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I glanced up the street and saw Dee with some of her friends.

“Hey, Dee ... wait up,” I hollered. Then I turned to Wei. “When can I meet your dad?”

“I’ll ask and let you know tomorrow. I’d better get home and hit the piano. See ya.” She headed up the street and I hurried to catch up with Dee, practically vibrating with excitement.

Wei’s parents knew him. My brain was spinning with thoughts of Ginnie and my father. How different things might have been for all of us if only—

I caught myself. Ginnie’d said he was alive. If we’d been together as a family, I might have known Wei for years, since we were little. Would I—would we have been a top-tier, a tier ten, like her? I could hardly imagine it. My life would have been nothing like it was. But ... then I wouldn’t have had Dee, and I didn’t like that thought, not at all.

Too wrapped up in my own thoughts, I stepped off the curb without a glance at traffic. A green transport whizzed around the corner, just missing me. “Stupid jerk!” The near miss brought me back to earth. The trannie had come out of nowhere—for a second, I thought it had actually swerved toward me. I hurried across and caught up with Dee.

Gran and I moved Dee down the hall to her own room that evening. I snuggled under the covers, supposedly reading my Language & Literature homework, alone. In reality, my thoughts were hip-hopping around: Sal ... my dad ... the kiss ... Ginnie ... my dad ... Sal ...

My PAV beeped. Who would be calling me this late? I checked the receiver. Sandy.

We hadn’t talked in days—not since before Sal’s kiss. I had no intention of telling her about that, but it seemed like my life was now divided up into BK and AK (before kiss and after kiss). It was no wonder I couldn’t concentrate. I clicked on the PAV. “What’s up?”

“I meant to call you earlier, but this is the first chance I’ve had—school is murder. I have so much homework!”

Poor Sandy. I’d always helped her out with classes and homework. Without my tutoring, I imagined it was a lot harder for her than usual. I missed getting together with her after school at the modular. Dee would watch the FAV or do her homework while I helped Sandy figure out Government or Health and Sociology. Sandy wasn’t dumb, she just had a hard time staying focused. And the closer she got to sixteen, the harder it was for her.

“So how’s things with you? Hanging with all the upper-tiers yet?” she asked.

“Different.” I wasn’t going to complain. Gran and Pops were trying—but they were old, not like Ginnie at all. “Pops falls asleep early, sometimes even before dinner. Gran spends a lot of time with Harriet. Dee’s all wrapped up in her friends. The guys are guys. I miss you.”

“Aren’t all your old friends at Daley?” She sounded lonely. Which made me a little homesick for her.

“Everyone has their own tier clique,” I said. “So I mostly hang with Mike and Derek. There is this one girl, but ...” Midsentence I changed my mind about telling her about Wei. “She’s in my homeroom, that’s all.”

“What about Sal? Do you see him?”

“Sometimes. The guys hang out with him more.” I wasn’t lying—that was true. I didn’t want to go into details, not yet anyway. I changed the subject. “You got a boyfriend yet?”

“There’s this new guy, Lochlan. He’s ultra!” Her melancholy tone switched to bubbly as she caught me up on all the boys in her class. Ones I didn’t remember as being cute three weeks ago were now “so hot you’d melt,” and everyone was paying attention to her. “Sixteen” was all over her conversation.

“Skivs!” she interrupted herself. “I almost forgot why I called. It’s about Ed.”

“What about him?” Just the thought of him made me angry.

“He was at school today. I just know he’s going to be the Chooser. Do you think you could talk to him? Pleeeeeeease?”

“No.” Dammit. I did not want to talk about Ed, think about Ed, or ever have a conversation with him again as long as I lived. Wasn’t it enough that I had to think about him to make sure Dee was safe?

“Oh, come on. It’s not like you have to see him or anything. I really, really, really need to get into FeLS. My mom is expecting me to get in. She’s already planning where we’ll move to when I start getting paid. It’ll kill her if I’m not chosen.”

“It will not kill her,” I said. There was nothing keeping Mrs. Eskew from getting a job; then they’d have twice the credits they had now and could afford to move.

“Come on, Nina.” Sandy didn’t let up. “Ed would probably do it for you because of your—” She stopped herself, which was a good thing, considering how my temper was rising.

I felt the blood pounding into my temples “What, Sandy? Because of Ginnie? I don’t think her death miraculously turned him into a nice guy.”

“Well ... I guess ... I kinda thought ...”

“You thought? After the way he treated her? You think he’s sorry? You think it makes any difference to him that she’s dead? He didn’t have a problem beating the crap out of her himself. He was mean enough—he could have had something to do with her death. Did you ever think of that, Sandy?”

“Nina, calm down. I only meant that—”

“He never stopped by to see what happened, or how Dee was doing. All he did was send some stupid thugs over to pick up his precious FAV and his disgusting vids. He’s made one lousy call to Dee—and all he said to her was he’d heard about Ginnie on the news. The
news!
I doubt it was even on the news. No tier-two murder makes Media headlines. He’s a lying, cheating, filthy skiv.”

“Nina, maybe he called Dee because he wanted to make sure she was all right. He asked me if you guys were happy living with your grandparents. He thought maybe they were too old to take care of Dee.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I tried desperately to remember that Sandy was my best friend. Ed could try to contest Gran and Pops’s guardianship, claiming they were unable to take proper care of Dee because they were old. I couldn’t let that happen—I couldn’t let Dee become his Cinderella girl. I didn’t say anything, just tried to calm down so I didn’t lash out at Sandy again.

After a long moment of silence, Sandy said, “It was a bad idea, Nina. I’m sorry.”

My anger lessened, but I was more anxious than ever. “It’s okay.” I should have been used to Sandy by now. More often than not, her mouth spoke before she had a chance to think about what was she was saying. We’d stayed friends because I’d always understood that and never held what she said against her. I hoped I could get back to that place.

We talked a little while longer about nothing special, and finally Gran called for lights-out. I knew she meant it for Dee, but I took the opportunity to say good-bye. I didn’t trust what else I might say.

I lay awake for the longest time. Ed. Dee said that he told her he was away on business when Ginnie was killed. I knew that was him I’d seen at the hospital. And that line about seeing the report on the Media was bunk. I hadn’t seen any news stories about Ginnie’s murder. She wasn’t anybody important, except to me and Dee. A back-alley stabbing of some tier-two woman was hardly newsworthy. But Ed had sent those guys over to get the FAV, so clearly he knew what was going on. I suppose he might have called her work and found out, or found out through his job.

I had to keep him away from Dee. He didn’t want to be a father to her—he didn’t want to be a father to his actual family. She’d end up as his family’s Cinderella girl and there wouldn’t be anything I could do about it.

I tossed and turned for hours. Finally, exhausted, I fell into a fitful sleep filled with strange dreams. Ginnie was in them, and Ed, too. He had Dee, and Ginnie was chasing him in a red trannie. I was riding Pepper and caught up to him at the edge of the river. I grabbed Dee just as he was getting ready to throw her into the water. Ginnie slammed into him with the transport and jumped out as he disappeared under the water. “Good work,” she said to me.

I woke up to what I thought was Ginnie’s voice through the Infinity machine. It was only Gran’s alarm saying, “
Edith, it is six-oh-five. Do you wish to snooze?
”

I heard her shuffle down the hallway to the bathroom. “Oh, shut up,” she grumbled. I knew exactly how she felt. Pulling the covers over my head, I tried to shake off the dread that was growing inside me.

While Dee was in her room getting ready for school, I told Gran and Pops what Sandy had said about Ed.

“The stinking weasel.” Pops snorted. “First calling Dee, and now this. Who does he think he is asking whether or not we’re healthy?”

Gran poured him some coffee and set the pot down like it weighed a ton.

He took a sip. “Healthy as a damn horse!” He slapped his chest, which set off a coughing fit.

I had to look away in order to keep from laughing, or crying. He wasn’t healthy at all. I wasn’t sure about Gran.

“It’s not so strange,” Gran said, putting toast and orange juice in front of me. “Sometimes people get to feeling guilty when someone dies.”

“What would Ed have to feel guilty about?” I said bitterly. Beating my mother? “He never wanted to take care of Dee when Ginnie was alive. I don’t understand his sudden interest in her now, unless he wants her for a Cinderella girl.”

“That’ll never happen. Not while I’m alive.” Pops set his cup down so hard, coffee sloshed over the side.

Gran rolled her eyes at him. “He didn’t spent time with her before?” she asked me.

“Not much. I mean, he’d say that he loved her and all, because she’s his daughter. But he never came over just to hang out, like a real dad would have.”

“I’m sure Ginnie was protecting you both,” Pops chimed in.

“Protecting them from what?” Gran asked carefully. She gave him her version of the evil eye.

“You know ... FeLS and this whole Cinderella business ...” He cleared his throat. “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

“What do you mean, Pops?” I asked.

Pops took a drink of his coffee. “Whew! Good and strong today, Edith.” I waited while he took another sip. “Now, Little Bit ...” He looked across the table at me. “When I say things aren’t what they seem, what I mean is ... well ...” He stopped and looked at Gran, who had one eyebrow cocked and was staring him down. “Well,” he went on, “I mean that ...” He paused and looked at her again.

“Well, old man?” Danger dripped from her words.

Pops glared back at her. The air between them was thick with secrets.

“It’s okay, Pops. I think I know what you mean.”

“Really?” He set his cup down and rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding Gran’s eyes.

“It’s just one of those things people say—right?”

Pops nodded and Gran gave him a look I couldn’t read before she turned back to the cook center to finish scrambling up the tofu. I sipped my orange juice quietly, watching them both.

Mike, Derek, and I walked Dee to school like normal, but Ed was still foremost in my thoughts. I needed help—this was not something I could do alone. They had to know something was up, since I dragged them along with me to Dee’s school. As far as I was concerned, they could get used to it, because I was planning on walking Dee from the transit stop to school every day for the rest of my life.

As soon as Dee and her friends turned down the street to school, I told Mike and Derek about how I’d promised Ginnie I’d keep Dee away from Ed, my conversation with Gran, and Ed’s phone call to Dee.

“I’d say Gran’s right,” Derek said. “He probably feels guilty for being such a jerk.”

“Who’s a jerk?” Sal walked up behind us.

“Ed,” Mike said.

“Who’s Ed?”

“He’s Dee’s father.” I filled him in on what I’d told the others. “I’m worried that he wants her for a Cinderella girl.”

There had been two Cinderellas in my school in Cementville. They were never on time, always looked tired, and left right after the final bell. I don’t think I saw them talk to anyone. Not that anyone, even tier-ones, wanted to associate with Cinderellas. No way was I going to let that happen to Dee.

“Don’t you think he just—” Sal began.

“Listen.” Derek jumped in like he used to when we were little and I needed protecting from some bigger kid who was picking on me. “You don’t know the whole story. Ed’s worse than a dog with Dark Side fever.”

Sal’s forehead wrinkled. “Nina?”

“I’ll—Derek’s right. Ed’s no good.”

“Maybe he thinks Ginnie had a bunch of credits stashed somewhere and he wants them,” Derek said.

“Maybe he’s a government spy and Ginnie was really a NonCon?” Mike said, laughing. He couldn’t have had any idea of the effect his words had on me. It wasn’t like I hadn’t thought that myself sometimes, especially lately. Ginnie certainly wasn’t shy about her views. And Ed was a Chooser—that was a government job. My heart beat faster.

“Maybe you guys have been watching too many detective AVs,” Sal said. “Dee’s his daughter and he’s just looking out for her.”