did everything for you kids.’
‘Yep, I know.’ Tears stung Alida’s sinuses. She had always suspected Ganya was sweet on her mum, and Mum had insisted Ganya had a kind heart.
‘Secondly, rent hasn’t been paid on your digs in three weeks.’
Yep. Freel was a businessman. He wouldn’t have squeezed out any tears over Mum. His workers were nothing but credit machines to him.
‘Hell. Can’t he give me a break for a stretch? I was planning on doing some scavenging in the burbs today, before you rocked up and nabbed me.’
She’d have to flog a shitload more scavenged goods if she wanted to make rent and keep them from going hungry.
‘Well, I think Freel has some other ideas.’
Alida grunted. She wiped her sweaty palms on the canvas bag in her lap. She had her hopes set on Freel paying enough for her slick private book collection to cover their rent arrears and a couple of weeks in advance. She also suspected he might offer her a gig now there wasn’t a Mum-shaped barrier between them.
Zave leaned forward between the front seats. ‘Do you reckon he has any work for me?’
‘I doubt it, Zave. He didn’t ask to see you.’
Zave sat back, out of Alida’s vision. ‘Hey, Alida wanted me here. She’s fragile right now. Where she goes, I go.’
That wasn’t exactly legit. Zave had been keeping her company since Mum died. When Ganya rocked up to collect Alida he’d practically begged to go with them to see Freel. Alida would’ve preferred it if he’d stayed behind and watched Graycie – then she wouldn’t have had to pay creche fees. Alida had never really clocked how much dosh Mum shelled out every day.
Ganya turned the car out of the Market settlements and onto one of the sealed roads LeaderCorp maintained for its armoured vehicles. The ride became smoother and quieter and the dust fell away. Alida pressed into the seat as Ganya sped up.
They turned off the sealed road and onto another dirt road, the edges less crowded with shacks. The large rectangular building that loomed ahead had once been a museum. Ganya parked the car to the right of the main entrance. Alida’s mind groped for the word to describe the lush, unbroken blanket of green that surrounded it. A lawn. An expanse of grass without shacks, shipping containers, housepods, fire pits, vegie gardens or grazing animals. A bit of a waste of space, really, and a waste of water, too. A clear line separated the sprawl and chaos of the Demi-Settlements from Freel’s domain.
They got out of the car and yanked the hoods of their SunSuits over their heads. Ganya led the way.
Alida craned her neck to get a good look at the whole building. The windows along the front had been barricaded with riveted metal. On the bright side, she’d finally get a look inside. Ganya placed her hand on a panel beside the wooden door and a computerised voice spoke.
‘Welcome home, Ganya.’
The doors swung open.
‘Ta, BIS. I’m bringing in two guests. Please register them.’
‘As you wish. Please ask your guests to place their hands on the bio-security panel and state their names.’
They registered and followed Ganya. In the cool foyer, goosebumps came up on Alida’s arms. The glass eyes of hundreds of mangy-looking taxidermied animals glinted beneath electric lights. The bones of an enormous creature hung from the ceiling.
‘Whoah.’
‘I know – cool, yeah?’ Zave said.
Alida hugged the bag of books to her chest and shivered.
Three hallways led from the foyer. Alida would’ve liked a tour of the whole building, but that seemed as likely as a Citizen inviting a Demi for dinner. Ganya took them down the left hallway, walking past several closed doors and stopping at the last one.
‘Freel’s with someone right now. He’ll be done in a sec.’ Ganya waited with them, her face slack and her eyes moving rapidly, watching a tube on her brain implant or something.
Alida waggled her fingers in front of Ganya’s nose and poked out her tongue.
‘I’m not blind.’
‘Right. Just checking.’ Alida had always been fascinated with Citizens, and ex-Citizens like Freel and Ganya, who were lucky enough to have brain implants.
Zave fussed with his hair and wiped under his bottom eyelashes to remove smudged eyeliner. ‘I need Freel to find me another client. The one I had moved to City 3. I’d gotten used to the income, you know?’
Alida suspected she did know. She and Graycie had never stressed about getting by while Mum was gigging. She rolled her head around to loosen the tension in her neck.
The door to Freel’s office opened and a young boy with red swollen eyes stepped out. Alida’s stomach lurched. Mum had tried so hard to keep Alida away from Freel all her life that in her imagination he’d grown into a combination of an all-powerful god and a cagey monster.
‘Come in.’ Ganya held the door open.
Inside wasn’t as shiny or lofty as Alida had expected. She’d imagined Freel would have a large room with a stage and a kind of throne he lounged upon to receive petitioners. The walls were lined with glass cabinets filled with browning skulls, insects pinned to boards, statues of weirdly shaped humans, ancient weapons and tools, and other objects in metal, wood, cloth and stone that Alida had no names for. Her fingers itched to touch them all.
‘This is the last straw,’ Freel said to himself.
He sat behind a desk in a big comfy-looking chair. Alida had only ever spied him from a distance. Up close he had almost fluorescent green eyes beneath black brows, and cheekbones that made her suck in her own cheeks. Glossy layered hair fell to his shoulders and brushed against his charcoal-coloured shirt. He was inhuman, or maybe extra-human – enough for his real age to be impossible to guess. He fussed with an OmniScreen on his desk. ‘Give me a moment.’
‘What’s going on?’ Alida whispered to Ganya.
‘Another of our girls kicked it from a virus. That was her son, come to tell Freel.’
‘Ah.’
Freel looked up from the OmniScreen. His eyes narrowed for a second as he clocked Zave and then settled on Alida. He smiled. ‘The elusive Alida. Ganya was right. You have grown into an attractive young lady.’
Alida wrinkled her nose and Zave fidgeted beside her. Mum was right. Freel was a creepy perv.
‘Sorry about your mum. She was one of my best workers before her illness took hold. Those LeaderCorp pricks …’ Freel said this more to himself. He stared beyond them.
Alida glanced at Zave. He shrugged slightly.
‘Um, I know you sent for me to chat about this rent situation, but I have something to show you.’
Freel’s attention snapped back to her. ‘Oh yeah? Pitch me a deal then.’ His eyebrow quirked.
She held up the bag of books. ‘I’m selling off my personal collection. Reckoned I’d give you an exclusive preview.’
Freel waved her over and cleared a space on his desk. ‘It’s a pleasure to finally deal with my best book procurer in person.’
He went through the books, making greedy sounds. It was a mixed collection. Some hardcovers, some paperbacks. Some shiny and others ragged around the edges. Of all the books that had passed through Alida’s hands, these were the ones she had clung to. Each of them had made her life a little cheerier, either by taking her to fantastic worlds, shinier than her own, or by showing her worlds much nastier. Alida breathed deeply and slowly. She still held these stories in her mind. She might never be able to hold the books again, but the stories would always be hers. It was stupid to hold anything too close in the Demi-Settlements.
‘How about I take the complete collection off your hands in exchange for the rent you owe me?’
Alida pursed her lips. ‘These have … sentimental value.’ Mum had taught her to read. They’d both read these books heaps of times. Late at night, when Graycie had finally zonked out, they’d chat and gossip about the characters as though they were real people.
‘I’m just feeling out the market right now.’ Alida put the books back in her bag, trying to remember her negotiating skills. Mum would hate it if she flogged these books for less than they were worth.
‘Hmm. How about I throw in a fortnight’s rent on top?’
That was more like it. ‘A month and it’s a deal.’
‘Three weeks is the most I can do for you. I’m already charging you the bare minimum I can accept for such a prime spot.’
‘Deal.’ At least she’d have a little breathing space until she could find a way to make enough dosh to eat and pay rent. It still meant filling their guts with LeaderCorp Nutri-Shake rations and edible weeds from the burbs for a stretch though.
Freel smiled at his stack of books like a littlie with a third meal for the day.
‘Um, another thing, Freel.’
He raised an eyebrow, and not a single crease appeared on his plasticised forehead.
‘Now that Mum’s gone, Graycie and I don’t need so much space and it’s gonna be hard to make rent. Do you have something a smidge cheaper?’
Freel shook his head slightly. His hair shimmered and kissed his shoulders. ‘The rate I’m charging you is the going rate for a property on the edges of the market roof.’
Her shoulders sagged. The places on the edges of the roof might as well have not been under the roof at all. The rain shot in sideways and soaked the shacks and the sun beat down on them for half the day.
Freel looked her up and down. ‘There is another alternative.’
Alida had already guessed what was coming. Perv.
‘Have a heart, her mum’s just died.’ Zave spoke before the question had even left Freel’s mouth.
Freel squared his shoulders and sneered at Zave as though he’d only just noticed he was there. ‘I am having a heart, mate. There’s no way she can feed herself and that little girl properly on the credits she makes scavenging in the burbs.’ Freel turned to Alida. ‘I know this isn’t the best time. I also know your mum wasn’t able to work for a while now. I’m sure you’re already hungry.’
Freel was right. Alida’s traitorous guts growled.
‘There’s a job that’d be perfect for you. Tonight. I can advance you some credits right now, if you’re game.’
Graycie had been complaining of her empty tummy for days. The Nutri-Shakes were never enough. Mum would have hated to see Alida working for Freel, but Mum wasn’t around anymore. And if she didn’t take this gig she’d have to find some other gig or move somewhere cheaper, titchier, dirtier, less protected from the elements and just plain nasty. She was the grown-up now. She had to step up. For Graycie.
Blood pounded in Alida’s temples. She held out the wrist containing her credit chip. Freel smiled and tapped on his OmniScreen.
‘How about me, Freel?’ asked Zave. ‘Any work for me?’
‘Kinda slow for you at the moment, Zave. I’ll get in touch if I find you another client.’ Freel smiled at Alida. ‘There you go, credits transferred.’
Alida tapped her wrist chip to check her new credit balance. A number greater than anything she’d ever made flogging goods from the burbs. No wonder Mum had never been able to chuck it in. Nothing else in the Demi-Settlements paid like this.