Sister Cities

Part 29: Powder (14 Years Ago)

"Come to mine tomorrow, would you?" he says.

"I will," Vander says. "Be safe, all right?"

"Let's be best friends," I tell Ekko. He stares at me for a second, puts his head on Benzo's chest, and says, "Okay."

Vander and Benzo laugh in a nice but sad way. Vi gets to her feet and grabs me off the counter, looking suspicious again, and Mylo and Claggor stand up too. Me and Vander wave goodbye.

When the door closes, Vander turns to us and waits a long time before talking. "Mylo and Claggor, you might as well get in bed," he says. They run down some stairs I hope I get to go down. "You two could use a bath," Vander says to us. "The water pump and fireplace are in the basement. Do you want my help with—"

"No," Vi says shortly. "We're fine."

"Right. Let me get you some soap and I'll leave you to it."

We get to go down the stairs. Vi finds the right room and lights a fire, and Vander comes down with a bucket, a bar of soap, a towel, and two of his undershirts that are so big that I think they're blankets at first. "We'll drop by your place and grab your own clothes tomorrow," he says. "Hopefully these'll do for now. Call me when you're ready for bed."

I say thank you. Vi doesn't. She starts boiling buckets while I fill up the washbasin partway from the pump; I can tell she's tired because the water ends up colder than usual, but it's okay. I get to go first and Vander's shirt reaches all the way to my feet, so I have to spin around, but I don't laugh because Vi frowns when I start to. When she's finished, she picks me up and I yell Vander's name.

He comes down and leads us into a different room. There's a bunk bed on the side where Mylo and Claggor are sleeping, and he says we can have the couch. He gives us a quilt and tries to tuck us in, except Vi tells him to go away and does it herself. We're lying foot to foot.

"How come you're being mean to him?" I ask.

"Because I am. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

I stare at the pipes on the dark ceiling and listen to her breathe. "I'm a fish monster with a big horn and glow-in-the-dark eyes," I say.

"Not tonight, Pow-Pow, okay?"

She sounds sad. It makes me sad.

I fall asleep and dream about fires and dirt and blood and wake up crying because of how it makes my heart hurt. Vi sits up fast and pulls me against her shoulder. "It's okay," she says, squishing me hard. "It's okay. I've got you."

I still smell smoke. "Where's Mom?" I ask.

Vi stops squishing me for a second. "She's dead, Powder."

"Where's Dad?"

"He's also dead. They died in the rebellion."

I knew that. I saw their bodies that looked super dead. "But they're coming, right?"

She squishes me harder again, her chin on top of my head. "No. They can't. They're dead, so we're not gonna see them again."

"Until we go home."

"No, Powder. We're not gonna see them again for the rest of our lives. And we're not going home."

I forget there's other people and I need to cry quiet. In a second there's heavy footsteps on the stairs.

"What's the matter?" Vander asks.

Vi scoots back, pulling me with her. "Nothing. Go away."

"Powder looks like she—"