The Divided Rose

Chapter 15 (Juliette)

“Oh, look! Methinks I see my cousin’s ghost

Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body

Upon a rapier’s point. Stay, Tybalt, stay!

Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Here’s drink. I drink to thee.”

(Romeo and Juliet, 4.3.55-58)

            With dawn comes Nina knocking on my door telling me to get dressed. I drag myself from the comfort of my bed and force myself to dress.

            At breakfast I act perfectly cheerful, as if anticipating the day ahead. My mother walks with me all the way to the reproduction lab, which is nestled in the wall that divides the city in two halves.

            The interior of the building is quite plain. My shoes squeak on the linoleum floor, and my skin bristles in the summer heat. Unfortunately, this part of the reproduction lab does not have air conditioning. Rooms filled with desks lead off of the long florescent lit hallways. At the registration office, my mother gives my name to a lady with pointy shoes and hair pulled back in a tight bun. The lady smiles, “Welcome, Juliette. The Splendsetti family is well known with our staff.”

            Wonderful, I think. Now it will be even harder to find an opportunity to slip away.

            The next thing I am aware of is being led down another windowless hallway by the pointy shoes lady. I am deposited in a room that is rapidly filling with girls my age, eagerly awaiting the start of the seminars. Some of them are already pregnant, because we have to take seminars for most of the nine months before our children are born. I shudder at the sight of their swollen bellies, and the fact that their children will never know their father, just as I have never known mine.

            A plump, middle-aged woman enters the room and everyone takes a seat. She introduces herself as Aida Mancini, and discusses how after she raised her daughter, she wanted to help young women go into motherhood prepared. She explains how it is of the greatest importance to her, that we all become successful mothers. After this, I mostly tune her out so that I can focus on preparing myself for what lies ahead. I decide to wait until I see smoke before drinking the potion. After Aida Mancini finishes demonstrating how to change a diaper, she releases us all to have lunch.

            Once inside the cafeteria, I pick up a sandwich and sit down at a table with the other girls from my class. A tall, slim girl with blond hair, who looks to be about three months pregnant, sits down next to me. She has a salad and two sandwiches on her tray. She sees me staring at it, and says, “I have just been so hungry lately.” She pats her stomach fondly. “The little twins are always so hungry, I have to eat twice as much as I used to!” Then she smiles and says, “Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Filippa Lombardi. And you are…?”

            I have heard of the Lombardi family. Filippa’s mother is on the Council, but we have never met before. I give my head a little shake. “Juliette Splendsetti. Nice to meet you. I won’t be pregnant till the thirty-first, but I’ll bet you are at least three months in.”

            Filippa Lombardi smiles. “You guessed right. Hey, your mother is on the Council, right?”

            “Yes, she is.”

            Filippa grins, and surprises me with her next response. “I noticed you were not really paying attention to Aida, neither was I that’s why I noticed you. Isn’t it nice to not have to worry about changing diapers and such? I mean, your mother is on the Council, so you are rich, right? Maids make life so much easier, don’t they?”

            I am taken aback so much that I almost can’t reply. Filippa Lombardi is a perfect example of someone whose wealth has gone to her head. Filippa may be friendly enough, but if she is choosing to not pay attention just because she can have her maid do all the work for her, then I decide I do not want anything to do with her. “Yes. Excuse me.”

            I decide this is the perfect opportunity to drink the potion, so I leave the cafeteria and make my way towards the registration office. After pausing in the window to make sure Sister Frella has seen me, I walk over to the front door and lean against the wall to wait.

            The fire alarms sound, and people rush by me in a panic, making their way to the emergency exits. Once the commotion has calmed down my heart begins to thud rapidly in my chest. If I leave now I might still be able to escape before the Guard arrives.

            No, I tell myself firmly. I must carry out the plan. If I do not, then Sister Frella’s efforts will all have been in vain.

            Suddenly, I hear sirens wailing up to the building and heavy footsteps coming towards me. Frantic, I pull the small bottle from my purse and uncork it. “Romayo, I drink to thee.” The cold glass touches my lips and I can feel the liquid running down my throat. My muscles give out and I collapse against the wall. Then everything goes black.