BooksBarbecue
Back The Enemy Save as PDF
Chapters (69)
  1. Table of Contents
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68

“Grown-ups. Bad ones. And a lot of them. We didn’t have anyone like you, Akkie. We didn’t stand a chance. There was a girl with us, Persephone.”

“Greek name.”

“I suppose so. But anyway, the first of us to get it was her sister. We divided her things up among us. But Persephone, she took one of her sister’s party dresses, her favorite, and cut a patch from it. Sewed it onto a piece of cloth. To remember her. Then every time another kid died, Persephone made a patch from their clothes. Made a sort of quilt. She showed me how to do it. You know what it was like, there wasn’t much to do to pass the time. And when Persephone was killed, I added her patch. Kept the cloth. In the end we had to leave Notting Hill, it got too bad. Headed into town, where it was quieter. Some of us died on the way. But not everyone. Rose was with us. One or two others in the palace. And when we got here I made the quilt into this coat. To carry those dead kids with me. You know how many patches there are on here?”

“How many?”

“Forty-three. No, forty-four. I added Freak today.”

He showed Achilleus a fresh patch.

“And this one here is Arran.”

“You took his shirt?”

“He didn’t need it anymore.”

“You’re deep, man,” said Achilleus. “Really deep. You happy to let David boss you around?”

“Are you?” said Jester.

“As long as I got something to eat, somewhere dry to sleep, I’m okay. I don’t want to be no boss. Too much to think about. But you . . . do you even like David?”

“He’s bonkers,” said Jester. “Gets nuttier every day. But it kind of works. For now. He’s sixteen, you know? Quite old.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I sometimes wonder if that’s what’s making him the way he is. I watch him all the time for any signs—you know, boils and that. Nothing yet. None of us knows what’s going to happen as we get older. . . .”

“Don’t like to think about that stuff, man,” said Achilleus. “Don’t like to talk about it.”

“No. I’m sorry.” Jester paused. Studied Achilleus. Then went on. “If you win tonight, Akkie, you’re going to be in a very strong position, you know. I don’t know if David understands that. You could topple him if you wanted.”

“Told you, Magic Man, don’t want to be no boss.”

“No,” said Jester. “But you and me. We’d make a very good team.”

“Excepting I couldn’t never trust you, man. I’d fear to turn my back on you. You’re a backstabber.”

“I’m a survivor, Akkie, a winner like you. There are forty-four kids on this coat that didn’t make it. And I’m the one wearing it.”