Grandfather (25 page)

Cleo nodded her head, not
seeming angry that she was interrupted.

“
Yes, and Benjamin had a
son who he placed in an orphanage after feeling his depression
affected the boy.”

Meeko took over.
“Everybody has heard the story, and it’s just an absolute
tragedy.”

“
This
tragedy led President Cornelius to search for Carsyn,” Cleo
said.

“
He
discovered that he’d been kidnapped, probably to get back at the
president for the new
Bill of Border
Control
.”

“
But a few days ago, Carsyn
found his way to the President. And he’s here to speak with us
today.”

The crowd erupted in
excitement. The two hosts laughed, waiting for the audience to
quiet down.

The two hosts were perfect
for each other. I hated to say it. Yeah, they seemed pretty
annoying, and they both looked ridiculous. They were
both
that way. Maybe
that’s why they seemed like a perfect combination.

The audience finally went
silent before Cleo said the thing I wasn’t ready to hear. “I say we
talk to him now, how ‘about it?”

My heart was still beating
like crazy. The dress shirt and tie were a little tight around my
neck, so that was getting annoying. I wasn’t ready.

“
Absolutely,” Meeko agreed.
“Join us in welcoming Carsyn,”

The crowd went wild
again.

My body was shaking. I
could tell there were a lot of people in the audience. This was
it.

“
Smile and do it right,”
Cornelius said shoving me toward the stage. The two hosts stood up
and looked in my direction, smiling and clapping. I put on a smile
and forced myself to step out from behind the wall, entering the
stage. The crowd went wild, as if I was some hero. I was prepared
to see tons of people, but I was still surprised. There had to be
nearly a thousand people. That wasn’t counting the rest of the
nation watching their TVs and listening to their radios. I couldn’t
help but think how easy it would be to expose Cornelius. If only
Ashton and Marley had stayed behind.

My image appeared on three
screens in the back of the room. What I saw made me absolutely
sick. I hated it. It was me. I looked like one of them, dressed in
nice clothing, hair fixed perfectly, face unnaturally
smooth.

I approached the two hosts
who took turns shaking my hands. I couldn’t keep my eyes off their
odd green hair and green clothing. I had never seen teeth so
white.

As the noise of the crowd
became silent, Cleo waved me over to take a seat. I did so, sinking
into the chair. It was so comfortable, just like every seat I’d sat
in within the wall. Cornelius stood at the side of the stage,
looking nervous. He was probably afraid that I’d accidently say
something wrong. I guess I understood since that was my fear
too.

My face was burning up. I
could feel heat hitting me. When I looked up, I was blinded by what
seemed to be hundreds of lights. I took a deep breath.

“
Wow,” Meeko said. “Just
wow. How extraordinary!”

“How do you feel right
now?” Cleo asked.

I turned my attention away
from Cornelius and to the crowd who was now silent. A camera
hovered in the air. The three big screens displayed a close-up shot
of my face. Seeing myself was weird, especially since I appeared
extremely lost with a huge frown on my face. I quickly turned it
upside down and looked at the hosts. “Good,” I said. “I feel
good.”

They laughed, and the
crowd joined them. “Well, of course you do,” Meeko said. “You’re
within the wall now.”

“And with President
Cornelius,” Cleo said. “Now what a pleasure that must
be.”

“How would you describe
him?” Meeko asked.

I glanced at the crowd
again, then to the side of the stage where I saw Cornelius urging
me to talk.

“He’s great,” I said,
facing Meeko and Cleo again.

“Great?” Meeko asked once
I said no more.

“Good gracious, Carsyn,”
Cleo said. “There has to be more! I mean, you’re living with the
president!”

“Now, now, Cleo,” Meeko
said. “Looks like he’s a bit nervous.”

They and the crowd
chuckled.

“Go on,” Cleo said. “Tell
us more.”

“Yeah,” I said, searching
for the right things to say. “He’s taken care of me really well.
I’ve . . . I’ve never been more comfortable. ”

“Ah,” Cleo said. “Let’s
give President Cornelius a round of applause for taking care of
such a handsome boy.”

The crowd erupted in
applause once again.

Meeko waited until the
crowd was silent again. “Tell me,” he said. “How many girls have
you had chasing you?”

Everyone
laughed.

I forced myself to
chuckle. “None,” I said, slowly.

“None?” Meeko asked.
“Surely there was somebody.”

“No,” I said. “I was only
around other boys at the orphanage.”

“I see,” Cleo said, her
tone growing serious. “Well, I bet if you were surrounded by girls,
a handsome boy such as yourself would have a difficult time
choosing.”

Meeko laughed along with
everybody else.

Was everybody in the
nation laughing with them? That was an odd thought. I did nothing
but recheck my smile.

“Now,” Meeko said. “Can we
talk about when you were kidnapped? Is that okay?”

I looked toward Cornelius
again. He motioned for me to turn around and face the
hosts.

“Don’t be nervous,” Cleo
said. “We’ll bring your savior out in a few minutes.”

I wanted to tell them all
that Cornelius was
not
my savior. Instead, I did as I was told. “It was
frightening,” I lied.
Don’t mess it
up
, I kept telling myself.
For Ashton and Marley.

“I bet it was,” Meeko
said. “Where did they keep you?”

I thought for an answer
quickly. I said the first thing that came to my mind. “A cell with
bars,” I told them.

“Terrible,” Cleo said,
placing a hand over her mouth. “You poor thing.”

“Do you know who kidnapped
you, or why they kidnapped you?” Meeko asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. I
remembered what Cornelius told me to tell them about the
kidnapping. I had to make sure he was satisfied. “I was outside of
the orphanage around midnight,” I told them. “They kidnapped me
then. They were from a different region and they didn’t like the
tr—or the
Bill of Border Control.”

Whoa. Calling it the
tracking law would’ve ruined the whole thing.

They seemed to not catch
it. “Ah,” Cleo said. “It’s not surprising they’re from a different
region.”

They were playing
perfectly into Cornelius’s plan.

“Not surprising at all,”
Meeko said. “Now, we all know about the
Bill of Border Control
.” He turned
his attention to the audience, as if reminding them directly. “I
assume you do as well?” He faced me again.

I nodded, taking another
look at myself on the screen. I couldn’t get over how similar to
them I looked. I hated it. I made a mental note to ignore it. It
was all for show.

“
Now tell us, if this bill
had been passed a year ago, do you think you would’ve been
kidnapped?” Meeko asked.

I didn’t want to answer. I
thought of Belladonna, Edgar, Mae, and Robert. Everybody under the
mountain was probably listening to me. I just really hoped they
realized I was lying. “I don’t think so,” I answered.

“I think you’re absolutely
right,” Cleo added. “I mean, this bill exists to prevent
things
exactly
like this. Do you agree that the bill will be helpful to us
all?”

“Yeah,” I answered
quickly, wanting to get it out of the way.

“You also said it happened
around midnight, correct?” Meeko asked.

“Yeah,” I
answered.

“Do you think the newly
proposed law declaring a curfew time would’ve been helpful as
well?”

“Yeah,” I
answered.

“Could you tell us why you
think that?” Cleo asked. “I’m sure we’ve got some individuals in
the audience who would disagree with you. It’s quite a
controversial topic.”

“Well,” I started. I was
silent for a second, gathering my thoughts together. They had
totally caught me off guard. I hadn’t thought I’d have to give a
complex answer. I liked the one-word answers. “With a curfew, it
would be more difficult to commit any crime. And I
think
most crimes happen
late at night.”

I looked at Cornelius who
nodded with satisfaction.

“I couldn’t agree more,”
Meeko exclaimed. “Perfect. I mean, most crimes
do
happen during the late hours
because there are fewer witnesses. I think you’re absolutely right,
Carsyn. And I believe that with the
Bill
of Border Control
and the curfew law, you
would’ve never been kidnapped.”

The audience applauded.
The hosts quickly waved at the audience. When the audience went
silent, they unloaded more questions on me.

“So, while you were
imprisoned, were you harmed in any way?” Cleo asked. “If it’s too
hard to talk about, you just let me know.”

I thought back to the
cells Cornelius had me, Ashton, and Marley in: the cells they were
still in.

“I was starved,” I told
them.

“That’s terrible!” Cleo
yelled.

I thought she was going to
start crying right then and there.

“But never hit?” Meeko
asked.

I shook my
head.

“Well, I know the great
President Cornelius will never allow you to starve,” Meeko
said.

I wanted to
laugh.

“Not a chance,” Cleo said,
grasping her hands together. “I must ask; how many kidnapers were
there? And I’m assuming you were the only one
imprisoned?”

An idea came to me as soon
as she asked. I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. It was
my chance. I wanted to secure Ashton and Marley’s safety. Cornelius
wasn’t going to like it, but I didn’t care. For once, I had
control.

“There were five
kidnappers,” I lied. “And there were two other prisoners with me.”
I forced myself to not look in Cornelius’s direction. “Ashton and
Marley are their names.” I imagined his eyes glaring at me, his
nostrils flared, his eye twitching. For once, I truly
smiled.

“Oh really?” Cleo asked in
surprise.

“And where are they now?”
Meeko asked. “Did they get away as well?”

“They came with me,” I
told them. “President Cornelius has been very kind to all three of
us. After all, Ashton and Marley have become good friends of
mine.”

“I’d say so!” Cleo said.
“I mean, you three went through the same thing together. And
President Cornelius has been taking care of them as
well?”

“He has,” I said,
accidently chuckling. There was nothing Cornelius could
do.

“That President
Cornelius,” Meeko said. “I mean, seriously, how great
is
he?”

“Oh, he’s great,” I said,
hoping I hid the sarcasm. They didn’t pay any attention to it, so I
assumed it wasn’t obvious.

“Well, I certainly hope
we’ll be meeting your friends soon,” Cleo said.

“And I believe we will be
seeing them soon,” Meeko said. “Such a marvelous story of
survival.”

“Indeed,” Cleo said. “Now,
let’s just hope that the kidnappers are caught.”

“Of course,” Meeko said.
“Now, before we bring out President Cornelius, I’d like to ask you
a couple of questions about the orphanage. Are you glad to be
out?”

“I am,” I said,
truthfully.

“I bet it’s much different
here,” he said.

They had no idea. “I’ve
never seen such amazing sites and technology,” I said, once again,
telling the truth. They both laughed with the crowd.

“It
is
remarkable,” Meeko
said.

“I wish people outside of
the wall could see how wonderful it is here,” I said.

Everybody was silent.
Meeko and Cleo were also silent, looking nervously at one another.
Meeko was the one to change the subject. “You mentioned that you
were around a bunch of boys, obviously. Tell us, did you get along
with them?”

I shook my head. “I
didn’t,” I said, honestly.

“No friends?” Cleo asked.
“Not even one?”

“No,” I said. Then, I
remembered Jim. “There was a boy named Jim who defended me from the
bullies when I was younger.”

“Oh, a hero,” Meeko said,
glancing at the woman, smiling. “And where is he today?”

I was silent at first.
Meeko and Cleo waited patiently, smiling at me. “dead,” I finally
replied.