Chapter Twenty-One

“Well, look at what the cat dragged in.”

It was a warmer welcome than I had expected when I walked into the little cabin that Hank and Kylee shared.

“Hello, Kylee,” I said dully. She was sitting on the couch, arms folded across her chest in a disapproving manner, the day’s newspaper spread across her lap. “I came here as soon as I could.”

“What, so that means…ten days after we last talked?” She raised her eyebrows at me.

“I’m sorry,” I replied. “I….Alfie and Aria surprised me. For my birthday, they sent me on a trip to Haptriuch…I mean, I couldn’t just refuse it, could I? They’d been planning it for months and told me the day you gave me the assignment.”

Kylee was still glaring at me reproachfully, but at least she believed my little lie. I could not tell my best friend that I had been hiding from her for almost two weeks.

“Well,” she said, looking almost tentative about saying this, “it’s all for the best, I suppose. I have some good news, J.”

I perked up; her kinder tones meant that I was allowed to step further into the cabin. I did so, closing the door behind me; it was a glorious day of late April, more like one of May. “Really? What?”

She grinned, her smile quivering, and I knew she had been wanting to say this for a while: “I’m engaged.”

“What!” I exclaimed ecstatically. “That’s – no way – oh my God! That’s great! Congratulations, Kylee! To…Hankie…?”

She laughed. “Yes, to Hankie. Who else?”

“Kylee, that’s great…seriously, I mean it…”

“Thank you,” she said humbly. “I know you do.”

“Where is he now?” I asked, looking around. “Is he here or is he out?”

“He went out,” Kylee told me. “He’ll be back soon, though. Now, J. Down to business.”

“Ah.” I halted abruptly, unsure of what to say. “Er, yes. That.”

Kylee turned a page of her newspaper, still looking at me. “What is it, J?”

At that very moment, the world as I knew it rested on my shoulders. My very parents had ordered the murder of the man I had loved, and Officer Gina Ink, the woman Alfie had referred to, had killed him. But, in the overall scheme of things, who was I more loyal to? Would I be doing the world any good by turning in my own parents? They were the people who skipped my high school graduation, who had kept me around for show….But, on the other hand, Alfie had not spoken a word to anyone. I had indeed gone to Haptriuch: I had booked a flight the day after Alfie had caught me snooping around in his things, deciding that, if I was going to flee the country due to my criminal activity, I should get a head start on it. During my stay there, however, I had received a phone call from Alfie.

I had been in my room, getting ready for bed, when the hotel room’s phone rang. Perplexed, I had snatched it up, wondering who would be calling me. I held the receiver close to my mouth and said, “Hello?”

“You have a long distance call.” It had been the concierge; I could tell by her accent and broken, halting language. “Do you want it?”

“Uh, yes, please. Thank you.”

“Please hold…”

A few moments later, I heard a small click, and a voice came on.

“Hello?” the gruff, crackling voice had shouted. “Hello, who am I talking to?”

“Who am I talking to?” I asked attackingly, even though I knew exactly who it was.

“God, Jadwiga!” he had barked. “Can’t those people at the desk speak proper Firglish? It took me about twenty minutes to explain that I wanted to talk to you.”

“Can’t you speak proper Haptrian?” I had retorted angrily. “Why are you even calling me, Alfred?”

“Don’t disrespect me in that way!”

“How did you know where I was?” I asked him. “I didn’t tell anyone where I was going – oh, that’s right. I forgot. You checked with the bank, didn’t you?”

“That I did,” he had said grimly. “I checked your purchases for the past three years and…I noticed a trend.”

“Three years ago? Oh, yes, that’s when wearing leggings with skirts came back in style, that’s what you’re talking about,” I had replied coldly.

“Jadwiga! I’m being serious here,” he snapped. “Can’t you understand that?”

“Oh, so now I’m the one who doesn’t understand?” I had retorted cruelly.

“It…it took a lot to call you, Jadwiga,” he muttered. “I…I realized how selfish I was being. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me,” I replied furiously. “Apologize to Jingis.”

There had been a long silence. I didn’t care what Alfie replied with, and I had hoped that he would yell at me, but his voice had been calm and a little sad.

“Your mother doesn’t know that…that I found you in my study,” he had said carefully. “She doesn’t know much of anything. Jadwiga, we were obviously raised differently than you were, and I don’t know if I should regret that or not.”

Another pause, because his words surprised me. I had been so certain that Alfie would hand me over to the authorities. He had continued, though: “I came to the conclusion that—that times are changing, Jadwiga. I was raised to believe that hadus and plumeriae and olastrons were beneath me.”

“While I was raised to know that chouzhiw were as equal as I was,” I had replied fiercely.

“Er…‘chouzhiw’?”

“It’s a word meaning hadus and plumeriae and olastrons. Actually, it means ‘the fallen’ in the hadu language, but over time it evolved. Their word for us – gozhon –…well, you’d be mad if I said the translation,” I told him.

“I see,” he had muttered, clearly not interested. “Anyways, when I looked at your bank account, I saw that it was you who had bought that radio for them, the radio that caused so much suspicion. You joined three years ago, right?”

“Yes.”

“Ever since October of 2109, you used your credit cards less and less, and only on things like food,” he told me. “I knew it, then. I just suddenly understood. You were willing to dedicate your entire life to this cause, and…”

“Wait a sec,” I had interrupted. “How did you get into my bank account? I thought they only released the records to the people who can provide the password?”

“I did,” he had replied humbly. “It was easy to figure out. 0-8-0-8-2-0-9-0.”

“August eighth, year 2090,” I had hissed. “Jingis’ birthday.”

“Yes. It’s been extraordinarily well-publicized,” he had said quickly. “But, Jadwiga, most kids these days are indifferent to the whole war. They don’t care who wins or who loses. But you do. At age sixteen, you thought you knew what was right and what was wrong. Even now, I don’t know what is.”

“Well, I do,” I had told him viciously, “and murdering hadus isn’t!”

“Jadwiga, I can’t take back what I’ve done – ”

“I killed Massimiliano Stag,” I had said abruptly, feeling reckless. “I went with the team that killed him and his buddies. We got him for getting Ippoa Kurt. By the way, she was the leader before Jingis.”

Another long pause, and then a thought had suddenly struck me.

“Oh my God,” I rasped. “You were in on that too, weren’t you? You kept your names out of that whole affair, but you were in on it. Oh my God.”

“Jadwiga….Okay, yes, we were,” he confessed, his voice fading out slightly. “But I was doing what I thought was right.”

“But it wasn’t!”

“I’m not going to tell anyone,” he had said abruptly. “I won’t tell anyone that you work with them, not even your mother.”

“You….What?” This had surprised me.

“I’m going to tell anyone,” he repeated, this time his voice stronger. “I can’t stop you from believing in what you want to, just like you can’t change the way I think.”

“I…Alfie – Dad,” I hurriedly corrected myself. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. I may be crazy to do this, but I am serious,” he had replied.

“What…what made you…?”

He had heaved a great sigh. “It was your eyes, Jadwiga, when you told me that you were in love with Jingis.”

“I was,” I said strongly. “Still am.”

“If…if I couldn’t understand how much I had hurt you,” he said cautiously, “by hurting the person you love – ”

“Not hurting,” I had interrupted. “Killing.”

“Right,” he muttered.”If I couldn’t understand how much I had hurt you, then I wouldn’t be fit to live.”

I had been quiet, as was he; for several long moments, there was no sound, then:

“Jadwiga…to know that I have hurt you in such a way…it’s unforgiveable,” he stammered throatily. I could tell that he had taken him an enormous amount for him to say these things. “I won’t blame you if you don’t forgive me. I may never forgive myself.”

“Wow, Alfie,” I had said dryly, “that’s the closest you’ve ever said ‘I love you’ to me.”

“I know.” I had heard the wince in his voice. The Alfie Kimball I was talking to on the phone was completely different from the one who had found me in his study. “But…Jadwiga…I just want you to know…” He had taken a deep breath here, as though steeling himself up for a challenge – “I’m not going to tell anyone, so you can come back to Bristale. You can do what you think is right. And, if I can, I’m going to try to stop the wrongful treatment of—of the chouzhiw.” He had forced himself to use the word: his pronunciation was poor and unwilling, but I knew he had done it for my benefit.

“The gozhon will never listen,” I had replied coldly. “Or they’ll think it’s a publicity stunt. It isn’t, is it?”

“Of course not,” he had exclaimed, hurt. “Jadwiga, I mean it. You’re my daughter, and I…trust your judgment. I guess that, for once, I’m admitting that I was wrong.”

“Thank you, Alfie,” I had said stiffly. “I sincerely hope that things can change.”

“…J?” Kylee’s sharp voice wrought me back to the present. “Did you find out who killed Jingis?”

“No,” I lied, mournful for all the wrong reasons. “I’m so sorry, Kylee. I tried to find out, but I—I guess it wasn’t even a planned attack. The policewoman just came across Jingis, and….” I swallowed, eyes full. “I…tried, Kylee.”

She sighed heavily, looking down at the open newspaper on her lap, grimness on her features. “Right. I know, J. I get it.”

“You never know, though,” I said hopefully, in a tone that did not reflect how I felt. “Times are changing. Chouzhiw may get their freedom yet.” I believed what I said; however, my stomach was still squirming from the untruths I had to state.

Kylee gave a snort of disbelief. “Yeah, right. Okay, J. Just keep on believing that.”

“I will,” I responded forcefully. “Uh…listen, Kylee…”

She looked up, an innocent face on, one that sparked so much in me that I fiercely regretted speaking my next words:

“I—I don’t know if I can do this anyone,” I said hurriedly, heart quickening.

“J, what are you talking about?” she asked, forehead creased with a frown. “I – Look, this is the only mission you haven’t been able to complete, and if the names are not on the record, then it’s impossible to expect you to find them – ”

“No, Kylee. I just…want out,” I muttered, not looking her in the eye. As I spoke, I heard her folding up her paper. “For years I’ve been fighting fire with fire. If I continue much longer, I’m gonna get burned. We all are.”

Kylee stood up, tossing the newspaper aside. She was not angry. “Well…I guess I get your point. It’s all over, anyhow.”

“Wh-what?”

“We’re not gonna be violent anymore,” explained Kylee, her voice heavy. “It worked at first, but none of us can grow up telling our kids not to fight when, you know….Anyways, we had a big meeting when you were away, and we decided that the…well, the attack on Jingis’ killers would be our last job, but we can’t do that one anyways.” There was no accusation in her tone, to my enormous relief. “We’re going to do more peaceful things instead. Marches and protests and so on. If they arrest us, then so be it. I’d rather go to jail for sticking up for chouzhiw than anything else.”

“Me too,” I said softly. “I…I just don’t know how much longer I can do this, Kylee, honestly.”

She held up a hand, shaking her head to indicate that I needn’t go on. “No, I get it, J, I really do.” She dropped her arm. “Well…what are you going to do now?”

“The same thing you’re doing,” I replied, “except differently. I’ll be trying to organize peaceful protests. Seriously, I did some thinking, and this is the war of my parents’ generation. As each year progresses, humans hate chouzhiw less and less. We don’t get why we need to hate them.”

She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. “I can tell you did a lot of thinking. You included yourself when talking about oppressive humans. I can still use the word ‘gozhon’ around you, can’t I?”

I put my hands on my hips, hair falling into my eyes. “Are you kidding me? Do you think I’m going to the other side?”

She shook her head. “No. I just don’t want you backing out because you’re ashamed to be friends with me.”

“I’m not,” I said forcefully, almost angrily. “I love you and Hankie and Jingis. None of you are humans, although you deserve every single right granted to them. I think that, by now, you’d know that I know that.”

“I do know that,” she whispered, dropping her arms, looking helpless and defenseless. “This is just so stressful. Jingis was always there, and now…”

“…he’s not,” I finished for her. “But let’s continue on, okay? We can’t just sit around and wait for instructions.”

“I know, I know. We’ve got to do what we can. We gotta think for ourselves and all.” She smiled. “Sounds like something Jingis would say.”

I smiled back, shaking my head. “No. It’s something you would say.”

“Thank you, J.” Her smile was sincere and kind; it was as though it had been created specifically for me and me alone, to encompass the whole world’s love. “I’ve been so stressed over this whole thing. I didn’t tell anyone, but I thought you had died when you didn’t come to the meeting.”

“The…oh, right.” I nodded. “I haven’t checked my mail since before I left. I really am sorry. I needed the time off, anyhow.”

Kylee shrugged. “Well, you look good. Better than I last saw you, that is.”

“Thanks.”

We were quiet for a moment, then Kylee said, “Well…I guess this is the part where we say our farewells.”

“I certainly hope you fare well,” I told her, “but I’m not saying ‘goodbye’ just yet, Kylee. One day, I’ll tell Alfie and Aria that I’m rooming with Kylee Marr – not Chelsea Ghent – and they won’t care.”

Kylee smirked. “Okay. I’ll wait for that day, even if it’s on our deathbeds.”

“It won’t be.”

“Okay.” A short pause. “Do you want to wait around till Hank comes back?”

I shook my head hurriedly. “No, Kylee, no. I dunno…I just don’t know if I’d be able to leave if I said goodbye to even more people.”

“Then don’t leave!” she exclaimed hopefully.

“Kylee…you don’t understand.” I sighed heavily. “Well, you don’t right now, but I have a feeling you will, one day.”

She sighed as well. “Okay, fine. I get what you mean.”

We hugged, briefly but firmly, and I left that isolated little cabin, deep in the throng of trees, not returning to it, and my friends, for several years.

OoO

That was three Aprils ago. As time wore on, I noticed significant changes: Trina Rote was not reelected when elections rolled around; there was a new mayor – Frank Ruben – and he passed a law saying the deaths of chouzhiw should be treated like the deaths of humans: with respect to the body and soul. Frank Ruben took on an anonymous advisor, a slightly older man who had helped mayors past. They began advocating for equal rights, even going to the president of Bristale to explain the theory that, if hadus, olastrons, and plumeriae were granted equal rights, then they would stop killing the humans who hurt them (all I can say is that it took them long enough to figure that one out). The true problem, in my opinion, is that gozhon viewed chouzhiw as animals, as unfeeling, primitive, soulless beings. It was going to be tough changing that view, but it was going to happen, one way or another.

Kylee suspected that I had something to do with these changes, but I never confirmed her suspicions. All I told her was that, if the world (or only Bristale, on this occasion) saw that one person had the courage to stand up to what was wrong, then everyone else would.

By February of 2113, it was declared that hurting, provoking, or harassing a chouzhiw would receive the same punishment as hurting, provoking, or harassing a human. People were not allowed to discriminate against potential employees or coworkers if they were not human; this caused a fair amount of outrage on the behalf of the gozhon, but the President cleverly pointed out that chouzhiw were proven to be dedicated, hard workers, subsequently increasing a company’s profits. The schools were still segregated, but I had hope that that would be abolished.

Things changed, all right. They certainly improved for the chouzhiw, even though many heartless gozhon saw this as society falling apart.

In September of 2113, I unloaded my Lethal for the first time since I had gotten it. It was so symbolic, I had to smile: I was storing away my violent past, and finally believing that I would never have to encounter it again.

And, that very day, I sat down at my computer in the tiny flat I was renting by myself. It was in the same neighborhood as Olivier and Aldric; I was now friends with them and a couple of their friends; I fully planned to one day trust Olivier with my secret past, once it was considered okay to support the chouzhiw in such a way and I would be pardoned. Sometimes there would be awkward moments between the two of us, simultaneously remembering the life we could have built together, but those grew less and less frequent as time wore on.

At my computer, I pulled up the Internet and navigated to a Search Engine, doing something I should have done long ago. I typed in “Rassit University” and found my way to its homepage. After a few moments, I found the page I was looking for: the application.

I was going to take Dylan Toronto’s advice, and I was going to apply to Rassit University. Maybe I would get in, maybe I wouldn’t. Either way, I was doing something else with my life that would later make me proud.

‘Finally,’ I thought with a grin as I printed out the application, trying to form ideas of what my essay would be on, ‘I have been exulted.’

---

Thus ends Rebellion Movement. I'm pretty happy with it, except I don't know how much I like the ending. Tell me if I should change it or not.

I have 3 or 4 stories I'm working on now. 2 of them are in the same series, roughly based around the devshirme tax that the Ottomans imposed upon those they conquered (but set in an alternate world); the next is Mundane Pinnacle, about a prince having to regain his country after a coup is staged; the other is Sallea Bowtaa, about a girl going on a grand journey to restore her gods. There's a big surprise at the end of Sallea Bowtaa, one which I don't think anyone expected...but I'm putting it in all the same.

So that's 4 books. Cool.

Thanks,

E.B. Keane-Farrell