Chapter Two
January Twenty Third
Wolfgang
Wolfgang noted the rare sound of airplane motors as he closed his childhood home door. He had just finished having lunch with his mother and was heading back to work. Since his father passed, they spent a lot of meals with each other, always assuming the other needed them to lean on more than themselves.
The conversation with his mom over lunch played in his head as he started his Jeep. ‘I’m hoping you find someone. Today is Placement Day, there could be someone who catches your eye. Maybe you shouldn’t be too picky.’ She had already questioned him if he was straight or not years ago. He was straight, he was very straight and he knew that. All the girls on the island his age, he grew up with. He knew too much about the island girls, they were like weird cousins to him. Wolfgang doubted his luck again.
‘On Placement Day, they recruited people they needed, not hot chicks for him to pick a wife,’ He thought to himself. Wolfgang knew he had a few options but they all felt wrong. They were beautiful no doubt, but there was no spark.
It was hard on him, he had wished he had found someone at a younger age, like his parents had. They were young and the pinnacle of marriage, that was his problem. He picked up the tablet in his passenger seat to see his next few jobs and without thinking tapped on Margaret’s personal persons application. This was how Margaret kept everyone apart and how she remembered everything. Margaret trusted his dad and Wolfgang inherited that, besides this was his job, kind of. He excused himself as he snooped. Three men and three women were added. Their profiles were blank, it was still early. Wolfgang sighed and tapped out of it, the red five next to his tickets application glowed. He selected it and scanned it over, looking at Max, his coworker, and his job requests: The Salon, home keypad, home keypad, car key pad and some inner doors on the mountain.
He pulled up the salon request: Computer complications, forty nine minutes ago, submitted by Brittanya. He smiled and turned his jeep around into the direction of The Salon. Wolfgang began thinking about what gym exercise routine he would be doing after work. He went alone but usually saw the same people, Max went with him sometimes. Wolfgang put the Jeep in park and routinely walked up to The Salon. The door chimed as he entered, revealing a few hairstylists busily working away.
A slim tanned woman behind the reception desk beamed, “Wolfie!”
“Hey Brittanya.”
He returned the smile, Brittanya was a ray of sunshine in his eyes. They had history. “You guys have a problem?”
“Yes,”
She stood, stepping out of the way, “Our computer froze.”
“Ugh,”
Wolfgang groaned, “The hardware is getting so old here, I’m hoping our request on the resource list gets filled soon.”
He stood in front of the computer pressing keys and trying the mouse, nothing.
“How is your mom?”
She stood waiting by his side.
His big hands didn’t need to stretch to press three buttons simultaneously. “She’s good, I just saw her at lunch.”
His eyes didn’t leave the screen as the computer screeched and turned black.
“That’s good. It’s Placement Day, are you going to ‘Community Day’ tomorrow?”
She air quotes with sarcasm.
“Community Day? More like a meat market, no thanks.”
Wolfgang chuckled as he fiddled with the back of the computer.
“I’m going, Shianne want’s to go. We’re also getting a roommate, so that could be fun.”
“Yeah, I saw there were three women and three men coming.”
He straightened up as the computer turned on.
“Want me to set you up with my roommate?”
“The new one?”
“No, Shianne.”
She smirked.
“No thank you.”
He whispered and backed away from the desk, “She’s just not my type.”
Brittanya laughed and switched spots with Wolfgang, “You should tell her that.”
He sighed, “Can I set up an appointment for a cut while I am out here?”
“Sure!”
She sat back in her seat, “What day?”
“Saturday?”
He pushed his palms against the desk.
“I’m off that day.”
She looked up at him.
“Next Saturday?”
“The fourth? I am available in the morning, nine thirty?”
“Perfect.”
He pulled out his phone and entered an appointment reminder in his calendar. “I have to go to my next job, their door lock has seized up.”
“Oh geez.”
Brittanya filled in her nine thirty slot on the computer.
“See you later.”
He stepped away.
“Bye Wolfie.”
She smiled as he left.
Juniper
Looking out the window, everything was perfect, the roads were straight and businesses were on the center street of the little town. All of the houses seemed perfect, modest square homes sitting on the greenest grass June had seen in a long time.
They passed a supply store connected to a restaurant as they rounded a corner into a residential area. Seven houses in, the bus stops and the plump driver who could pass for Santa Claus announced, “You are now home, twenty four ninth street.”
He smiled.
“Thank you.”
she responded standing up and grabbing her large bag and dragged it off the few steps, leaving the bus empty. To reassure herself she double checked the two and the four next to the door and noticed a girl sitting on the porch, which made June more nervous as she approached cautiously.
“Hey,”
She said sitting there with her black ponytail pulled up with a bandanna around her head.
“Hi.”
June whimpered as she came to a stop and observed the girls bare arms covered in tattoos. “I don’t know if you were expecting me, I’m-”
“Yeah we knew you were coming,”
She stood grabbing her electronic cigarette cartridge and walked to the door. “I’m Whitney,”
She didn’t look up. In one quick motion she opened the door after scanning her hand on the black pad above the handle. She stepped inside and turned to let June pass, then closed the door. She stepped into the open living room, there was a television in front of the window over the porch and parallel to a dark purple sectional in the center of the room. The back wall had a U shaped kitchen with a dining room next to it separated by a sliding glass door. “Hey, Shianne!”
Whitney startled June with her voice, “She’s here.”
A door opened and closed from an unknown location to June, and a blonde, curvy girl walked out from the hallway next to the front door.
“Hi, I’m Shianne.”
She smiled and stretched out her hand towards Juniper.
“I’m Juniper.”
She responded to her reach.
“Juniper?”
Whitney scoffed, “Margaret is losing her damn mind, no offense. I am not calling you Juniper .”
She added flare to the sound of the name.
“Oh, well she originally chose Joan, and I denied that one, we decided I could always shorten Juniper to June.”
“June is fine.”
Whitney entered the kitchen.
“Oh, let me give you the tour,”
Shianne grabbed June’s bag. “This is the living room, that’s the kitchen.”
She gestured in that direction without moving a foot. “The laundry room is tucked back there as well. The backyard is through that door and down here,”
She faced down the hall, “That’s Brittanya’s room”
She pointed to the first left door “My room,” pointing to the door across the hall, “Whitney’s room” the second left door “And your room,” Across from Whitney’s room. She pushed the door open and set the bag on the bed. “We also share a bathroom,” Shianne pointed a fifth time at the door inside my room. “Well, I’ll let you settle in.” She turned on her heel and almost closed the door behind her.
June sat on the full mattress dressed with sheets and a comforter. She stared at herself in the mirror on the long dresser across from the bed. Her dark hair was frizzy from the humidity and her blue eyes brightened by the redness under them, she looked tired even to herself. ‘I don’t know if I should have done this.’ She started to feel alone. June didn’t know if she wanted to continue sewing. The only reason she was good at it was because she had to be good at it to survive. Ben would have let her suffer if he wanted to. She never understood how someone could claim to love someone so much while watching them struggle.
June emptied her bag barely filling one drawer, but spaced it out to be more organized, then placed her oversized bag in her closet next to her shoes. Her phone dinged and she picked it up, surprised to get a notification. It was her calendar ‘Work: Tomorrow at 9am’ followed by an address. It dinged a different note and a bubble popped up.
Amy ‘Don’t forget to look in your packet! It’s going to help you get situated and around town! Xo Amy. PS. Call me if you need me.’
She responded with a thank you and replaced the phone in her hand with the packet.
‘Welcome to this island! We, The Council, hope to satisfy all your daily needs, this is not a vacation but a new life we built with a traditional lifestyle. First to Second Street are the senior living residents, Third to Seventh Street are the family residents, Eighth to Tenth Street are the young adult and single residents. Anything south is farmland. The shops in every neighborhood are free to visit to everyone. All the businesses are on F street, The Center and Main Road. We have the important necessities, i.e. hospital, police station, fire department and town hall in the very center on Fifth and F street. All other business locations you will have a map application on your phone to find. All things you need can be purchased at the Supply Store. The closest one to you is on Ninth and F street.
You will start work at Sixth Street Clothing Company on January twenty fourth, at nine AM until three PM. Your supervisor is Golden Huffman,”
She flipped through the few pages landing on the last one, “Any reason to break the major rules will cause action to be judged in front of The Council. Punishment can be as severe as being injected with ML825 and removed from the island immediately. Keep in touch. Margaret Mars.’ June questioned what ML825 was, she wasn’t worried so much about the rules, her ‘old’ life was strict and she was good at keeping to herself and in line.
A knock came through her door followed by a cheery new voice, “Hello?”
“Um, come in?”
Juniper placed the packet on the nightstand as a petite woman opened the door. Her hair was rich like honey and her skin tone was a close second.
“Hi. I hope I am not bothering you. I just wanted to introduce myself to you, I’m Brittanya.”
“You’re okay, it’s nice to meet you.”
June stood and placed her hand out.
She swatted it away, “Get that hand out of here, welcome to our home,”
Brittanya wrapped her arms around June and then pulled away, “I want to take you out with us tomorrow, it’s girls night! Kind of, more like a community night, but we like to make it a girls thing.”
“Oh, no. I don’t want to intrude.”
She pointed her palms at her in protest.
“Stop it. You’re part of this house now, don’t even argue with me. Come eat dinner, I know you’re starving.”