Page 68 of Privilege

“It was her name before we married. Her maiden name.”

“Is she a prisoner or is she…” I trail off.

“One of them?” My father grimaces. “We think she’s a prisoner.”

I realize if she’s not a prisoner, if she’s been working for the PS this whole time, it means she left me willingly. Left my father with a kid to take care of and never looked back.

A sudden thought occurs to me. “Do you think she left because I was a boy?”

My father’s face is a mask, but I can see pain behind it. He shakes his head slowly.

“No, Vale. She loved you so much. It didn’t matter to her that you weren’t a girl.”

My eyes sting. I believe him. His eyes shine a little bit, and I wonder if he will cry.

“It wasn’t perfect,” he mutters, “but we were a family together. She believed in us, believed in our future.”

“But she also believed in MAV? Mothers Against Violence?”

“Of course,” he snaps. “We all did. A new world. A legacy of peace,” he says bitterly. “The revoking of Rights, it was only supposed to be temporary. Once everyone understood they lived in a world without danger, a world of perfect peace or whatever, we’d all get our Rights back. But it didn’t happen. Privilege.” He says the word bitterly. “It’s just a way to keep men down.”

His breathing is more ragged now.

“What can we do?” I try to focus him.

His face settles into grim determination. He jerks open a drawer in front of him and pulls out a cylinder.

We both stare at it. In training, we practice with these. It contains a needle, a quick shot to the neck with a drug that knocks you out immediately. We train to avoid them. They are one of the PS’s main weapons for fighting and controlling men. This one looks different.

“Is that real?” I ask.

“Yes, this is PS made and approved,” he says, turning it over, and I see a lot of tiny writing on the other side. He jerks the cap off, holds it against the table. “Press and it should happen in under ten seconds.” Knocking the person unconscious.

“Who’s it for?” I ask.

“It’s for you. Take it. If the girl turns on you, use it on her.”

“And leave her with the Brotherhood?” I ask angrily. I have no intention of doing that.

“Watch her, Vale. If she helps, if she proves trustworthy, then bring her back. Otherwise…”

Otherwise leave her. I shudder. I’m not doing that. I’ll carry her out over my shoulder if I have to.

“The laptop is in their security station on the roof,” he tells me.

On the roof?“How are we going to get onto the roof?” I ask. More importantly, how am I going to get down off the roof and out of their compound—with a laptop and Ami?

“Find a way in, find a way out,” my father snaps. “We need this done before we begin the move.”

“It’s really happening?”

“Yes. We’ve got hundreds of trucks and buses to load up before we go. The information on that laptop is what we need to get into the camps around Frederick, find out for sure about your mother.”

He doesn’t seem sad anymore, only deadly and determined. His hand shakes slightly and he grips the table, pushing the injection device over to me. “Get me that laptop.”

“What’s on it? And what are you going to do about Mom?” I ask him.

He regards me coolly now, not answering right away. I’m definitely the only one who’s allowed to talk to him like this.

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