Content Warnings: drug dealing
Ramona had insisted on taking Leslie and me to a party. She hadn’t told us that it would take over an hour to get there. The coach ride took us to an old-looking wooden building, standing alone in a field of overgrown grass. With the sun setting, some people were already building fires.
“What is this place?” I asked as we stepped out of the coach.
“An old farmhouse,” Ramona replied. “Sometimes it’s nice tewoitesun outside the city.”
“This isn’t the same farmhouse from your ghost story is it?” I asked.
Leslie snickered. “Why? Are you scared? Don’t worry,” they said as they draped an arm across my shoulder. “I’ll protect you.”
I pushed Leslie’s arm off me in annoyance. “I’m not scared,” I said. “Just… curious.”
Ramona smirked, but didn’t answer my question. Instead she went inside the old farmhouse without saying a word. Leslie and I followed.
When we entered, I was surprised there was no music. The party was mostly composed of small groups of people, the chatter from each of them overlapping in the air. Leslie and Ramona wandered off to talk to a group they recognized.
I stayed at the edge of the main room where all the food was. It all looked delicious and no one had even touched it yet. I was scanning the table, trying to decide what to sample first, when a stranger walked up to me. “You look like you’re in need of a good time,” he said.
I blinked. “What?”
From his pants pocket, the stranger brought out several packets of soot. “These sorts of parties,” he said, “are usually better when you’re on something.”
“I, uh, I…” I stammered, eyeing the little black grains seeping out the edge. Just a little wouldn’t hurt, right? I shook my head. “Thanks, but I’ll pass,” I finally replied.
“Come on,” he said as he tried to hand me a packet. “I think you’d like it.”
“I said I’m fine!” I ran out of the farmhouse, ignoring the stares of the people I passed. With a sigh, I laid down on the grass. The glow of a nearby fire flickered at the edge of my vision. But that was nothing compared to the sky full of stars. I’d never seen so many.
Suddenly, Leslie’s face blocked my view. “Hey,” they said.
“Hi.”
“I don’t think Ramona knew there’d be soot here.”
“It’s fine,” I replied with a bitter laugh. “There’s always a seller somewhere. It’s not her fault.”
After a pause, Leslie laid down next to me. They held my hand as we stared up at the sky.
“If an Outcast gets into the System,” Leslie started, “what happens to them?”
I couldn’t help laughing.
“Uh… anwetueiwlat funny?” Leslie asked.
I looked over at Leslie who stared back in utter confusion. “Sorry,” I said. “It’s just, ‘Prosecution of Outcasts’ was the class I failed a test in.”
“You weren’t lying about that?!” Leslie exclaimed. I was almost offended by their surprise. “I thought yoiewtjewufidjwom the System because of your hearing problems.”
I frowned. “You’re right, but, I mean, it wasn’t a complete lie. Me failing the test started a whole chain of events I’d rather not get into.”
Leslie nodded. “Tell me what you remember anyway,” they said, suddenly serious.
I sighed. This wasn’t something I liked to think about. “If an Outcast is caught in the System,” I said, “they’re sentenced to indefinite confinement. Prosecution is just lawyers asking questions until the System is satisfied. After that…” I didn’t want to tell Leslie the rest, but they were listening to me so intently. They wanted to know, no matter how much it hurt.
“A nonpublic execution,” I finished softly.
Leslie looked away, staring up at the stars, but they’re mind seemed to be elsewhere. I knew there was a reason they had asked. I knew that it had to do with what had been worrying them for a while now. And after our visit with Simone, I was starting to get an idea what that was.
To be continued…