The edges of my eyes pulled tight and scratchy. Fulfilling that urge to scratch, or even simply rubbing the skin, made the ache worse. I told myself it was because of the crying. Seriously, my running was getting scarily impressive. I'd bolted nearly the whole way to my hut, only slowing in the last third of the stretch. The exhaustion naturally hit me when I arrived where I spent at least an hour letting my tears flow without resistance. For one brief moment, the thought of turning myself in flittered about alluringly. If all I was going to experience was these miseries no matter how hard I tried, how much worse could letting the government control my fate truly be?
Then, as I remarked on how coldly most of the members of the 'family' treated me, Tulip's words stuck on me the most. I was not weak-willed, useless, or pampered. I'd been getting the hang of this kind of life. Why give up and prove her right? All I'd have to do was be a bit more creative in overcoming certain obstacles. Lying, possibly bribing, shouldn't be too hard to get someone old enough to buy me medicine. There were plenty of other homeless people in the city too. Having been avoiding them, perhaps taking the risk to befriend some allies wasn't actually that risky after all. I laid there on the bench at the tiny pond's tiny dock forcing myself to ignore the fact that the redness of my eyes was my sickness and letting the warmth of the sun be my blanket this morning as I contemplated if I'd seen any of those people enough to trust approaching them.
I got up and began walking when the hardness of the bench put even more ache into my body by pressing unforgivingly on my muscles. Three stales cookies left from that event at the park were my meal, a far cry from the delight Mrs. Sun whipped up the previous day. She lingered in the back of my mind as I wandered here and there trying to figure out what I should do. So much of my days were wasted sitting around waiting for the schools to let out. There were projects I could begin considering since I still had the twenty something dollars gained from yesterday, but that didn't help me now. I took different, quiet paths hoping something might suddenly come to mind. What did end up happening was one of those quiet roads leading me to a bridge. A bridge that I recognized. It'd been part of what I'd seen when in Mr. Flaxen's car. The road right ahead was the path he'd brought me here on.
Stopping and staring, the anger that bubbled in my chest roiled up without warning. A ridiculous thought came to mind. If I followed that road, could I somehow find my home? Could I walk back to the place where I'd lived peacefully for ten years? I knew, of course, that I couldn't. The highways we drove on were closed to pedestrians, and finding the house's location didn't mean peace would return. I'd been betrayed, manipulated, and lied to. Everything that made my life right was smashed. The name chosen for my lies belonged to my sister, my twin I'd never gotten to know because the one who tucked me into bed faking he loved me put a bullet in her tiny head. Grandpa hadn't tried to save her. He even let dad do all those things to mom. Then I'd been forced into the care of a cold, horrible man. Such all led to the one who claimed our meeting was fated throwing me away to save his own skin.
"At least I can fix one thing," I grumbled to myself as my destination became set.
I stomped bitterly all the way to that yellow, red, and gray house. It only occurred once I rang the bell that the two might have left for work, but the sound of someone's approach calmed the worry as quickly as it came. My back straightened and my shoulders pushed back proudly when Mrs. Sun opened the door and peeked out.
"Oh, Cinnamon," she remarked, surprised but also, curiously, kind. "What are you doing here?"
"I want to talk to Mr. Sun," I demanded.
"Hold on just a moment. He's been wanting to speak to you as well."
"He wants to yell at me, I'm sure," I mumbled bitterly underneath my breath when she closed the door. Only a brief moment passed before both members of the couple stood before me there on that tiny porch.
"Cinnamon, I'm glad you came. I truly want to─"
"I didn't steal from you," I interrupted with a snap. "You must have put that money somewhere else. It was not on the nightstand. I worked really hard to help you, and all you did was turn around and accuse without probably even looking for proof! I'm not going to accept that, so I'm going to stand right here until you find the money and apologize!"
I folded my arms, glared up at the two adults, and tried not to waver. This was not me at all. The anger was what made me dare be so bold, and with how Mr. and Mrs. Sun stared at me with shock, confusion, and sympathy the confidence began to slip fast.
"I...uh..." Mr. Sun frowned, perplexed. "Cinnamon, I'm not sure what's going on here. You...you are right. I had moved the bill to my wallet from the nightstand and forgot about it, but when I realized my mistake I called Leo right away. I told him I was deeply sorry for jumping to a conclusion as I assumed it'd gotten you into trouble unfairly. He said he was going to fix the situation, but...did he not say anything?"
"Oh..." I whispered. That slipping anger vanished instantly. Mr. Sun had made that second call after Leo kicked me out, but with me being his foster daughter being a lie it wasn't like he could actually fix anything. I'm sure Leo never anticipated me coming back here, so now I had to work in another lie. "When I got in so much trouble for something I didn't do, I might have...ran away. Leo likely hadn't realized I was gone with you spoke with him again."
"You ran away?" Mrs. Sun gasped while Mr. Sun hung his head in guilt. She smiled warmly though, pushing back her increased shock and gentle alarm. "Dear, let me give you a ride home then. You should go back right away. I'm sure Leo and Coral are worried sick."
"I should go back, but I can go myself. Thanks!"
Knowing I couldn't accept that ride, I bolted with all my might once again even as Mr. and Mrs. Sun called after me to wait.
I ran and ran and ran until certain the couple wouldn't think to rush to their car to pursue me. At the very least, they would have a near impossible time tracking me if they did. A car couldn't weave through trees and go straight down bends like a pair of well-kept running legs could. However, my mad speed didn't last as long as it had yesterday. The previous sprint and my sickness left me worn, and the emotion wasn't there either. The main road sloping down into the city proper became my slowing point where I contemplated what I actually wanted from here. I'd gotten what I'd wanted quickly with making sure Mr. and Mrs. Sun didn't consider me a thief and Leo knowing, but, honestly, how could I be keen on returning to the warehouse this easily? Coral and Jessamine had been okay, and Coriander and Gravel hadn't been mean. Unfortunately, the rest of the group I wasn't fond of at all. Leo surely knew how to lie to trick Mr. and Mrs. Sun if they tried to check up on me. Wasn't that what the story of being foster kids was all for? All Leo had to say was I'd been sent home or put with someone else.
"But..."
I stopped to catch my breath. To survive, I had to be logical. Leo might allow me back. If my ideas worked right, I would make so much money once my debt was paid off. The warehouse was the better place for me this winter than whatever I could rush together for my hut. If I didn't like the rest of who lived there, well, I'd just leave them be. They couldn't be worse than the people I'd called family so far.
With that being the case, I worked my way to the warehouse. A few odd looks came my way. I think I did worry too much about people seeing me out and about while school was in session as the vast majority of crowds I passed clearly couldn't care less about me. Those who did ponder for a moment still couldn't be bothered to follow or perhaps excused the curiosity away. Maybe they thought school was off for some reason. Maybe I was home-schooled. Regardless, I held my head high and walked with purpose to cast off the sparse suspicions.
The windy morning drenched me with the salty, humid rush of sea water long before I rounded the bend towards the old wharf. My nerves began to bunch when the warehouse did come into view. Hesitation slowed my pace, but that I couldn't see anyone loitering around the building granted me courage. Jessamine said one person stayed behind to watch the place. Everyone must have left. Hopefully, she or Coral were on watch. All the doors were locked save the side one facing away from the other operating buildings. Despite me slipping in as quietly as possible, my presence was noticed immediately.
"Cinnamon," Leo spoke. He stood on the second floor, having been leaning against the railing. Waiting for me, perhaps?
"Hi," I replied drolly.
"Would you come up here?" he ignored my tone.
I obeyed, although I would have rather had the conversation with the floor between us. Leo had seemed fine too, but he'd discarded me quickly even when I put a rational argument before him to plead my case. Honestly, if I had taken that money, why would I have come back so casually? Had I come off as that stupid? I made my way slowly determined not to tell him anything of me going to see the Suns. I wanted to get his reaction without him knowing that I returned alert of my innocence. The last thing I expected him to do when I stood before him once more was Leo lifting my face up gently to place his fingers against my slightly swollen throat and feel the fever in my forehead.
"Your cold is starting to get worse again," he spoke more to himself.
"Please don't just touch me as you like," I commanded wearing a dry, unblinking stare.
"Sorry." He folded his hands behind his back. "I just worried about your condition, and I wanted to check how you were doing."
"You're not really worried about me being ill though. You tossed me out pretty easily last night knowing I was still sick," I rolled my eyes.
"I acted hastily, that is true. The rules here are strict though. There is no lenience, or else everything falls apart. I learned that quite well when there was lenience given starting this place up. People took advantage of the forgiveness, and it wouldn't be fair if forgiveness is given in one case but not in all."
"You say that, but you didn't tell me to leave even though I came back when you banned me from here," I pointed out.
Leo gave me a look, and I swore there was a hint of a smile tilting his lips.
"Don't try to be smart and condescending acting like you don't know why I let you back in. I got another call from Mr. Sun not long ago with him and his wife in a panic because you showed up at their house where they told you the truth only for you to admit you 'ran away' and then dashed off alone."
Dang it. There was that tactic ruined. Most of the hardness in my expression dropped.
"I just wanted to see how you would treat me, not thinking you knew that. You wouldn't even listen to what I had to say. I know I was new, but clearly seniority doesn't make a difference considering Pieter's actions and how he lied. Or do you still believe him over me?"
"After I got the second call last night, I brought Pieter to my room where it didn't take much for him to admit his deception. He does not usually disobey orders or lie to us. It is why I believed him over you. He is out there searching for you today instead of getting to work."
"You're not going to kick him out?" I crossed my arms. "I thought you didn't tolerate thieves and liars."
"You were kicked out for the supposed theft. Lying isn't punished quite so harshly. Anyone who lies just gets, well, punished. Trust me when I say Pieter has earned plenty of that."
"I don't know if I do trust you," I admitted.
"That's understandable, and I didn't expect any different. I doubt any of us here genuinely open ourselves up that much to each other, save for Coral and me."
"Hmm," I mumbled, shrugging.
"Since you and I haven't built back up a neutral relationship, let me take the chance as I can see the lingering resentment in your eyes to say you do not smell very good. Pick out your cleanest outfit, and I'll do what I can to wash the rest while you bathe. We have a working bathtub in the one room over here. I'll get you some more medicine too, free of charge. The two of us can talk more after that."
"That's fine," I agreed, ignoring the slightest insult.
I would do anything for a warm bath and clean clothes right now.
The bathing room was awkwardly combined with one of the bedrooms. Leo explained one of the founding members of the group had the plumbing know-ho to tap a few pipes onto one of the other working pipes nearby. The water couldn't get all that warm, but lukewarm remained better than cold river water. Apparently, there'd been a toilet in here at some point. The plumbing for that had broken though, and the person who'd set it up had left the group by that point. The numbers of the group had then increased. Extra sleeping space was needed, which was why two beds had been shoved in the room. Bathing had to be scheduled ahead of time or done quickly when it was your day to keep the warehouse watched.
"I could fall asleep so easily right now, although that's probably because of the medicine," I said to the rubber duck toy.
Leo permitted me use of some of Coral's bubble bath. The duck was the first friendly face I'd seen in a long time. Squishing it and dunking it under the water to watch it shoot back up kept me engaged enough to not accidentally fall asleep. Seriously, the medicine hit me hard. It didn't help I hadn't gotten much rest last night either. I washed my hair twice, scrubbed myself good, and then simply relaxed until the tepid water went too tepid. Leo surely didn't mean for me to take so long, but he needed time to wash my clothes, right?
When the bubbles became nothing more than a layer of foam was when I carefully got out. My head buzzed with that sleepiness, and the room didn't have the best means to absorb the water dripping off of me. I didn't want to make a mess. My cleanest clothes that still weren't that clean went on me while I kept my bookbag firmly stuck on my back. I had to be more careful in easing up around─
"Are you hungry?" Leo found me quickly when I stepped out of the room.
In his hands were two paper plates each with a sizable sandwich on them. Peanut butter and jelly, from the distinct smell of them. I nodded, took my plate, and followed Leo to the couch he motioned us towards where I shoved the meal into my face as fast as I could. Sweet, strawberry jelly delightfully touched my tongue. I preferred it over grape.
"It's good you have an appetite. Means your health isn't doing too bad. Try to eat a little slower though, huh? You don't want to upset your stomach," Leo chuckled lightly.
"Mmm," I mumbled through the food in my mouth. I forced myself to do as he suggested.
"Coral and I try to give everyone the best diet possible. It's hard to make quality food here without electricity and a kitchen, however, so she and I make meals at our apartment to bring. They last for a day or so in the ice box we keep in our room."
"'ou have an aparffmenth?" I wondered in confusion, the peanut butter messing up my words.
"Yeah, a really simple and cheap one. We needed a proper address to get jobs, and we sleep there enough to make sure our neighbors don't grow suspicious."
"Yet 'ou shill come here?"
"It's hard to step away from this place when it's been our everything since we were not much older than you. Not that I imagine Coral and I leading the place forever. We'll want something normal at some point. At the very least, we need another adult to take our place. Jessamine is likely to get the spot, but Tulip might do as well."
I frowned but stayed silent. Talking bad of the others didn't feel the best course of action when my residence here remained shaky. However, Tulip in charge sounded like a nightmare. I imagined her telling Jessamine and Pieter to dump me somewhere had she been controlling the reins when they brought me in.
"And what has brought you into this kind of life?" Leo pressed.
"Um, huh?" I questioned, caught off guard. I swallowed hard the peanut butter stuck on my tongue.
"What's your story? You don't have to go into deep detail," he added upon noticing my hesitation. "With our kind of lives, there's clearly painful things we don't want to talk about. I care to know so we can more specifically not push those sensitive matters, actually."
"My...dad and grandpa were incredibly shady people," I began slowly and timidly, contemplating how much to reveal without making too obvious my connection to the information given to the public about my identity. "Dad forced mom to have me and killed her after I was born. He grew up telling me lies about that and pretty much everything. Grandpa went along with it all. Then they finally got arrested, and I...I just didn't have anywhere to go or anyone to turn to. I don't trust the police and where they might put me."
"I'm sorry to hear that, and I understand your fear. Me living in a bunch of bad foster homes after my druggie parents lost custody is why I ran away. Well, why Coral and I ran away. She was my foster sister at the time."
"Why was she in the system?"
"Her grandparents who were raising her both developed severe cases of Alzheimer's, and she had no other family."
"I see," I said somberly as I went for another bite only to find my sandwich all gone.
"You can have some more to eat in a bit," Leo chuckled louder this time. "How about you take a nap while that sandwich settles to make sure you aren't going to get nauseous first?"
"I can do with a nap," I agreed.
The little talk with Leo numbing my distrust, I convinced myself to take my backpack off and slip it underneath the bed he showed me to instead of sleeping with it on. Leo explained there weren't enough beds for everyone. If I stayed, two people now had to use the sleeping bags and couches on the balcony for the night. There was something of a system where those who earned the most money got bed privilege, but he and Coral had everyone rotate enough so the same people didn't always have to be on the couch. I would get this bed for tonight as part of the apology for being unfairly kicked out.
But, anyway, boy did my nap turn into an all day snooze. I wonder if I would have slept all day and straight through the night had the noise of another person about not instantly pop my eyes open. My paranoia and awareness remained that strong despite my exhaustion and the medication.
"Oh, wow, you woke up fast," Pieter spoke, sheepishly stopping a foot or two away from the bed.
"What do you want?" I huffed, hurriedly sitting up and tossing back the covers.
"Leo asked me to wake you since you're due to take your next dose and have some more to eat and drink."
"So obedient," I mocked. "Do you just pretend to be good when it's convenient so you can lie with full trust when you need to?"
"It was really wrong what I did, and I never had the intention to see you be kicked out. How was I to know Mr. Sun would make such a mistake?"
"Oh, shut up! What bullshit is that? Sure, you didn't know he'd make that mistake when you took off, but when Leo asked you for the truth you knew then the consequences you lying would have for me! You stood right there as he forced me away and said nothing!"
"I..." he faltered. "I'm sorry."
"No, you're not!"
"I am! Honest! I'm sorry, Nutmeg!"
My breath already inhaled deep to press back against his nonsense, the air caught and froze in my lungs. Realization of what'd come from his mouth crackled my blood to ice. In the lingering silence, Pieter also jerked lightly noticing what he'd done. He didn't appear overly concerned though.
"...W-What?" I stammered. "What did you call me?"
"Okay, I guess I have more to fess up," he sighed. "There's this old guy at the park who can't see very well. I read the newspaper to him on my way to 'school' for a bit of money. Lots of articles for a time centered around that Spreading Roots company, two arrested men, and a missing little girl. I recognized you from the pictures the first time I saw you. You're Nutmeg Mountain. Not Cinnamon Holiday."
I dropped off the bed in a flash reaching for my bookbag.
"Hey. Hey! You don't have to leave," Pieter reassured as he caught my arm and stood me up.
"Let me go!"
"I mean it, you don't have to leave!"
"Why not?" I brushed his grip off.
"I'm not going to tell anyone. I swear it. I like you, and the last thing I want to do is make you hate me more. Besides, no one else here will care that you're a bit more of a famous runaway. Yesterday wasn't a very good example, but we don't betray each other or blab on one another."
"You can't say something doesn't happen when you admitted in the same sentence that that very thing happened."
"It's all me, okay? I messed up, and I did something bad! I'm sorry. Please don't let it make you think the same way of everyone else."
Letting my trapped breath release slowly, I eyed Pieter hard. His pleading stare was genuine as was the guilt wrinkling his face.
"You promise you won't tell?" I prompted sternly.
"I promise it with all my heart. I mean, Leo...he keeps up with the news too. It's possible he, maybe even Coral, already knows as well. It's not something you need to worry about here."
Pieter didn't falter despite me increasing the harshness of my glare. In fact, he smiled.
"Now you're happy?" I scoffed.
"Well, a little. You've stopped trying to run out. I take that as you trusting me a enough to reconsider staying. I'm optimistic it'll mean you'll forgive me."
"That'll take some time. You caused grief when I was already uncertain, and I'm sure if I want to stay it means my debt is going to come back. Leo─"
"Didn't tell you?" Pieter interrupted.
"Tell me what?"
"Part of my punishment is me having to pay back all your debt. If you, hopefully, choose to stay, I also have to cover any money you can't make towards rent until you get the hang of things. I've also lost bed rights for a week."
"Oh. No, he didn't tell me that. He just said you'd been punished plenty, and all that does sound like a lot."
"A bit, but it won't be too bad in the long run. I make enough money, I guess. Should only take a few weeks to come up clean," Pieter said.
He clearly hid the soft despair by how he glanced away and nervously scratched his head. My stare on him was now curious and contemplative.
"Pieter?"
"Hmm?"
"Why did you recruit me? You seemed to care a lot only to let me be cast aside so quickly."
"I...it's a lot of reasons, I suppose," he mumbled.
"Which are?"
"Having read those articles, I was curious about you. The kind of questions I could ask someone who lived a life like you did! Then I felt bad for you. I know what it's like to be uncared for by a parent. This place has helped me a lot. When there was the chance to bring you along, I thought I could help you the same way. I...I also thought, I do still think, you're really cute..."
"You think I'm cute?" I repeated. Only dad and grandpa had called me cute. I didn't know how to react to those words coming from someone else's mouth.
"Mmm," Pieter mumbled with light embarrassment.
He shifted even more nervously, and his awkwardness and truthfulness now did ease off many of the negative emotions clamoring around in my chest.
"I'll forgive you some for right now. I'm still somewhat angry with you," I revealed.
"That's okay," he accepted quickly.
Words not feeling like enough, I took a step to wrap Pieter into a tight squeeze. Now it was his turn to freeze up.
"What are you doing?" he wondered incredulously.
"It's called a hug."
"I know, but...we don't really do this here."
"Aren't you guys family?"
"We call each other that, but we don't consider our relationships as deep as that."
"Well, people need hugs and affection. That's how I grew up, and that's how I'm going to keep it."
"You will stay then?"
"For the winter, at least. We'll go from there."
"Great," Pieter smiled before wriggled away. He pulled something from his pocket and proudly gave it to me. "You were seriously sleeping for a long while. I came back, Leo let me know about everything, and then I had time to go to Mr. and Mrs. Sun's house. They wanted you to have this."
It was the fifty dollar bill.
"I can't─"
"They were insistent. It's to make up the troubles they caused you."
"O...Okay then." I took it humbly with warm cheeks tinted darker.
I didn't bother putting the bill away. Pieter came with me to find Leo and Coral where I handed the money over, explained its existence, and successfully paid for a week at the warehouse. Coral filled me up by handing over a bowl of spaghetti and sauced heated up with a battery run portable burner. More medicine came, but it thankfully didn't fuzz my mind with sleepiness like the last dose did. I wanted to curl back up in bed regardless. Pieter, however, motioned me to follow him outside where a lot of the others were.
"Welcome back," Coriander smiled at me as we approached.
"Hi."
"I still don't get why she was let back in," Skylar frowned, glancing around.
"Because Mr. Sun made a mistake, and Pieter lied. It's as simple as that," Coriander explained with a tone that didn't permit argument.
"Also, if you have a question about my situation...maybe just ask me? It's not very nice to ask around me like I'm not even here," I rebuked.
"Maybe I wanted─"
"Skylar, she's right. I know the situation with Rose created a lot of gaps of trust, but it's not fair to take that out on Cinnamon," Coriander cut him off.
"Who is Rose? What happened with her?" I asked.
There was a intense moment of hesitation, even from Coriander who brought the whole thing up. Vaguely mentioning it was clearly fine, but, like Leo had said to me, it was the specific details that got everyone shutting their words down.
"She was a girl about Jess and Tulip's age who'd been living here for a while. About a year. She was pretty nice and worked hard, but she had some stuff going on up here," Jam finally answered, tapping his head. "Leo and Coral had connections allowing them to get access to the prescription medications she needed to be okay. Then the people who controlled the medicine's production decided to increase the drug's price by an insane amount so they could make more money."
"Was that the abirazone scandal? I remember hearing about that."
It'd been one of the current events I'd done for Mr. Mint, actually. The story I followed closely in comparison to other events I researched. The Scarlet Dawn office was, in fact, working on an affordable generic version of abirazone, and they'd been on the verge of helping to rework scam-like laws that prevented their generic versions and other companies' generic drugs from being offered to patients. Then the raid happened.
"That was it," Skylar continued to story. "Rose kept trying so hard despite not having as much medication as needed, so Leo and Coral bent over backwards doing what they could to get the medicine despite the already high price being higher since they were obtaining it illegally. Then..."
"Then?"
"Rose's lies came to light. She didn't have mental problems at all. She worked for crafty drug dealers who sent her to infiltrate and steal our resources. Basically, she was the source of her own medicine. Rose never used what Leo and Coral bought. She gave it back to her suppliers who resold it to Leo and Coral time and time again. A large amount of their money went right into her pocket."
"That's despicable," I frowned.
"Tulip was the one who figured it out. She followed Rose and overheard enough of the truth to put the pieces together. Then she alerted the situation to some of the cops on our side here. Rose and the drug dealers were caught, and I think she ended up in juvie. This was about three months ago."
A few things felt more understandable now. It was true people like us were prone to not trusting quickly, and then to have such a big backstab having happened recently...it was no wonder the next new girl to follow Rose's destruction hadn't been met with open arms. Jam then half shoved Skylar to start a game of tag Pieter joined in. The boys weren't fond of the heavy atmosphere. Their messing around had to be a coping mechanism to push back or avoid the tension. Perhaps it was why Jam and Skylar ignored me yesterday. Not that the 'family's' actions being understandable meant I excused them.
"So, Cinnamon, huh? It's nice to meet you. We didn't get to talk yesterday," Coriander said.
"It's nice to meet you too, Coriander."
"You can call me Cori."
"Okay," I smiled.
"I'm glad you came back and everything worked out. It was disheartening to come here this morning hearing of the misunderstanding and how you'd been chased out."
"You didn't stay the night?"
"All of us have a bit different of a situation. Comparatively, my home life isn't the worst. I'm not in any real danger or true abuse. The others fighting and yelling just gets to be too much sometime, and my parents don't bother to check in on me when I stay at a 'friend's' house several nights a week. I do actually go to school too. It's why I don't have as much time to work. Leo and Coral give me a lesser rent though considering I also don't use as many resources."
"That's, comparatively, good then. It's nice to hear not everything is so depressing."
However, that smiled I frowned dropped the opposite direction.
"So, your nickname is Cori. Want to help me think of one for me so Tulip and Cinnamon can be bitches slightly less?"
"They haven't been fair to you, I know. Tulip has always had an acceptable amount of suspicion towards anyone who comes in, but Rose had become a close friend of hers. The betrayal struck her hard."
"Like you said, it doesn't give her a right to take it out on me."
"I know, but..." Coriander smiled sadly. "She won't want me to tell you this. However, we try not to hide from each other. We give at least enough to understand, so you should know something. Tulip has had one of the hardest lives. Leo told us what you told him while you were sleeping. He said your father had forced himself onto your mother?"
I nodded.
"That kind of stuff happened to Tulip starting from when she was little. First by her father, and then by the others who gave him money for the chance. Her mother walked out when she found out so she couldn't get in trouble for what was happening instead of trying to help. Tulip eventually found the strength to confess to a teacher and got put into the foster system. Sadly, like most everyone else here, the system did not give her the help she needed. Leo found her hiding at night at one of the construction sites he was working on at the time. She's been here since she was eleven."
"That is really heartbreaking," I admitted quietly, to which Coriander nodded.
"The only people she's taken to right away are people who've been hurt like her. Like Cinnamon. She ran away as soon as it happened to her. She's been here two years. Tulip protects her like a precious little sister."
"You say the two don't have any sort of real home like you do, but I noticed the two are wearing really nice clothes."
"Ah, that's..." Coriander hesitated. "Some people who are hurt like Tulip and Cinnamon have been never want anything to do with intimacy from then on, or at least not for a long while. In Tulip's case, she feels that choosing to still be intimate isn't any sort of loss in her book since she's had the desensitization."
"She's...she's a prostitute?" I guessed after a moment of figuring out what Coriander was implying.
"In a sense, maybe. She just has a select few sugar daddies who treat her well enough to the standards she demands. Leo and Coral don't like it, but they don't interfere with any of our choices as long as we don't break the rules. Tulip just has to work two or three times a week, and I'm pretty sure she makes more than Leo and Coral combined. She pays for Cinnamon so she doesn't have to do any work at all. The two spend most afternoons shopping, going to spas, or doing other fun stuff," Coriander shrugged.
From there, I lost any clue how to continue the conversation. Thank goodness for Pieter, Jam, and Skylar deciding to dart amongst the old, rusty cars piled nearby. Coriander moved away to rebuke them for risking getting a scratch and get tetanus. Coriander and I dropped any sort of mention of Tulip, Cinnamon, and what they'd been through when he returned. We talked mostly of how this year was his last year of high school and how he'd found a nice but cheap college he hoped to attend.
Then he excused himself to go do his homework. I walked inside the warehouse only to spot a figure of pink and one of brown, and a, perhaps, naive version of me figured something would be different if I talked to Tulip and Cinnamon now. I should have walked away when they stopped their cheerful conversation to glare at me like I was the devil.
"What?" Tulip snapped at me daring to step in front of them.
"I just wanted to say hello," I tried not to let my voice waver.
"Why?" Cinnamon questioned incredulously with a sneer. "You know we don't like you."
"It's that─" I began. My words instantly silenced. Coriander said it plainly that Tulip wouldn't like that him telling me what the two had been through.
"Don't bother starting something if you're not going to follow through," Tulip then huffed and rolled her eyes to lure it out anyway.
"It's that...I was talking to Cori, and he happened to tell me a little about you two. He said there should be a basic understanding between everyone here. So, when he told me, I just...I'm sorry about what happened. To both of you. I can't imagine what it must have been like."
I was caught off guard again when Tulip laughed, high and sharp.
"You speak an apology as if you have any right to give one. You had nothing to do with what happened, and Cinny and I care no way for your pity."
I bit my lower lip. Yeah, I should have known this would be this way. I should have just walked away.
"I was hoping we might just be able to talk a little better now. At the very least, maybe we could agree to ignore each other," I explained softly.
"You're clearly regretting this conversation now, so you should have known how stupid both of those ideas are," Cinnamon denied.
"Indeed. How would knowing what we've been through change anything? You don't know what it was like. Only your mother would, according to what Leo told us. She's the one I wish I could talk to. I feel sorry for her losing her life for a child she probably wanted nothing to do with."
"Yeah, I'm sure you're right about that," I agreed so quickly without hesitation it through Tulip off for the briefest of seconds. It gave me enough time to say one more thing. "I don't see why we can't decide to ignore one another."
"I told you─ you haven't seen the proper cruelty of this world. If you want to live here, you have to hold fast and prove you want it despite the opposition."
"I don't think that's how Leo and Coral mean for this place to work, regardless of what happened with Rose," I fought back tartly enough to make Tulip's eyes narrow more. "You think I'll stand by idly while you treat me like crap?"
"You'll only prove us right if you do. You will be nothing more than that pampered child running to mommy and daddy," Cinnamon said haughtily.
My fingers shook slightly as my muscles tightened and my mouth went dry. She wasn't wrong. I held my breath at Tulip stepping closer to tower over me.
"You want us to leave you alone? Then earn our respect by sucking it up until we decide you're worthy enough, bitch."
I said nothing. Just held still, now a frightened rabbit in front of the dragon Tulip was as she once again briskly walked away with her head held high and Cinnamon closely on her heels.
Stopping and staring, the anger that bubbled in my chest roiled up without warning. A ridiculous thought came to mind. If I followed that road, could I somehow find my home? Could I walk back to the place where I'd lived peacefully for ten years? I knew, of course, that I couldn't. The highways we drove on were closed to pedestrians, and finding the house's location didn't mean peace would return. I'd been betrayed, manipulated, and lied to. Everything that made my life right was smashed. The name chosen for my lies belonged to my sister, my twin I'd never gotten to know because the one who tucked me into bed faking he loved me put a bullet in her tiny head. Grandpa hadn't tried to save her. He even let dad do all those things to mom. Then I'd been forced into the care of a cold, horrible man. Such all led to the one who claimed our meeting was fated throwing me away to save his own skin.
"At least I can fix one thing," I grumbled to myself as my destination became set.
I stomped bitterly all the way to that yellow, red, and gray house. It only occurred once I rang the bell that the two might have left for work, but the sound of someone's approach calmed the worry as quickly as it came. My back straightened and my shoulders pushed back proudly when Mrs. Sun opened the door and peeked out.
"Oh, Cinnamon," she remarked, surprised but also, curiously, kind. "What are you doing here?"
"I want to talk to Mr. Sun," I demanded.
"Hold on just a moment. He's been wanting to speak to you as well."
"He wants to yell at me, I'm sure," I mumbled bitterly underneath my breath when she closed the door. Only a brief moment passed before both members of the couple stood before me there on that tiny porch.
"Cinnamon, I'm glad you came. I truly want to─"
"I didn't steal from you," I interrupted with a snap. "You must have put that money somewhere else. It was not on the nightstand. I worked really hard to help you, and all you did was turn around and accuse without probably even looking for proof! I'm not going to accept that, so I'm going to stand right here until you find the money and apologize!"
I folded my arms, glared up at the two adults, and tried not to waver. This was not me at all. The anger was what made me dare be so bold, and with how Mr. and Mrs. Sun stared at me with shock, confusion, and sympathy the confidence began to slip fast.
"I...uh..." Mr. Sun frowned, perplexed. "Cinnamon, I'm not sure what's going on here. You...you are right. I had moved the bill to my wallet from the nightstand and forgot about it, but when I realized my mistake I called Leo right away. I told him I was deeply sorry for jumping to a conclusion as I assumed it'd gotten you into trouble unfairly. He said he was going to fix the situation, but...did he not say anything?"
"Oh..." I whispered. That slipping anger vanished instantly. Mr. Sun had made that second call after Leo kicked me out, but with me being his foster daughter being a lie it wasn't like he could actually fix anything. I'm sure Leo never anticipated me coming back here, so now I had to work in another lie. "When I got in so much trouble for something I didn't do, I might have...ran away. Leo likely hadn't realized I was gone with you spoke with him again."
"You ran away?" Mrs. Sun gasped while Mr. Sun hung his head in guilt. She smiled warmly though, pushing back her increased shock and gentle alarm. "Dear, let me give you a ride home then. You should go back right away. I'm sure Leo and Coral are worried sick."
"I should go back, but I can go myself. Thanks!"
Knowing I couldn't accept that ride, I bolted with all my might once again even as Mr. and Mrs. Sun called after me to wait.
I ran and ran and ran until certain the couple wouldn't think to rush to their car to pursue me. At the very least, they would have a near impossible time tracking me if they did. A car couldn't weave through trees and go straight down bends like a pair of well-kept running legs could. However, my mad speed didn't last as long as it had yesterday. The previous sprint and my sickness left me worn, and the emotion wasn't there either. The main road sloping down into the city proper became my slowing point where I contemplated what I actually wanted from here. I'd gotten what I'd wanted quickly with making sure Mr. and Mrs. Sun didn't consider me a thief and Leo knowing, but, honestly, how could I be keen on returning to the warehouse this easily? Coral and Jessamine had been okay, and Coriander and Gravel hadn't been mean. Unfortunately, the rest of the group I wasn't fond of at all. Leo surely knew how to lie to trick Mr. and Mrs. Sun if they tried to check up on me. Wasn't that what the story of being foster kids was all for? All Leo had to say was I'd been sent home or put with someone else.
"But..."
I stopped to catch my breath. To survive, I had to be logical. Leo might allow me back. If my ideas worked right, I would make so much money once my debt was paid off. The warehouse was the better place for me this winter than whatever I could rush together for my hut. If I didn't like the rest of who lived there, well, I'd just leave them be. They couldn't be worse than the people I'd called family so far.
With that being the case, I worked my way to the warehouse. A few odd looks came my way. I think I did worry too much about people seeing me out and about while school was in session as the vast majority of crowds I passed clearly couldn't care less about me. Those who did ponder for a moment still couldn't be bothered to follow or perhaps excused the curiosity away. Maybe they thought school was off for some reason. Maybe I was home-schooled. Regardless, I held my head high and walked with purpose to cast off the sparse suspicions.
The windy morning drenched me with the salty, humid rush of sea water long before I rounded the bend towards the old wharf. My nerves began to bunch when the warehouse did come into view. Hesitation slowed my pace, but that I couldn't see anyone loitering around the building granted me courage. Jessamine said one person stayed behind to watch the place. Everyone must have left. Hopefully, she or Coral were on watch. All the doors were locked save the side one facing away from the other operating buildings. Despite me slipping in as quietly as possible, my presence was noticed immediately.
"Cinnamon," Leo spoke. He stood on the second floor, having been leaning against the railing. Waiting for me, perhaps?
"Hi," I replied drolly.
"Would you come up here?" he ignored my tone.
I obeyed, although I would have rather had the conversation with the floor between us. Leo had seemed fine too, but he'd discarded me quickly even when I put a rational argument before him to plead my case. Honestly, if I had taken that money, why would I have come back so casually? Had I come off as that stupid? I made my way slowly determined not to tell him anything of me going to see the Suns. I wanted to get his reaction without him knowing that I returned alert of my innocence. The last thing I expected him to do when I stood before him once more was Leo lifting my face up gently to place his fingers against my slightly swollen throat and feel the fever in my forehead.
"Your cold is starting to get worse again," he spoke more to himself.
"Please don't just touch me as you like," I commanded wearing a dry, unblinking stare.
"Sorry." He folded his hands behind his back. "I just worried about your condition, and I wanted to check how you were doing."
"You're not really worried about me being ill though. You tossed me out pretty easily last night knowing I was still sick," I rolled my eyes.
"I acted hastily, that is true. The rules here are strict though. There is no lenience, or else everything falls apart. I learned that quite well when there was lenience given starting this place up. People took advantage of the forgiveness, and it wouldn't be fair if forgiveness is given in one case but not in all."
"You say that, but you didn't tell me to leave even though I came back when you banned me from here," I pointed out.
Leo gave me a look, and I swore there was a hint of a smile tilting his lips.
"Don't try to be smart and condescending acting like you don't know why I let you back in. I got another call from Mr. Sun not long ago with him and his wife in a panic because you showed up at their house where they told you the truth only for you to admit you 'ran away' and then dashed off alone."
Dang it. There was that tactic ruined. Most of the hardness in my expression dropped.
"I just wanted to see how you would treat me, not thinking you knew that. You wouldn't even listen to what I had to say. I know I was new, but clearly seniority doesn't make a difference considering Pieter's actions and how he lied. Or do you still believe him over me?"
"After I got the second call last night, I brought Pieter to my room where it didn't take much for him to admit his deception. He does not usually disobey orders or lie to us. It is why I believed him over you. He is out there searching for you today instead of getting to work."
"You're not going to kick him out?" I crossed my arms. "I thought you didn't tolerate thieves and liars."
"You were kicked out for the supposed theft. Lying isn't punished quite so harshly. Anyone who lies just gets, well, punished. Trust me when I say Pieter has earned plenty of that."
"I don't know if I do trust you," I admitted.
"That's understandable, and I didn't expect any different. I doubt any of us here genuinely open ourselves up that much to each other, save for Coral and me."
"Hmm," I mumbled, shrugging.
"Since you and I haven't built back up a neutral relationship, let me take the chance as I can see the lingering resentment in your eyes to say you do not smell very good. Pick out your cleanest outfit, and I'll do what I can to wash the rest while you bathe. We have a working bathtub in the one room over here. I'll get you some more medicine too, free of charge. The two of us can talk more after that."
"That's fine," I agreed, ignoring the slightest insult.
I would do anything for a warm bath and clean clothes right now.
The bathing room was awkwardly combined with one of the bedrooms. Leo explained one of the founding members of the group had the plumbing know-ho to tap a few pipes onto one of the other working pipes nearby. The water couldn't get all that warm, but lukewarm remained better than cold river water. Apparently, there'd been a toilet in here at some point. The plumbing for that had broken though, and the person who'd set it up had left the group by that point. The numbers of the group had then increased. Extra sleeping space was needed, which was why two beds had been shoved in the room. Bathing had to be scheduled ahead of time or done quickly when it was your day to keep the warehouse watched.
"I could fall asleep so easily right now, although that's probably because of the medicine," I said to the rubber duck toy.
Leo permitted me use of some of Coral's bubble bath. The duck was the first friendly face I'd seen in a long time. Squishing it and dunking it under the water to watch it shoot back up kept me engaged enough to not accidentally fall asleep. Seriously, the medicine hit me hard. It didn't help I hadn't gotten much rest last night either. I washed my hair twice, scrubbed myself good, and then simply relaxed until the tepid water went too tepid. Leo surely didn't mean for me to take so long, but he needed time to wash my clothes, right?
When the bubbles became nothing more than a layer of foam was when I carefully got out. My head buzzed with that sleepiness, and the room didn't have the best means to absorb the water dripping off of me. I didn't want to make a mess. My cleanest clothes that still weren't that clean went on me while I kept my bookbag firmly stuck on my back. I had to be more careful in easing up around─
"Are you hungry?" Leo found me quickly when I stepped out of the room.
In his hands were two paper plates each with a sizable sandwich on them. Peanut butter and jelly, from the distinct smell of them. I nodded, took my plate, and followed Leo to the couch he motioned us towards where I shoved the meal into my face as fast as I could. Sweet, strawberry jelly delightfully touched my tongue. I preferred it over grape.
"It's good you have an appetite. Means your health isn't doing too bad. Try to eat a little slower though, huh? You don't want to upset your stomach," Leo chuckled lightly.
"Mmm," I mumbled through the food in my mouth. I forced myself to do as he suggested.
"Coral and I try to give everyone the best diet possible. It's hard to make quality food here without electricity and a kitchen, however, so she and I make meals at our apartment to bring. They last for a day or so in the ice box we keep in our room."
"'ou have an aparffmenth?" I wondered in confusion, the peanut butter messing up my words.
"Yeah, a really simple and cheap one. We needed a proper address to get jobs, and we sleep there enough to make sure our neighbors don't grow suspicious."
"Yet 'ou shill come here?"
"It's hard to step away from this place when it's been our everything since we were not much older than you. Not that I imagine Coral and I leading the place forever. We'll want something normal at some point. At the very least, we need another adult to take our place. Jessamine is likely to get the spot, but Tulip might do as well."
I frowned but stayed silent. Talking bad of the others didn't feel the best course of action when my residence here remained shaky. However, Tulip in charge sounded like a nightmare. I imagined her telling Jessamine and Pieter to dump me somewhere had she been controlling the reins when they brought me in.
"And what has brought you into this kind of life?" Leo pressed.
"Um, huh?" I questioned, caught off guard. I swallowed hard the peanut butter stuck on my tongue.
"What's your story? You don't have to go into deep detail," he added upon noticing my hesitation. "With our kind of lives, there's clearly painful things we don't want to talk about. I care to know so we can more specifically not push those sensitive matters, actually."
"My...dad and grandpa were incredibly shady people," I began slowly and timidly, contemplating how much to reveal without making too obvious my connection to the information given to the public about my identity. "Dad forced mom to have me and killed her after I was born. He grew up telling me lies about that and pretty much everything. Grandpa went along with it all. Then they finally got arrested, and I...I just didn't have anywhere to go or anyone to turn to. I don't trust the police and where they might put me."
"I'm sorry to hear that, and I understand your fear. Me living in a bunch of bad foster homes after my druggie parents lost custody is why I ran away. Well, why Coral and I ran away. She was my foster sister at the time."
"Why was she in the system?"
"Her grandparents who were raising her both developed severe cases of Alzheimer's, and she had no other family."
"I see," I said somberly as I went for another bite only to find my sandwich all gone.
"You can have some more to eat in a bit," Leo chuckled louder this time. "How about you take a nap while that sandwich settles to make sure you aren't going to get nauseous first?"
"I can do with a nap," I agreed.
The little talk with Leo numbing my distrust, I convinced myself to take my backpack off and slip it underneath the bed he showed me to instead of sleeping with it on. Leo explained there weren't enough beds for everyone. If I stayed, two people now had to use the sleeping bags and couches on the balcony for the night. There was something of a system where those who earned the most money got bed privilege, but he and Coral had everyone rotate enough so the same people didn't always have to be on the couch. I would get this bed for tonight as part of the apology for being unfairly kicked out.
But, anyway, boy did my nap turn into an all day snooze. I wonder if I would have slept all day and straight through the night had the noise of another person about not instantly pop my eyes open. My paranoia and awareness remained that strong despite my exhaustion and the medication.
"Oh, wow, you woke up fast," Pieter spoke, sheepishly stopping a foot or two away from the bed.
"What do you want?" I huffed, hurriedly sitting up and tossing back the covers.
"Leo asked me to wake you since you're due to take your next dose and have some more to eat and drink."
"So obedient," I mocked. "Do you just pretend to be good when it's convenient so you can lie with full trust when you need to?"
"It was really wrong what I did, and I never had the intention to see you be kicked out. How was I to know Mr. Sun would make such a mistake?"
"Oh, shut up! What bullshit is that? Sure, you didn't know he'd make that mistake when you took off, but when Leo asked you for the truth you knew then the consequences you lying would have for me! You stood right there as he forced me away and said nothing!"
"I..." he faltered. "I'm sorry."
"No, you're not!"
"I am! Honest! I'm sorry, Nutmeg!"
My breath already inhaled deep to press back against his nonsense, the air caught and froze in my lungs. Realization of what'd come from his mouth crackled my blood to ice. In the lingering silence, Pieter also jerked lightly noticing what he'd done. He didn't appear overly concerned though.
"...W-What?" I stammered. "What did you call me?"
"Okay, I guess I have more to fess up," he sighed. "There's this old guy at the park who can't see very well. I read the newspaper to him on my way to 'school' for a bit of money. Lots of articles for a time centered around that Spreading Roots company, two arrested men, and a missing little girl. I recognized you from the pictures the first time I saw you. You're Nutmeg Mountain. Not Cinnamon Holiday."
I dropped off the bed in a flash reaching for my bookbag.
"Hey. Hey! You don't have to leave," Pieter reassured as he caught my arm and stood me up.
"Let me go!"
"I mean it, you don't have to leave!"
"Why not?" I brushed his grip off.
"I'm not going to tell anyone. I swear it. I like you, and the last thing I want to do is make you hate me more. Besides, no one else here will care that you're a bit more of a famous runaway. Yesterday wasn't a very good example, but we don't betray each other or blab on one another."
"You can't say something doesn't happen when you admitted in the same sentence that that very thing happened."
"It's all me, okay? I messed up, and I did something bad! I'm sorry. Please don't let it make you think the same way of everyone else."
Letting my trapped breath release slowly, I eyed Pieter hard. His pleading stare was genuine as was the guilt wrinkling his face.
"You promise you won't tell?" I prompted sternly.
"I promise it with all my heart. I mean, Leo...he keeps up with the news too. It's possible he, maybe even Coral, already knows as well. It's not something you need to worry about here."
Pieter didn't falter despite me increasing the harshness of my glare. In fact, he smiled.
"Now you're happy?" I scoffed.
"Well, a little. You've stopped trying to run out. I take that as you trusting me a enough to reconsider staying. I'm optimistic it'll mean you'll forgive me."
"That'll take some time. You caused grief when I was already uncertain, and I'm sure if I want to stay it means my debt is going to come back. Leo─"
"Didn't tell you?" Pieter interrupted.
"Tell me what?"
"Part of my punishment is me having to pay back all your debt. If you, hopefully, choose to stay, I also have to cover any money you can't make towards rent until you get the hang of things. I've also lost bed rights for a week."
"Oh. No, he didn't tell me that. He just said you'd been punished plenty, and all that does sound like a lot."
"A bit, but it won't be too bad in the long run. I make enough money, I guess. Should only take a few weeks to come up clean," Pieter said.
He clearly hid the soft despair by how he glanced away and nervously scratched his head. My stare on him was now curious and contemplative.
"Pieter?"
"Hmm?"
"Why did you recruit me? You seemed to care a lot only to let me be cast aside so quickly."
"I...it's a lot of reasons, I suppose," he mumbled.
"Which are?"
"Having read those articles, I was curious about you. The kind of questions I could ask someone who lived a life like you did! Then I felt bad for you. I know what it's like to be uncared for by a parent. This place has helped me a lot. When there was the chance to bring you along, I thought I could help you the same way. I...I also thought, I do still think, you're really cute..."
"You think I'm cute?" I repeated. Only dad and grandpa had called me cute. I didn't know how to react to those words coming from someone else's mouth.
"Mmm," Pieter mumbled with light embarrassment.
He shifted even more nervously, and his awkwardness and truthfulness now did ease off many of the negative emotions clamoring around in my chest.
"I'll forgive you some for right now. I'm still somewhat angry with you," I revealed.
"That's okay," he accepted quickly.
Words not feeling like enough, I took a step to wrap Pieter into a tight squeeze. Now it was his turn to freeze up.
"What are you doing?" he wondered incredulously.
"It's called a hug."
"I know, but...we don't really do this here."
"Aren't you guys family?"
"We call each other that, but we don't consider our relationships as deep as that."
"Well, people need hugs and affection. That's how I grew up, and that's how I'm going to keep it."
"You will stay then?"
"For the winter, at least. We'll go from there."
"Great," Pieter smiled before wriggled away. He pulled something from his pocket and proudly gave it to me. "You were seriously sleeping for a long while. I came back, Leo let me know about everything, and then I had time to go to Mr. and Mrs. Sun's house. They wanted you to have this."
It was the fifty dollar bill.
"I can't─"
"They were insistent. It's to make up the troubles they caused you."
"O...Okay then." I took it humbly with warm cheeks tinted darker.
I didn't bother putting the bill away. Pieter came with me to find Leo and Coral where I handed the money over, explained its existence, and successfully paid for a week at the warehouse. Coral filled me up by handing over a bowl of spaghetti and sauced heated up with a battery run portable burner. More medicine came, but it thankfully didn't fuzz my mind with sleepiness like the last dose did. I wanted to curl back up in bed regardless. Pieter, however, motioned me to follow him outside where a lot of the others were.
"Welcome back," Coriander smiled at me as we approached.
"Hi."
"I still don't get why she was let back in," Skylar frowned, glancing around.
"Because Mr. Sun made a mistake, and Pieter lied. It's as simple as that," Coriander explained with a tone that didn't permit argument.
"Also, if you have a question about my situation...maybe just ask me? It's not very nice to ask around me like I'm not even here," I rebuked.
"Maybe I wanted─"
"Skylar, she's right. I know the situation with Rose created a lot of gaps of trust, but it's not fair to take that out on Cinnamon," Coriander cut him off.
"Who is Rose? What happened with her?" I asked.
There was a intense moment of hesitation, even from Coriander who brought the whole thing up. Vaguely mentioning it was clearly fine, but, like Leo had said to me, it was the specific details that got everyone shutting their words down.
"She was a girl about Jess and Tulip's age who'd been living here for a while. About a year. She was pretty nice and worked hard, but she had some stuff going on up here," Jam finally answered, tapping his head. "Leo and Coral had connections allowing them to get access to the prescription medications she needed to be okay. Then the people who controlled the medicine's production decided to increase the drug's price by an insane amount so they could make more money."
"Was that the abirazone scandal? I remember hearing about that."
It'd been one of the current events I'd done for Mr. Mint, actually. The story I followed closely in comparison to other events I researched. The Scarlet Dawn office was, in fact, working on an affordable generic version of abirazone, and they'd been on the verge of helping to rework scam-like laws that prevented their generic versions and other companies' generic drugs from being offered to patients. Then the raid happened.
"That was it," Skylar continued to story. "Rose kept trying so hard despite not having as much medication as needed, so Leo and Coral bent over backwards doing what they could to get the medicine despite the already high price being higher since they were obtaining it illegally. Then..."
"Then?"
"Rose's lies came to light. She didn't have mental problems at all. She worked for crafty drug dealers who sent her to infiltrate and steal our resources. Basically, she was the source of her own medicine. Rose never used what Leo and Coral bought. She gave it back to her suppliers who resold it to Leo and Coral time and time again. A large amount of their money went right into her pocket."
"That's despicable," I frowned.
"Tulip was the one who figured it out. She followed Rose and overheard enough of the truth to put the pieces together. Then she alerted the situation to some of the cops on our side here. Rose and the drug dealers were caught, and I think she ended up in juvie. This was about three months ago."
A few things felt more understandable now. It was true people like us were prone to not trusting quickly, and then to have such a big backstab having happened recently...it was no wonder the next new girl to follow Rose's destruction hadn't been met with open arms. Jam then half shoved Skylar to start a game of tag Pieter joined in. The boys weren't fond of the heavy atmosphere. Their messing around had to be a coping mechanism to push back or avoid the tension. Perhaps it was why Jam and Skylar ignored me yesterday. Not that the 'family's' actions being understandable meant I excused them.
"So, Cinnamon, huh? It's nice to meet you. We didn't get to talk yesterday," Coriander said.
"It's nice to meet you too, Coriander."
"You can call me Cori."
"Okay," I smiled.
"I'm glad you came back and everything worked out. It was disheartening to come here this morning hearing of the misunderstanding and how you'd been chased out."
"You didn't stay the night?"
"All of us have a bit different of a situation. Comparatively, my home life isn't the worst. I'm not in any real danger or true abuse. The others fighting and yelling just gets to be too much sometime, and my parents don't bother to check in on me when I stay at a 'friend's' house several nights a week. I do actually go to school too. It's why I don't have as much time to work. Leo and Coral give me a lesser rent though considering I also don't use as many resources."
"That's, comparatively, good then. It's nice to hear not everything is so depressing."
However, that smiled I frowned dropped the opposite direction.
"So, your nickname is Cori. Want to help me think of one for me so Tulip and Cinnamon can be bitches slightly less?"
"They haven't been fair to you, I know. Tulip has always had an acceptable amount of suspicion towards anyone who comes in, but Rose had become a close friend of hers. The betrayal struck her hard."
"Like you said, it doesn't give her a right to take it out on me."
"I know, but..." Coriander smiled sadly. "She won't want me to tell you this. However, we try not to hide from each other. We give at least enough to understand, so you should know something. Tulip has had one of the hardest lives. Leo told us what you told him while you were sleeping. He said your father had forced himself onto your mother?"
I nodded.
"That kind of stuff happened to Tulip starting from when she was little. First by her father, and then by the others who gave him money for the chance. Her mother walked out when she found out so she couldn't get in trouble for what was happening instead of trying to help. Tulip eventually found the strength to confess to a teacher and got put into the foster system. Sadly, like most everyone else here, the system did not give her the help she needed. Leo found her hiding at night at one of the construction sites he was working on at the time. She's been here since she was eleven."
"That is really heartbreaking," I admitted quietly, to which Coriander nodded.
"The only people she's taken to right away are people who've been hurt like her. Like Cinnamon. She ran away as soon as it happened to her. She's been here two years. Tulip protects her like a precious little sister."
"You say the two don't have any sort of real home like you do, but I noticed the two are wearing really nice clothes."
"Ah, that's..." Coriander hesitated. "Some people who are hurt like Tulip and Cinnamon have been never want anything to do with intimacy from then on, or at least not for a long while. In Tulip's case, she feels that choosing to still be intimate isn't any sort of loss in her book since she's had the desensitization."
"She's...she's a prostitute?" I guessed after a moment of figuring out what Coriander was implying.
"In a sense, maybe. She just has a select few sugar daddies who treat her well enough to the standards she demands. Leo and Coral don't like it, but they don't interfere with any of our choices as long as we don't break the rules. Tulip just has to work two or three times a week, and I'm pretty sure she makes more than Leo and Coral combined. She pays for Cinnamon so she doesn't have to do any work at all. The two spend most afternoons shopping, going to spas, or doing other fun stuff," Coriander shrugged.
From there, I lost any clue how to continue the conversation. Thank goodness for Pieter, Jam, and Skylar deciding to dart amongst the old, rusty cars piled nearby. Coriander moved away to rebuke them for risking getting a scratch and get tetanus. Coriander and I dropped any sort of mention of Tulip, Cinnamon, and what they'd been through when he returned. We talked mostly of how this year was his last year of high school and how he'd found a nice but cheap college he hoped to attend.
Then he excused himself to go do his homework. I walked inside the warehouse only to spot a figure of pink and one of brown, and a, perhaps, naive version of me figured something would be different if I talked to Tulip and Cinnamon now. I should have walked away when they stopped their cheerful conversation to glare at me like I was the devil.
"What?" Tulip snapped at me daring to step in front of them.
"I just wanted to say hello," I tried not to let my voice waver.
"Why?" Cinnamon questioned incredulously with a sneer. "You know we don't like you."
"It's that─" I began. My words instantly silenced. Coriander said it plainly that Tulip wouldn't like that him telling me what the two had been through.
"Don't bother starting something if you're not going to follow through," Tulip then huffed and rolled her eyes to lure it out anyway.
"It's that...I was talking to Cori, and he happened to tell me a little about you two. He said there should be a basic understanding between everyone here. So, when he told me, I just...I'm sorry about what happened. To both of you. I can't imagine what it must have been like."
I was caught off guard again when Tulip laughed, high and sharp.
"You speak an apology as if you have any right to give one. You had nothing to do with what happened, and Cinny and I care no way for your pity."
I bit my lower lip. Yeah, I should have known this would be this way. I should have just walked away.
"I was hoping we might just be able to talk a little better now. At the very least, maybe we could agree to ignore each other," I explained softly.
"You're clearly regretting this conversation now, so you should have known how stupid both of those ideas are," Cinnamon denied.
"Indeed. How would knowing what we've been through change anything? You don't know what it was like. Only your mother would, according to what Leo told us. She's the one I wish I could talk to. I feel sorry for her losing her life for a child she probably wanted nothing to do with."
"Yeah, I'm sure you're right about that," I agreed so quickly without hesitation it through Tulip off for the briefest of seconds. It gave me enough time to say one more thing. "I don't see why we can't decide to ignore one another."
"I told you─ you haven't seen the proper cruelty of this world. If you want to live here, you have to hold fast and prove you want it despite the opposition."
"I don't think that's how Leo and Coral mean for this place to work, regardless of what happened with Rose," I fought back tartly enough to make Tulip's eyes narrow more. "You think I'll stand by idly while you treat me like crap?"
"You'll only prove us right if you do. You will be nothing more than that pampered child running to mommy and daddy," Cinnamon said haughtily.
My fingers shook slightly as my muscles tightened and my mouth went dry. She wasn't wrong. I held my breath at Tulip stepping closer to tower over me.
"You want us to leave you alone? Then earn our respect by sucking it up until we decide you're worthy enough, bitch."
I said nothing. Just held still, now a frightened rabbit in front of the dragon Tulip was as she once again briskly walked away with her head held high and Cinnamon closely on her heels.
I enjoyed this chapter. I'm eager to see how things work out for Nutmeg.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to have gotten to this part of her story. The idea for this generation actually came about from a discussion WAY back when on the official Sims 3 forums. One of my frequent posters and I were debating the different ways Ethereal's generation could have happened, and one of those ideas was what would happen if Ethereal found herself alone having to find ways to survive in the world. Such is why there's many common parallels between Ethereal and Nutmeg.
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