A policeman had a man from the estate pinned to the wall by his throat. "Why are you on this side of the road?"
A hard frown darkened Marie's view as she saw the grip the policeman had on him; there was no way the man could reply.
"Talk, you horrible rat." The policeman squeezed harder, the man making gargling noises in response. "What are you doing on this side of the road?"
Although he grabbed at the policeman's wrist, the man from the estate couldn't break free. With a face so red it looked like it would pop, he wheezed, "I was just leaving work."
"What's that got to do with anything?"
Thick veins stood out on the man from the estate's temples and he made more gargling noises. "I…" He lost his voice for a moment. "I work in the laundry behind me. I have to cross this pavement to get to the other side of the road."
There had been too many times where Marie had turned a blind eye. Not anymore…
The officer was about twenty. The man in his grip was old enough to be his dad. Where was the respect? She stared at him, although he seemed utterly oblivious.
"Don't get lippy with me, you scumbag."
When he pulled his baton free from his belt, Marie gasped, "No!"
He swung for the man anyway and Marie's knees weakened at the hollow crack of the baton connecting with his head.
The man from the estate's eyes rolled and his legs gave way beneath him. Another flash of his baton and the policeman drove it into the guy's mid-section.
When he wound up again, Marie stepped forwards and grabbed his wrist. As they stared at one another, Marie shook. What was she doing? "Please, officer, I need your help."
With his baton still raised and rage swirling in his piercing eyes, the officer bit down on his bottom lip and glared at her.
Marie kept a grip on the baton and pulled her glasses down with her free hand so she could make eye contact with him. "I think I just saw someone being robbed by an estate rat back there." She pointed at an alleyway back up the road.
As a 'good' citizen of Nirvana, Marie had rights. If she had a concern, the police had to listen to her.
The tension left the officer's body.
At that point, the man from the estate, who had been shifting away the entire time, got to his feet and ran on bandy legs to the other side of the road. He was so wobbly it was a wonder he made it.
The fury returned to the officer's face. "I've lost him now. Look what you've made me do."
With the man from the estate free, Marie's courage returned. "One of Nirvana's citizens is being robbed back there. Is that something you care about as an officer of the law?" She felt like a teacher reprimanding a naughty boy.
The look in his eye suggested he had plans for his baton that involved Marie's skull and the breaking of it. Sweat beaded on his brow. With his jaw set, he wiped his forehead with the back of his sleeve and continued to glower at her.
"Do I need to find another officer?" Marie asked.
The policeman glanced across the road at his escaped victim before sighing and shaking his head. He then ran off in the direction of the alleyway.
On the other side of the road, several people from the estate surrounded the escaped man and helped him to his feet. Blood painted a vivid line down the side of his face, but he was still conscious.
He nodded at Marie, made a fist, and patted it twice against his chest.
As much as she wanted to respond, Marie looked away. The little routine had attracted quite a few onlookers. After slipping her glasses back on, Marie ignored the nosy bastards and walked off.
***
By the time Marie arrived at the cafe, all of the unwanted attention she'd solicited had gone.
She stepped into the building and searched the room; it was styled like a diner from the nineteen fifties. The shop was full of private seating pods and most were closed so it was impossible to tell who was using them.
Then Marie caught sight of an open booth with GG inside. Her heart lifted and then sank. Was this a set up?
GG smiled and beckoned her over. She seemed legit.
Despite the anxiety bubbling in her stomach, Marie beamed a full grin at her co-worker. Another quick scan of the room showed her no one else was watching, so she walked over.
Just before she stepped into the booth, GG pointed at the floor. "Mind the step."
It was only then that Marie realised she still had her glasses on. She removed them and said, "Thank you."
The booth was made up of a circular, red and white, leather-cushioned seat. Marie slid onto it, put her bag down beside her, and sat up straight. The corset felt particularly tight. On a normal day, she would have been home by now and have taken the wretched thing off. A deep breath filled her senses with GG's floral perfume.
When GG pressed the button in the middle of the table, the door closed with a whoosh!
She offered Marie the menu. "Have a drink… on me."
Although Marie took the menu, she couldn't take her eyes off GG. Despite working with her for a few months, this was the first chance she'd had to look at her properly. It was nice to take her in without worrying about who was watching.
Petite like a china doll, GG's blonde hair shone and finished about halfway down her back. She had brilliant blue eyes and a cluster of freckles ran across her nose—a constellation of character on perfect skin. With a broad smile of brilliant white teeth, she pointed at the picture of a steaming mug on the menu. "The coffee here is to die for."
It didn't matter what she drank, the important thing was she was finally meeting up with someone from work. However, it would have been rude to decline GG's offer. "Do they do decaf?"
GG nodded. "They do, and you can barely taste the difference."
"That sounds delightful." After tapping her order into the menu, Marie relaxed back into her seat.
"So, my sister," GG said, "how are you?"
Sister? What the fuck? "Please call me Marie."
"Of course, sorry; and I'm GG, as you know."
Marie leaned forwards and rested her elbows on the table. Was there more going on with this woman? Why had she called her sister? "I'm so glad you wrote me that note. I've been desperate to talk to you for weeks now."
With her eyes sparkling, GG grinned. "I know; me too."
A steaming mug rose from the centre of the table, and GG slid it to Marie.
Despite the air conditioning, it was still hot in the café, but Marie wrapped her hands around the mug anyway. The strong and bitter smell of roasted beans rose up from it. "Thank you. It smells wonderful."
"You wait until you taste it."
"So why did you want to meet me?"
"I had to talk to you."
"About?"
"I live on my own. I've lived on my own for some time now. A few years back, my parents both got hit with varying degrees of dementia."
Where was this going? Marie sat back and allowed GG to continue.
"When they were going through it, I would come home to an empty flat and cry all night. Being an only child and not being in a relationship, my parents were everything to me, and some days, they didn't even know who I was. I had no one to share my pain with. I was going through one of the most stressful experiences of my life and I had to do it on my own."
"So you want a friend to talk to?"
"No, I'm pretty set now. I've managed to process a lot of my feelings about it, and while it still tears at my heart every time I see them, I'm over the worst of it. Death is inevitable, right?"
"I still don't understand where this is going."
There was a softness in GG's blue eyes that was hard to be suspicious of. "I remember how lonely I was when I had to deal with something on my own. I made a promise to myself that if I saw someone in a crisis and I could help, then I would."
The booth turned blurry and Marie's bottom lip bent out of shape. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I think you do. You look exhausted, Marie. You look worn down. I see it
every day at work. I know we're not supposed to look at one another, but I watch you."
Marie didn't respond.
"How far gone are you?"
Marie's jaw fell and her breath left her lungs. She spoke in a whisper. "How do you know?"
"Duh."
"It's that obvious?"
"For me, and maybe our other sister in the control room, but for the guys… no, I don't think so. They see bigger boobs and a fuller arse long before they see why. Nice corset, by the way." GG looked down at Marie's chest and half-smiled. "You look smoking in it. It's a very clever way to distract Doug."
Although Marie's throat had dried, her coffee was still too hot to sip. Had Doug set this up as a trap? Was that where he went when he left the restaurant earlier? "How do I know you're not getting this information out of me so you can report back to Rixon?"
"Honestly?"
Marie nodded.
"You don't." The same warmth stared at Marie when GG leaned across and stroked the back of her hand. "You have to trust me."
"In a world where an error in judgment could ruin my life?"
GG stared at Marie without blinking. "Yep."
***
For the next five minutes, Marie sipped on her coffee and made small talk with GG. Should she trust this woman? All she wanted was a friend, but what if GG was there to catch her out?
Another sip of her drink and Marie placed the cup back down on the table. "You're right, this does taste amazing."
Without replying, GG leant across and held one of Marie's hands in both of hers. It was the kind of thing Frankie would do.
Marie closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. Trust was a hard thing to find when living in Nirvana. The only thing she had to guide her was her own intuition.
When she re-opened her eyes, the dam broke and hot tears ran down her cheeks. "We're registered as roommates so no one knows we're in a relationship."
"That's sensible."
"We need to make sure he keeps his hours for as long as possible. He's a teacher. Of course, it means he won't be present at the birth, but if it keeps us off the estate…"
Empathy radiated from GG's kind face.
"He was born on the estate and he got out. The only way he could get into school was if he cleaned the classrooms at the beginning and end of the days. He would then do an entire day at school and do his homework. He lived off four hours sleep a night. On the weekends, he worked in a laundromat."
"How did he cope?"
"He's a strong man and he wanted out. He saw the way and set his sights on it."
"He sounds like an amazing man."
"He is. Although he hates that he doesn't earn great money."
"Teachers get treated like shit in this society, eh?"
The corset felt even tighter as Marie drew a deep and stuttered breath. "It seems so hard to survive now—all because we can't afford to get married."
GG then slid a credit card across the table at her. The red LED light read, 'MAX'.
"What is it?" Marie said.
"You know what it is."
"I do, but why are you giving it to me?"
"I have no need for it. I wish I had the full twenty-five thousand credits for a marriage certificate, but I don't, I'm sorry. There's three thousand on there. It's yet to be registered, so no one will know where it's come from."
"I can't take this."
"Either you do, or the person who cleans this table will be getting an amazing tip."
"But why?"
"I own my flat outright. My outgoings are modest and I have enough money left over each month. I'll have saved another three thousand credits in six months' time, but you need this now."
A tremble took over Marie's body as she looked at her new friend. "But what about when you want to get married? You should keep it for then."
"I don't want to get married."
"What about children?"
A shimmer cracked GG's face and her voice broke. "I can't have children."
Gasping, Marie covered her mouth.
"When I was a teenager, I got pregnant. Stupid really. My parents hadn't made their money by then, so it would have condemned us all to the estate if I had gone ahead with it. My parents insisted the choice should be mine. They didn't want to force me to do anything I didn't want to do. I chose an abortion. It was one of those back alley clinics—rusty scalpels and cockroaches kind of place. It was all we could afford."
The baby moved and Marie grabbed her stomach.
"The anaesthetic took some time to work. I couldn't move or speak, but I was still conscious. I saw everything for a time." Her eyes lost focus. "I watched the doctor wait for everyone to leave the room before he dropped his trousers and climbed on top of me. I couldn't feel him, but I watched his twisted features as he raped me."
It knocked the wind out of Marie and she placed a hand on her thumping heart.
"I saw him climax, his horrible face just inches from mine. Then I blacked out. I was only sixteen."
"Fucking hell, GG, that's horrific!"
Still staring down at the table, GG sighed. "I get the impression that what he did to me to abort my child was worse. When I got home, I bled for days. I stayed in bed for three weeks. My parents were so worried about me, they got a professional doctor over. They blamed it on someone from the estate. Said I was beaten up on the way home from work. I'm certain the doctor didn't believe that, but we were paying him good money so he kept it to himself. The bill took them years to pay off. The doctor said there was nothing that could be done, other than to look after me; we had to let nature take its course. He said I would be okay in a month or two. The other thing he told me was…" GG cleared her throat. "I could never have children again."
Tears left a glistening trail down GG's cheeks when she looked up. "I never told my parents about the rape. They argued for months after the operation. It damn near tore their relationship apart. Any more stress would have tipped them over the edge. So you see, there's no point in me getting married because I can't have children anyway. But to know my money could go to saving the life of another child… Well, it doesn’t make up for what I did, but it’s something."
The hot and bitter coffee burned as Marie sipped on it. It took a strong gulp to get it past the lump that had formed in her throat.
When GG nudged the card towards her again, Marie took it and slipped it into her top pocket. She then leaned across the table and placed a hand on GG's arm.
With a crooked smile, GG spoke in a whisper. "You're welcome."
As Marie stood up, she said, "I need to get back to Frankie. He'll worry where I am. Can we meet up again? Maybe at the end of the week? Same time? Of course, if you don't want to, I'd understand. It's just—"
"I'd love to, Marie. I'd love to."
And with that, Marie waited for GG to open the booth, took a deep breath, and stepped out. Today wasn't the day to be talking about Jake and what was going on with Rixon. That could wait for next time. She'd told her enough already.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The television may have been on, but Marie wasn't paying any attention to it. How could she, with what had happened today? With her shirt unbuttoned, she had one hand on her belly, the bump clearly visible without the corset to clamp it down. Soon she wouldn't be able to hide it.
The card from GG was still in her top pocket. Despite being home for several hours, she hadn't mentioned it to Frankie. He was paranoid enough without knowing about her covert meetings in a strange cafe.
When Frankie groaned, she blinked her thoughts away to see the opening credits for his least favourite show. As much as he hated it, though, he never changed the channel when it came on.
A funky beat accompanied chrome letters that slid across the screen. Different scenes from past episodes played out on them. Each scene showed the suited host looking thoughtful and intelligent—or that was the intention anyway. An idiot was an idiot whether you put him in a suit or not.
After the fort
y-five seconds of self-glorifying drivel, the full show name was revealed—The Jezza Kuntz Show.
The show opened with the host grinning at the camera, and Frankie groaned again. "That man's such an arsehole."
The studio had a seated audience of maybe five hundred people. All of them clapped and whooped as the camera swept across them, the bad theme music still playing.
Timed perfectly with the end of the happy tune, the camera settled on the woman on the stage. She had the red hue to her skin of someone from the estate. Of course, she did—every person that went on that stage was from the estate. Text scrolled across the bottom of the screen—'I'm having a child out of wedlock!'
Jagged anxiety wobbled Marie's heart. She lifted her other hand so both were cradling her bump and pushed against it gently. The poor thing undoubtedly went through every emotional twist and turn of Marie's life; it was going to be a nervous wreck by the time it came out. A gentle push and it moved slightly; maybe the pressure helped her realise that Mama was here. That Mama would always be here.
The camera found Kuntz again as he walked onto centre stage with his shoulders pulled back. The crowd continued to applaud as he stood as straight as a board.
"The man looks like a fucking dictator," Frankie said. "He gets so much pleasure from other people's misfortune."
"Look at that poor woman," Marie said, leaving out, that could quite easily be me. Frankie didn't need to hear her talking like that.
"The only reason people from the estate go on this stupid show is because they get a free meal." Frankie rubbed his face. He looked tired. "It's not because they aren't as smart as everyone else. When I lived there, I used to pass lines of them queuing to get on similar shows. They were doing it to feed their children. They knew they'd be humiliated, but their family's wellbeing was worth it. Kuntz is such a… well, what kind of a man makes his living baiting the poor?"
As Jezza moved around the stage, posturing at different points and hideously playing up to the cameras, the woman in the chair chewed her bottom lip.
Big eared, thinning mousy-brown hair and no tie, Kuntz bounded close to the woman and loomed over her.
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