Grandfather (24 page)

The next morning, the
leftover food from dinner was taken away and replaced with vast
amounts of breakfast foods. This time, I forced myself to eat as
little as possible. I didn’t want to go the entire day feeling
guilty. But even after eating small amounts, I hated myself. I
think I hated myself more for liking the food rather than eating
it.

Afterwards, Helly stopped
by and demanded that I take a bath.

In the bathroom, the dark
green tile floors were warm to my feet. I wondered what made them
so. The bathtub was so large that a dozen people could’ve squeezed
in. I turned the handle, and hot water filled the tub. It changed
colors as it poured out of the faucet.

For the rest of the day, I
tried keeping myself from overusing anything that would make me
just like somebody from the city, but I didn’t have many options. I
ended up staying on the couch watching the TV. The news continued
talking about me, the tracking law, and the new curfew
law.

The weather channel was
right, too. The National Weather Institution created rain clouds,
allowing it to rain. But it was said they’d quit before the
interview so that people could travel in good weather. I guess
people seeing me on TV was such a big deal that even the weather
had to be perfect.

As evening approached,
Helly brought me another black suit much nicer and slimmer than the
one Edgar got me. “Hurry up,” she said. “We need to go.”

I went to the bathroom and
put it on quickly. When I came back, there were two other ladies
with Helly. “Sit down,” Helly demanded, snapping a finger toward a
chair next to a table. I did so, but I was sure to take my time,
just to make her mad. I could hear her huffing and puffing.
Good.

The women dug into two
black bags and brought out a bunch of makeup, which they proceeded
to put on me.

“What are you doing?” I
asked, trying to resist.

“Don’t worry,” Helly said.
“We’re just touching you up for the camera.”

I turned my head as she
tried brushing something on my cheek. It was very
uncomfortable.

“Quit,” Helly said,
squeezing my forehead, forcing my head to stay still. “You won’t be
able to see or feel it,” she said. “It’s just for the camera.
Hiding every wrinkle, scar, or blemish you have is
important.”

I didn’t like the idea.
They were changing my appearance. But I forced myself to relax and
let them do it. Once they had finished, one of the ladies pulled
out a black tube, squeezed a clear paste into her hands, and put it
in my hair. Again, I didn’t resist. There was no point.

“We have ten minutes,”
Helly told the ladies. “We must hurry.”

The two women finished up.
Helly rushed me to the door. I opened it to find Cornelius waiting
for me. “Ah,” he said with a sneer. “Now you really look like one
of us.”

“I’m not one of you,” I
snapped.

“Come. Our ride is waiting
outside.”

I followed him down the
elevator and through the front doors. Helly was sure to stay by my
side, urging me to be quicker. Outside of the Presidential Tower,
there was a huge crowd leading up to a long, white vehicle waiting
for us. Security surrounded us, rushing us to the vehicle. A man
opened the back door, allowing me, Cornelius, and Helly to jump
in.

The vehicle was much nicer
than the cab we had taken. It was also a lot roomier. There was
even a bar against one entire side of the vehicle. Helly took a
champagne bottle and poured Cornelius a glass. He took it with
satisfaction and took a sip.

Two white vehicles led us
through traffic while two others followed us. I watched the people
on the sidewalk. Many ignored us while others stopped to look. I
wondered if they knew I was in there. After all, I was the big
news.

“Remember what we
discussed,” Cornelius said. “And remember . . . what you say can
come back on your friends.”

I nodded, feeling of my
hair. It was soft and smooth, sticking up in a specific
way.

“
Don’t mess with it,” Helly
yelled, slapping my arm.

Cornelius continued going
over the rules, which, I had memorized in order to keep Ashton and
Marley safe. I basically had to pretend everything was perfect and
act like I was kidnapped by people from another region after
midnight.

“And don’t forget to
smile,” Helly said.

“Yes,” Cornelius said.
“Show everybody that you’re the happiest little boy
here.”

Oh yeah, I forgot about
that little rule. That was going to have to be the hardest for
me.

“Let’s see it,” Cornelius
said.

I looked at him, not
smiling at first. Then, I forced one.

Cornelius shook his head
in disappointed. “If you want to keep your friends safe, you’ll
have to do a lot better than that.”

Helly didn’t look too
happy with it either. I took a deep breath and stretched my lips as
much as I could, giving Cornelius the best smile
possible.

He nodded with
satisfaction. “There it is,” he said.

Soon, the vehicle slowed
down. The crowd outside grew denser. This time, they all stood
still, watching us as we approached them. The vehicle came to a
stop in front of a red pathway surrounded by hundreds of people
shouting and cheering. A black rope separated the people from the
red pathway. The red carpet led to a set of double doors of another
skyscraper.

The driver jumped out and
walked around the vehicle until he reached our door. Several men
and women standing just a few feet away pointed cameras at us,
waiting for the door to open. The driver opened the door. Helly
stepped out first. Next was Cornelius. As he exited the car, the
crowd erupted with excitement. The reporters rushed to him with
cameras in his face, asking him tons of questions. He ignored them
and looked back at me, smiling.

He gestured for me to get
out of the vehicle. I wanted to stay in there forever. But I knew
that just wasn’t possible. I took a deep breath and gave the best
smile possible, hoping it was good enough. This was it. I had to be
careful. I had to keep Ashton and Marley safe.

I stepped out of the
car.

Chapter Eleven

T
he crowd went absolutely wild. The reporters forgot about
Cornelius to swarm me. The flashing lights kind of hurt my eyes. I
blinked a few times, hoping they would leave me alone, but they
didn’t.

“How’s it feel to get
away?” a woman with a camera asked.

“Carsyn, what will you do
now that you’re out of the orphanage?” a man, also holding a
camera, asked.

“Do you like it inside the
wall?”

There were probably about
twenty questions thrown at me all at the same time. It was
overwhelming.

“Leave the boy alone,”
Helly yelled, reaching for my arm. The reporters made it impossible
for her to pull me away.

A couple of officers had
to rescue me. They shoved the reporters away. Cornelius, still
smiling, motioned for me to join him. My lips quivered as I forced
them to stay in smiling position. The muscles in my cheeks started
to burn.

Cornelius placed a hand on
my shoulder, making me feel very uncomfortable. I wanted to smack
it off but knew that wouldn’t go over so well.

The people continued
cheering. “I love you Cornelius!” I heard a woman
scream.

We slowly walked down the
long red carpet. Cornelius waved at the people. I hoped he didn’t
want me to do the same. Smiling was already too much. We finally
reached the double doors to the building, which were held open by
two men in red uniforms. Cornelius turned around and waved at the
people one last time before we entered the building. Pictures were
taken. He looked down at me. “Smile,” he whispered.

I did so
quickly.

“
Now wave,” he said. Great,
just the thing I was hoping not to do. I threw a hand in the air to
wave with Cornelius, and the crowd loved it.

We turned around, entered
the building where we were instantly greeted by a very attractive
blond-headed woman. “He’s just going to ask Carsyn a couple of
questions first,” the woman told us. The sound of the crowd behind
us faded as the doors were shut. The woman continued. “After that,
Cleo and Meeko are going to bring you in, Mr. President.”

I barely caught a word.
This was way too fast-paced for me. Cornelius was completely calm,
just as if he was sitting alone watching TV. He probably went
through this a lot.

“Thank you,” Cornelius
told her, still smiling.

The woman led Cornelius,
Helly, and me down the hall. She left us in a small room with a
dresser, mirror, and chair. I released my smile. Helly looked at us
both. “You guys look fine,” she said. She grabbed my chin and moved
my head to the right. “Just don’t rub your face.”

After examining us one
last time, Helly left the room, leaving me and Cornelius alone.
Cornelius took out his phone. The transparent screen came to life.
He dialed a number. “Keep the two kids nearby, just in case,” he
told them, then hung up.

I glared at him. He was
trying to scare me, which was working. I mean, I don’t think I had
ever been so nervous in my life. It was worse than the time I
thought Edgar was going to kill me in the alley. Now that’s saying
something.

“
No need to give me that
look,” Cornelius said.

“You will pay for this,” I
told him.

He chuckled. “I’m sure I
will,” he said sarcastically. “I’m sure I will.”

A few more minutes went by
in silence. Cornelius stayed on his phone, doing whatever it was he
was doing. Probably Grandfather stuff. I couldn’t quit thinking
about the interview. How many people were going to be watching? The
lady on TV had said all the tickets were sold out. How many people
would be right there in front of me watching? That made all the
more nervous.

A knock interrupted my
thinking. Cornelius put his phone away and opened the door,
revealing a younger man with some sort of headset on. “They’re
ready,” he told us.

Cornelius stood up
immediately. “Let’s go,” he said.

We followed the man
through a door where I was immediately hit by a wall of cheering
and loud music. My heart was racing. This was it. I wondered if
everybody was listening in the dining hall. I hoped they would
realize that I was being forced to do this. Surely they
would.

Cornelius and I were led
behind a wall beside a stage. A man and a woman, both dressed in
all green, stood on the stage waving at the large audience. When I
say all green, I mean
all
green. Their clothes, their shoes, their
necklace, their eyes, even their hair! It was very
unusual.

The man jumped up and down
as he waved at the crowd. The woman spun around a few times. Really
odd. These people were too happy and a little crazy. But the
audience seemed to love it. If I had to guess, I’d say they were in
their mid-twenties. But the makeup made it a little difficult to
tell.

Two red comfy chairs sat
on each side of a clear round table. The two hosts took a seat on
one side of the table. I assumed the two empty ones were for
Cornelius and I. Great. I had to sit beside him.

The hosts held out their
hand and the crowd grew silent immediately. I’m talking about a
brick wall of silence just hit. What’s the saying? You could hear a
pin drop. Yeah, you probably could’ve.

“
What an audience today,”
the man said with excitement. “I don’t think we’ve had an audience
this excited before, would you agree, Cleo?”

I finally knew who was
who. To me, Meeko seemed like a girl’s name, but I didn’t know
anything about names within the wall. Maybe they were
different.

“
Oh, it’s brilliant,” Cleo
said, crossing her legs. “And we can’t blame them, because today,
we have some very special guests. This has to be the most important
interview we’ve done.”

“
Very special guests
indeed,” Meeko said. “I’ve been looking forward to this all
day.”

“
I think everybody has been
very eager,” Cleo said. “It’s the juicy news.”

I noticed that they both
talked with their hands a lot. I mean a lot. I was just waiting for
them to accidently slap each other’s arms.

“
Juicy, juicy, juicy,”
Meeko said. “Folks, welcome to The Meeko and Cleo show. We got a
great special segment for you today. It’s what’s everybody’s
talking about. Today is the day we finally get those answers we’ve
been dying for.”

“
Let’s say we give our
audience a recap first?” Cleo asks.

“
Excellent idea, Cleo,”
Meeko said, throwing both hands into the air.

I really hoped I didn’t
laugh while I was out there.

“
Nearly one week ago,” Cleo
started, facing Meeko, “President Cornelius announced that a good
friend from his earlier life—”

“
Benjamin,” Meeko quickly
added.