16 – Forbidden Knowledge (3)

There had been nothing of particular interest in Clay’s room, the two bathrooms, or the kitchen. Skye’s room, however…

“Why is there an air mattress in here, when there’s already a bed?” Allison asked Luke.

Luke swallowed. “Skye has nightmares. It’s easier for her to cope when I’m nearby.”

“Really?” Allison raised an eyebrow. “None of her past caretakers mentioned nightmares.”

“Did you ask them?”

“No. But we’re talking about three different households. Someone would have mentioned them.”

“She was a baby in the first household.” It was Hazel’s parents who first cared for Skye. Hazel’s close cousin took her in next, during the toddler years. That cousin was married to the richest man in Jefferson. “The second household was a huge mansion. She probably slept in a room far away from them.” Or maybe the nightmares hadn’t started yet. Luke couldn’t come up with a valid excuse for the third household. They were foster parents he’d never met.

“Regardless, she needs to learn how to cope with nightmares on her own.”

“She’s only five,” Clay said.

“Still. This shouldn’t be a habit.” Allison made a note on her clipboard. She looked around the room one last time, gaze setting on the nightstand. More specifically, a framed picture on the nightstand. It was a photograph of Luke and Hazel, smiling with their arms wrapped around each other. Luke could feel heat creeping up his neck as Allison turned her attention back on him. “Have you thought of putting yourself out there?”

“What?”

“Finding yourself a girlfriend. A future wife.”

Dating was the last thing Luke wanted to do. His heart still belonged to Hazel. “No.”

“You should seriously consider it.”

“I don’t want to.”

“It’s been almost six years.”

Luke picked at the collar of his shirt, averting his eyes. “So?”

“So, she’s been dead for a long time now. Don’t you think it’s time to move on? Find Skye a mother figure?”

“No.”

Officer Gish tsked. “Just tell him the news already. He obviously hasn’t heard.”

Luke stared at Gish with a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Heard what?”

“About the bill that hit congress last week,” Gish said. “It’s getting a lot of support.”

The sinking turned into a full-on drop. “What bill?”

“The ‘Keep Families Nuclear Act.’”

Luke exchanged a look with Clay. It was clear on his face that he hadn’t heard about it either.

“There’s a clause in it that says children must be raised by a married couple,” Allison explained. “A mother, and a father.”

“Seriously?!” That had to be the stupidest law Luke had ever heard. He could already see a lot of problems with it. What if one parent died? What about children born out of wedlock? Orphaned children? Children who had to live with a single relative because they had no one else? “So, what, the government is gonna start taking children away from their homes over this?”

“Pretty much. In a case like yours, you would have one year to get married. If you don’t, either Skye gets taken away, or the government will assign someone to marry you.”

“Assign someone?” What kind of dystopian hell was this?

“Yes. People who need a spouse can sign up for one. The government does the matchmaking.”

“What if I don’t like who the government pairs me up with?” Luke asked.

“You’ll learn to.”

“Wouldn’t it be, I don’t know, more traumatizing for a child to be taken away from their loving parent, and thrown into a stranger’s home?”

“I don’t make the laws,” Allison said. “But I advise you start looking now.”

Luke couldn’t believe any of that nonsense. A law that ridiculous would never pass. No, he wasn’t going to worry about it at all. And he certainly wasn’t going to start going on dates because of it. Between work and caring for Skye, he had no time or energy for such things.

~~~~~

It turned out, everything Maple had been taught was wrong. Listening to teachers had become difficult. She wanted to call them out, but then she’d have to admit she had a secret phone with a VPN. Instead, she had to listen to her history teacher ramble on about democrats burning down The White House. Apparently the fire started in the East Wing. But Maple now knew the East Wing had been demolished long before the 2064 Riots, by a republican president. The fire itself was just a kitchen fire. Only that area of the building had been affected. But news outlets made it look like either the left, or the right, purposely started a fire in the White House. It angered a lot of people and caused a civil war.

Somehow her teacher thought the entire White House had burned down. But it hadn’t. When the news broke out, people from all over the country visited the White House to mourn its loss, only to find it unharmed. People on the left blamed the right for making up lies. People on the right blamed the left for making up lies. Mass shootings broke out in front of The White House, right outside the gates. “The White House Massacre,” they called it.

Through it all, The White House survived. It was floods that destroyed it, and put Washington DC underwater.

Maple couldn’t stop chewing her lip or strumming her fingers on the desk.

“Is everything alright?” Kyra whispered to her at one point. “You look upset."

“I’m fine.” Was it even possible for a building as big as The White House to burn down completely? Maybe if several fires were set throughout the whole building. But her teacher didn’t mention other fires. Just a fire in the East Wing that spread through the rest of the house.

Maple raised her hand.

“Yes, Maple,” Mr. Eaves said.

“Was it only one fire that burned down The White House?” Maple asked.

“That is correct.”

“Wasn’t The White House a really big building? How did one fire burn it all to the ground?”

“It spread out of control.”

“But some parts of The White House had to be okay.”

“Well they weren’t. The radical left-”

“Is it possible that everyone back then was misinformed, and it didn’t actually burn down? That AI videos-”

“No! And I would be very careful about questioning these history lessons, if I were you.”

What did that mean? That he was going to fail her for having questions? Or was there some deeper meaning behind his threat? She hung her head. “Yes, sir.”

“What was that about?” Kyra asked Maple after class, as they exited the school building. “Questioning the teacher like that.”

Maple hadn’t told Kyra about the phone from Jake. She worried about her letting it slip to her husband, and he might tell her brothers. “What he was claiming didn’t add up to me, is all.”

“Claiming? It’s true.”

“How do we know for sure? None of us were alive back then.”

“Because it was all recorded. There’s actual videos out there.”

“But they could be faked. Anyone can do that.”

“It’s what the news reported at the time. Go to the library. They could probably show you the articles.”

“The news could've be wrong.”

“You sound like a conspiracy theorist. What does it matter if we’re being taught the wrong information anyway? It’s not like knowing the truth is going to help us in the real world.”

They continued their usual walk home in silence.

“Is Jake telling you all this?” Kyra asked. “That our version is wrong, and ESA’s version is right?”

Maple had a feeling the ESA’s version was similar, except the fire was started by republicans. “We haven’t discussed it.”

“But you told me you discussed other things. That the version of history he learned is different from ours.”

“Yeah, it is. It makes you wonder. Which version is correct?”

“Ours of course.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I just am.” Kyra let out a sigh. “You know, I’m beginning to think Jake is a bad influence on you.”

“What!” Maple stopped in her tracks. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, maybe your brothers are right to keep you from seeing him. You never cared about any of this before. Not until he showed up.”

“But-”

“I’m sure he’s nice. And special. And all of that. But he comes from a different world. He’d probably make you work and wear pants.”

“You know we’re not allowed to wear pants.” Maple always wished she could.

They continued walking. “You know what I mean,” Kyra said. “Us women are supposed to get married and raise children. It’s what God intended.”

“It’s not fair. We should be able to do anything men can. In other countries-”

“Other countries are godless. The FSA is different. We actually follow biblical teachings.”

“Not everyone here is religious.” Maple sure wasn’t. She only went to church because her brothers dragged her there every Sunday. She supposed there was a God, but thought it was bullshit she had to be punished for being a woman all because Eve disobeyed his orders.

“Even so, it’s in our laws. Besides, you’re engaged to Neil now.”

“No I’m not.”

“You will be. And you’re lucky. Who better to protect you than a police officer?”

Who better to be abusive than a police officer?