To Save a City (Divergent/Eric) 2 of 3 COH Series

Chapter 91 (Eric's POV)

Jeanine intentionally argued and spoke out of turn at the last council meeting.  When Andrew mentioned the Factionless, I knew that something would happen.  She has an issue with the Factionless even being on a list for the priority of any food at all.  The moment the words were out of his mouth, she freaked out.  It's like a trigger for her—just like the Divergent.  She wants them all dead and she's close to adding Abnegation on this mental list of hers since she believes they support the two groups.  I wonder what she'd think if she found out I was one of them.  I'd probably be on her hit list—my wife, too. 
When she didn't wait for the end of the council meeting to see what happened, I knew she was up to something extreme.  We arrive at her office—Hosanna, Four and I.  We're greeted by Darlene. She leads us back to Jeanine's seated area. We all accept only bottled water. I'm concerned at this point that she'd be willing to poison anyone who gets in her way. Jeanine is on a call with someone using her office phone. She already sounds irate. She yells at the person on the other line and slams the phone onto the receiver.
She takes a deep breath, stands, and smooths out her dress as if nothing was wrong. She slowly meanders towards us and takes a seat, gracefully crossing her legs. Darlene confirms her request for a cup of milk tea and exits the room briefly. She comes back with the order quite promptly and dismisses herself without being asked. She must know the drill well.
Jeanine sips her tea and sets the mostly full cup down on the table between us all before speaking.
"So... can you believe that behavior at the council meeting?" she asks.
I've told them both I'll do my best to handle her. "I was surprised Mr. Prior put such an emphasis on the Factionless when there's a substantial need in the city to feed the factions," I reply smoothly.
"Disturbing, isn't it?" she asks. I nod in response.
"So, we've taken your route, Hosanna. It doesn't work. What would you suggest now?" my aunt says smugly.
"Well," Hosanna says pausing. She glances at me. "Erudite has been receiving more food, haven't they?" she asks softly.
"Yes, but Abnegation still is feeding the Factionless. I've looked over the numbers we've been sent," Jeanine says glancing at a stack of papers printed out beside her tea cup, no doubt the same we received on the census. "It looks like they haven't even counted all of Factionless and they outnumber Erudite. So they receive a larger portion of food than the doctors, scientists, and educators."
Hosanna nods. "I can see why you're upset about that," she frowns.
"Of course I'm upset. We spend years on our education and work hard while these bottom feeders eek by cleaning toilets and driving buses. Heck, some of them even sit on the streets and do absolutely nothing with their lives and receive more than my staff does. The Abnegation have made a mockery out of this city. I can't believe they've been distributing supplies based off a census from almost fifty years ago. It should be done annually or every few years at the very least," Jeanine says. She sits back and sips her tea again.
"You're right. This method doesn't seem fair for the portions received. What would you suggest we do?" Hosanna asks.
"I think that we shouldn't be providing for the dregs of society whatsoever," Jeanine states. "There should be no compromise."
We remain silent. Jeanine takes her spoon and slowly stirs her tea. It's as if the stirring, round and round, is like a system of gears turning in her head, pushing an idea into her mind. "The Abnegation are incompetent. They must be removed from power. We'll all still attend their meetings. We will find out exactly what their weaknesses are and bring them to light within the city. We'll make them look weak and unstable, make their true behavior come to light. They should not be the ruling class. They don't even know what they're doing. Did you see how quickly our ideas got used and benefited the city? Those that were starving are no longer, yet the cut is still small. We would do a better job," she says, an eerie almost maniacal look in her eyes.

*****

Hosanna and I enter our apartment after the meeting with Jeanine. She takes her holster off and sets it aside before slumping onto the sofa, putting her head in her hands. I join her and sit back. As I rub her shoulders a little, she lets out an exquisite sigh. She throws her head back. "What is wrong with her?" she croaks exasperatedly.
"I told you she's crazy," I state.
"Yeah, but... she seems like she really is. I can understand being upset about the portions, but why not talk it out? Why would she bicker with Andrew then plot to remove them? Does she have some real mental instability or something?" Hosanna questions.
"Possibly. I always joked that she was bi-polar but evil. Maybe she really is schizophrenic or has some type of mental psychosis. Her response to this is all preposterous," I say.
Hosanna sighs loudly. "What do we do? I like her... sometimes, but this behavior lately is insane. How did she ever get chosen as a leader?" she asks.
"She got rid of my mom," I reply sadly. "Don't forget she's capable of that and she has Lizzy. She's not a good person. She never was. As to what to do? I think we should keep a careful eye on her, hand over everything to Candor and let her hang herself."
"Maybe you're right. I guess I feel like everyone deserves a second chance. What she did to your parents was terrible, just like my dad. There has to be some sort of accountability for actions like that in this world," my wife responds. She leans back against the cushions on the couch and looks me in the eyes. She's frowning.
"Baby, not everyone can be saved," I say solemnly.
"I know but, wouldn't it be great if they could?" she whispers.
I smile sadly and kiss her forehead. My sweet wife, trying to save the world.

*****

We continue going to the council meetings. We suggest everything Jeanine requests but she refuses to even offer solutions. It's like she baiting them with serious problems she has an answer to and refuses to help. Everyone else offers up suggestions but Jeanine just watches and listens—thinking their advice isn't good enough.
We meet with her on Thursdays. Four has decided to help out as much as he can but he can't stomach being in Jeanine's office anymore. I don't blame him. Nothing is good enough for her and we just listen to her unfold idea after idea of her plans to eliminate this obstacle or that.
As time passes, her plan is slowly revealed to Hosanna and me. She wants Abnegation removed from power, that much is clear. She will continue to cause dissent through the papers published. She's using the council meetings as a way to pick apart the current Abnegation leadership. I truly believe they're trying to do good but I can see the public already following her slanted views. She believes they're incompetent and sites any mistake ever made as proof of their inability to lead.  She constantly complains about the supplies given to the Factionless.  She believes it's a waste of our resources and has articles published where she's been interviewed saying as much.  She speaks of how our supplies are drained on the Factionless and they do nothing to deserve them. 
She starts to speak about the Divergent in front of my wife one day. Hosanna remains silent for the most part.  She does ask a few questions about what they are and what kind of threat my aunt thinks they would cause. 
Jeanine explains that she believes the Abnegation are hiding them and they are a threat to the faction system.  They cannot be controlled like everyone else.  The serums don't work properly on them.  They can't fit into just one faction and they are a nuisance to our society and should be eliminated. 
The next words out of my aunt's mouth scare me more than anything I've ever heard in my life.  "Hosanna?  Are you with me on this?" Jeanine asks her very seriously. 
Hosanna takes a deep breath before responding.  "Some of what you've told me is new information.  I have heard of the Divergent before but never quite like you've explained.  I believe that if you want the city free from these type of people, then Eric and I will help to remove them," she responds quite evenly.
I try to breathe easy but I know I was holding my breath during that whole encounter.  I don't know how Hosanna did it but she's right.  We will remove any Divergent Jeanine asks us to.  We'll just move them out of the city, rather than execute them.

*****Thanks for reading! They're getting deeper into Jeanine's evil plot. I find that exciting yet kind of scary.*****

Words of Wisdom:
I don't know why, but I just thought of Jeanine and her sister being like Cain and Abel.  For those of you who are unaware, they were the two sons of Adam and Eve.  Able was a shepherd, Cain was a farmer.  Able gave a good offering of the best things to God—which pleased Him—while Cain's offering wasn't as favorable.  He didn't offer something quite as nice as his brother and became angry with him.  He eventually killed his own brother out of jealousy and anger. 

"Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous."
‭‭1 John‬ ‭3:12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

"But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one."
‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭3:3‬ ‭NIV‬‬