Divided (The United Trilogy Book 2) (3 page)

“We saw how you drew this little one out,” Malik speaks out, breaking into my thoughts. “That was something to watch. It was a thing of pure brilliance.” I hadn't realized that anyone saw me.

Malik must have noticed that my face is starting to turn red as he says, “Oh don’t be embarrassed. It was a good thing you did. I wish I would have thought of it sooner, but then again, I think my singing will only scare the poor thing away.” I chuckle with him. I am so grateful that we are almost to their house. She may only be a tiny little thing but she is getting pretty heavy.

He knocks on the door and when he finds it empty inside, he motions for me to put her down on her bed in the corner. I tuck her in bed and pull the covers around her. Malik smiles down at her. “She sure does look peaceful now. You go on to dinner and I’ll wait here until Dex gets back and he knows she is safe and sound. Once the older kids finish eating, they will take the small ones and tuck them in and stay nearby so the parents can eat. It works out pretty well.”

I ask while smiling at him, “Are you sure? I don’t mind waiting, and if she wakes up, she may get spooked. I can just sing her back to sleep.” He seems to think this over. I can tell that he is weighing the possibility of her getting scared and crying over Dex’s fury if he finds a stranger like me in his house.

“I will leave as soon as he comes home and join you for dinner.” I add, which seems to appease him as he slowly nods his consent. “Alright. I’ll try to find Dex so he doesn’t get caught off guard. Remember, he barks more than he bites.” He smiles at me and promises to see me at dinner.

I use this alone time of mine to send Judy a message to let her know that I am going to be out of the office on an unexpected business trip for a few days, and to tell her that everything was fine. I add in my message that I am sending for Wesley to bring me a few things tomorrow so if she needs anything, she can send it along with him or send a message and I will do whatever I can from here. It is going to be hard to keep something like this from Judy, but it has to be done. The less she knows, the better, in my opinion. I forward a quick message to Wes and another to Molly as well, letting them know that I am fine, but that something came up so I had to leave.

I take some time to look around. Dex and Grace’s home is mostly just a room, and it doesn’t even have a bathroom.  There is an outhouse for each housing complex. It is clean and orderly, yes, but it is devoid of anything that makes it really homey. There is one doll on the bed, but other than that, you would never know that a little girl lives here. There are not even drawings or pictures on the wall. It is rather sad.

Just then, I hear feet stomping outside the door. I stand up and head toward the door just as it opened. Standing only a foot away is Dex, he looks huge and menacing. This close to Dex with less than a foot separating us, I want to run. Problem is, there is nowhere for me to go. I am trapped in the house with this very angry giant, and I have no clue as to what to say to him. He looks at Grace to make sure that she is still sleeping and then walks out front, leaving the door open. I’m guessing that he wants me to follow, so I did. Scratch the “very angry giant” that I thought a moment earlier and make that a “very angry giant with bad manners”. I follow him outside and shut the door softly behind me. He sits down on the steps and doesn’t even look my way. I stand to the right of him, leaning against the rail far enough that he can’t attack, yet close enough to feel the anger and heat radiating off of him. I think Malik is right. I don’t think all of his anger is directed at me. He seems to be just pissed off at the world.

I take a deep breath and decide to make a quick apology and take off and fast as I could. “I’m sorry if I upset you. If I had known it would make you angry, I wouldn’t have allowed her to sit on my lap. She is very precious and I enjoyed my time with her. I only stayed to make sure she is going to sleep well. I’ll go now.” Not for a single moment did he look my way; he just keeps on glaring straight ahead. I am about to go past him when he reaches out and grabs my arm. His hands are so big that they engulfed my tiny arm. Even though he does not hurt me, he scared me to death and I let out a yelp.

“Calm down. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to thank you for your help with Grace before you leave,” he says roughly. Even though he still seems mad, he does sound sincere.

“You are welcome. She is a sweet girl. How old is she, three?” At the mention of his sister, his face softened just a bit. I can tell that his fierce protection of her is out of sheer love and I can’t help but admire him for that.

“No, she is five but she is very small for her age. She was born too early and has always been little. But yes, she is very sweet. She doesn’t normally go to anyone other than me.” That is all he said but I can tell it is the only explanation that I am going to get tonight.

“Well, I’m sorry again. My name is Roz, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”

He scoffs at that. “Yes I know. You are Rosaline the President.” He says President like it leaves a bad taste in his mouth. “Dex.” Is all that he says by means of an introduction.

This is my cue to leave this horrible man. Even though he scares me to death, I can see the hurt in him and I want to take that away. Another time maybe; I already have been here for too long and everyone is waiting for me.

“It is nice to have met you, Dex. Would you like me to bring you back some dinner?” I ask, because it is the right thing to do since he is stuck here with Grace.

He shakes his head no and I don’t push it. I just nod and take off. I cannot get out of there fast enough.

Chapter Two

As I make my way back, I can just see the main building in sight which I assume is the dining hall. It is right behind the common area where I saw the men prepping the food earlier. Just as I am walking towards the building, a woman with long dark brown curly hair approaches me. She has a soft, sweet smile but I see sadness lying just behind. That seems to be the underlining connecting factor among all these people, that deep sadness. What have we done to them?

“Hello, Roz, my name is Zara. Malik told me that you will need a place to stay for a while and I am more than happy to have you stay with me.” She smiles at me in an inviting manner.

There is no way this is the widow that Malik told me about. She is older than me, but she is still younger than Natasha and is much too young to be a widow. But then again, I never have thought about the chances of losing a mate at a young age. It doesn’t happen often but it does happen. Besides losing a child, I can’t imagine anything worse. My heart is already aching for her and we’ve only just met. I clear my throat and try to stuff the tears down.

“I’d like that very much, thank you. It’s so nice to meet you.”

She smiles back at me. “Shall we get you settled and changed before dinner? I think I have something that might fit you. We don’t want you to ruin your nice clothes.”

She is so nice and so sincere about her offer that I cannot refuse, but I can’t imagine that they have very many clothes, and so I feel bad about taking one of her few outfits. I think I will just have to repay her by leaving some things behind for her when I leave. That is, if Wesley comes through and brings my things. We walk back over to the housing area, but her house is on the other end of the housing. Zara called it the singles complexes. They are smaller so they hold less people. She leads me inside; it is smaller than Dex’s place but it is much warmer. She has dried flowers hung up on the walls, and on the wall closest to her bed are a dozen drawings. They are amazing. She must be the artist because they are done with so much love and detail. Most of them are of the same man; only a few has her in them with him. Zara sees what I am looking at, and a sad smile graces her face.

“That was my husband Nate. He’s been gone for two years now, but sometimes it still feels like it’s all a bad dream and that maybe I will wake up to find him here.”  A single tear falls down her face and she quickly wipes it away and draws a shaky breath.

“Enough of this nonsense. We have a celebration to get you ready for.” She visibly pulls herself together and starts looking through her things. “Ah, here we go. This will look great on you.” She pulls out a long sarong style dress in emerald green. My mother always tell me that green is my color, and this makes me think of her.

“Thank you so much. Are you sure you can spare it? My friend Wes will bring me some things tomorrow.”

“Oh, of course, it is fine. Now come on and put it on.” She hands it to me and turns her back so I can get dressed. I’ve never felt so naked while wearing clothes before. The dress is beautiful. It is only draped across one shoulder and flows around my feet. I’ve never worn a dress that leaves my shoulders bare before, and since I’ve been at the Ministry I’m always in several layers and usually have a jacket on. I feel completely exposed, but I don’t want to offend her by refusing. I turn around to face her.

“You look amazing!” she exclaims in delight. “You are so beautiful, Roz! Let’s get going before all the food is gone.” She gives me a wink and heads out the door.  Ready or not, I guess I should follow her. We head into the dining hall and everyone is just sitting down with their plates to eat. It is indeed a feast. They have stew and fried fish and corn cakes. We help ourselves and find a spot to sit. People join us and start a friendly conversation. Everyone is incredibly nice, but I notice that any topic of the Ministry or my position is off the table. Malik then joins us with his food. “I’m glad to see you have found Zara. You look beautiful, by the way.” I smile at him with gratitude and I’m pretty sure I am blushing up to the roots of my hair. Malik laughs at that. “I don’t think our little friend here knows how pretty she actually is.”

Zara slaps his arm. “Behave, Malik. You are embarrassing her.” I whisper my thanks to Zara. Malik finally takes the hint and changes the subject. “So did everything work out alright then?”

I realize he is referring to the situation with Dex and Grace so I nod, but I just leave it at that. We finish our meal which is fantastic, and I get up with Zara to join the women in cleaning up.

She puts a hand on my shoulder as I am about to stand, and says, “Not tonight, Roz, but you can help out tomorrow. Tonight, you are our guest.”

I thank her, but I still feel incredibly uncomfortable sitting alone with the men, especially now that I feel only half-dressed. Picking up on my discomfort quickly, Malik tells the men it is time to build the fire. All the men file out the door and I am left with the children. Finally, I am with people that I can breathe around. The little boys are caught up in a game of tag while the little girls have formed a circle around me, asking me questions and telling me their names. They are so much fun and full of giggles. I cannot help but be swept away with it all. One of the little girls informs us that it is time to go out by the fire.

I walk out hand in hand with several little girls and let them talk me into spinning and dancing over by the fire. I can’t remember the last time I felt this free and happy. Somewhere in the crowd, someone plays a harmonica and that initiates more dancing. It is so much fun to dance and sing around the fire light. When I am too winded to go on, I told the girls that I have to take a break to catch my breath. I go to sit on a log by the fire and look up to see that Karly, Karin and Debra have all followed me. Karin looks at Debra who then nudges Karly who steps up as the spokesmen of the little group.

“Is it ok if we play with your hair? It’s so long and beautiful. We would love to braid it.”

I smile widely at them. “I would be honored.” This earns me three huge smiles accompanied by giggles. I sit and watch the dancing and merriment going on all around me while the girls tend to my hair. They are just about done and I can tell that my hair has a ton of braids all over with some hair left hanging down in back. Karin runs off and then comes back with tiny little flowers in her hand which they threaded through the tiny little braids. The girls all declare that they are done and that my hair looks beautiful. Just then, a little girl whose name I can’t remember comes up to us. She points to me and says “Princess”, and the girls giggle at this and run off laughing and playing.

Malik then goes up to me and offers his hand in a grand gesture. “May I have this dance, my fair maiden?” I gladly accept his invitation and he whirls and twirls me around the make shift dance floor with abandon.

Other boys and men ask for dances after, and I dance with them over and over until I am about to drop. I sit on a log to catch my breath and Zara comes to sit next to me.

“You sure are popular around here.”

I smile at her. “Everyone is so wonderful and happy.” After that, I get a glimpse of Dex leaning next to a tree in the distance. “Well, most everyone anyway.” Zara follows my gaze.

“Ah yes, Dexter. He is a kind soul, but he has much pain.” I nod my agreement.

“Yes, I can tell. I’m not sure just how to act around him. I want to run away and stay and scream at him all at the same time.” My comment brings out a laugh from Zara.

“I know the feeling. Maybe you should go talk to him, see if you can soften that hard heart of his. He’s been watching you dance all night, you know.”

This news shocked me. If he is looking at me, it is most likely out of disdain. But as I watch him over the fire light, I can see more than what I saw before. Once I get past the huge, looming, scary figure, I see that he is quite handsome. He has dark hair which is much too long to be acceptable anywhere else, but here he fits in nicely. He has dark big eyes that are exactly like his sister’s. I was too afraid to look directly at him before, but with the fire separating us, I can now see a long jagged scar that goes from the side of his forehead down to his chin. Scarred—it’s the perfect word to describe him, inside and out. I think about walking over to him for a second, but then I admonish myself that nothing good can come from it.

Once the dancing and laughter dies down and the children start going off to bed, I let the exhaustion finally sweep over me. Zara picks up on this, turns to me and asks, “Are you ready to call it a night? You’ll need your rest for all the exploring that you will do tomorrow.” I agree and we say our good-byes to the other people. I thank everyone for such a wonderful welcoming celebration. Zara takes a mat on the floor and insists that I take the bed, but I am having none of it. I am already taking her clothes and putting her out; I will not dare take her bed as well. I tell her as much and after much arguing, I finally win and fall asleep soundlessly all night.

I’m not sure what time it is when I have awakened, but I am embarrassed to know that I have slept in. Zara is already gone and her bed is already made as well. I notice a note waiting for me.

Good Morning, Roz,

I’m glad that you are able to get some rest. Please take your time; there should be some breakfast left in the dining hall area. Everyone is off doing their individual chores, but feel free to walk around and explore, observe or ask questions. Our home is yours too. See you soon.

Zara,

That is so thoughtful of her. Since I am expecting Wesley to come at some point with my things, I figure I might as well stay in the dress Zara has lent me and then change into whatever he is going to bring. I sure hope Molly or even Miriam has done the packing because if it is left to Wesley, who knows what he would bring for me. Even though I checked in with the guards the night before, I figure it wouldn't hurt any to check in with them again before I go exploring. I had completely forgotten to take the millions of little braids out of my hair before bed last night that and it takes me forever to get them all undone. I try to fasten my now kinky curls in a braid down my back, but several curly strands still break free. I know I look like a completely different woman now with my brazen dress and wild hair. Zara has left the same pair of sandals that I wore the night before, so I put them on and head to the outhouse to freshen up before going to the guards.

Holder noticed me as soon as I approached the gate. He gives me a wide smile and I can tell that he is taking in my full appearance. “Good morning, President Thatcher. Aren’t you looking lovely today?” he says with a wolfish grin on his face. I am really missing my stuffy clothes right about now.

“Thank you, Mr. Holder. Is there any news for me?” He shakes his head. “Not much. Masters mentioned that he will be sending Green and Wesley Sanders over at some point today, but he isn’t sure which train they will be on so just expect company at some point today.”

“Thank you. I better get back now. Have a good day.” I turn around and take off so he will quit looking at me. I know this isn’t exactly standard dress for a President, but geez, still show some respect. I spend the morning shelling nuts with some of the women. The little kids play around our ankles while the older kids are in school, being taught by one of the mothers. Once my fingers have gone completely numb, I have decided it is a good time for a break. I say my good-byes to the ladies and I go down by the pond to cool off.

I’ve never been this far from the Ministry before, and it is much warmer here than in our Zone. I can really use a cool dip, but I just have to settle on putting my feet in. I have just made my way to the little pond where I have spotted a nice big shade tree up ahead. It will be the perfect place to sit and think for a while. I start making my way over when I have to fully stop and stumble over the gravel in the process because right in front of me is Dex, standing by the water…without a shirt. He is broad-shouldered and is more muscular than I’ve ever seen, but that isn’t what has me frozen to my spot. His back is covered with scars. Some look raised, angry and jagged while others seem to be from burns. He has them all over his muscular frame. He is so intimidating and huge, I guess I automatically assumed that he's indestructible. Seeing those marks now, they bring him down to human status. I don’t know what to do. This man is a complete enigma, and I don’t know if I want to hide in a corner and cry, or run to him and throw my arms around him.

“Well, President Princess, are you coming over or are you just gonna stand there and gawk?”

Oh crap! How does he know I am here? He hasn’t turned once. Great, there goes my hiding option. With not enough time to brace myself, I square my shoulders and walk over to him.

“I can put a shirt on if it bothers you,” he says, still not looking at me. It is then that I notice that he is fishing. He has a bucket at his feet that is already half full. What is he saying about bothering me?

“Bother me?” I am a little slow on the uptake today, it seems.

He looks down at me with a small smile. Wow, not scowling really works for him. “I am talking about my scars. If they bug you, I’ll put my shirt back on.” He says it slowly and looks at me like I am missing a joke.

“Oh. No! I’m sorry. Why would they bug me? I’m not the one who had to endure them.” I say this with complete sincerity. He cocks his head to the side and studies me for a moment.

“No, I guess you didn’t. You sure are a strange one, aren’t you?” he tells me while still studying me with that odd look on his face.