The Revolutions

Chapter 2

I was escorted out of the Central House and the ten boys, the Central, led me to my house. Rye went back to his house. Everyone's house looked pretty much the same. Except mine. We walked up to a tree, and as I walked around it I saw little thin pieces of wood nailed into the tree trunk, leading up to my "house." It is a good ten yards away from everything else.

Lody and a few other smiled slowly. "This was how I figured you noticed my limp. No one has ever lived in a house like this before. Ever. We figured you noticed a lot of things and were smart, yet quiet. You were more of an outcast, yet comfortable with that label. We also figured you were nimble and clever. Meet us tonight at the Central House. This is your house. Good luck." And they left. They just left! Without telling me anything else, or how to get around to make a living or get food. I sighed. Guess I will just have to figure it out.

Climbing up carefully, testing each wood step, I reached my area. It's not really a house, so I'm not going to call it one. It has one room, not to big, like the other houses. The other houses are really huge. There is a small mattress for a bed and a chest on the side. I look in the chest first. A small bag is there, to hold some tiny items probably. Nothing else is there. I assume this must be a test, to see if I can pass as a citizen here. I look under a thin blanket covering the bed, then look under the bed. Nothing.

"W-wh-ere did you put my st-tuff you sneaky idiots?" I go down the tree slowly. I finally get down and go to walk away, but then a thought crashes into me and I'm running back to my tree. I grab the lowest piece of wood on my tree and shake. Then the next. And the next. Four pieces of wood steps up, the wood shakes beneath my hands. Grinning, I tug a little harder. The wood comes clean off, and in inside the space is three coins. I laugh aloud. That was tricky. Putting the coins in my bag and the wood back into the tree, I walk back to the center of town.

Once I'm there, I have made a list in my head of the things I need to get. A knife, for protection and cutting food, a job, to get more money, and something small to tide me over for the night. I walk up to a man selling knives and I point to one. The knife is small but looks to almost fit my hand perfectly. The man is bigger in size and has a brown mustache but not much hair. He stares at me. "I wan-want this."

He grins and slaps his hands on the table. "Well lookie here! I've been the first to meet our new Stutterer here! Welcome. You want the knife? What is your name?"

This is gunna take a while to get out of. "Survivor."

He throws me the knife. I catch it without looking away from the man. The knife is a little awkward but will do for now. "I'll give you a deal, Survivor. Since you only got five coins, I will give you the knife for only two coins if you work here for me."

I stare at him. Did he just offer me a job? And why did he say I had five coins? I only had three. Does that mean something? I nod my head eagerly. This is amazing! I have a job now, so all I need is food! "How mu-uch do you pay?" I ask.

He grins again, wider this time. "I have a good deal here, I do. One coin every other day. You also get half of everything you sell. You work four days, sell nuthin, you get two coins. Everyone else has bad pay, but I only accept people I like for jobs. Everyone else gets about one coin every two or three days, but sometimes not even that. I think I'm gonna like you." It seems a pretty good deal to me. I nod my head again, accepting the offer. "See you at six t'morrow morn, my little Survivor."

"Just Survivor." I walk away. Now to get food. I walk around for a while until I find a good-looking shop. It is small, and the frail looking lady owning the shop is too. She sees the last coin in my hand and her eyes pop open. "A duck for that coin, girlie? Please? I need it!"

I toss the coin at her and grab the duck. I jog all the way home, stopping maybe five times to take a breath. I definitely need some practice with running. I start climbing up my tree, holding my side because it hurts. I finally get up the tree, and put the duck into the little freezer box on the left side of the chest. I keep the knife in my pant pocket but leave my bag in the other side of the chest. Walking back down my tree, I sit down and look around. The daylight is just fading, turning to an orangey pink. I start to walk to the Central House, still out of breath from my run. I have a stitch in my side and it prevents me from taking deep breaths to cool down. Instead I gasp for air and manage to feel as dumb as I look. I don't have a hairbrush yet, or a new set of clothes. I'm pretty sure I stink, too. My hair is a mess. By the time I get to the Central House, I have stopped gasping and holding my side. I walk in and sit down. The boys were having a conversation when I walked in, but better to be sure of yourself than nervous, right? So, I just kept walking to the only open seat and interrupting their conversation. Today another boy smiles at me before taking over like Lody did yesterday.