“He’s trying to get us in trouble—”
“He’s our immigration officer!” April shouts. I knew it. He’s already getting his hooks in her. “It’s his job to help us!”
“It’s hisjobto protect this island from people like us. Don’t let him lie to you.”
Tom snaps his folder closed and rises from his seat, his usual hard scowl in place. “Two things can be trueat once, Ms. Hollins. For instance, this meeting has been both surprising and entirely predictable.”
“So you admit it? You’re trying to get rid of us?”
“No, I am not.” He slides his folder into a bag, the calm of his movements all the more enraging than yelling would be. “This sorry state of affairs requires no effort on my part. It’s a shame, Ms. Hollins. Upon meeting your sister, I wondered if I was mistaken in my estimation of your character. She’s been raised well, by some miracle. However…” He gestures at me. “It would seem my years of experience haven’t failed me. The fact that you rushed in here, assuming an adversarial situation when—”
“You locked me in a hospital room yesterday! You threatened to send me to jail! Don’t you bullshit me that you’re the good guy—”
“I don’t care what you think of me. I truly wish I knew how to help you, Ms. Hollins. But while some people are built for civilization…” He nods toward April, before looking back at me. “Some, tragic as it is, are not.”
“Fuck off! You have no idea who I am.”
“Please. This kind of stress isn’t good for your sister,” says Doctor Tremblay, rushing in belatedly. I glower at him. Yeah,I’mthe problem here. Raising a fuss, trying to protect April, that’s the problem. Not the bastard undermining us at every chance he gets.
“Please be aware that every demerit you receive will elongate the citizenship process by one year, Ms. Hollins,” says Tom. “And that should you obtain a third, your sanctuary status will be suspended and subject to review.”
“A third?”
“A third.” Tom puts his hat on and heads for the door, limping against his bad leg. “This conversation counts as your second.”
AT FIRST, APRILis furious with me. She doesn’t understand what I was reacting to, having spent her time on the island cocooned in the hospital. Once we’re outside, I explain demerits and how Tom penalized me for shooting Sid’s hand. At that, her indignation shifts.
“We can’t be citizens for a whole extra year because of aslingshot? That’s bullshit!”
I’m so relieved her allegiance is swinging back to my side. “Right?”
“Does that apply to both of us or just to you?” she asks.
“Um…” I dig our papers out of our bags to find an answer.
Until now, I hadn’t even realized that we each had a set—one for April, and one for myself. Both have the same column marked:lengthy unknown affiliation.A host of other reasons for possible demerits are listed, includinghoarding/unlawful possession of public resources and aggressive behaviour. That last must be what Tom is slapping me with now.
“Well, at least it will only be two years for me,” says April.
“Assuming he doesn’t stick us both with aggressive behaviour.”
“Why would he? I didn’t fire the slingshot. I didn’t yell at anyone in the hospital.”
“Because he’s a power drunk asshole.” Even as I say it, I’m not sure it’s true. Tom called Aprilwell-raised.He might be pissed with me, but would he want to ruin her life, too?
“It doesn’t matter. We’ve got the medicine, right? We’ll figure this out. Once you get a job, none of this will matter,” says April.
She carries herself with a chin-forward air. It’s so like the April of several months ago, I could cry. My sister is back. Sure, there are bags under her eyes and this new verve would vanish without her drugs, but it’s all I wanted. I don’t dare ruin it. I can’t steal hope from her when she’s finally caught hold of it.
So I don’t tell her about the measly pay of any job I can hope to get. She’ll find out soon enough and then…
And then maybe she’ll ask me to give up custody, too.
“By the way, what did you say to Tom?” I ask.
“Same as you. Told him I was born in the woods. All that stuff.”
Then she kept our story straight. We settled on what we planned to tell people once we reached Salt Spring ages ago, but it’s still a relief to know we didn’t botch it. “Good.”
