Page 76 of The Brotherhood

He pointed to one of the nuns, raising her hand. “We have quite a few that are troubled,” she said gently. “About having one moredamnbody in the swamp,” she said, echoing the exact sentiment with a sweet laugh that didn’t reach her eyes. “They’re worried we can’t afford it and he’s quite vocal about it.”

“Doeshehave a name? So I can speak to him?” Jek asked.

Her face fell with fretful worry. “I don’t want to name names, I was—”

“Is it Mr. George?”

Her mouth froze at half open before she gave a little wincing nod.

“Mr. George has seen the worst of times,” Lazure explained. “I realize he’s not the only one uneasy about the growing numbers. I’ll pay him a visit and remind him we’re being strict in that regard.”

“I’m more worried about our folks who want to open the doors to all,” Bart said.

That earned a few sharper nods from the older men.

Bart said, “Let me remind everybody in here. Our borders keep us safe. We have the means to sustain ourselves, but onlybecause we planned for it. We take in everyone, we risk losing everything.”

“Sounds like we need more border security from what your report said.”

Jek’s eyes cut over to Lucas. The weight of the lockdown was hitting their teenagers probably the hardest.

Before Jek could answer, Luseah jumped in. “We get why the borders are shut, but we’re locked in too. And we’re all working just as hard as everybody else.”

That got a few low chuckles from the uncles.

“What you want, baby girl? A cinema? A shopping mall?”

Luseah angled him a pissed glare. “I run medical rounds with Patches. I know it’s valuable, and I’ve learned a lot. But there’s a lot of others my age that feel trapped and useless.”

“What ya thinkin’ angel?” Mah-Mah asked.

“I was thinking we need a… I don’t know, a young adult program. Give them a sense of purpose so trouble isn’t finding them while they’re twiddling their thumbs.”

Lucas grinned, chucking his thumb at her. “She speaks from experience.”

She shoved him. “Hey, webothdo, mutt.”

“Well, add our big girl to the roster,” Bart tossed. “Devise a plan and let me see it.”

She celebrated quietly with squeals of excitement that said she already had a full-fledged plan in place, at least in her head.

“What about you, Lucas?” Bart asked. “You got ayoungadultitch you need to scratch?”

“Hey, I’m happy to do as told.”

“But?” Zep chuckled.

“I just think maybe we should consider some kind of like…divisions, kind of like The Twelve have.”

“A coup!” Lazure cried, getting a lot of laughs.

“We could operate under the Hatch leaders,” Lucas said.

“You mean like the FBI or the CIA?” Zep wondered, chuckling.

“Maybe the SIA?”

“Oh, hell,” Lazure said. “You done got Savvie in on it. Yuh daddy’s gonna beat your ass, boy.”

---