Chapter Twenty #3
“Wayne Donlon is a guy on Council,” says Sid. “If it was up to him, we’d end the sanctuary program. He says shit like, Anyone we would want already got here years ago.”
“The rest are all desperate thugs,” Tom finishes, raising his eyebrows. “He said to me once that he figures we’ve done our bit. We’ve saved enough people. It’s up to the rest of the world to get their affairs in order.”
“He can’t imagine a situation where someone out in the wilds might not have heard about Salt Spring until recently. Or even what it’s like working up the nerve to leave TNS.” Sid shakes his head. “I’d love to see his ass get voted out this spring.”
“Unfortunately, there are plenty who agree with him. He doesn’t rank near the top of the ballot, but he always musters enough votes to get on Council. All we can do is try to sway the balance of power in a different direction. That’s why I endorsed you.”
“Endorsed? What does that mean?” I ask.
“It means I wrote an opinion piece for the newspaper highlighting your husband as one of our most promising young candidates.” Tom scowls, as if he regrets doing that now. “So now I’m asking you, Sid… Did you put your whole campaign in jeopardy and get yourself into a sham marriage?”
Confronted so directly, Sid falls silent for a half second.
“Of course not!” I jump in.
But it’s too late. Tom’s face falls into his hands. “Oh, bloody hell.”
“There’s nothing sham about it! We’re in love!” Maybe if I yell it enough, it will suddenly be true, and Sid will stop looking like he’s being scolded by his favourite teacher.
“You told me you had payment.” Tom levies a finger at me. “When we talked in the hospital, you said you could pay for your sister’s care. I believed you.”
“Well, I thought I could! How the hell was I supposed to know how much it cost? I’ve never used money before.”
“And now you’ve both folded. Brilliant!” Tom throws his hands in the air. “The tiniest bit of scrutiny and you both collapse. If you’re going to insist on breaking the law, could you at least be better at it?”
“Excuse me?” This doesn’t seem like the kind of thing a government official is supposed to say out loud.
“I’m not an idiot, Ms. Hollins. I know your sister has diabetes.
The second your marriage certificate crossed my desk, I knew what was going on,” says Tom.
“I would love to play ignorant. I really would. But there are people watching you, Sid. People who hate what you stand for. I understand your whole no soldier left behind attitude, but you can’t do this. Not if you want to get on council.”
“What do you mean by that?” I ask.
Tom’s eyes drop to his hands. “If we annul the marriage now, there would be no damage done. It’s not widely known yet. But if you carry on—”
I lunge out of my seat. “Get out of my kitchen!”
“Kayla,” Sid grabs my arm, trying to pull me back.
“If you carry on, you’ll be exposed! Your sister will lose her health benefits, so it won’t do anyone any good. But it will also destroy any chances you have in the election, Sid. No one wants to see a former TNS soldier cheating the system.”
“You’re just scared that if he goes down, you will too,” I fire back.
Tom’s eyes flick over me. “Frankly? Yes. Though I would omit the just. You conjure up a diverse range of terrifying possibilities, Ms. Hollins. I seriously doubt either one of us knows half your story, and that concerns me.”
A chill goes down my spine. He knows I lied on my papers. Well, maybe he doesn’t know, but he suspects.
“Is there anything you want to tell me?” he asks. “Anything that would put my mind at ease?”
This is a trap. He wants to get me to admit to lying so that Sid won’t trust me and will get the annulment. Obviously, it’s not going to work.
“Anything I want to tell you? You’re my immigration officer. You’re supposed to be helping me. Or are you just going to tell me to surrender April to the government, too?”
“Surrender April? Why would you say that?”
“That’s what Doctor Tremblay told me to do.”
Tom nods. “I see. Think about what I’ve said, Sid. I don’t want you to lose everything you’ve worked for.”
“When I said get out, I meant it,” I snap.
“I understand.” Tom rises from his seat. He doesn’t so much as look at me as he packs up his briefcase and hobbles towards the door.
“You’re as bad as Doctor Tremblay. Worse.” I can’t resist letting one more barb fly. “At least he gave April medicine.”
Tom’s shoulders stiffen as he takes hold of the door handle, but he doesn’t rise to my bait. “Good day, Ms. Hollins.”
With that, he’s out the door. The second it’s shut, I slam my hand as hard as I can against the table, choking back a scream that I don’t want to give Tom the satisfaction of hearing.
I was doing so well, but that bastard got to me anyway.
Now he’s gone, I feel foolish and weak. Worse still, I look that way in front of Sid.
I know he’s pissed too, but while I’m hitting things and boiling over, he’s gone silent. All the anger is carefully tucked away. If he were to express it now, would it be directed at me?
“Sid?”
He lets out a slow breath. “Well. That could have gone better.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. I mean, it’s both our faults. We weren’t ready for him.”
“No. I guess we weren’t.”
He’s being incredibly generous, not laying the full blame at my feet. I’m not sure it even matters who’s at fault. All I need from our marriage is insulin. He’s the one who needs us to keep up appearances, and for a logical guy like Sid, any failure is failure. What does it matter how it happened?
“This isn’t working, is it?” he says.