Page 37 of Powerless
He looked amused at my startled reaction. "Sorry, were you taking a nap?"
"No, no. I was just...resting. What's up?"
"Uh huh," he smirked but chose not to comment. "The fire's going. Come out and make your dinner plate. Then you can rest on my sleeping bag all you want."
"Shut up," I muttered, climbing to my feet and following him out.
The club settled into their familiar evening routine--drinking, laughing, and swapping stories as the sun set below the horizon. Horus perched on a nearby boulder, preening his feathers next to the fire. It almost felt like Gunner was right there, but had just shifted into his bird friend.
"I miss you, Gun," I whispered.
Horus looked at me with a small head tilt, then made a few chirpy clicks in response.
Throughout the evening, Jandro kept me distracted from looking over at Reaper with stories from his childhood.
"My sister convinced me putting peanut butter in my hair would give me that badass spiky look." He shook his head sadly. "I was the youngest of five and the only boy. It was a nightmare."
"Aww,pobrecito Alejandro," I smiled. "That bad to be surrounded by women all the time, huh?"
"Awful. I'm scarred for life," he joked back. "Do you have any siblings?"
"No. Um," I paused and bit my lip nervously. "My parents weren't married when my mom got pregnant with me."
His eyebrows lifted with understanding. "Oh."
"Yeah, they were dating and falling in love anyway, but rushed into marriage to prevent my mom from being ostracized for loose morals." I threw back the rest of my lukewarm beer. "I think that whole experience put her off from having another kid, even though she was safe after getting married."
"They called it seductive witchcraft in Arizona," Jandro sneered. "After raiding the matriarchal communities, officials went on witch hunts for the most ridiculous shit. Women with tattoos, women who wererumoredto have had children out of wedlock, widows who had remarried. You'd think this was the Salem witch trials after all that bullshit."
"Where are your sisters now?" I asked.
"Last I heard, hiding out in Oregon. I mean, excuse me, the Constitutional Monarchy of Cascadia," he added with an eye roll. "Supposedly one of the safest and most stable places after the Collapse."
"Have you heard from them?"
"I got a letter and a care package from the oldest one about three months ago." He was quiet for a moment, staring into the fire. "The second-youngest got pregnant by a man she's not married to, which worries me a little. But all four of them are super close, and from what I understand, they're all together and supporting her." He chuckled to himself. "And I guess I'm an uncle now."
"Well congratulations,Tio Jandro." I knocked my empty cup against his. "I hope you'll see your sisters again and get to meet your niece or nephew."
"Thanks,Mariposita.Me, too."
The darkness of night grew deeper as the fire died down. Men started retiring to their tents, while the first ones on patrol loaded their weapons for their shift. I thought I should try to catch some sleep, too, but felt a stronger pull to keep talking to Jandro.
"So you knew about the matriarchal groups, but weren't a part of them?" I asked.
"Right," he answered. "They sold a bunch of their handmade goods at a weekly market near us. Our whole household would go, it was our weekly thing. My aunt loved the jewelry that Reaper's mom made, so that's how he and I met."
"Did your aunt know about...?"
"The multiple husband thing? I don't think it was everexplicitlysaid, but it was pretty clear. Reaper's dads would pop in and out of there, hauling supplies or bringing lunch or something. My aunt was Catholic and would pray for Reap's mom every Sunday, but I think it was more asking for protection than anything else. She knew why they formed their communities and was sympathetic to those reasons."
"Your aunt sounds like a kind woman."
"She was," he nodded. "A saint, really. She had to be to run that circus of a household."
He paused to turn to Shadow seated on the other side of him. The big man had been nursing his liquor bottle since we set up camp and seemed to have reached his limit.
"I'll let you tend to your duties, Mr. Vice President," I brushed my pants off as I stood up.
