Page 9 of Anarchy
Chapter Four
Emma
“Do you want to go talk?” Lucy pulls away from me.
Nodding, I find myself unable to look away from her. I've only seen a couple of pictures of my mom, but they look like each other. Walking down the hall, we head back to the room the Mikey had taken me to.
"So, I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me," Lucy says as she looks over at me.
"Um…" I probably should, but I barely know her. The only thing we were taught about Lucy is that she was the worst kind of sinner. She abandoned everyone to live a life of sin.
"I'll tell you what, let's take this slow. I'll tell you a little bit about me, and if you have questions, you can chime in." I nod my head, I've had three days to think of what I would say to her, and I have nothing. "So I have been here since I left over ten years ago. I met someone when I came here, and we fell in love. I think you've met him, the boys all call him Whip. We have two children Ana is seven and Jimmy is five."
I look at her examining how different she seems than anyone else in the community, especially when she speaks about her family. Hearing about her kids only reminds me of my brothers and sisters, and the fact that now everyone is gone. None of this feels like reality it’s like I’m watching myself go through the motions without actually living them.
"I'm sure you had heard about me, or you wouldn't have known to look for me. What do you know?"
I shrug, not really wanting to repeat some of the things that had been said about her. “Much of the normal things with anyone who disagrees. They said you were a sinner, that you had turned to drugs and crime. They told us to pray for your soul because you would no longer be accepted into the eternal kingdom.”
She nods, and for a minute her mind seems to wander. Is she remembering being there? I used to think I could never relate to anyone when it came to my feelings about the community, but I feel like Lucy, and I have more in common than I know.
“I’m sure there will be time for us to get into the deep and uncomfortable talks but for now, I’d really just like to get to know you and maybe introduce you to some of the girls?” she arches an eyebrow at me as if she’s asking a question.
"That would be nice, I met one of them earlier, but I think she had me confused with someone else."
She looks over at Mikey as if asking who it was. "Tracy came by and brought her some clothes."
“Oh God, what did she call you?” Lucy asks shaking her head.
“Um…I think it was MJ.” I still have no idea where that even came from.
Lucy starts to laugh, "she's something else." Mikey and I look at each other in complete confusion. "When I first came here Tracy had nicknamed me Mary because of the whole pure, holy thing. So now that you've shown up, I should have anticipated you'd get close to the same nickname."
I can feel my whole face turning red as I avoid eye contact with Mikey. I like being around him, I'm not really sure why or what it is just yet. I think back to Issac, and as much as I cared about him, I didn't love him. For me, it was more that he was one of the kindest people I had ever met and I would have rather spent my days with my friend who was kind rather than with someone I was forced to be with. I don't know that I would even recognize love if I felt it.
I find myself wanting to talk to him, and get to know him. When he places a hand on me it's like that part of me comes alive. I feel like I could go to him for comfort if I needed it or guidance if I was lost. Which is crazy because I don't know him. The way he looked at me when I walked up to the gate is part of it. He wasn't supposed to let me in, but it was like he looked in my eyes and really saw me.
"Well, let's take a walk, and I can introduce you to the girls." She moves toward the door, and I follow her. Mikey walks next to me and once again his hand falls to my lower back. I don't jump at the contact like I thought I would. In fact when we enter the main room and his hand leaves me I miss the connection almost immediately.
I follow Lucy over to a group of girls, one of them is Tracy. She smiles at me as everyone else turns my way. “Hey, MJ.”
"Cut it Trace," Lucy says before she shoots her a look.
“I mean I’m just saying that she’s following in your footsteps Mary, even got herself a prospect like you did.” Tracy walks away with a laugh.
"Emma, this is Nikki, Jaz, Chrissy, and Becca." They all wave hello, but I'm pretty sure I won't remember their names in a few minutes. I can't stop staring because they are all gorgeous and I notice they have on jackets that match the men.
"Hey, welcome to crazy town," Jaz says with a smile.
Nikki walks up close to me, “if you’re even a little bit like your Aunt you don’t have anything to worry about.”
"Thanks." I offer her a smile, but I feel so uncomfortable.
“You just gonna stand there all night?” she looks behind me at Mikey. He doesn’t respond except by turning to walk away.
I look after him confused. Was he not supposed to stay with me? Were there rules about when he should be with me? Either way when he walks away all I want him to do is turn around.
I turn around to face the girls and Nikki is smiling at me. “Looks like you’re more like Lucy than I knew.”
