Nita wandered a while before taking a seat under a floripondio tree and watching the ocean. A couple nearby curled up together on the grass, whispering secrets to each other, and an old woman walked a tiny brown dog along the path.
Nita closed her eyes and savored the smell of crushed grass. Her pocket buzzed, and she pulled out her phone.
Her father had texted her. You okay? I haven’t heard from you lately.
Nita let out a breath and leaned back until she was lying on the grass, staring at the sky. Her father was perfectly human, but some days she wondered if he didn’t have some sort of extrasensory perception that knew whenever Nita was unhappy.
I’m fine, Dad. Nita hesitated, mind at war. She wanted so badly to talk about Fabricio with someone, but she knew they had to be careful with their personal phones. These phones were supposed to be safe, serving as a believable cover if ever they were caught by INHUP. No work stuff allowed. That was for their other email accounts on the dark web.
But she wasn’t allowed to access those on her phone either. They had a computer for that kind of thing. One that her mother had been hogging lately.
Nita bit her lip and caved. She needed to talk about this. It would be even better to hear her dad’s voice. But her phone plan didn’t allow international calling. It didn’t even have data. Mom was cheap that way.
If Nita didn’t know better, she’d think her mother was trying to prevent her from talking with her father.
Did Mom tell you what she brought home yesterday? Nita asked.
There was a long pause before her father responded. Yes, I heard. You have a new pet.
Yes. It’s very messy. Nita swallowed. How did she even begin to explain all the terrible, complicated feelings that were going on in her head? I don’t really like it.
Understatement of the year.
Well, we’re only taking care of it for a while. Don’t worry, it’ll have a new home soon. You won’t have to deal with it again after that.
Yeah. Nita’s fingers swiped across the screen. I guess I just feel like it deserves better than we can give it.
There was an even longer pause this time. Then, A pet like that can’t survive in the wild. Don’t do anything stupid, Nita.
Don’t do anything stupid.
Nita took a deep breath, trying to blink away the angry tears pricking her eyes. She wasn’t sure what she wanted her father to say. That her mother had gone too far? That there was a mix-up? That she could go home, and when she got back, all evidence of Fabricio’s existence would be wiped away, so she never had to think about it again?
God, she was awful.
It took a special type of monster to dissect dead people and sell them without guilt. Nita was aware that morally speaking, she wasn’t on the good side of the scale. In fact, she was probably closer to the serial killer side of the scale. Sometimes thinking that bothered her a little. But then she stopped thinking about it and the uneasy feeling went away.
Don’t think about it was always a great solution. It had solved so many moral issues in her life.
It wasn’t working this time.
How was Fabricio any different from Nita? Nita was sure her body parts would make a pretty penny on the black market too. She could just imagine the things her father could write to market her unique characteristics.
Nita, are you still there?
Angry, she wiped the tears away and replied, I’ve got to go. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything stupid. I’ll talk to you later.
She pocketed her phone without waiting for his response.
Then she rolled over on the grass, pressed her hands into her face, and wondered what the hell was wrong with her.
Six
NITA DID SOME errands on the way home before picking up fried chicken for her mother. Her mother was picky about food, which was a waste, because Peru had some of the best food in the world. Whenever Nita needed a distraction, she bought herself comfort food.
She picked up some causa (similar to shepherd’s pie, but served cold, with tuna or chicken instead of beef ), a rocoto relleno (a spicy pepper stuffed with meat), and some picarones for dessert.
She ate her dessert on the way home. The picarones had been served on a paper plate, and they were drizzled in a sticky sweet sauce. She ate the first one because she thought it would fall off, and then before she knew it, she’d eaten them all.
Best food in the world.
She entered the apartment, and her mother took the chicken out of her hands with a frown. Nita held on to her own food. “You got an awful lot.”
“I got some for—” Nita caught herself before she said his name. Her mother would not appreciate that. “The boy.”
Her mother slowly looked at Nita. Dark, thick eyelashes did nothing to soften the coldness of her eyes.
Nita swallowed and felt herself getting defensive. “Well, what did you expect him to eat? Dog food?”
Her mother raised her eyebrows. “Someone’s not happy.”
Nita sighed and deflected. “I heard some guy on the news talking about killing unnaturals.”
“Ah.” Her mother nodded. “UEA?”
The Unnatural Extermination Agenda was the biggest unnatural hate group in the world. And the most popular. Obviously there were other groups, but the power and influence of the UEA was a force to be reckoned with.
Nita’s mother was a UEA member—not that the UEA knew she was an unnatural, obviously. She got updates on unnaturals found in her area that way, and then responded to them. Sometimes she got there before the UEA and took out the target. Sometimes she waited for the UEA to kill them, then stole the body, leaving the UEA members to be charged with murder. Nita had the UEA to thank for a lot of the bodies on her table.
“Not the UEA, just some ass who thinks we should eliminate unnaturals before they’re born with genetic manipulation.”
Her mother took a bite of chicken. “Interesting. I never thought of using genetic manipulation for anything like that.” She tapped her finger against the table, her brow furrowing. Nita had a bad feeling she’d given her mother an idea for something, but she wasn’t sure what.
“I’m going to feed Fa—the boy.”
Her mother shrugged, eyes staring off into space, a small smile curving her lips. Just great. Nita didn’t want to know what her mother was planning.
Fabricio was curled up in his cage, but turned to Nita when she entered. She put a piece of chicken on a napkin on the floor, and then realized it was too big to get through the mesh of his cage. She wasn’t really sure how she was going to feed him.
“She’s going to take one of my eyes tomorrow.” Fabricio’s voice was soft, almost a whisper, but too croaky. All that screaming probably chafed his throat.
Nita flinched. “You don’t know that.”
“She told me so.” He paused. “I think she likes to see me scared.”
He was probably right.
“Then how do you know she’s not baiting you?”
Fabricio met her eyes. “I don’t. But you would. Is she?”
Nita looked at the floor. Her hands clenched into fists, and she could feel her scab tearing, little rivulets of blood leaking down her hand. She didn’t fix it.
“No,” she admitted. Fabricio was right. Her mother probably meant exactly what she said. “She’s not baiting you.”