14.
 The dress looked ludicrous on her. She wasn’t willowy or pretty like these women. Her head was too bony, and with that short hair and the ugly scar she looked like a fucking boy. Her eyes smouldered over shadowy cheek bones, and her small mouth badly needed a pat of her chocolate-colored lipstick. Her freckles looked a mess, her lips were chapped, and her skull looked as if no wig or hair could ever soften its ugly lines. Tears welled in her eyes, and she started to tear the stupid gray dress off, but the fucking starch apron seemed to be made of iron.
“Taxi M’Koo! What are you doing!” a whisper fled across the hall, echoing on the shiny floors. It was Moira, followed by a mess of new girls. She only recognized Jen and Anna among them.
Taxi sniffed and wiped her arm across her nose. “Nothing.”
“We brought you some food.” The girls put down a basket and hauled out bread, a stone bowl of soup, a bit of delicately spiced roast, and fresh vegetables.
Taxi sat and tore at the food, saying over and over how good it was. “God, you eat like this all the time?”
“Our men are hungry. They work in the fields and expect a good meal when they get home,” said a big blonde.
“Leave her alone,” Moira said when Taxi belched and pushed the plate away. “Quick, the men will be home any minute. I’ll be out there.”
For a few moment, Moira and Taxi were alone. “Tomorrow we will help you get the thing you want, what was it?”
“A helium drive bottle. It’s fuel for a helium drive engine.”
“We will help you get it. You must sleep beside me.”
“Why the fuck would I do that?”
“Because the Toons come through checking beds. If there is a wrong count, they will make us all line up. Then they will count again until they find you, and they will take you away.”
“Okay, okay. Just don’t touch me, okay?”
Moira averted her gaze downward. “I’ll be back soon,” she said in a whisper.
Oh Geez, Taxi thought watching her hurry off in a body language of tears, I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings.
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Copyright © 2018 by Jean-Thomas Cullen, Clocktower Books. All Rights Reserved.
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