Page 36 of Enzo

She walked out laughing. "So, this is the way the two of you decide to get me back for playing tricks on you. We'll have none of it today." She took their hands and pulled them through the entrance.

"Nothing will happen, I promise." Her voice was low and soft, pitched so only the two of them would hear her.

Chapter Fourteen

Enzo and Ven visiblyrelaxed once they were through the door of the grocery store. Deja grabbed a cart and handed it over to Ven after she cautioned him that running wasn't allowed in the store. Her lips quirked up as he walked in front of them with a proud look on his face.

She reached out and took Enzo's hand as they walked through the store.

"Today we're going to go down every aisle. This way you'll see the different variety of products the store carries." They started with fruits and vegetables, adding a variety of food they had never tried before.

"How do you pay for your food, houses, and other needs?"

"Our ships use a standard metal on the inside which is considered valuable on this planet. For us, it is so common that everyone has it. We were able to sell some of it for large profits. Also, your Earth has an abundance of oil, but you don't seem to be able to locate it easily. We own several oil fields, more thanenough to take care of our needs, and a few of us run sideline businesses."

"So, you are integrating."

"Only recently. We expected every day to see one of our people come to retrieve us. As the years passed, we finally began to believe that no one would come for us."

She nodded and turned to look at Ven, who was holding a pack of diapers with a baby on the package.

"What's this?" he held them up for her to inspect.

"Those are diapers; we use them to help keep babies clean."

"Babies?" Ven was staring at the picture on the box.

"You know when a male and a female get together and have sex; then she gets pregnant. Nine months later they have a bouncing boy or girl." She gave the picture on the box a look. That baby was so cute, it made her biological clock scream, 'We need to start soon.'

"Forbidden," Ven dropped the box like it was burning him before looking around to see if anyone was converging on him.

"It's not forbidden here, Ven," Enzo said, placing his hand on his shoulder to help him pull himself together.

Ven gave Enzo a nod but refused to pick up the diapers. Deja picked them up and took them down the aisle, explaining the baby food as well as the different soaps and combs used on a baby.

When they walked down the aisle with the feminine products, she was the one to turn red in the face as she explained the female cycle and why they needed to use these products. Then she found herself explaining how life worked for the female on Earth.

"Didn't your mothers or sisters go through the same thing?"

"My mother didn't have any children except me. She was An Infertile."

"What's An Infertile?"

"The planet I lived on was over-populated, so with every new birth, both males and females are given a number. At the end of every month, there is a lottery. Every child that has a number drawn must be brought in to undergo the infertile process."

"How horrible," the very thought was making her ill that a planet could do that to its children.

"The infertiles are the privileged ones. They are allowed to live any life they choose with anyone they choose as long as their mate was also An Infertile. The fertile ones live a life in a dormitory where they are mated to several different spouses over their lifetime with only one objective: to produce as many children as possible." Ven's voice had taken on the quality of a narrator. There was no emotion in his voice.

"I would hate having my choices taken away from me, but I would also hate having my ability to have a child taken away. I have to say I'm happy I wasn't born on your planet." She was still holding Enzo's hand, so she squeezed it before she let go and gave Ven a hug.

"I'm bet your mom wasn't exactly happy to be pregnant." She said it low because someone had come into their aisle.

He nodded his head, agreeing with her.

"Deja? Deja Brown, is that you?"

When someone says your name like that, you know before you turn around that he or she isn't a friend. They may be a frenemy but not a friend. She turned around to see the face of one of the women who worked with her in the doctor's office. One who didn't lose her job.

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