Something wasup.
Brisk’s eyebrows were furrowed, showing he suspected somethingtoo.
Was their dad sick? Tatum said they’d had a rough night the other night. Or maybe her mom had finally gotten sick of this life for her daughter and was making herquit.
The second Brisk put the car into Park, I jumped out and beelined right forthem.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Now that I was closer, I could see Tatum was near tears, biting her bottom lip to keep from crying. She had a scrape near her eye and her wrist wasbandaged.
What thehell?
“Who hurt you!” I shouted with more venom than I meant to. I’d killthem.
She recoiled slightly, and her mom sighed. “Go on, honey. Tellher.”
Annie, her little sister, was all of maybe eight or nine years old, and was nuzzled into her mother’s side. Diane was a hefty woman, didn’t take any shit and would do anything for her girls. I’d gotten her a receptionist job at the local academy after she’d stolen mygun.
Tatum stepped forward and tilted her chin up, trying to look strong. “Yesterday when I went to sleep, I went in the Dream Wars like usual, except this time… they could see me. I fought my way out and when I woke up, I got my period. I’m sorry but I won’t be able to work for youanymore.”
Oh God no.My heart broke, shattered in that moment. If my mental state was compromised before, it was absolutely screwed now. I was in that deep dark place I didn’t like to go to beforebed.
“Oh, Tate,” I breathed, opening my arms forher.
She fell into them sobbing as I met Diane’s eyes. She had that look, that desperate look a mother gets when she can’t protect her child from the evils of the world. I didn’t care about being badass or professional then, I just cried. I let those damn big, fat, girly tears fall down my cheeks, and the pain in my chest increased. Tatum now had a bull’s-eye on her head, an expiration date. She was food to the alien motherfuckers that had landed and taken our freedom ten yearsago.
No! I wasn’t going to let thathappen.
“Can I speak with you privately?” Dianeasked.
I nodded and released Tatum, only then realizing I’d been holding her too hard. She ran to Annie and they both went over to Ronnie, as Diane and I walked around to the side of their oldcar.
“You know our family relies on Tatum’s salary to get by,” she started, her cheeks flaming red. This woman was normally headstrong and proud, but I could see this was killing her. The sudden loss of income would make her desperate. I didn’t want them to be put out of their home, or unable to buy weapons because a girl got herperiod.
“I know. We’ll work something out. I love Tatum, you know that, right?” I didn’t want her to have to ask for a loan. I’d still pay her, I didn’t care if Tatum couldn’t work for me anymore. I was trying to come up with an idea that would allow her to keep her pride when she spokeagain.
“I was thinking… I could pull Annie from school and homeschool her. It might take me a week or so to get her schedule to sleeping in the day, but maybe she could be your newwaker?”
Relief and anxiety poured through me in equal measure. She would be a good waker. She was young, so I could forge a connection with her and keep her for at least three years before she went through puberty. The bad part was that it took me weeks to form a mental bond close enough to be able to connect with her from the DreamWars.
I smiled. “She’s hired. I’ll start paying her as of today, since you’ll be starting her sleep training,right?”
The relief that washed over Diane’s face nearly made my tears comeback.
“Yes, absolutely.” Then she pulled me into an uncharacteristic hug. She was a tough broad, so it surprisedme.
I hugged her back, and then she pulled away and met my eyes. “Thank you.” This woman lived for her girls. Their dad was nice but he was useless. She ran theshow.
I nodded. “And I’m going to call the academy in the morning and get Tatum enrolled. She can sleep with us until she starts there and makes her own sleepteam.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Kit… are you sure? I mean, I would never ask that of you. I know how important your job is, and watching akid—”
“I insist.” Tatum was my little sister as far as I was concerned, and her mom could barely protect herself and her dad. They spent all of Tatum’s salary on weapons and ammunition that was more expensive than rent nowadays. Diane got laid off from the academy when she spent too much time away trying to care for the girls and homeschooling Tatum. The dad was a nice guy, got jobs here and there, but he was no real breadwinner. Tatum carried that family, and I wasn’t going to drop them. Diane was also a horrible dream band leader, pulling them into the Dream Wars every night near all of the chaos and death. She couldn’t be Zen before bed if she tried. If I asked him, Master Aki would train Tatum to control her thoughts, to be a good dream bandleader.
“Thank you,” she said a final time, and we walked out from behind thecar.
“Guess what, kiddo?” I called out toTatum.
She looked up at mesadly.
